Page 56 of Little Bitter Truths
“I don’t feel safe,” she said, “and I don’t see people the same way anymore.Every sound, every shadow makes me wonder if someone is out there watching me.I hate feeling this way in my own home.”
“It won’t last forever.I will solve this case, I promise.”
“I just want my life back, or some semblance of it.I know it won’t ever be the same again, not without Wren, and that’s … unavoidable.But everything right now is so hard and draining, and I’m tired of feeling exhausted all the time.”
I offered a few more words of encouragement, and as we ended the call, I grabbed a plate and warmed up a piece of quiche, thinking about what it would feel like if I lost my sister.
Unimaginable.
That’s how it would feel.
Mia was right to feel the way she did.
Somewhere out there, someone was trying to finish what they’d started, and I needed to find them before they got another chance.
22
Paso Robles greeted me with the same quiet charm it always had, with its rolling vineyards stretching toward the horizon and the afternoon sun settling over the landscape in long golden bands.It was the kind of place people came to slow down.
I pulled onto a residential street lined with modest homes, each one spaced far enough apart to give the illusion of privacy, even though there wasn’t much of one.
Christian Shepherd lived in a single-story house with a narrow driveway and a patch of dry grass that had seen better days.I parked along the curb, and my phone rang.I reached for it and saw Hunter was calling.
“Where are you?”she asked.
“I just pulled up in front of Christian’s house.”
“I was digging into his background this morning, and I found something that makes him a lot less useful as a suspect.”
I waited, and what she said next shocked me.
“He’s dead.”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard her.“What did you just say?”
“He died in a car accident two months ago on his way home from work.”
I turned toward his house, feeling a lot heavier than I had moments before.
“Two months ago,” I repeated.
“Yep.”
“All right,” I said.“That’s one more suspect we can cross off the list.I guess I’ll head back to Cambria, then.Anything else I should know?”
“Nothing useful.I’ll keep looking.”
“You do that, and I’ll check in with you later.”
We ended the call, and I sat there for a moment, disappointed.
Another suspect gone.
Another path closed.
I glanced at the house again.
It was quiet and still, and knowing what I did now, it had a bit of an abandoned feel to it.
