There was only one figure who slipped out the door.
“Who’s that?” Nash asked.
My back teeth ground together. “Her name’s Elsie. She’s a regular. Aspen said she’s a photographer taking nature pictures of the area.”
Holt looked up. “She’s a tiny thing. You really think she could take Aspen down? The other victims?”
“If she had the element of surprise,” I said.
“I’m gonna run her. You know her last name?” Lawson asked.
I shook my head. Why the hell hadn’t I asked when I met her?
“We’ll get it. You know where she’s staying?”
I thought back, trying to remember if Elsie or Aspen had said anything. Then I stilled. “She had a Cedar Ridge Vacation Adventures pen. She’s either staying in one of their rentals or went on one of their trips.”
Lawson was already hitting a contact on his phone. “Hey, Jordan. Need your help. We’ve got a suspect in a missing persons case. First name, Elsie. She had one of your pens.”
There was a pause. “Thanks, man. She at one of your rentals?”
Another beat.
Lawson motioned for Holt’s computer. “Driver’s license would be great.” Lawson typed letters and numbers into a database. “Appreciate it. Call me if you hear from her.” Then he hit end on his phone.
We all waited in silent expectation.
“Elsie Jones went on a private hiking trip with Noel. Said she wanted to scout some spots for photos. They make copies of the driver’s licenses of all trip participants.”
Lawson hit search on the database, and a little swirl of color appeared on the screen as we held our breaths. Then an error box appeared.
This license is not valid.
I cursed. “A fake.”
“Hold on,” Lawson said. “He texted me a photo. Let me make sure I didn’t get it wrong.”
He pulled up the image, reading off the numbers. It was a match.
My stomach plummeted. “This was planned.” For way longer than we ever knew. Because Elsie was a staple at The Brew before I even met Aspen.
“What the hell is going on?” Nash muttered.
“I’m texting this to my contact at the prison. I want to see if he recognizes her,” Lawson said, his fingers flying over his phone’s screen.
My throat grew tighter with every second that passed. As if I could feel Aspen slipping away. What hell was she living through right now? Was she even still breathing?
Holt stood, his hand clamping on my shoulder. “Don’t go there. I know it’s where your mind wants to live, but you can’t let it. We’re going to find her.” He let out a shuddered breath. “She changed you. Brought you back to us. Not gonna let you lose her now.”
My eyes burned like they’d been dunked in battery acid. “You can’t promise that.”
“The hell I can’t. You helped me get Wren back when I thought I’d lost her all over again. The Universe will help me repay that debt. Just gotta keep the faith, brother.”
I wanted to. God, did I want to. I let my eyes close and drifted back to months ago. When I sat on my balcony and saw that flash of red hair. The way I swore I could catch her laugh on the wind as she hoisted her daughter into the air. How she soothed her animals with the gentlest touches. The way she cared for everyone around her. She was light and hope, and I would hold on to that with everything I had.
“Holy hell,” Lawson muttered.
My eyes flew open. “What?”
“Her name is actually Iris Morton. She visited John in prison every week for over a year. Those visits stopped three months ago.”
“When she came here,” I growled.
“Running a search now,” Holt clipped, moving instantly to the laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and then they simply stopped. “I’ve got something. She’s been flagged in the system. Restraining order from her ex-husband. She tried to kill him.”
50
ASPEN
I couldn’t take my eyes off the knife, the way the silver gleamed in the sunlight. I could only wonder one thing. “Did you kill them?”
My voice didn’t even sound like mine. It was empty. Devoid of all emotion. Like a robot’s. Not someone asking whether the person in front of them had committed cold-blooded murder.
Iris’s mouth stretched into a smile as she examined the knife. “I studied the case so closely. Wondered what it would take to do that to someone. Wondered if I could do it.”
The urge to vomit was so strong, but I forced it down. “Did John tell you to kill those people?”