Gritting my teeth, I tuck the note away. Just what I need, my daughter getting wind of an established connection with a woman she already thinks is a perfect match.
“Zach shared that you met with Colton,” I say to shut down any further inquiry into my personal life. “How’s he doing?”
“Getting more accustomed to his new situation a little more every day, but cult deprogramming is no joke, I’ll just say that.”
I’m sure she’s right. “What happens next?”
Her expression turns thoughtful. “He’ll stay in the group home while they look for placement with a foster family. But it’s tough to find one willing to take on a boy his age.”
“Why?”
She looks up from helping Tanya sharpen a colored pencil. “Even though Colton’s history is, well, different, many families just aren’t willing to risk it. His caseworker is Benjamin Lohoff. Super solid guy. Overworked, but that’s no surprise. He’s cool with visits, but he’ll want to be present. He’s kind of a German Shepard when it comes to protecting these kids.” She hands off the colored pencil and whips out her phone. “I’ll send you his contact.”
Seconds later, I have it. “Thanks, I’ll share both the note and Benjamin’s contact with Keo.”
Saying her name makes that heat at the base of my spine start to pulse again. Now I know it’s not some rash. It’s a craving. Desire.
Sofie quirks a brow like she’s reading my thoughts, but thankfully, Tanya leans on my arm, her tiny fingers sticky, almost hot. “Grampy!” She cackles. “That’s not a kitty.”
I lean back from my drawing of a cougar and plant a kiss on the top of her head. “It’s the only kind I know how to draw, precious.”
After dinner while the grandkids and some of the grown-ups play a game of hide and seek, Zach and I tackle the dishes and finish cleaning up.
“Promise not to make a habit of talking shop at a family dinner,” Zach says as he hands me a rinsed dinner plate. “But I just got a text from Everett.”
I tuck the plate into the rack and reach for the next one. “Sounds important.”
It’s just us in the kitchen now, but he glances over his shoulder, asif to make sure, then meets my gaze. “We got an ID on the girl from the lake.”
I arch an eyebrow. “That was quick.”
He uses the sponge to get at a blob of dried barbecue sauce. “We lucked out with dental records.” He lowers his tone even further. “It’s that nurse we’ve been looking for. Samantha Bowen.”
I exhale a slow breath, but it doesn’t erase the images flashing through my brain. I’ve seen a few dead bodies in my line of work, and plenty of gruesome injuries, but never something as horrific as what CJ and I experienced frozen into a chunk of Cascade Lake ice. The cold water had slowed decomposition, but not so much that her face would be recognizable. Only after the recovery team had her loaded up did the possibility of her being our missing nurse enter my mind. The timing fit. So did her long dark hair.
“She’s been in that lake two years?” I load another rinsed plate.
“The ME thinks her body had been weighted down but then broke loose and ended up stuck in the ice.”
Weighted down? By what? And if that was the case, it means someone put her in that lake. “Cause of death?”
“The ME is calling it a drowning, but she had defensive wounds.”
If that’s true, her drowning wasn’t accidental. “How about evidence?”
“They’ll be thorough, but the lake water and aquatic life didn’t help us there.”
He’s right. The possibility they’ll find evidence linking whoever may have been connected to her death is extremely thin. But what if theydofind something? And what if it leads to arresting someone inside Sons of Eden for murder?
After the partybreaks up and we’ve hugged and said ourfarewells, Linnea and I walk down the pebbled walkway to my truck, the clear night studded with twinkling stars.
“First day tomorrow,” I say to Linnea once we’re inside the cab. “You feeling ready?”
She smiles, her raindrop silver earrings shining in the dash lights. “I’m, um, nervous.”
“About?”
“Fitting in,” she replies easily.