CHAPTER 69

Rita

I HEAR VOICES IN A BACK ROOM. THERE’S LIGHT UNDER THE DOOR. I nudge the door open with my hip, gun drawn.

“Police!” I enter the room, but there’s no one there except Rachel Chapman, who is sprawled on the floor, covered in blood. A frigid breeze blows through the room. A back door to the outside stands open.

“Rachel? It’s Detective Myers. What happened?” But she appears to be unconscious. I call dispatch again. “I need that backup ASAP and I need EMS as well.” Despite the shot I heard, it doesn’t look like there’s a gunshot wound on Ms. Chapman. Then I see a knife lying on the floor not too far away.

I crouch and check her wound. The bleeding seems to have stopped. That’s good, but help needs to get here quickly because whoever did this and whoever fired the shot is on the run, and I need to find them. Then I see a little pink sock.

Could Eve have done this? Did she somehow think that her best friend was behind the kidnapping? And she snapped? Why didn’t she shoot her then? Something’s not right here. That doesn’t fit, and I’m all but certain now that Nicole Clark is behind everything that’s happened.

Where is my fucking backup?

Then I hear the sirens. “What happened, Rachel?” I yell, hoping to get some answers. But she’s totally out of it. Then she stirs slightly.

“Lake house,” she murmurs. Then she’s silent again, as if she’d used all of her remaining strength.

Anna Connors is the first cop through the door. I give her a quick rundown then I’m gone, wending my way back through the gallery as cops pour in through the door. In my van, I grab my notebook, turn on the dome light, and flip back and forth between sketches I’d made of my suspects. On a hunch, and Rachel’s mumbled words, I throw the van’s gearshift in reverse and head out.