Chapter 37

Hez got to his feet and tested his limbs. He was stiff and chilled to the bone from the rain, but he found no injuries other than an enormous lump on the left side of his head. He wasn't bound and no one else was in sight. His captors had apparently just dumped him on Andre Legare's grave. Again, why?

"I don't see him, but when you can stand, we'll search for him." He hugged her tight. "Thank God you're okay!"

"I thought they were going to kill both of us," she whispered. She lifted her head. "Why did they leave us here?"

"I think they got me right after you." She started to shiver. "D-did you get the evidence you need?"

She took out her phone—and it also had been wiped. Her hands shook, so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. The smile she gave him warmed him to the tips of his toes, despite the wet November chill. "Thank you."

He'd tried not to think about the boy's fate. If Beckett had harmed him...

Savannah gasped and grabbed his arm. "Simon!"

Hez followed her gaze. Simon lay on Ella's grave. There was a package of candy on his chest.

***

Hez stepped closer and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "What do you remember, Simon? Did he answer any of your questions?"

Simon crossed his arms over his chest. "I pounded on his door. When he opened it, I asked why he had framed my mum. He just stared at me and had this creepy grin. He said, ‘You don't know anything, do you?' Then he waved at someone behind me. A guy in a ski mask picked me up and carried me to a van. He poked a needle in my arm, and I woke up here."

Simon stared at the bag in her hands. "It's not mine. I'm allergic to peanuts."

"It was on your chest when we found you," Hez said.

"They never really said anything about it when they followed up with questions. So who else knew?"

Hez took a step back. "You're saying someone left the candy here as a warning?"

A glance at Simon's curious face made Savannah check her initial response. "I don't know what it means."

But she knew. They both did. Beckett was warning them that if they poked around, Simon might die. But how did Beckett know Ella had likely gone after the bag of candy? It wasn't something she'd talked about with anyone other than Hez. Not ever—even to Nora. Even she and Hez hadn't discussed it much after a couple of early fights about who left the bag where it would tempt Ella. Neither of them remembered leaving the bag out there by the pool.

So how had Beckett found out?

Hez exhaled. "Maybe a snitch in the police force gave him the file."