"We're a little bit discussing this." But Troy was grinning now, the big smile that had driven her insane for thirty-something years and that she'd missed more than she'd ever admitted when he'd been stationed away. "All I want to say is that it took you two long enough. Also, I had twenty dollars on this happening before the end of the year, and I'd like to collect from whoever I made that bet with."
"That was me," Jag said.
Troy held it in his hand. “Pay up.”
“I can’t believe I’m related to you people,” she muttered.
“Since you’re an item, I guess you won’t be fighting me when I tell you it’s best if you both sleep at the same house since.” Cormac had gone back to leaning against the counter, and for the first time since he strolled into her house, the man smiled.
"Can we please stop this?” Ziggy asked. “We have business to conduct.” She picked up her mug and looked at the television in the far corner of the room, which had been on mute since Troy arrived, cycling through the Sunday afternoon programming. She and Noah had been watching to see what the other shows were pushing for the next news cycle.
She started to look away but the graphic stopped her. A grainy, black and white photograph, taken inside what looked like a prison corridor. A man in his late sixties, silver-haired, angular features, dark eyes, who looked into the camera with the understanding he was making history.
She knew that face.
She'd seen it in a courtroom photograph more than once and on news reels while researching him for a story she’d have to bury. And she’d seen in a file she'd been handed five years ago—the night she learned that nothing was ever going to be simple again.
“Someone, turn up the volume,” she said.
Noah reached for the remote and pointed it at the television.
"—secured what many are calling the most significant true crime interview of the decade. Hugh Ender, whose investigative segments have been drawing record numbers for the network, will sit down with convicted serial killer Matias Salazar in an exclusive three-part interview set to air?—"
The remote hit the coffee table.
Noah was on his feet, pacing with his hands on his hips while he stared at the images flashing across the screen.
Ziggy's heart climbed into her throat and stayed there. The young reporter—who she’d met a few times, had watched his segments, had even told Noah once that the kid had good instincts—stood outside a federal correctional facility with the energy of a man who knew he had the story that would shape his career.
Unease slithered down her spine as a new horror occurred to her. Claire Harlow, one of the young news researchers who bounced between shows, often did work for the up-and-coming Hugh Ender.
Claire didn’t work directly on Noah’s show, but she often did her best to be useful, as she had with one of their recent stories.
“…the first time Salazar has ever agreed to speak on record. Ender confirmed that the interview covers Salazar's crimes, his victims, and for the first time, Matias Salazar has agreed to speak about his son, Angel, who disappeared when he was seventeen.”
“Shit.” She reached for Noah but quickly took a step back as he picked up a magazine from the end table—a Seattle Monthly that had been sitting there unread for over a month—and threw it across the room with brute force. It hit the wall, fell open on the floor, and the room went very quiet.
“You okay?” Jag stood.
“Define okay.” Noah pressed both hands flat on top of his head and stood there, chest heaving, facing the wall. He was definitely not fine.
Ziggy took a calculated risk, inched closer, and put her hand between his shoulder blades. He didn’t flinch, so she increased the pressure because she wanted him to know he wasn’t alone, that he’d never be alone again.
Not with her. Not with her family.
Not anymore.
“Doing the interview in two months seems like an odd time,” Troy said quietly. “The anniversary isn’t for another four.”
“Because this has nothing to do with any of that.” Noah dropped his arms, taking a step away from Ziggy. “This is about me.” He turned, his face had scrunched into something she’d never seen before. This wasn’t the controlled Noah that no one could rattle. "He's been quiet for twenty-five years, and now he's giving a three-part interview to a reporter frommynetwork.” He looked at Ziggy and then back toward everyone else in the room. “I don’t know what game he's playing, but I’d bet he’s behind what’s going on.”
“If he sent you a card, or a gift, or flowers to Ziggy, it would all be logged at the prison,” Cormac said. “Those things are recorded, and The Aegis Network has the resources to find out who Matias has been in contact with from the outside.”
“I’d like to know who he’s been talking to.” Noah stuffed his hands in his pockets and inched further away.
Ziggy stood there, holding back tears, and not just for the man whose life was crumbling. Her heart ached at his withdrawal. He was putting both physical and emotional distance between them.
Again.