Free A Killer Among Us by Lynette Eason

her eye and gave a weak grin around his hand. “I think I’m just going to wait outside.”
    Poor kid. She offered him a sympathetic smile. “Sure, there’s no shame in that.”
    Appreciation at her understanding flashed. He left and she focused her attention on the DA. “Sir?”
    â€œBonnie’s the daughter I never had. Her father is my best friend. We went through law school together.” A heavy sigh. “He was so proud she was following in his footsteps.” Another hard swallow. “This is going to hit him hard. Very hard.”
    â€œI’m so sorry.”
    â€œWhen the address came over the radio, another friend recognized it and called me.”
    Blowing out a sigh, Kit took another look at the dead girl. “We’ll find them. Whoever did this.”
    He looked at her. “I’ll be following this case closely. I want to know every detail when you and Noah know it. I’ll have to keep her father in the loop.”
    â€œYou bet.” Compassion filled her. Along with a strong sense of responsibility. She’d never had a case that would be scrutinized to the nth degree. She’d have to make this personal. And she would. This is what Noah had meant when he said it was going to be a sticky case. She looked at Noah and the DA and said, “I’m going to see what I can find in her bedroom.”

    Noah watched his partner talking to Serena and marveled that two beautiful women would choose to wade through death on a daily basis. Not for the first time, he wondered if that was a sexist attitude. Probably. He was smart enough to keep those kinds of thoughts to himself, though. He’d hate to imagine how either woman would react if he voiced them aloud, but he just couldn’t stop from wondering about it.
    He’d already spoken to the DA before the man honed in on Kit and knew this case was going to be the cause of a few sleepless nights. Then again, he prayed they caught the killer before the sleepless nights had a chance to happen.
    He turned back to Jake. “Found anything interesting?”
    â€œA note.”
    â€œReally, what’s it say?”
    â€œ ‘I told you I was the best. Your nose isn’t so high now, is it?’ ”
    â€œSo, he cut off her nose because he thought she was acting superior to him? And the best at what?” Noah asked no one in particular.
    Jake shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe she beat him at tennis or something.”
    â€œWhoever did this knew her.”
    Kit walked up behind him, the DA on her heels. “Serena thinks that too. No sign of forced entry. I gave her bedroom a sweep and didn’t see anything that would warrant murder. Some really nice pieces of jewelry that set somebody back a pretty penny.”
    â€œWhat kind of jewelry?” Stephen asked.
    â€œYou know. Things like a diamond watch, a gold and ruby tennis bracelet . . .” She shrugged. “The kind of jewelry any self-respecting debutante would have on her dresser.” She paused and looked at Noah. “I did find a picture of a young man who could possibly be a boyfriend. It had been turned facedown on the nightstand.”
    â€œLovers’ spat?”
    Kit shrugged.
    An officer approached and held up a purse. “I found a student ID and a switchblade with the initials JCM . She went to Wofford Law College.”
    Noah lifted a brow. “Yeah. I know.” He shot a look at the DA, who was still talking to Serena. “Interesting, isn’t it?”
    Kit looked at him. “Very. You think this murder is connected to the one that happened Monday? Walter Davis?”
    â€œI don’t know, but I sure think it’s worth looking into.”
    â€œWe need to know if the two victims, Walter and Bonnie, knew each other.”
    Noah blew out a sigh and nodded. “I guess we need to head over to the campus and do some digging, start questioning more friends. I want a list