"Z, turn that off."

Scarlet reached out and prodded Ze'ev's back with her foot, but he stayed put at the edge of the bed. She nudged him again, this time harder, and he grunted. "A few more minutes, Scar."

"Two years as partners and I still don't understand why you bother watching that crap."

"The news is important."

She huffed. "We're the news. If something is going on, we'll know first."

"The international news," he insisted.

"You know the media just takes everything and spins it as they see fit. You're a detective, Z. You should be interested in facts, not lies."

Without even looking back at her, he twisted his hand behind him and grabbed Scarlet's foot, catching her between the toes. She let him rub his thumb over the pad of her big toe for two seconds before she managed to wiggle out of her sock. "Come on, you know we have to talk to about the case."

Ze'ev sighed and switched off the TV. Then he flopped face-first into the pillow next to where she was sitting. "Let's talk about something else," he said. "This case is killing me."

She began to massage his shoulders. "A case that's too hard to crack for Detective Ze'ev Kesley and his fearless partner Scarlet Benoit? Never."

Ze'ev didn't laugh, though—he only flipped over to face her. "I'm so tired, I can't even tell if you're joking because you're trying to cheer up me or yourself."

She sighed too. "A bit of both. You know I hate this part, Z."

He brushed away a piece of his hair that fell into his face as he nodded. It didn't matter, though. He was known for his unruly hair, and it was one of the things that made him seem a lot wilder than he really was. "I really dislike the main suspect."

"Carswell Thorne?"

"Yes. He's arrogant, cocky and annoying. I feel bad for his wife."

"Not how bad I felt after interrogating her."

He peered up at her. "You said she didn't say anything."

"She didn't," she insisted. "In fact, she was fiercely loyal and loving. But I think I put doubts in her head about him."

"We're just doing our job," he said gruffly. "If they really want us to find Cinder and Kai, then they should understand our methods."

Scarlet sank back into the pillow. "Yeah, except now we're back to zero. We don't have a good motive, so we have to look elsewhere."

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it?" Ze'ev closed his eyes. "We can't even figure out what happened."

"Kidnapping, definitely," said Scarlet.

"Why are you suddenly so sure?"

"I've been thinking about it all day. Two random murders makes no sense. There's too much evidence that suggests they were taken by force, rather than killed."

Ze'ev frowned. "There was blood, Scar. Don't let your emotions cloud your objectivity."

She bristled. "My emotions are not clouding me."

"Sorry," he said. He sat up and tried to put his arm around her, but she shrugged him off. Her cuddly feelings had dissipated completely. "Scarlet, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Then why'd you say it?"

"It's just—I know how much kidnapping cases mean to you."

She looked down and began to play with the edge of the duvet cover.

"Scar," he said, scooting closer. His hand was sitting right beside hers now, as if waiting, but she didn't take it. He could take the initiative this time. "You know I'm no good with words, Scar. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Scarlet's thoughts drifted to a small town in France and all the time she had spent there in the summers with her grandmother as a child. She could remember her grandmother shuffling around in the kitchen, the smell of eggs sizzling in a pan for breakfast, before tending to the animals on the farm. But stronger than that, her memory was still vividly crisp when they moved on to a daytrip she'd taken by herself into Paris. Instead of seeing the sights, though, she'd ended up in the cellar of an opera house, waiting for someone to rescue her.

"You didn't hurt me," she finally said. "I just wish that whenever I suggest a kidnapping case you wouldn't think it's because I'm trying to vindicate a horrible part of my childhood. I just have instincts about these things sometimes, and I think Cinder and Kai were kidnapped."

"It's understandable," he said. He set his jaw, his eyes hardening. "I wish I could destroy those monsters for everything they did to you."

"It was a long time ago, Z. I've moved on." She gestured at the room. "Found a positive way to channel a bad experience into something good."

His face relaxed and he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I know you have. You're the strongest woman I've ever met." He chuckled. "And sometimes, the scariest."

She rolled her eyes. "Big compliment coming from The Wolf."

He growled quietly into her ear, and the two of them laughed. When he finally grabbed her hand, the longing that had been there for him since the day she met him returned quickly. She reached out to wrap her arms around him, but his phone buzzed, interrupting her movement.

"They always call you first," she muttered, newly annoyed.

"Detective Kesley," he said. His expression turned into detective-mode, a look she knew well from all of their time together as partners. It meant he was thinking, calculating, and plotting as he listened. Finally, he nodded. "Thank you, I'll call Detective Benoit now and we'll be there shortly."

"Oh, you'll call me, will you? Are you sure you have my number?" She was joking just to push aside the anticipation in her stomach, waiting to hear what news he'd received.

"CSI got a hit on a lock of hair they found." He pushed himself off the bed. "Well, not a complete lock. More like a strand."

"Could be anybody's," she said.

"Still," he said, already putting on his coat. "It could be the lead we need."

Scarlet hopped off the bed quickly, a renewed energy pulsing through her despite having been on her feet all day long. "Where to, Detective?"

"Valshire district. I'll give you all the details on the way. We're paying a visit to one Mr. Jacin Clay."


Mr. Jacin Clay, however, did not answer the door when they knocked. Never one to mind a good show of force, Scarlet smiled as Ze'ev broke down the door almost effortlessly. His studio apartment was dark and small—nothing like the Thornes' house or the ritzy apartment that Kaito Prince lived in. Gun still raised, she let Ze'ev walk in first. It had taken her a few cases of working—and fighting—with him to understand that he was just protective by nature. She had learned that Ze'ev wanting to enter first didn't mean that he didn't trust Scarlet to do so. Rather, whenever she did go first, he bounced around nervously behind her and consequently made her even more nervous, so this method saved both of them a little bit of time and anxiety. When he finally beckoned to her, she walked into the apartment, but didn't stow her gun. Jacin Clay was ex-military, after all, and with a dishonorable discharge, she didn't doubt that he might possess illegal firearms.

Still, it looked like no one had been there in a few days. Scarlet walked around slowly, taking in the apartment. The walls were bare—no decorations and no photos. His fridge only had three items—a half-used mayo jar, a white take-out container, and a crate of eggs. On his nightstand, though, was a picture that matched the army ID photo they had of him in their database. In this picture, he was almost snow blonde, with longer hair than Scarlet was used to seeing on most men, tied loosely into a ponytail. His blue eyes were light and carefree, and he laughed at the camera as a girl with hair as dark as night wrapped her arms around him. It was clear that they were in love.

Or at least, had been. If he was capable of making someone scream in terror the way Cinder Linh had screamed on the phone, then he was also capable of being a creepy stalker who kept pictures of his ex around.

"There's no sign of any kind of life in here," said Ze'ev. "No blood either. We should still get CSI in to inspect it in case he's just good at cleaning up his messes."

"Hmm." Scarlet's fingers trailed against the frame of the photograph, noting the accumulated dust. She wondered if he even lived here on a permanent basis. Maybe he had a different place of residence and used this only for official contacts. Or maybe, just maybe, he spent most of his time at his girlfriend's apartment. She picked up the frame and handed it to Ze'ev. "I want to know who this girl is."

He squinted at the photo. "I suppose it can't wait until morning, can it."

"I'll find the girl," said Scarlet. "You get started on tracking down Jacin Clay."