Book 2 of 2, sequel to Alaska's Illicit.
In which Mikaere returns to Alaska, but upon arriving realizes that she has a new problem: Vaughn, Darren, or should she just stick with Jared?
Vaughn's past and life are revealed, and also a serial killer mi...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: PERRY
It's a myth that you have to wait 24 to 48 hours to report someone missing.
And so when Malee isn't anywhere to be found at the end of the day and doesn't return any of my calls hours later, I'm the one who informs the police.
It's terrifying, actually, because when Ethan was out in the town killing, we established that we'd let the other know when we planned to be back - just in case, even though neither of us is blonde. And it just kind of stuck. Unless she said she was going out after work, she would always be back by 7:30, because her shift at her second job, waitressing at Ross's diner after her Freed's afternoon shift, ends at 7. Just in case she thought of anything she needed, she gave herself some extra time.
So when her car was at the apartment, and she wasn't, I waited, and called. Waited, and called.
Nothing.
And grocery shopping, Tommy had confirmed Malee had made it to her shift and left for Ross's at the end of it. So I called her second job to confirm if she had made it, and was told that she had arrived, and then left again, before the end of her shift.
Which left me with nothing once more.
So the police had all this information by morning, and I called Jasmine, and we both were overwhelmed about what might have happened.
Where could she have gone?
I spend all of Sunday running scenarios through my mind, trying to think about what she would do in my situation.
I go through the apartment, cleaning and searching as I do so, looking for anything.
And I find her journal, from months ago, where she was writing her theories regarding Ethan and the killings. Quickly flipping through, I see there are a lot of questions she had written down, some of which she had scratched out after.
There are sketches, phrases, doodles.
And then I finally see the list of the words she had initially written down, the ones that Ethan had said, or apparently was heard saying.
Wire.
Anna.
Black and blue.
Band.
Underneath all of them is a new addition: free.
So she was still involved and interested in the case. She hadn't told me.
I scan through the rest of the journal, and nothing else stands out as important or new.
Sighing, I get out my phone and make a copy of her list, and underneath that, I start to write down the timeline for this all.
