Read Online For All to See (Bureau Series Book 1) by Megan Mitcham - Free Book Online

seat.
    “I’m afraid I’m about to make you more uncomfortable, but I’m not going to dress it up in flowers.”
    “Flowers die.”
    He tore off a hunk of bread and swallowed it down. “True enough. All right. I’ve been on the Field-Dresser case for nearly three years. A pair of murders occur every year, exactly one year from the last set. The pattern began in St. Thomas, and then moved to St. John a year ago yesterday. I believe he’s begun the cycle in Tortola.”
    The metal fork clanged on the ceramic plate and then clattered to the table. Her heart beat so hard she’d swear it left impressions on her chest. Nausea rolled like a wave in her belly. “You think she’s dead, not missing?”
    “I honestly hope I’m wrong, but—”
    “You are wrong.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she forged ahead. “You’re talking about the women killed by that maniac. He’s in custody. Just last night they showed a snippet on the news about the beginning of the trail.”
    “It’s not him,” he whispered.
    “What are you talking about? Granted, I don’t have a TV, but I’ve heard people talk about it. And they said the prosecutor had all the evidence they needed to go for the death penalty.”
    Nathan set his fork on the edge of the plate. It didn’t make a sound. He placed the napkin next to it, grabbed his thighs, and straightened. “They have every scrap of evidence they need. They have a verbal and written confession from Robert Inman. But one thing didn’t match up between his story and the evidence. That thing is big enough to get the case thrown out. And it’s big enough that when he told me, I wanted to cut him loose right then and there.”
    “Why didn’t you?”
    “Because I’m not self-employed.”
    “What was the thing?”
    He simply shook his head.
    “Fine, what does all that have to do with Nichole?”
    “She matches the profile of the victims. Tall. Dark hair. Trim physique. The timing fits, along with some other things.”
    “Like?”
    His chest expanded on a breath and he released it slowly. He wasn’t going to answer her question.
    Fine.
    As the shock ebbed, reason seeped back into Madelyn’s brain. “I think she ran away with someone…a man, maybe. That’s why she didn’t say anything to me.”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “Well,” she began. “You know her husband was abusive and jealous enough to make anyone want to leave.”
    “But she didn’t leave him. You said it yourself. She wouldn’t leave no matter how much you tried to convince her he would do it again and no matter how badly he treated her. She didn’t leave.”
    She knew he was right. Nichole had been loyal to a fault. Still, she pushed ahead. “Yes, that’s what I believed up until a few hours ago. Last night I did some investigating of my own.”
    His jaw clenched. His eyes clouded charcoal black.
    Though the change was subtle, she noticed it immediately. She noticed it the way people notice the darkening of the sky before a storm. Gooseflesh prickled her entire body. “Before you lecture me about my place in all this, you should know I got a lead.”
    “A lead?” He ground the words between his teeth. “Who are you, Nancy Drew?”
    “She was seen driving down the beach at two in the morning, Friday morning, with someone else in the car.”
    “Who told you this?”
    “Mr. Malik. He’s an old fisherman who lives west of here about five miles up the beach.”
    “Old?” His eyes narrowed.
    “He’s eighty, but he is sharp as a tack.”
    “Okay, what was this sharp eighty-year-old doing outside at two in the morning?”
    Madelyn bit her cheek to hide her smirk. “I was curious myself. He said, ‘Sugar, when you get to be my age you don’t sleep much at night and you have to pee every few hours. I like to look at the moon and the stars when I pee.’ He said it gives him a sense of being one with nature.”
    Nathan considered that. “If this pans out, you did better than I did last