Chapter 54

FIFTY-FOUR

Josie squinted against the sunlight peeking around the corner of her house, its shafts stretching across her backyard. At her feet, Trout sniffed, nose never leaving the ground. It was almost as if he knew she was trying to figure something out and he wanted to help. Even though thoroughly smelling every blade of grass was not going to get them any closer to figuring out how the killer had gotten into their house to take the polaroid. She didn’t hear Noah approach, but she felt his chest against her back and sagged into it. He wrapped her up in his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Drake and I both think he got in through the side window in the kitchen. It looks like it was messed with from the outside. He could easily have approached the house from that direction and slipped around the side without being caught on camera.”

Josie sighed. “But how did he manage it? We’ve had nonstop guests. Even when no one is here, Trout—” She broke off. She couldn’t stop thinking about Trout being in the house with a killer. He barked at people he didn’t know when they came to the house, but he was not a ferocious guard dog by any means. Clearly, he wasn’t even a deterrent.

“We think he was here the night of Trinity’s proposal. The house was empty. Trout was with us.”

In a twisted way, that eased some of Josie’s anxiety. At least her sweet Trout hadn’t been alone with that bastard.

“Did you talk to Turner?” she asked.

“The Bowens’ house was clean. No major signs of a struggle. No evidence of a break-in and nothing on the security cameras. Turner said there were a few weak points where he could have gotten in though. An unlocked kitchen window around back. No cameras there. Other than the blood around the edges of the polaroid, there were six additional drops—four in the bedroom near the door and two in the hall. The ones in the bedroom were smeared. Anyway, Hummel typed them. They match Juliet’s blood type.”

Josie suppressed a shudder, imagining the Bowens finding out that the blood in their daughter’s room belonged to her. It didn’t matter if it was a little or a lot. Someone had broken into their home, made their child bleed, and taken her.

“Josie,” Noah said. “We haven’t found her.”

We haven’t found her body, was what he really meant. He was trying to give her hope. Not finding Juliet Bowen’s body was a blessing and a curse. So far, they hadn’t found a polaroid that wasn’t with a body. Josie had half expected them to find Juliet’s corpse somewhere inside their house. It was a relief that they hadn’t but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t find it in another place, once they figured out that location. She was convinced that the polaroid of treetops found at the Everly Rowe scene would lead them to Juliet.

“Geofence? LPRs?” Josie said. “How did he get there? Did someone drop him off? How did he transport her?”

“We don’t know how he got there but he left in one of the Bowens’ cars. Drove it right out of the garage,” Noah said against her temple. “There’s footage of the car pulling out but it’s not clear enough to see his face, only the brim of his hat. Turner called the infotainment company. They located the car near West Denton Elementary school. We’ve got units searching now. Gretchen got someone from the university to bring drones. Luke and Blue are on their way.”

Trout circled back to Josie’s feet and pressed his nose against her boot. “She won’t be there, Noah. That’s not how this game is played.”

And yet, the killer had changed the rules by leaving a polaroid with no body before they’d even figured out the last one.

Trout lifted his snout and pressed it against her other boot, taking short inhales. “What about Juliet’s phone?”

Noah said, “It was in her room. Josie, I promise you, everything that can be done is being done.”

Apparently satisfied that her boots were not of concern, Trout went back to scenting the grass. Josie turned in Noah’s arms, basking in the warmth of his hazel eyes. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Two polaroids, no body yet. The one in Juliet’s bed is so obvious. With the others, it took so long to figure out where he was leading us. Why is he changing things up now? I feel like if I could just figure out?—”

His hands cupped her face. “Josie, we need to get some rest. You need to get some sleep or you won’t be figuring anything out.”

“But the house,” she said, realizing for the first time that she was, in fact, so tired that it was getting hard to form a coherent sentence.

Noah smiled and brushed his lips over her forehead. “We’ll have a unit stationed here. Trinity and Drake are getting a hotel room.”

“They’re not going home?”

“You know your sister. She’s not going anywhere until she knows you’re safe, and Drake’s not going anywhere without her. At least until their bosses start complaining.”

Josie managed a half-hearted laugh.

“The three of us are going to stay with Gretchen and Paula. Gretchen promised to keep her cat away from Trout.” He pulled her closer until her cheek was pressed against his beating heart. “We’ll figure out everything else later, after we’ve had some rest. While we sleep, the investigation will grind on. The Chief is on so Gretchen can sleep as well. Turner said he can work straight through until one of us comes back.”

“But Juliet Bowen…” Josie said.

“No one will stop looking for her,” Noah promised. “Maybe by the time we wake up, there will be some developments.”