The Little Grave (Detective Amanda Steele)

“Thanks.” Amanda stopped short at the sight of the place.

To call it a sty would be unfair to pigs. Takeout containers littered every available surface, along with empty beer bottles. Framed movie posters covered most of the wall space. Her stomach knotted as she remembered the contacts in the spreadsheet were all named based on literary and movie characters.

“Maid hasn’t shown up yet,” Elise said. She must have sensed Amanda’s disgust.

Amanda gave her a pressed-lip smile. “No worries. I wasn’t expected.”

Elise took Amanda to a living room, cleared a cushion on the couch, and pointed for Amanda to sit. She did so, and Elise dropped into a wooden rocking chair.

“You must be Jonah’s wife? Girlfriend?” Amanda said. She’d been surprised by Elise’s presence, but she was also uncomfortable by the fact that Elise hadn’t offered to go get Jonah.

“Girlfriend.” A few seconds then, “Name’s Elise.”

“Nice to meet you,” was what Amanda said with all the pleasantry she could muster, but just being in this place was nauseating. Did they keep any of the girls here or did they pass through here? Either way.

“Could you go get Jonah?” she asked lightly, as if Elise not already doing so had been an innocent slip, but everything was telling Amanda that Jonah Reid was already aware of her presence.

“I’m sure he’ll be along— Oh, there he is.” Elise smiled smugly, her gaze going behind Amanda.

Amanda turned and found Jonah Reid standing there, a gun trained on her.

“Whoa, wait, what are—” Amanda put her hands up.

“You aren’t here to talk.” He was about five-nine, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a slight lisp.

Uncle! She screamed in her head, recalling the eyewitness account Banks had told her about.

He was the right size to be the man in the video from Happy Time—so had he also struck and killed Palmer?

“I had a bad feeling you’d end up at my door,” he said.

“Why?” she tried to play it cool.

“Let’s just say I’m an informed person, Detective.”

The way he said Detective it felt like tiny spiders were scurrying along her arms. “I’m just here to talk about your old partner, Dennis Bishop.”

“Oh, please, you must think I’m an idiot.”

She went to reach for her service weapon.

He clicked back on his shotgun. “I wouldn’t.”

“No one needs to get hurt.” She put her hands up. “I just came to talk.”

Jonah nodded toward Elise. “Take her gun and get her to the basement.”

Amanda was questioning her earlier decision to go on this mission without backup. She’d underestimated Jonah.

Elise grabbed a gun from a drawer in a tab

le next to her and approached Amanda. Each step she took, Amanda ran through scenarios in her head, but none of them resulted in her walking away.

“Gun, now,” Elise barked and held out one hand, her other holding the gun trained on Amanda.

Amanda moved slowly so as not to startle them and her phone rang. Shit!

“Ignore it and give her your gun!” Jonah barked over the trill.