Lachlan
The second Julia and I stepped into the living room of my house, Nikko snapped his head up from his laptop, various files spread over the kitchen island.
He’d apparently spent the past few hours doing his own investigation. Into what, I wasn’t sure.
He jumped to his feet. “What happened, bruh? I got a call from my lieutenant saying they’re officially reopening Piper’s case because of evidence found in Daxton Shea’s possession. What the fuck is going on?”
I met Julia’s eyes before looking back at Nikko. “A lot.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his biceps bulging. “Care to share?”
“You might want to sit down for this.” I ran a hand over my face, still trying to process everything we’d learned. “And maybe grab a drink.”
After we made ourselves comfortable around the table, I proceeded to tell Nikko everything that had happened at Dax’s house.
How the search team found Imogene’s backpack in his Mercedes.
How they found a Bankers Box containing background checks on all the murder victims.
How one photo in particular directly linked Dax to those murders, thanks to the photo showing a pinky ring identical to the one Dax wore.
Then I told Nikko about the phone call Curran received while driving us back to my house. How Agent Hawkins warned Curran that Walker was on a rampage after his captain ordered him to walk away from the investigation and leave it to those with extensive experience in serial murders. Namely Agent Curran.
“Have you told Ethan?” Nikko asked after I finished. “I’m sure he’d be thrilled.”
“Curran tried to call him from the car, let him know what was going on, but he couldn’t get a hold of him.”
Concern wrinkled his brow. “You don’t think anything—”
I shook my head. “I highly doubt it. Honestly, when Ethan’s down the ‘rabbit hole’, as he calls it, it takes an act of God to pull him back to reality. He’s probably trying to make sense of Claire’s research. Or searching for pictures from the various memorial services. See if one person shows up at all of them.”
“But he can stop now, right? They’ve got the guy.” Nikko narrowed his gaze. “Don’t they?”
I glanced at Julia, who simply shrugged.
“Curran’s not sure,” I admitted. “Said Dax’s denial seemed too authentic.”
He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “And what do you think?”
I blew out a breath, just as conflicted as I was when Curran initially voiced his doubts at Dax’s house.
“I want to go to sleep tonight knowing we’re closer to finding Nick and bringing Imogene home.” I rested my hand on Julia’s leg and gave her a small smile. “All the physical evidence points to him being involved.”
“But…,” Nikko drew out, sensing there was more.
“But all the physical evidence also pointed to Caleb assaulting Piper. All the physical evidence also pointed to Claire committing suicide. And Autumn. And more than a dozen other women. When I saw that crime scene tech come out, Imogene’s backpack in an evidence bag, then that Bankers Box full of background checks and photos, there wasn’t a question in my mind it was Dax. I mean, that’s a lot of physical evidence directly tying him to killing these women, as well as abducting Imogene.”
“But the more you thought about it…”
“The more my gut says there’s another explanation.”
“Just like it did with Claire,” he stated.
“Just like it did with Claire.”
He studied me a moment before nodding. “Then we keep going. Keep turning over every single rock until we can prove without a shadow of a doubt that Daxton is involved.” His gaze shifted to Julia. “Keep going until we bring Imogene home.”
She gave Nikko a grateful smile, but it wavered.