"I'll think about it," I said. I looked at Ben. "What do you think?"
"You know what I think. I'll be covering the Sirens story since that’s what I was investigating while you were chasing this case. I expect it’ll blow up in a spectacular way once Jessica Suarez's little black book becomes public, so we're both going to have a busy few months ahead, but I'll be with you every step of the way, no matter what you decide."
I smiled at hearing that, and my heart warmed at his words. Ben and I would be okay. Perhaps it was an added bonus that we would be working on very different things for a few months. Instead of competing, we could concentrate on not only helping each other, but having fun at it. We certainly had a lot to catch up on. "A sabbatical sounds nice," I said.
"Don't forget you promised I could write the music score for the eventual film," said Mike. "We had a deal."
I glanced at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Jeez. Talk about goldfish memory," he sighed as he rolled his eyes. "After all I've been through these past twenty-four hours, this is the thanks I get!"
"Someone throw a pillow at him. Not mine," I added since I just nestled into a comfortable position.
A pillow sailed across the room and I laughed, then stopped, wincing again. Mike caught it and held onto it, pulling a face at Daisy.
"There's something else," said Ashleigh, the tone of her voice sobering us. "We haven't released all the details to the press yet but I had cadaver dogs go through Hayden's house and yard as well as the imaging equipment and it looks like the women you identified weren't the only victims. Hayden Roth's backyard is a virtual cemetery."
"There were more?" I asked, thinking about the pretty backyard that harbored such a terrible secret.
"Several so far. It appears one of his biggest mistakes was running out of space,” said Ashleigh. "He had to dump April and Sammy."
My stomach rolled.
"With the discovery of the photo albums Hayden made, it's likely Anna Sanchez and Danika Jones are amongst them. Their photos are in there and we'll identify all of them eventually but it will be a major operation. Without you, Shayne, these women might never have been found. A lot of families can finally get the closure they need," she added. "I agree with everyone else. You should tell their stories. You should be their voice. Make sure it's their voices that are heard, not his."
I squeezed Ben's hand and took a deep breath. I moved to LA to change my life, just like Sammy did. And Anna, Danika, April and Bonita. I could do this for them. I could tell their stories, and Daisy's. They deserved to have their voices heard, not Hayden’s. I reached for Daisy's hand, then one by one, my friends added theirs on top, creating a stack of friendship. "I think I've got a lot of work to do," I told them.
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Love mysteries? Try Jeopardy in January, my new standalone mystery, out now in paperback and ebook!
Sara Cutler loves her job as head librarian of the public library, an integral part of the historic heart of the picturesque mountain town, Calendar. The combination of old books, quirky clientele, and endless reading is nothing less than perfection for Sara. So when she discovers a body in the rare books section that threatens to destroy her quiet existence, along with the imminent demise of the library, Sara vows to find the killer.
She never expects to receive any help from Jason Rees, the handsome, big city developer whose only objective is to get rid of the library. Sara assumes he is counting on the murder to serve as the final death knell his firm needs to demolish the library. However, that doesn’t prevent him from falling head over heels for the very woman with whom he’s clashing.
When news arrives that the dead woman was nothing that she appeared to be, the whole town is instantly enthralled by the concept of having an actual jewel thief in their midst. Even more puzzling is: where did she hide her stolen treasure?
All Sara must do to save the library is simply solve the murder, find the hidden jewels, and convince herself not to succumb to the one man she would rather see run out town. It doesn’t take long before she realizes that amateur sleuthing isn’t as easy in real life as it is in the stories she loves to read.
Love mysteries? Try Armed & Fabulous, the first in my Lexi Graves cozy mystery series, in a free ebook!
All Lexi wants to do is get through the day at her boring temp job with Green Hand Insurance. That’s until she finds the CEO, Martin Dean, in a pool of blood and finds herself at the center of an investigation into insurance fraud.
Millions of dollars are missing, the chief suspect is dead and her mysterious, sexy, new boss is not what he seems.
Recruited by the joint task force working on the case, all Lexi has to do is work out who killed Martin and where the missing millions are. That’s easier said than done when her sister is demanding the baby shower to end all baby showers, her wise ass cop family just wants to keep her safe, someone is leaving her creepy gifts and all their clues are leading them to a seedy sex club on the wrong side of town.
As the bodies start to pile up, Lexi is on a race against time to find the killer and the money, before she’s next in the murderer’s sights.
Dead Ringers Page 26