The Girl and the Hunt (Emma Griffin FBI Mystery Book 6) by A.J. Rivers

Author:A.J. Rivers [Rivers, A.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Now

Sam slides the rest of the book into his lap as I take out the paper roses and look at them from all angles. They've been flattened by the book but are painstakingly folded to resemble roses in full bloom. The outside of the pedals have a thin wash of red paint, but I can see words on the insides. I tilt one of the roses so Sam and Nicolas can see the words inside.

“The roses should be read,” I say.

Unfolding the first rose, I spread the page out on the arm of the sofa beside me. It looks like a page of text from the book, but the longer I look at it, the more I realize it's far bigger than the scale of the antique and seems to have been printed on conventional paper rather than the thicker cardstock of classic books. But what really stands out to me is the vibrant yellow highlighter splashed across the page.

"Alice," Sam murmurs.

I nod. "Every time the name Alice appears on the page, it's highlighted."

Nicolas reaches for the paper, and I hand it over to him. His eyes scan over the words, taking in how many times the bright yellow ink boxes in the titular character's name.

“Do you know someone named Alice?” he asks. “Is this another clue?”

“I don't know anybody named Alice,” I say. “Not anybody that I can think of, anyway. Sam?”

He shakes his head.

“No.” Then something seems to occur to him. "Alice Brooks."

"Alice Brooks?" Nicolas frowns. "Who is that? Could she be in danger?"

I let out a breath, feeling the tips of my fingers start to tremble just with the mention of her name.

"She isn't in any danger,” I say. “She's already dead.”

“Dead?” he asks.

“It's not recent. She died last year. It was the first case Sam and I investigated together.” I shake my head. “But I don't think this is about her. I don't think it's going to have anything to do with her.”

“It's happened before,” Sam points out.

“I know. But Sarah's gone. This isn't about our old cases. I know it's the same name, but I really don't think it could have anything to do with her. There has to be another explanation.”

“Who's Sarah?” Nicolas asks.

I'm remembering even more clearly now why I didn't want to have to shadow him this investigation. His questions are already grating on me, and I don't want to have to give them the blow-by-blow of everything just to get the access I need.

“She was linked to the first case I had with the Bureau,” I explained. “She was angry about me putting her boyfriend in prison and came back to torment me. Eventually, she took pieces of my old cases and recreated them out of some psychotic obsession with me. But that's not important right now. She's dead. She has been for months. The name is a coincidence. It has to be.”

“Then what does it mean? He went to all this trouble to get you to a copy of Alice in Wonderland so he could bring your attention to the name Alice.

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