The Dollmake (The Forgotten Files 2)

Back in her mom’s kitchen, Holly pulled a couple of mugs out of the cabinet and set the coffeemaker to brew. Tessa sat at the counter and opened the album, unleashing scents of popcorn and lavender, which had once permeated her freshman dorm room. A pressed daisy lay in the crook of the middle pages.

“It’s not like you to travel down memory lane,” Holly said.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about Kara lately.”

Holly’s gaze sharpened. “What brought her up? Her birthday?”

“We had a case in the medical examiner’s office. I didn’t recognize the patient during the autopsy and only found out from one of the agents that she was on my freshman hall. The victim’s name was Diane Emery.”

“Wow. I remember her. I was in middle school when you two were seniors in high school.”

“That’s right.”

“I also remember her from the time Mom and I visited you in your dorm room. She was kind of stuck-up.”

Diane had had no interest in making nice with the thirteen-year-old Holly. “You never forget a detail, do you?”

“That’s what happens when your astrology sign is Cancer and you have an eidetic memory,” she joked. The coffeepot gurgled, so she turned to pour some coffee in a couple of mugs. She pushed a mug toward Tessa and set a carton of milk beside it. “Why couldn’t you recognize her?”

“Her face was covered in tattoos. Which isn’t to be shared. The cops haven’t released the details, so keep it quiet.”

“Understood.” Holly sipped her black coffee. “How does this relate to college pictures?”

“Dakota thinks her death shares similarities with Kara’s death.”

“Dakota. As in Dakota Sharp.” She shook her head. “I’ll be sure to double back to that prickly topic.”

Tessa knew Holly didn’t approve of Dakota any more than Rebecca did. “What do you remember about the time Kara was found dead?”

“She was missing for five days. Found on the side of a country road. Drug overdose. She was wearing a red dress and lots of makeup, but she’d been last seen at a Halloween party.”

“You said she was wearing makeup? I don’t remember much from that time.”

“Head injury and heavy-duty pain meds will do that.”

“But how would you know about the makeup?”

Holly shrugged. “Elena mentioned it at her funeral. Elena and her sister found Kara’s body.”

Tessa searched through the scrambled memories of the funeral. Her aunt had not wanted her to attend, but she’d insisted on leaving the hospital to be there. Tessa picked up the pressed daisy.

“I remember you had a fight with Kara the night she vanished. You called Mom while you were walking home from the party, and you complained to her about the argument. Mom said you were pretty upset.”

“Kara and I had a fight?”

“You barely ended that call with Mom when you were hit by the car.”

“How do you know that?”

“Mom put the timing together when she was talking to the responding deputy who followed your ambulance to the hospital.”

“Why was I fighting with Kara?”

“You were crushing on a boy who was only being nice to you so you’d introduce him to Kara. Wounded pride.”

She flipped through the pictures but found none that were taken the night of the Halloween party.

“Kids get upset over stupid things,” Holly said.

“Yeah. Maybe if we hadn’t fought, she wouldn’t be dead.”

“You can’t play that game.”

“I suppose.”

Tessa turned the page, staring at a picture of herself with Stanford. His thick dark hair skimmed his shoulders, and he looked wild and dangerous. He’d been the boy she’d had a crush on. It was a lifetime ago. The past.

“You’re staring pretty hard at Stanford,” Holly said.

“I guess. I wonder what I ever saw in him.”

“He’s nothing like Sharp,” Holly said.

“That’s a good thing.”

“Is it?” Holly asked. “He’s a different person now. We both know Dakota’s a little crazy when he’s got a murder case, and that’s almost all the time.”

“It’s what he does for a living. He’ll always have a murder case on his desk. And after seeing Diane’s body and this other kid I autopsied the other day, I can see why he does get a little obsessed.”

The pages creaked as they turned. A packet of photos fell out. They were still in the drugstore envelope. “I don’t remember these,” Tessa said.

