Chapter One
He’s been dead for two years. Two long, lonely years.
At times, it was almost impossible to believe it had been that long since she lost him, and at others…it felt all too possible. She missed him more and more every day. If anything, the pain just deepened and split her open inside, like a huge, jagged chasm that would never go away no matter how much time passed.
“Next up on the Augusta Eye Witness News, tragedy on Sixth Street.” The newscaster on the television gave a half smile, her pink-lipstick-coated mouth parting to show perfectly white teeth. “Police were dispatched to a home on the fourteenth block of Greene Street today in response to a domestic disturbance. Authorities say a man held his wife at gunpoint, but the Maine State Police were able to end the standoff with no casualties. More to come on the eleven o’clock news tonight.”
Daisy tightened her grip on her empty martini glass, frowning down at the cast on her arm. “You see that? Look what we’re missing.”
A month ago, she’d been on a case similar to that one. The perp had been an abusive husband who’d been two bottles of cheap whiskey into a binge. When she’d tried to take him down, he evaded her on a fire escape, and when she tried to follow him, she’d slipped on the wet metal and her arm snapped like a twig. So now she was stuck on desk duty until it healed, while the asshole who’d thought beating his wife and then fleeing down a wet fire escape had been a good idea walked free…after his wife dropped charges.
It killed her that she wasn’t out on the streets, doing what she did best…saving lives. Without her job, without her passion, she was floundering in the middle of the ocean without even a hope of a rescue boat coming along to save her. It was who she was.
And now she was stuck with nothing.
Her phone buzzed, and she glanced down at the text.
It was her best friend, Lauren. Are you there yet?
Daisy rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. Yes, mother.
I can’t help it that I’m worried about you.
Relax. I’m at a hotel less than an hour away from you. It’s not like I ran away to live in a foreign jungle with Tarzan.
The reply was immediate. I wish you would run away with Tarzan. You need some action.
No, I need peace and quiet.
Three dots popped up, and then: Fine. Whatever. Enjoy it. I’ll be there late tomorrow morning. See you then?
I’ll be here.
Though she still wasn’t really sure why she was here in the first place. She knew the couple getting married tomorrow, sure, but not well enough to be invited to their wedding. The only reason she was on the list was because she was friends with Lauren, whose fiancé worked for the groom as a private security agent at The Shillings Agency, and that somehow gained her an invite.
Whatever.
She’d take it.
God knew she could use a break from her normal life…which was why she was at the hotel a day early. Living with a roommate who was also on the force was both a blessing and a curse. Lately, it had been more curse than blessing. It was just…she just felt so…
Empty.
The news music played, and Daisy glanced up again.
“Good evening,” the newscaster said. “Tonight, our head story is a tragic crash on Werner Street that ended in a horrifying death. A gray sedan was driving—”