desertion

146

LYDIA

The case was sprawled out in front of me-photos, reports, notes, everything we'd managed to gather over the past week. The murder of Daniel Carter was as gruesome as it was baffling. A young accountant with no known enemies, found in his apartment with a deep stab wound to the chest and a chilling message scrawled on the wall in his own blood: "Not what it seems."

I traced my finger over the words in the crime scene photo, my brow furrowed. They felt so cryptic, like they were daring us to dig deeper. And we had been-Mason and I. For days now, we'd poured over every detail, every lead, trying to figure out who would want Daniel dead and why.

Mason sat across from me, tapping his pen against the edge of the desk as he read through the autopsy report for the hundredth time. "It still doesn't make sense," he muttered, more to himself than to me. "There's no sign of forced entry, no defensive wounds. If he knew his killer, why the hell would they leave a message like that?"

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temples. "Because they wanted us to know it wasn't random. This was personal, Mason. You don't leave a message like that unless you want someone to figure it out."

He glanced up at me, his brow lifting. "You think the killer wanted to be caught?"

"Not necessarily," I said, reaching for the victim's phone records. "But they wanted to send a message. Look at the wording: 'Not what it seems.' They're trying to tell us something, but they're also hiding behind riddles. It's calculated. Deliberate."

Mason let out a low whistle. "You're scary when you get into profiler mode, you know that?"

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Hey, I mean it," he said, his tone softening. "You've got a way of looking at things that I don't. That's why we make such a good team."

I glanced up at him, feeling a flicker of warmth at his words. "Right back at you. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without you here. It's nice having someone who gets it, you know?"

His expression shifted, something unspoken passing between us. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I know what you mean. This job... it's not like anything else. It's heavy. And not everyone understands that. But you do."

I nodded, my throat tightening. "Thanks.. Really."

We fell into a comfortable silence after that, both of us absorbed in the case. I skimmed through Daniel's emails, looking for anything that might hint at a motive. Most of them were mundane-work correspondence, online shopping confirmations-but then I found something that made me sit up straighter.

"Mason, look at this," I said, turning my laptop so he could see.

He rolled his chair closer, squinting at the screen. "What is it?"

"It's an email from Daniel to someone named Aaron. He's asking Aaron to stop calling him and says he's not going to cover for him anymore. The tone's pretty hostile."

Mason frowned, leaning closer. "Who's Aaron?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But I'm going to find out."

I did a quick search through Daniel's contacts and found Aaron's full name: Aaron Greene. Pulling up his file, I skimmed through his background. No criminal record, no major red flags-except for one thing.

"Mason, look at this," I said, pointing to a section of the file. "Aaron worked at the same accounting firm as Daniel until three months ago, when he was fired for embezzlement."

Mason's eyes widened. "Embezzlement? That's a pretty big deal. Think Daniel knew about it?"

"Maybe," I said, my mind racing. "If Daniel found out and refused to cover for him... that could be a motive."

"Definitely," Mason agreed. "But why leave the message? If Aaron killed Daniel to shut him up, why try to send us a clue?"

I frowned, chewing on my bottom lip. "Maybe he didn't think it was a clue. Maybe he thought it was a way to throw us off."

"Or," Mason said, his voice dropping, "someone else is involved. Someone who wanted us to look at Aaron."

The thought sent a chill down my spine. "You think it's a setup?"

"It's possible," he said. "We need to dig into Aaron's connections. See who else might have had a reason to kill Daniel."

For the next few hours, we worked side by side, combing through every detail of Aaron's life. We found a few interesting leads-a brother with a history of violence, a former business partner who sued him after the embezzlement scandal-but nothing concrete.

By the time the clock on the wall read 10 p.m., my eyes were burning, and my head felt like it was going to explode.

"Lydia," Mason said gently, "we've been at this for hours. Let's call it a night."

I shook my head, determined. "We're close, Mason. I can feel it."

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You're relentless, you know that?"

"Part of my charm," I said, flashing him a tired smile.

He laughed softly, and for a moment, the tension in the room lifted. "Fine. But only because I know you're not going to listen to me anyway."

"Exactly," I said, turning back to my notes.

As exhausted as I was, I couldn't stop. This case wasn't just about solving a murder-it was about finding justice for Daniel, for his family, for everyone who had ever lost someone and felt like the world had let them down.

And with Mason by my side, I knew we'd get there. Together, we could figure this out. We had to.