Already Gone (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1) by Blake Pierce (notion reading list .txt) 📗

“Of course I want my partner with me,”Laura said, and sighed as they stepped inside. “But we have so much paperworkto do. If this is like Texas, then I know what I’m doing. I can get it finishednice and quick. And Jones was there, too. Rondelle won’t mind. You do thepaperwork and get some time at home. You’ve got someone waiting for you.”

Nate barked a short laugh. “No, I don’t,”he said. “She moved out. Six months ago.”

Laura felt the pain of that cuttingthrough her chest like a knife. Nate reached out and patted her shoulder,making her flinch; the wave of coldness came over her again, but no vision. Sherelaxed only when he let go.

“It’s all right,” he said, evidentlyreacting to the stricken look on her face. “I don’t have any need to stay.Actually, I’m looking forward to getting stuck right in again. But I cantake Jones, if you want to stay.”

“No,” Laura said immediately, so fast helooked at her with a squint to his eyes. “No, it’s… fine. I don’t have much tostay for either. Not without visitation rights with Lacey.”

Sickness squirmed in her stomach as theelevator dropped. She couldn’t let him go alone. Whatever shadow was hangingover him, if it happened because she stayed behind, she would never forgiveherself.

She needed to stay at his side—andfigure out what was going to kill him before it had a chance to take hold.

CHAPTER NINE

Laura flipped her tray down as soon asthe plane had finished ascending, grabbing the case briefing out of hercarry-on bag. “Ready to hear about the case?” she asked.

“What have we got?” Nate asked, settlingback in his chair. His broad shoulders filled the seat easily, which made ituncomfortably difficult for Laura to avoid an accidental brush against him.Several times during the check-in and boarding they’d gotten close enough totrigger that shadow of death again, sending a shiver of ice down her back everytime. They had only just left the ground, and her nerves were already frazzled.

At least the shadow didn’t bringheadaches with it. That was one small blessing.

It had been a frantic couple of hours toget home, grab her overnight bag, get to the airport, meet Nate, and getthrough check-in. All that time, she had been itching to get at the notes andfind out what they were up against.

“So, the first victim was killed twonights ago,” Laura said, lifting the first sheet of paper to read it out loud.Nate preferred it when she read to him, rather than the two of them having totrade pages to get through it all separately. “Laura Carlisle. She lived in anapartment in Albany, with one female roommate. The roommate came back from workinga late shift to find Laura dead in her bedroom. She had been strangled with ascarf.”

“Laura.” Nate grunted. “That’s going toget confusing.”

“Not unless you intend to refer to theligature marks around my neck,” Laura said, concentrating on the pages. “Nextup we have Caroline Birchtree, murdered last night in her apartment. She livedalone, and there was a fairly obvious point of entry—a smashed bedroom window.”

“What floor?” Nate asked.

Laura checked the notes. “Second floor,”she said. “But by a fire escape.”

“All right. Strangled?”

“Yes, this time with a phone cord. So itlooks as though whoever this is, he’s using items within the home—not bringinghis own weapons with him.”

“That we know of,” Nate said, lifting afinger. “Let’s not make any assumptions this early.”

“Right, right.” Laura sighed, flickingback and forth between the two pages as she compared the women. “I can’t seeany obvious link. Local PD say they haven’t yet found a connection between themeither.”

“So it’s a random opportunity killer,”Nate said heavily, rocking his head back against the seat. “Great. My favorite.Always so easy to solve.”

“Let’s not make any assumptions thisearly,” Laura teased him. “Might be something that ties them together yet. Wedon’t have the full picture. Besides, they’re both in the same area, so that’sone connection already.”

“Same block?” Nate asked hopefully,raising an eyebrow.

Laura studied the two maps that had beenprovided, grayscale printouts showing the pinned locations of the two crimescenes. “No,” she said. “They’re both in Albany, though.”

“That’ll narrow it down.” Nate shook hishead. “So, why are they struggling with this one so much?”

“Looks like the killer is meticulous,”Laura replied, scanning the last page of the report. “There’s no witnesses asof yet, although local appeals are still ongoing. They think he goes in atnight when no one else can see. Probably wears gloves—there’s no preliminaryindication of any forensics evidence. He’s using things from within the home,which speaks both to a lack of a planning and yet very clear forethought. Hedoesn’t want to leave a trace behind.”

“Still seems quick for them to call usin. Was this their shout, or are we unwelcome?”

Laura tapped the page which had theirlanding instructions. “It says here we’ll be met by the sheriff himself, ifthat tells you anything.”

“It tells me they’re freaking out aboutthis. Great. Well, at least we’re not going to be given the cold shoulder whenwe ask for assistance.” Nate closed his eyes, his head still tilted back. “Iwish this was a longer flight. I could do with a nap.”

“Then have one,” Laura suggested. “Theycall it a power nap when it’s short, right? Maybe you’ll wake up more powerful.”

“You’re saying I’m not powerful enough?”Nate asked, flexing his muscles with a grin.

Any other time, Laura thought, she wouldhave patted him on the arm and said something condescending. She drew back fromtouching him again. “You’re not funny when you’re tired,” she said instead,looking out her window dismissively.

She probably would have been satisfiedto sit there, staring right out her window and not seeing a thing, if Nate hadn’tspoken again.

“Hey, you know, I’ve been thinking aboutthat little girl,” he said. “Amy.”

There was something wrong with hisvoice. It was just a little too casual. Like he’d been thinking about what tosay and how to say it.

“Oh yeah?” Laura asked, looking backaround. She reached for the in-flight magazine for something to keep her handsand face busy. Not that there was ever anything interesting in these things.

“You knew exactly where to look