She walked inside. Evidence files from the two homicides sat on separate tables. There were two large white boards on the wall at opposite ends of the room. More FBI agents were on the way with information on all the other cases potentially linked to this killer.

What if Fairbanks PD could solve it before they even arrived, Signy wondered suddenly.

What if she could solve it?

* * *

Darby was hustled inside the precinct via the back door. She wasn’t happy to be here. She shivered despite the blast of heat as they stepped inside the building. The weather was slowly deteriorating, a little like the control on her façade. Eban led the way. She’d returned his backup weapon as she didn’t trust the officers here and did not want to be armed around them. Maybe that wasn’t fair but the way some of them watched her as she stuck close to Eban reaffirmed her belief these people were not her friends.

She caught sight of Jacqui, Davis, Stef, Mohammed, and Lenny, all sitting in the waiting room with clipboards and pens. Mohammed looked up and sent her a woeful look full of regret. Jacqui followed his gaze and her expression morphed into surprise, probably because of the bandage wrapped around Darby’s neck.

“Fuck,” Jacqui mouthed. Then she raised her voice to be heard clearly across the room. “Are you okay?”

Darby raised her chin and gave her a sharp nod. How was she supposed to react? To forgive her? How could she carry on working in the same lab if she didn’t?

“In here.” Eban held the door of a conference room open for her, giving everyone in the waiting area a hard stare. He’d assigned himself her protector and she was glad. He was one of the few people she trusted down to her marrow.

She went in without a word. Her life had been hijacked. Martin’s and Adele’s had been stolen completely. She wanted this person arrested as soon as possible and if being here helped Eban get that job done she’d suck it up.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea for Darby to be in here?” Signy Torgerson said. “Not because I consider you a suspect.” The detective held her gaze as she spoke and gave her a reassuring smile. Maybe Darby hadn’t imagined the thawing of relations between them back at the hotel room. “But the details are something we need to keep under wraps, and frankly, some of it is pretty gruesome.”

“I’m not going to tell anybody.”

“Maybe not on purpose…”

“Darby said she wouldn’t tell anyone, so she won’t.” Eban shucked out of his jacket and hung it on a hook behind the door. Darby forced herself to do the same.

“I told your chief and the ASAC on his way here that the only circumstances under which I’d get involved was if I could keep Darby protected. After what happened at the hotel that means we stay together at all times.”