The Perfect Emma

Chapter Ten

Grayson Todd

Fifteen months.

Fifteen months since Lara was murdered.

Fifteen months since Emma disappeared.

Fifteen fucking months.

At this point, both cases had gone as cold as all the last Ghost Killer cases. Now that they were cold, Aaron and Gray had been given plenty of other cases to occupy themselves with. And while it was easy for Aaron to move on, merely waiting for the next murder and disappearance to focus on again, Grayson wasn't so easy. He couldn't just let this go.

He'd done everything.

He'd talked to the husband, countless times, so many times Gray was sure the man was so utterly tired of seeing his face. He'd talked to Emma's coworkers, her boss, hell even some of the children, but no matter where he went there was nothing. Gray focused on Lara for a while too, talking to her family and her friends, but that woman had been missing for nine months and dead for fifteen. Anything they could've told him was either useless or forgotten ages ago.

This wouldn't be so fucking difficult if the Ghost Killer left evidence once in a fucking while. But he'd earned his name for a reason. Clean kills. Practically spotless kills. He made absolutely positive never to leave a trace, and he'd gotten good at it. If Grayson didn't know better, he would think the killer had spent time in law enforcement. He obviously knew exactly what not to leave behind, and took care to abide by that.

It was frustrating.

It didn't help that seemingly every other case the two detectives picked up weren't nearly as difficult to solve. At least, they didn't take as much time. And while Gray and Aaron were given the praise, all Gray felt was that they kept getting open-and-shuts. He would feel accomplished with his own detective work when the Ghost Killer was behind bars.

Or better yet, dead.

It had become a rarity for Grayson to go home lately, but seeing as he'd been working himself to the bone, Zach had forced both detectives to take a day off. But just because he was home today didn't mean Gray wasn't working.

It had been over a year since Emma had been taken, and that was about as long Ghost Killer victims tended to last. The longest had been a year and a half. Emma could turn up dead any day, and Gray was painfully aware of it, but he was struggling to remain optimistic. He told himself that he had another three months. Three months before Emma would most likely be killed and dumped.

But seeing as all of his leads had hit dead ends months ago, he was starting to lose hope.

It was late afternoon when his phone began to ring, and looked at it with tired eyes. Sleep had grown even harder to come by. Seeing who was calling, however, Gray furrowed his brows.

It was Lily Nickels, Emma's coworker and classroom neighbor.

Grayson wasted no time answering. "Miss Nickels."

"Detective! I think I just saw Emma!"

The man jerked in his seat on the couch, brows flying up. He shifted the phone between ear and shoulder and scrambled for his notepad. "Where?"

"Uh," the woman murmured. "The middle of Main, close by the school? In front of this Chinese place I can't read the name of. It was quick, she was in a car, but I swear it was Emma, I would know her anywhere."

"What did you see exactly, Miss Nickels?" Gray asked, already writing things down.

"Okay, um. She was in the passenger seat, and her head was down, so I didn't see much, but I caught this glimpse of her face and it had to be Emma. Except...there was a, uh, a scar? On her cheek? And her hair was short and brown like you said it would be."