“They might have been the ones Mom found after you were hit. She was so scared you wouldn’t wake up that first night. She couldn’t sleep, and when she found the camera and film in your backpack, she drove them straight to the drugstore just to keep busy. When she came back to the hospital, you were awake. She tried to give them to you later, but you didn’t want to see them,” Holly said.

Tessa folded back the flap and pulled out the pictures. For a moment, she didn’t speak.

It was an image of Kara, Diane, Elena, and herself, taken by a girl from their dorm hall as they left for the Halloween party. Three of them were dressed as dolls. Kara was wearing her red dress.

“Kara’s not wearing makeup,” Tessa said, more to herself.

“Elena said she was wearing a lot when they found her. Find her. Ask her. I bet that is something she never forgot.”

She looked at Diane’s face and outfit. Her cheeks were stained with a bright blush. Painted freckles dotted her face. And her lips were painted in a bright red.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the image. Dear God. She looked the same as she had days ago in the park.

When Sharp arrived back at his apartment, jazz music echoed from inside.

He glanced into the kitchen and saw the back door was propped open; McLean was standing by a grill. He crossed the room and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Twisting the top off, he took a long pull. “McLean.”

“Heard you pull up,” he said as he drank from his beer and flipped the second of two steaks. “Tossed one on the grill for you. Figured with the case, you aren’t eating.”

The air was cool and the sky so clear, the stars shone bright and crisp.

McLean swigged his beer as he flipped a steak. “You like your steak rare, as I remember.”

“Good memory.” He swirled his bottle as a cold breeze cut across the small fenced-in backyard. “How’d the job interview go today at Shield Security?”

“I bet I have a job offer in a day or two.”

“Always confident.”

“Of course.” McLean turned the steaks again. “Any luck with your tattooed victim?”

“Spoke to the victim’s parents and her ex-boyfriend. Everyone is shocked. No one really picked up on the fact she was missing for weeks.”

“What about friends? Or coworkers?”

“She sent a text to her boss three weeks ago and quit her job.”

“She sent a text? No one spoke to her?”

“Correct. The text did come from her phone, which is no longer pinging off any cell tower, so the battery is either dead or the chip smashed.”

“Whoever this guy is, he thought it out carefully.”

“Yeah. A lot of time and effort.”

The front bell rang. Sharp shook off his frustration, moved to the door, and opened it. To Tessa.

For a split second he stood frozen, questioning, wondering why she was here. He’d left it badly between them today. Pissed, irritated, tired, hurting. All the shit he could handle most days. But it percolated to the surface when she was close. She had a way of shredding his nerves with the slightest look.

Tessa was dressed in jeans, a sweater, and boots. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders. Damn. He wanted to touch her.

“I have pictures.” Her tone was flat, guarded. “You asked for pictures.”

His hand gripped the side of the door. “Right.”

She hande

d him the packet. “These were developed while I was in the hospital after my accident. I didn’t remember them, but found them when I went to my aunt’s house. As you go through them, let me know if you have any questions. I’ll fill in the gaps.”

He set his beer aside and took the envelope. When she turned to leave, he asked, “How about now?”

“What?”

“Fill in the gaps now. My buddy McLean is here. Grilling steaks.” He stepped aside. “Come on in. Maybe you’ll recall some details that will be of use. And I bet you haven’t eaten.”

She tightened her hand on the strap of her purse. “Sure. I’ll stay for a few minutes.”

He released the door and stepped aside so she could pass. As she walked past him, he caught the jasmine scent. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Thanks, but no, I’m fine.”

“Steaks are done,” McLean said. He froze midstep when he saw Tessa. He set the sizzling platter of steaks on the kitchen counter.

Seeing him, she smiled. “Hi, I’m Tessa.”

“Tessa, as in Sharp’s wife.”

She stilled and kept her gaze on McLean. “That’s right.”

“Jacob McLean,” he said, extending his hand as his grin widened.

“McLean interviewed with Shield Security,” Sharp said.

“That’s great,” she said.

McLean clapped his hands. “Tessa doesn’t want to hear about my career. But she looks hungry.”

“No, I really can’t stay,” she said.