From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(63)
Day 7
THE COLD AIR FELT glorious against Josie’s sweaty skin as she walked up to her building that morning with hands on her hips and lungs burning from her run. She paced the sidewalk in front of her stairs, trying to catch her breath before she made her way inside, not expecting what she found when she reached her hallway.
Her father was banging on the door, his phone pressed to his ear and his face tight. Hank jumped when he saw her, his worry melting into relief as he pulled her into a hug. “Jesus, Jo. Where have you been?”
“I went for a run, just like every morning. What’s the matter?”
He squeezed her tighter.
“I’m all sweaty, Dad.”
“I don’t care.”
She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest, not sure what was going on.
After a moment, he pulled back and looked at her. “Let’s go inside.”
“Um…” She panicked.
He hadn’t been over since before Anne died. Hadn’t seen the crime shrine.
He shook his head, and something in his body language set off alarms. “The mess won’t bother me. We need to talk, and I don’t think you’ll want to be in the hallway.”
Goosebumps ran up her arms to her neck. “What happened?”
“Inside.” He jerked his chin at her door. “Come on.”
There was no avoiding it. Josie unlocked her door, trying to stay cool as they stepped in. She didn’t miss the second he saw the wall. The breath he pulled sucked all the air from the room.
“Sweet mother of God,” he breathed.
“Dad—”
Hank held up a hand to stop her, though his eyes were locked on her wall. He stepped toward it with brows knit and eyes narrow. “What in God’s name is all of this?”
Josie squeezed her hands behind her back. “I’ve been working on the case.”
He turned and made a smart-ass face that didn’t displace his anger. “I can see that.”
She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to say it out loud. “I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t stop looking. You know everything I know. Nothing on that wall is news to you, so how is seeing it like this a surprise?”
“Don’t play with me. This,” he said as he motioned to the wall, “is well above and beyond. Listen, honey, I know this is important to you—”
“No, Dad.” Her voice trembled. “This is everything. Tell me you would have done differently.”
Hank laid his hands on his hips and looked at the ground as he collected himself. “I can’t. I get it, but, Josie, this…” His eyes found the wall again, and he shook his head.
Josie took a breath. “Just look at it. Everything is here—every connection, every victim we’ve been able to find. There could be more, Dad, and now we’ve finally got him. We can bring these families peace by putting him away.”
“Sit down.”
“But, Dad—”
“Sit down, Jo.”
The command was flat and calm, and as she sat, her hands and face went numb.
“There’s a reason I’m here this morning, beating on your door like a crazy man. I kept calling you, and you didn’t answer, and I thought maybe Rhodes…” He looked tortured.
And then she understood. “I’m okay, Daddy,” she answered softly.
“I know. I know you are.” Hank pursed his lips, waiting an agonizing moment before he said, “ Josie, Rhodes is gone.”
The words sent a shock through her, the room dimming. Black spots danced in her vision. There was no air in the room. She dragged in a ragged breath, her lungs screaming.
Gone.
“How…”
“I’m trying to figure that out. I had a patrol in his alley from the time he left the station until this morning when I sent Walker and Davis to his place to hound him. He wasn’t there, wasn’t at any of the places on the list you made of his haunts. He left his phone, his wallet, even his car, but he’s gone. I’ve got a team there combing the place, but if he planned this out…”
She found her voice and looked up at her father. “I have to find him.”
“Now, Josie—” he warned.
She held his eyes. “You’re not going to stop me, so you might as well help me.”
“Goddammit, child,” he hissed and ran a hand through his hair before pointing at her. “If you tell your mother, I swear to all that’s holy—”
“You know I won’t.”
“I do know you won’t. Dammit.” Hank huffed. “I’m not confident we’re going to find anything to help us figure out where he is, Jo. We might not find him, and I need you to think about the what-if, okay?”
Refusal shot through her. “Not yet.”
“No, not yet, but sooner than later.” He looked at his watch. “I’ll call you when we’re finished at Rhodes’s.”
“Okay.”
He watched her for a second like he hated everything about everything. “Be careful, and you get the hell out of there if anything is off. You hear me? You’re not unsinkable, Jo, and if anything should happen to you—”