The next morning she’d told her aunt, who’d looked the other way again during all the commotion, that she was going to school.
Andrea hadn’t gone to school. And she hadn’t gone back home. Ever again.
She hadn’t gone far, just to the other side of the town she’d only ever known as home, but they hadn’t come looking for her. Had probably been relieved that she’d left.
So yeah, no joyous homecoming in Buckeye.
Andrea withdrew into herself as they landed at Sky Harbor Airport. She let Brandon take the lead as they rented a car and headed west on I-10 out of Phoenix, stopping to get something to eat on the way. The stark, flat lands of Arizona were a huge contrast to the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, where she’d spent the past four years.
Coming here was a mistake. Andrea was convinced of it. If she’d been alone, she might have turned around and gone back home.
Home, Colorado Springs. That was her home now.
“Hey, you doing okay?”
Andrea struggled to hide her shock at Brandon’s hand on her arm. She didn’t think he was going to engage with her for the rest of the trip.
“Yeah. I just... This is hard. I don’t think I want to do this.”
She could feel his annoyance or coolness, or whatever it was he felt toward her, ease.
“Going back to the place where you grew up can be hard. Is there anyone you’d like to see while you’re there? Friends? Family?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think anyone here will remember me.”
He didn’t push it and she was thankful. They drove on in silence from the airport west on I-10 before turning south on smaller Highway 85. A couple of miles down they passed her old high school, Buckeye Union. Before thinking it through, she pointed it out to Brandon.
“What year did you graduate?”
She didn’t want to tell him that she hadn’t graduated, so she told him the year she’d stopped going. Then she realized it might make it sound as if she’d graduated early or something, so she changed it to the next year.
Brandon looked at her with one eyebrow raised, but fortunately, he didn’t say anything else about it.
Before she knew it, before she could stop it, they were in Buckeye. The town hadn’t changed much. They passed the dollar store, one of the town’s grocery stores and Buckeye Auto Repair.
She actually remembered Buckeye Auto Repair pretty fondly. They had quite politely not mentioned that it looked as though everything she’d owned was in her car when she’d had to take it in for repairs when she was seventeen.
That was because everything she’d owned had been in the car. She’d been living in it at the time. Before she got the job at Jaguar’s and made enough money to move into a sparsely furnished, run-down studio apartment.
She was pretty sure the owner of Buckeye Auto Repair hadn’t charged her the full price for the repair.
She and Brandon pulled up to the town’s one decent hotel. There were a couple of others on the rougher side of town—ones that were rented out by the hour, or the opposite, used to house multiple illegal immigrants in one room. This was a much better choice for law enforcement.
Brandon checked them in, getting rooms right next to each other on the first floor. They grabbed their bags and headed through the lobby and down the hall.
“I’m going to call it a night,” Andrea said, slipping the key card into her door. She needed to be alone, away from all her thoughts and feelings about this town. She also needed to begin the painful process of studying the case files before tomorrow’s meeting.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll leave at eight o’clock.” Brandon turned to his door. “Are you okay?”
Andrea nodded. “Good night.” She shut the door behind her without another word, away from Brandon and his brown eyes that saw too much.
Because she wasn’t all right. Being back here was worse than she’d thought it would be.
This whole thing was a terrible idea.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department office, Brandon and Andrea waited in the conference room for the local officers who would serve as their liaisons. The sheriff’s department was just a mile or so on the outskirts of Buckeye.
When Andrea had seen what building they were arriving at, her eyes had nearly bugged out of her head. Her skin had turned a concerning shade of gray. Brandon had reached for her hand, and she had clutched his, almost automatically. Her skin was cold, clammy.
A sure nonverbal tell of fright. This building frightened Andrea.
She’d taken a couple of deep breaths and gotten herself under control, releasing his hand. She’d smiled over at him, an expression nowhere near touching her eyes, so nowhere near real. Something about that fake smile nearly broke his heart.
Maybe the whole idea of bringing her back to Buckeye had been a mistake. Her input would be valuable, sure, but Brandon had solved a lot of cases without having an inside person.
Maybe the price of doing this was too high for Andrea.
Whatever judgments Brandon had made about her began to dissipate a little. Maybe she just wasn’t ready to deal with this.
“Andrea.” He’d turned to her from where they sat in the parking lot. “Perhaps this isn’t a good idea. It’s okay if I need to go in alone.”
“No, I’m fine. I just didn’t realize we’d be coming here, to this building, that’s all.”
What was here that made her so upset? “You have some history here?”
She took a deep breath. “Not really. This whole town just sets me on edge.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He didn’t want her to get inside then panic.
“Yes, I’m fine. I promise.” The smile she gave him was at least a little stronger than the shadow of one she’d given him a few moments ago. He touched her hand. It was closer to normal temperature again.
But she looked tired, despite makeup that carefully covered it, as if she had been up most of the night. Maybe she had if the town had this sort of effect on her.
But except for the telltale signs that he was sure only he would notice, looking at her from across the conference table now, she looked like the consummate professional. Andrea wore sharp trousers and a matching blazer, managing to be attractively feminine and coolly businesslike at the same time. The high heels she wore everywhere were the perfect complement to the outfit. Not a hair was out of place in her chic bob.
She may have been scared out in the parking lot, but she was determined not to show it in here. Brandon’s respect for her ratcheted a notch. If only she was as prepared for the case as she looked, which he knew she wasn’t. Maybe he could help her out if she got stuck, save her any embarrassment.
Two men entered the room, one in his midfifties in a sheriff’s office uniform, one in his early thirties in a suit. Both looked a little tired, frazzled. The older man took the lead. “I’m Lance Kendrick from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. Since all three murders took place—or at least the bodies were found—in Maricopa, I’m taking the lead.”
“I’m Gerardo Jennison with the City of Phoenix Homicide Unit. We’re providing investigative resources for anything which the sheriff’s department may not have.”
“I’m