Page 41 of Secrets in the Deep

Nora pushed the bowl aside and leaned closer to the camera. “We all do dumb shit sometimes. Trust me, I’m a school counselor, I’ve heard it all. But you had your reasons. You were exhausted from your op, you hadn’t slept in three days. Her mother called and made you feel like you were ruining Emily’s life.” Nora tilted her head. “You made a snap decision, what you thought was best at the time, for the woman you loved. Plus, you called and messaged the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that…”

“She crashed her car because of me. She could have died.”

“Notbecause of you. Because of a drunk driver.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “How’s work?”

“Really? Knee-deep into possibly the most important conversation of your life, and you ask me about work?”

“You said kids are making dumb decisions?”

She rolled her eyes. “They’re kids. It’s what they do. But they have good hearts. The big problem is that the school needs to make some budget cuts, and apparently my name is being thrown around.”

“How do you know that?”

“Word travels fast in a school setting.”

“Don’t even think about coming here.”

She touched a hand to her chest like he’d hurt her. “Way to stab me in the heart. A few months ago, you were trying to convince me to join you.”

“That was before all the shit started going down. I swear there’s a new threat every other week.”

“But things have settled down now, right? The bad guys are all behind bars or dead?”

“There’s still the matter of a number of missing and dead women.”

“Uh, yeah, the five women dating back twenty-five years who may not even be connected.”

“The most recent woman went missing six years ago, Nora. If the pattern continues, and theyarerelated, there’s someone making women go missing from this town, and they could strike again soon.”

This time, Nora tossed a chocolate chip into her mouth. “And you think if I moved to Deep River, I could be number six?”

“We’re not testing it.”

A fist pounded at his door.

Nora frowned. “Expecting company?”

“No. I’ll call you back.”

“Okay, but don’t shoot anyone. No one needs to die because you’re in a mood over Emily.”

“Goodbye, Nora.” He hung up but still smiled, because shit, he loved the woman. She was a breath of fresh air.

People were often surprised when Nora told them she was a school counselor. They expected someone softly spoken and careful with their words. But that was why she was so good at her job. She met kids on their level.

He crossed to the door and looked through the peephole.

The fuck?

He pulled it open. “Melanie. How do you know where I live?”

She rolled her eyes. “I made sure I knew the second I saw you here. Where is she?”

Before he could respond, Emily’s mother stormed past him, straight into his house.

He turned. “Who? Emily?”