Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 19

It was dark, my room was only lit by candles on nearly every surface. Adrianna even helped to move my armoire in front of my window to block it. Although the candles made dark, sinister shadows dance on the wall, it smelled sickeningly like warm cinnamon cookies. I don't think I could eat or smell anything cinnamon again without suffering from some sort of flashbacks.

            "Now, it's really cool because I feel like we're in some kind of cool cult club, but, well, I still don't understand why Henry can't be here with us," she said. "Although I am digging the girls-only club, I feel like we're witches."

            I merely shook my head before looking down. We were both going over Tanya's notes. They told a location, where he could be within a hundred-mile radius. She predicted that there was six bunny men in total, four down by Eli and two up here while some of his men come to visit me—like they had in the basement of the bar.

            She also had notes on Officer Jackson, which I myself thought was a little bit odd. There wasn't much. Just said he lived alone with his dog and was dating Henry. It also included how long he's been on the force and when he got different promotions. She had profiles on Adrianna and Henry, even Dr. Kim when I flipped to the next page. She was rather thorough on everyone we come into contact with.

            There was a full page just for Eli that went all the way back to the day he started kindergarten. Everyone who was important to him, his best friends from fourth grade, his family members, old teachers who he was friends with, the kids who were in the same bands as him, everyone he's ever dated. Some of this stuff I didn't even know about him. I don't think Eli even remembered some of this stuff about himself.

            "If she weren't a private investigator then I would say she was really creepy," Adrianna said. "But hell if she isn't good at her job. How did she know Eli and I kissed on a dare one time four years ago? Hopefully that doesn't make me a suspect. Because trust me, Emma, I really didn't mean anything with that kiss."

            "I still can't believe she's gone," I muttered.

            "You say it like she's dead or something," Adrianna said.

            "Well, one wrong move and she is," I stated.

            I flipped the page again, seeing some drawings of tattoos. Some were of Eli's, most were of the bunny men's tattoos. That was the only time they ever wore short sleeves, they must've realized their mistake when she tried to identify the tattoos.

            "We know of two that have tattoos," I said. "I just don't recognize them. I haven't seen them anywhere."

            There were pictures taped in, ones sent by the bunnies that I gave to her. Some were the originals, most were just copies or even printed out screenshots from videos. There were drawings of things she couldn't just tape in, like the stuffed bunny and the finger. She wrote notes on ever single video, every single little thing I told her.

            "I don't even know what to make of all this," I said. "It's so overwhelming. I don't know what to do."

            I rubbed my back as I frowned.

            "God, my back really hurts," I mumbled, standing up to walk around the room a little bit.

            "Maybe you should just take some time to relax," Adrianna recommended. "Take a warm bubble bath."

            "No, I can't," I denied. "We need to find Eli, he needs to be here before the baby is born. I really can't have this baby without him, I don't know what the hell I'm doing."