Dead of Winter (Cold Case Psychic #15) - Pandora Pine Page 0,60

drugs. Then he moved on to petty crime and ended up in jail then rehab.”

“You think those things are indicative of a guilty man?” Cisco looked as if he were leaning in that direction as well.

“I do when you consider the fact he opened a food pantry in his dead girlfriend’s name.” Ronan dug into his second slice of pizza.

Ten shook his head. “I disagree. Kyle told us he’d wanted to do something good in her name, and besides, wouldn’t Skye’s parents have told us he was a suspect? Come to think of it, they never offered anyone up as suspects, which makes what I need to tell you that much harder.”

“No. Don’t you dare, Tennyson.” Cisco kept his voice down, but Ten could hear the menace in it. “Those people have called me every year I’ve been in this job, same for the other chiefs who came before me. Don’t you sit there and tell me you think those people had something to do with this crime.” Anger burned in his eyes.

“You better take a step back when you’re talking to my husband.” Ronan glared at Cisco from across the table.

“Cool it. Both of you.” Ten felt the hold on his temper start to slip. “I’m a big boy, Ronan. I can take care of myself and defend my point of view.” He turned back to Cisco, who looked mildly pacified. “Look, follow the evidence. Skye ended up in the Salem Towne Forest in the middle of the night. How did she get there? It’s a ten-mile walk from her house. I’m betting she didn’t hoof it. All four members of her family had access to vehicles that night.”

“So did her friends, her boyfriend, and half of Salem!” Cisco challenged.

“Only Jennifer and Heidi had their driver’s license, but that doesn’t mean Lisa didn’t sneak out and borrow a car. Kyle was grounded, according to him.” Tennyson absolutely believed that part of Kyle’s story. The grief and guilt over not being there with Skye that night were real.

“What about everyone else in a ten-fucking-mile radius?” Cisco’s dark eyes glittered. He was getting angrier by the second.

“I hear you, Cisco. I really do.” Ten took a deep breath. If Cisco was angry now, he was going to go nuclear in a minute. “Skye said she knows who killed her.”

Cisco sat frozen. He didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe. “Skye knows who killed her, and the two of you are sitting here with your thumbs up your asses instead of arresting the son of a bitch?” His voice was calm, but had a deadly undertone to it.

“Calm down, Cisco. She didn’t tell me.” Ten felt a headache coming on. He thought back to the Justin Wilson case. He’d been one of the teenagers murdered by a serial killer. His spirit kept appearing to Tennyson, but he hadn’t mastered dead speak and couldn’t talk to him. Justin used a series of images to get his point across to Tennyson. He’d done everything possible to identify his killer and keep other teen boys safe. Meanwhile, Skye knew who killed and refused to say.

“She didn’t tell you?” Cisco looked back and forth between Ten and Ronan. “I’m in the Twilight Zone here. Explain this to me, and talk fast.”

If Cisco kept this up, he was going to have a heart attack right in the middle of the lunch rush. “Skye has spent the last thirty-five years putting what happened behind her. It can’t be easy for her to have me show up all of a sudden and start digging around in something that, in her mind, has long been dead and buried.”

“I thought you hated this ghost?” Ronan accused.

Christ, the last thing Ten needed right now was for Ronan to jump on him too. “I understand her a bit more now. I can see where she’s coming from. What’s more, I think she understands where I’m coming from in wanting to give her family closure.” Ten shook his head, unsure if he should say what was on his mind.

“Spit it out, Ten,” Cisco encouraged.

“It’s just one more reason why I think maybe her family had something to do with this.” Ten knew the worst thing he could do was speculate, but it was all he had at the moment.

“Because she refuses to give them closure?” Cisco seemed to have gotten his anger under control.

“Yeah, something like that. I also think Skye is at a point where she’s at peace with her murder.” It wasn’t often