Page 91 of One Cut Deeper
“Stand in line, gentlemen,” Special Agent Matheson says at the door. “MacNiall is of high interest to the FBI now. Miss Killian, if you’re ready, I can take you home.”
“Thank you. Gentlemen.” Head high, I follow her outside with Sheba on my heels. I’d rather go with her, even if Rusk is along for the ride, than deal with those two ignorant jerks a moment longer.
But her car’s empty. She slides behind the wheel and I let Sheba in the back so I can sit up front with her. “Where’s your partner?”
“He had to return the rental car. I’ll pick him up in a bit from his hotel room and grab a bite to eat. Do you want to join us?”
Matheson backs out and pulls into traffic. We crawl down the main drag and make the turnoff onto the blacktop into the country. I hate this time of year. So cold, and dark enough already for headlights. I can’t wait until spring. Or maybe I’ll be somewhere warm with Charlie by then. “No, that’s fine. A bit of quiet time would be nice right now.”
“I ran those emails you got through our tech guys. They haven’t figured out where the first one came from, but the second one used an IP address that we could easily track down.”
The way she hesitates tells me I’m not going to like the answer. “Let me guess. Charlie’s house?”
“You got it. Are you sure it’s not him?”
“When we get there, pull up the wifi addresses on your phone. It’s so obvious, it’s not even funny, and the password issheba. Anyone who knows anything at all about me or him could get into his network.”
“Why would he make it so easy?”
I sigh. “He made it easy for me to figure out. He knew he’d be gone, eventually, and I’d be on my own.”
“So you’re planning to stay in his house?”
“I can’t keep Sheba in my teeny tiny apartment. She’s happier in the country with plenty of room to roam.”
Matheson slows down, unfamiliar with the curvy country roads. “Will you be okay financially?”
“If that’s your polite way of asking if he left me money, then yeah, he did leave a little. Enough to pay the utilities for a while.”
“But not enough to hightail it to the Caribbean, huh?”
“Hardly.” Though he promised we’d go somewhere warm. “I’ll be okay. He made sure of it.”
“You handled yourself well back there. I have to admit that it surprised me.”
I smile in the darkness, glad she can’t see my face. “It surprised me too. I’m just tired of being ashamed of how I am. I can’t help what I need. I’m tired of everyone judging me for it.”
“Those dead girls couldn’t help what they needed either,” Matheson reminds me.
I clutch my coat shut, even though she has the heater on full blast. “Yeah. Sometimes the need overcomes the head. I’ve been there. I’ve done stupid shit that would freak my parents out. Hell, if Charlie knew, he’d…”
Matheson glances over at me quickly. “What?”
I quirk my lips and shrug. “Let’s just say he’d punish me severely and leave it at that.” And he’d probably add a few more names to his kill list.
We came around a sharp corner and there’s a huge branch lying in the road. I cry, “Look out!”
To her credit, Matheson doesn’t slam on the brakes, but pumps them, trying to slow down. We aren’t going that fast, but the rear end of the car shoots to the left, sending us in a spin. “Hold on!”
My seat belt catches, and panic surges through me. Sheba isn’t belted in. I try to turn my head to check on her, but the car spins so hard, so fast, I can’t see her. A dark blur looms in my window and then we crash into a tree with a sickening crunch. My head slams into the glass in an explosion of light, but the window doesn’t break. Sheba yelps and hits the back of my seat. The car rocks again, sliding a bit more, and finally comes to rest.
Matheson leans over and shines a light in my face. “You okay? Ranay? Can you hear me?”
Wincing, I cover my eyes and turn my head. “Yeah, just banged up. What happened?”
“Ice. There’s a sheet of ice across that entire corner. I’m going to get out and see how bad it is. Are we close to your house?”
“Yeah, just around the corner.”