Secrets of Mine

Chapter Seven - Freya

Freya's POV

I feel like I'm under fire, barely scraping by as bullets whiz past me. My heart trips out rapid beats inside my chest. Adrenaline screams through my veins but there's no actual bullets. I find my way through the police station like I'm free falling until I reach a door that opens up to the outside.

The fresh air helps.

I stumble down the short set of steps, gripping onto the railing. I drop onto the bottom step and stare out at the car park. I got like this a lot when I first moved in with Carmen at seventeen. Everything just becomes too much, all at once. She taught me a trick to help me breath. Find one thing that catches your attention.

It's hard to focus but I scan the car park until a yellow beetle catches my eye. It stands out against the black and white police cars.

Now find one more thing.

A park bench on the grass behind the carpark. It's painted snow white. I track a line with my eyes from the bench to the beetle, breathing in as I go. As I breath out I follow the imaginary line back to the bench. In and out. Back and forth. Just focus on two things. There're only two things.

Slowly, I calm down. Once the dizziness passes, I take out my phone and look at the message I got back in the conference room. I sat there for an hour trying to decide whether to tell the guys about it.

Unknown: You must remember her hair at least. Long, blonde. Dad loved her hair.

The subject changed to my mother, and I had the perfect opportunity to share the messages but all I could see was Adelaide's long blonde hair. All I could think was that my mother was just his type. That she was dead.

She has to be dead.

Because if she isn't, then where the hell is she?

And why did she leave us with him?

The fire door behind me opens and I slip my phone back into my pocket. Part of me is aware I'm making things worse but the last thing I'm capable of right now is talking about my mother.

Jude sits down on the concrete step next to me. He knocks his knee into mine. We sit in silence for a while until he speaks up. "I think sometimes we forget."

I swallow. My jaw aches as I talk. "Forget what?"

Jude sucks in his top lip. "You're so fierce and kick-ass, which by the way is incredibly sexy."

I smirk a little. Jude's brain tends to get diverted and I honestly love how often I'm the cause of his distraction.

"But my point is," he continues, "I think because of that, we forget how much you've been through. How difficult this must be for you."

I dip my head, resting my arms on my thighs and studying the bumps in the concrete between my shoes. "I shouldn't have stormed out like that."

"We shouldn't have brought up your mother like that."

My phone burns a hole in my pocket. I look at Jude. "I just- I need to do something. Something tangible and real that will help us find my dad."

Jude nods and sits up straighter. "Okay. Adelaide's husband is coming in. We need to interview him to see if he noticed any signs of Maxwell in the run up to her death."

I drum my fingers against the railing. "You think he'll have anything actionable?"

Jude stares out into the carpark, that brilliant mind of his analyzing the problem. "I think Maxwell has been forced to change his MO. You don't just walk up to a house hoping to catch a woman on her own. He'll have to have staked the place out, learnt their routines."