She let her grip on the blanket loosen, the material falling from around her shoulders. “Did you see the stab wounds?”

“I did…”

“They’re just like mine, Brody. On her torso and right arm. Nowhere else.”

Everything in me froze. I couldn’t manage to get a single word out.

Shay looked towards me, but her eyes were as empty as I’d ever seen. “What if it’s him? What if it’s Michael?”

“There’s no way…” But what were the chances that this victim who looked so much like Shay would have the same wounds? “We have to tell Parker.”

“I know.” She was silent for a moment before speaking again. “I’m sorry I lost it. I just—”

I framed her face with my hands. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I’m not weak.”

“Nothing in me thinks you are.”

Her hands gripped my forearms. “I studied self-defense for years, completed firearms training, did so much therapy I lost track, all so I’d be ready if something bad happened again. Instead, I lost it. I could barely focus.”

I swiped my thumbs back and forth across her cheeks. “You looked like you were about to level me with an uppercut before you realized it was me. You handled yourself better than you think.” I struggled to get the words out, thinking about what might’ve happened if the killer had still been there. I swallowed in an attempt to clear the tightening in my throat. “What you saw…it was horrific. Give yourself a little grace.”

Shay let her head fall forward so that our foreheads rested against each other. “What’s happening?”

“I wish I knew.” But all I could think about were the stab wounds. The ones so similar to Shay’s. The woman who looked as if she could’ve been her sister. I wrapped my arms around her, needing to know that she was safe and breathing.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that before a knock sounded on the door. “It’s Parker,” a voice called from outside.

I reluctantly released Shay and pushed to my feet. She followed. My gaze swept over her face. “You okay?”

“No. But I’ve made it through worse not being okay.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll get through this, too.”

“We will.”

I crossed to the door, disarming the alarm and flipping the deadbolt. When I pulled it open, I was greeted by a pissed-as-hell Parker. He was usually good at hiding his emotions, but the set of his jaw alone gave him away today. “Thanks for coming.”

He gave a jerky nod. “You guys okay?”

“We’re fine, really,” Shay answered.

Parker glanced back towards the dock. “I’m having my team dock by the beach. I don’t want anything contaminating the crime scene.”

“Do you need anything from us?” I asked, wrapping an arm around Shay’s shoulders.