Chapter 123

Jake satin his SUV watching the quiet street. Despite the police tape still clinging to her front porch, things had returned to normal in Dana's neighborhood.

He'd been parked outside since she got home. He could respect that she needed time to process everything. Hell, who wouldn't? But as for being alone, he disagreed. If she needed to keep him at arm's length for now, he could deal with that, but it didn't mean he'd stop looking out for her.

Sipping his coffee, Jake rolled his window down drinking in the cool night air. He could hear the faint sound of jazz coming from Dana's place. Duke Ellington from the sound of it. Gazing at Dana's he couldn't help noticing every light that blazed brightly back at him.

Loud music, bright lights … she was trying to drown out the terrifying silence that came after tragedy. Danger waited in that silence, ready to pounce and drag victims under the weight of ‘what ifs' and ‘should haves.' Jake knew it all too well.

He also knew the instinct to face the silence alone was a foolish one.

So, whether Dana liked it or not, he would be out here, keeping watch over her until the lights went out.

Though it wasn't his only reason for being there. He logged onto his laptop, pulling up the video footage he'd asked Richter for the moment he'd seen the photo of the scythe stashed in Dana's attic.

Something had been nagging him since he saw it. He knew how Claire had gotten in and out now, but he wanted to see the footage to confirm another theory.

Jake opened the files downloaded from the doorbell cam. It came from a house across the street from Dana's. The one he was parked in front of now. Thanks to the wide manicured median of hedges and crepe myrtles that divided the street, the camera angle perfectly captured the entire front of Dana's home, including the roofline. It's why Richter's team had requested it when they found the scythe.

The inexpensive doorbell cams were designed to catch package pirates, but Jake had seen them aid in many an investigation. Including this one.

Jake queued up the video with the date Claire had snuck out to meet Max. The news vans and reporters milled outside on the street, partially blocking the view of Dana's front porch, but the roof was fully visible. Focusing on the dormer windows, he watched intently until finally, he saw a pale face peeking out. Claire's face.

A moment later, dressed in black, she opened the window, slipped out and disappeared beyond the roofline where she could've easily climbed down into the backyard thanks to the gentle slope of the Craftsman-style roof.

Now that he knew what to look for, Jake closed out the video and opened a new one with an earlier date. The date this all started.

Holding his breath, he watched a dark figure walk up the steps to Dana's front door and let themselves in with a key. Jake fast forwarded until he appeared on the tape, smashing out the sidelight to enter Dana's burglarized home, weapon drawn.

His eyes flicked to the dormer windows again, praying he was wrong. But sure enough, the same slight figure slipped out the window and along the roofline before disappearing from view. Just as Claire had done in the video before.

It had been her all along.

She'd been the one who broke into Dana's home. She stashed the scythe in the attic, then changed clothes and wandered Dana's neighborhood until the cops picked her up and delivered her right to Dana's doorstep, none of them the wiser.

Jake swore. Hating that he hadn't seen it sooner.

Claire had been deceiving them all along.

Somehow the knowledge of that betrayal cut him deeper than everything else she'd done.

He didn't know what to believe—had Claire been brainwashed, possessed, or just plain deranged? None of those scenarios made him feel any better. No explanation would.

It would be easier to blame a supernatural source of evil for the Reaper murders and Claire's part in them. But Jake had seen too many times the wickedness mere mortals were capable of.

He would have to tell Dana about this. But not tonight. Maybe not even the next. As Jake watched her lights flick out, he told himself she would be okay. She was the strongest person he'd ever met. She'd get through this. He'd be there to make sure of it.

Starting the engine, he pulled away from Dana's house, driving toward his own, heart heavy with the truth.