So Cold by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blake Pierce
Published: 2023-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

***

Faith said nothing on the ride back to the hotel with Michael. Michael tapped the steering wheel every few minutes but made no sound otherwise. Even Turk was silent, sitting in the second row with his head on the center console and staring bleakly out the window.

When they got to the hotel, they went through the motions of ordering lunch and only after they had finished and made coffee did they finally talk.

“I guess a neighbor caught us visiting him and looked him up,” Michael said. “Told his neighbor who told his neighbor and so on.”

Faith nodded but said nothing. After a moment, Michael said, “I keep expecting it to be better. It’s weird. My only personal experience with this neighborhood has been two dead bodies and an angry mob, but I still expect it to be better. Like this is just a fluke, like something out of a crime show or… I don’t know.” He chuckled. “I just thought I would see a bunch of mildly arrogant rich people who spend an inappropriate amount of time talking about traveling and expensive toys but otherwise generally happy, decent people. Annoying people, but decent. Instead… I mean, I’ve been to some seedy neighborhoods, but this… this is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.”

“It’s supposed to be different,” Faith said.

“Is that a terrible thing to say?” Michael agreed. “I hate to say it, but you look at a neighborhood like this, and you think yachts and yoga pants; you don’t think murderers and a damned lynch mob.”

“I keep asking myself,” Faith said, “what is the connection between Ethan Somersall and Evelyn Vance.”

“You mean other than the fact that they both lived in hell?” Michael said.

“Exactly,” Faith replied. “That’s the only thing they have in common. They don’t talk to the same people, they don’t go to the same places. The only thing that connects them both is that they live in Cedar Hills.”

“So what, the neighborhood is killing people?” Michael asked.

“Does Cedar Hills have an HOA?” Faith asked.

Michael’s eyes widened as he understood where Faith was going. “I believe they do,” he said. “Dammit. We should have thought of that already.”

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Michael,” she said. “We have a lead now. Call the Miltons and see if you can figure out who the HOA board members are. See if anyone was particularly active.”

While Michael dialed, Faith thought about what she had said earlier. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. That was true, but it was also true that they should have talked to the HOA immediately. Even if they had no reason to suspect the homeowners’ association, the HOA in a community like this had the pulse of the neighborhood, and they should have been one of the first groups Faith and Michael talked to.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, but she should have thought of that. She would have thought of that if she wasn’t waking up most nights soaked with sweat.

She shook the thought from her head. She had more important things to worry about than the nightmares.

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