Once He Takes by Molly Black

Author:Molly Black [Black, Molly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

***

Claire stared at the beer in front of her. The image of the boy haunted her thoughts, as did the face of Jennifer Mannings. She wondered how close to saving her life, how close they had been to catching the killer. The three officers who had joined them shortly after she and Wilson had entered the basement - had they made decisions that, had they gone another way, meant they would have arrived in time?

She looked up, took in her surroundings. The hotel bar was like every other hotel bar in America. It served a purpose. A purpose mainly for people to while away the hours, to forget the day they had just endured, or put off the one that was coming.

Claire’s mind was a cacophony of thoughts and emotions. As well as the case, the exhaustion of the day, everything else that was happening, a new one was trying to make itself known.

It wasn’t a new one, if she was completely honest with herself. It had been there for a while, but it was getting stronger, pushing its way further and further to the front of her consciousness. Now that she was in comforting surroundings, the soothing buzz of the alcohol seeping into her, that feeling was getting harder to ignore.

She looked across at Wilson.

“You’re quiet,” he said, catching her eye. “The altitude takes it out of ya, doesn’t it?”

She nodded her assent, and took a sip of her beer.

“Tomorrow we’ll see if forensics found anything from either of the Jennifer Mannings crime scenes,” he said, and Claire got the impression he was simply filling the silence.

“The coroner’s got to prioritize this now. When we find out exactly what those shavings are, how they fit into all of this, that is the way into this case,” he said, downing his beer to emphasize the point. “Same again?” he asked.

“Yeah, go on, but then I’m hitting the hay. I’m beat,” she said and watched him call over the waitress.

Claire looked at Wilson. Despite herself, despite every professional bone in her body, despite every instinct, she couldn’t deny the feelings that she was starting to have for the man. Feelings that were becoming harder and harder to ignore.

She had told herself to get a grip. She wasn’t a teenager. She had a job to do, a job where people’s lives were at stake.

She knew all that.

But she also knew that unless she confronted those feelings, they would only get stronger and she would only get more confused, less able to do that job.

The waitress set the beers down, and Claire drained the last of her glass.

She took a deep breath.

“Wilson… Mark…”

He looked at her; a smile stretched across his features, then faded. He took a sip of his beer, and she could tell he was suddenly as nervous as she was. Did he know what she was about to say. Or about to try and say?

“I don’t know how to say this, and I don’t know even if I should say

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