Dead of Winter (Cold Case Psychic #15) - Pandora Pine Page 0,22

and now wasn’t the time to find out. “Like I said before, it’s been thirty-five years since the murder. Skye might not have been in her room because she’s moved on, but it also crossed my mind that she might not be home because it was someone there who killed her.”

Ronan opened his mouth, looking like he was about to challenge Tennyson. “The Salem Police cleared the parents, and there were only cursory interviews with the older siblings, both of whom had their own cars.”

“I was thinking the same thing. When I was in Skye’s room, I looked out the bedroom window over the deck roof, and there’s no way she used it to get out of the house. Spiderman would have had a hard time making that climb down.”

“Muriel said the window was open a crack.” Ronan wore a dubious look. Ten had a feeling his husband at sixteen would have attempted that climb if there was dick waiting for him at the bottom.

“I believe her. I bet it was. My guess is that Skye opened it to smoke something so her room wouldn’t reek of cigarettes or pot.” Not that he ever dabbled in drugs or butts, well, not the kind you smoked.

“I didn’t see anything in the evidence report of finding cigarette butts on the roof or ashes on the windowsill.”

“I’m sure the ashes would have blown away in the December wind, and I’m betting Skye was smart enough to chuck the butts in the toilet.” Ten would have been if he’d been in her shoes.

“Good point.” Ronan shook his head. “This investigation really was shit.”

“Shit!” Everly announced as she and Dixie ran into the room. She ran as far as the kitchen island before turning around to run out again.

“Hold on there a minute, little lady,” Ten said in a serious voice.

Everly stopped in her tracks. She turned around and waved to Ten. “Hi, Dada! Ya yoooo!” She blew kisses and turned to run back into the living room.

“Come here, Everly.” Ten bit his lower lip so he wouldn’t laugh at the hilarious pout on her face. She knew she was in trouble. Ten scooped up his daughter when she walked up to his chair. He set her on the kitchen table in front of him. “Why do you think I’m upset with you?”

“Shit!” Everly said emphatically.

Ten shot Ronan the stink eye.

“You can say thank you and you’re welcome to your toddler a hundred times, but say shit once and you’re doomed.” Ronan’s pout matched Everly’s.

Actually, Ronan said it twice, but who was counting? Their twin looks would have been hilarious if Ten wasn’t worried about Everly saying that word in front of Kaye, Aurora, or Wolf. Aurora was talking now, and he didn’t want the little girl’s parents thinking Everly was the bad seed. “You know that’s a bad word, right?”

“Yes,” Ronan and Everly answered together.

“We’re not going to say that word again, right?” Ten asked with his eyes on Ronan.

“No,” father and daughter agreed.

Ten knew Ronan was bullshitting him. He’d be back to saying shit again the minute Everly was out of the room. “One minute on the time out step. Okay?”

Everly nodded silently. She wouldn’t make eye contact with Ten. He set her back on the floor and she moped off to serve her punishment. Which wasn’t much of a punishment. Ten knew full well Everly could see the television from the bottom step.

“You know the rules of timeout. One minute for every year. If I put you in timeout, you’d miss dinner.” Ten rolled his eyes.

“Does that mean you’ll punish me later?” Ronan winked at his husband.

“It sure does!” Ten laughed. “You’ve got laundry duty tonight while I read Skye’s diary.”

“Fine, just promise to grab me if you find something interesting.” Ronan’s pout was gone. Ten could tell he had his mind back on the case. “Do you think someone in that house killed Skye?”

Ten knew what Ronan meant. His husband was asking what his gift told him about Muriel and Butch. “The parents didn’t do it. All I felt from them was grief and guilt for not having protected their child. I got no indication that either of them had done it.”

“We need to reach out to the siblings,” Ronan got up from the table and grabbed his notebook from the island. He started jotting down notes.

“And the three best friends,” Tennyson added. He knew the three teenage girls had been treated with kid gloves at the time. They wouldn’t get