Chapter 12

The chiming of the coffee maker filled the air, and Raymond moved to stop it. He poured out the steaming black coffee and added just a teaspoon of sugar to it. He took a sip and smacked his lips. Raw, strong coffee, just how he liked it.

He padded out of the small kitchen and went to his window desk, which had documents strewn all over. He took another sip and dropped the mug on the table before picking up the most recent document he was working on.

It was the coroner’s report on the autopsy done on the body they’d found two days ago. While he was thankful it didn’t turn out to be Leticia, he was also burdened by its appearance. The girl’s name was Amanda Brights, and she was a nineteen-year-old freshman in one of the community colleges nearby. She, too, had disappeared weeks ago, but he didn’t know about it because it wasn’t his jurisdiction as she wasn’t a resident of Blakewood.

Having been the person to find her, though, had put him on the case because of the ca