I called her cell to find out where she was, and a member of the Salem PD answered the phone and told me she’d been found dead this morning.”
“Did Heidi give any indication why she wanted Lisa’s contact information?” Kevin asked.
“No. I asked her about it, so I could be better prepared for the meeting, but she said she’d explain it all when I saw her.”
“I found her information,” Ronan said with no sense of accomplishment in his voice. “A few clicks on my phone and there it was. Why do you think Heidi wanted you to look up her old friend?”
Reagan shook his head. “I don’t know. The fact that you all are investigating the Skye Washington case just adds to the mystery.”
“Well, this is interesting,” Jude said. “According to The Salem News, Lisa McRoy has been named as the interim host of the Jennifer’s Place gala.”
“Interesting,” Ronan said.
“I don’t give a fiddler’s fuck about galas,” Cisco was out of his seat and pacing. “This letter tells us nothing. There are no details about the crime. No indication of why Heidi allegedly killed her best friend. I sure as hell can’t take this letter to the Washington family. All it does is add to the mystery instead of solving it.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Ronan agreed. “We need to speak to the last surviving friend before the killer can get to her.”
“I can’t imagine Lisa is going to want to talk to us after the murder of her two friends within the last week.” Fitzgibbon was out of his seat and shrugging back into his jacket.
“What about you, Ten? What are you getting from all of this?” Ronan had stayed in his seat. His full attention was on his husband.
Ten turned to Reagan. “Can I touch the letter and envelope?”
Nodding, the attorney slid them down the table.
Ten set them beside each other and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the objects in front of him. His right hand lowered to the letter. He saw nothing. “It’s all blank—” Ten gasped as his stomach dropped and he felt a wave of nausea pass through him. In the distance he could hear screaming, faint at first but getting louder before fading out. As the vision swam into focus, he saw Skye Washington lying in the snow as a puddle of blood spread out beneath her. Heidi Lucas stood over her, holding a bloody knife. “Oh, Jesus,” he muttered.
“What is it? What did you see?” Ronan pushed Ten’s seat back from the table, turning the chair so it was facing him.
“I saw Heidi with a bloody knife and Skye lying in the snow. She was dead.”
“Was anyone else there?” Ronan asked.
“I don’t know. All I could see was Heidi and Skye.” Ten shook his head. He was pondering something Skye had said before, or rather, didn’t say. “I think there’s more to this.”
“What do you mean?” Cisco asked.
“If this was the end of the story, then there was no need to kill Jennifer or Heidi, right?” Ten looked around the table.
“What if Heidi killed Jennifer and then herself?” Reagan asked. “Stranger things have happened.”
“No,” Ronan answered quickly. “The pillow used to kill Heidi was thrown across the room. Heidi wouldn’t have been able to smother herself and then throw the pillow.”
“What if the EMTs moved it?” Jude asked.
“It was the neighbor who found Heidi,” Ronan wore a frustrated look on his face. “I suppose it’s possible she moved it, but it was flung across the room. Shit!” he muttered under his breath. “We’re still at square one.”
Ten knew exactly how Ronan was feeling. How was it possible to have a second murder, and a confession to Skye Washington’s killing, and still not have made any progress? He was sick and tired of this case and knew there was only one person who could answer the question of who killed Skye Washington. Ten was going to give the shy spirit one more chance to answer the question before he gave up on this case completely.
29
Ronan
Ronan sat alone in front of the Christmas tree in the dark, watching the lights twinkle. Everly had just gone down for the night, and Tennyson was upstairs changing into sweats and a tee. How fucking pathetic was it that Ronan was sitting alone in the dark while his husband was naked upstairs?
This case had him tied up in knots. Never in his entire career had Ronan ever felt this upside down before.