She Once Disappeared: An Artemis Blythe FBI Mystery Thriller by Georgia Wagner

Author:Georgia Wagner [Wagner, Georgia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Artemis listened to the low grumble of a motorcycle engine. She stood at the gas station where the two of them had agreed to meet, under the cover, loitering near the bathrooms if only to keep herself hidden from the occasional motorist out and about this early in the morning.

Only three A.M. Time was quickly passing, and she had only a few hours left to meet up with Fake-Helen.

So many questions were still unanswered.

Was her father really the Ghost-killer?

If not, who was?

Had the Ghost-killer found Helen?

Was Artemis' sister still alive?

And how would they get the Kramers back if her father was innocent? The deal had been plain—Artemis had to turn in her father in exchange for Jamie, Sophie, and an alibi for Azin's murder. But now. . . If her father was innocent. . . Artemis couldn't just hand him over to a psychopath.

No. . . She needed conclusive evidence one way or another.

And that's why she stood out in the cold morning, her back to the glass window of the gas station. The building was empty. Only one motorist still lingered near a gas pump—an older man, puffing on a cigarette despite the warnings near the machine.

But her gaze turned in the direction of the approaching motorbike, and she watched as her brother arrived.

Tommy's long hair was loose now, fluttering behind him like a horse's mane. He was wearing his usual leather jacket and, to match the ones now in Artemis' pocket, sunglasses.

The two tattoos on the sides of his face stood out as he pulled into the gas station, kicked the kickstand, and hopped off his low-rider.

Tommy dusted his gloved hands off on one another, looked around, spotted her, and—in the dark of night—began to approach, sauntering forward as he drew near.

She watched as he approached, her heart pounding, her stomach twisted in knots.

She gave a quick nod and then, her voice low, she muttered, “Hey, thanks for meeting me.”

“Yup,” he said simply.

“So . . . where is he?”

Tommy jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “Cortez, you said, yeah?”

“Randy Cortez, yeah. Where?”

He nodded across the street now. “That's why we're meeting here, sis.” He was looking toward the empty parking lot of a strip club. The neon sign out front read, Heads and Tails.

Artemis wrinkled her nose. “That's his business?”

“One of 'em. Also where he lives. Coupl'a nephews live with him, mind,” Tommy said, a note of warning in his voice. He looked back at her, hands on his hips. “How come?” he said conversationally.

But Artemis was now peering toward the strip club across the street, frowning as she did. Was it possible that the Ghost-killer was the owner of local businesses in Pinelake and the surrounding area? Perhaps that was how he'd been able to avoid detection all these years.

As she considered it, she felt a jolt of frustration.

“I swore I'd never buy it,” she said quietly, standing near her brother.

“Huh?” he said, clearly in a talkative mood.

“I told myself,” she said simply, glancing at her brother now and meeting his shaded gaze, “that I'd never believe dad.

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