'Thank you,' Jess said as they pulled up at Tabitha's house. The car journey had been long, and she rubbed at her eyes.

She was tired.

Tired of her so called friends.

Tired of Charity and her disturbing drawings.

And tired of the day.

It had been pointless and only added to her mounting questions.

'I lied to your lawyer earlier,' he announced. 'I said I wouldn't ask you questions.'

'But you've got something to ask me?'

'We haven't announced it yet, but we recovered three bodies from the science building.'

Jess's mouth fell open. She was sure her sister had no idea. If she had, she would have told her.

'There wasn't time to call Ash,' he said in answer to her unspoken thoughts.

'Have they been identified?'

'Not yet. Whatever DNA can be taken by the pathology team will be compared to what we have on the system. We'll also be running dental records, but it will be another day until we know for sure.'

'So what do you need from me?'

'Would you mind if we do this inside?' The Deputy looked around. A dog walker passed, barely glancing at them, but it didn't stop the Deputy turning his head. He grabbed a jacket from the back and slung it over his uniform. As a disguise, it was a poor one, but at least he wasn't driving his police cruiser.

They headed inside, where Tabitha was waiting to greet them.

'Your sister said there was a good chance you'd come here. How is she?'

'Under questioning,' Jess replied.

'This just isn't on.' She glowered at the Deputy.

'To the Sheriff, she's the only lead they have,' he defended.

'That's because they've not even considered anyone else,' Tabitha huffed.

'That's why I want to talk to Jess,' he reasoned.

The older woman pursed her lips but shuffled away on her cane to hold the door open for them.

'You'd better make sure these two girls are okay. They don't need this.'

'I'm doing my best, ma'am.'

Tabitha just grumbled under her breath and split off into the living room, sensing that her presence wasn't required.

'I'll take a mug of Ash's lemon and ginger tea,' she yelled before they could shut the kitchen door.

Jess lifted down the mugs and put the water to boil before turning around. 'What did you need to ask?'

'If I showed you some pictures, do you think you can identify the ghosts you saw at the science building?'

'I could try.'

After handing Tabitha her mug, she took a seat opposite the Deputy. He placed his tablet in front of her and picked up his own mug of tea, giving the contents a curious sniff before attempting a sip.

'Who are they?' Jess slowly tabbed through the images.

'All the blonde women who were reported missing between now and forty years ago.'

'You think I could be right? That they're connected with Charity's murder?'

'I can't ignore the coincidence. Their physical appearance. Your sister's vision.'

'Ash would be the first person to say that her visions aren't always trustworthy. Charity may have just gone to that room.'

'And that's a possibility,' he admitted. 'But there's also Charity's ring.'

'What about it?'

'How would you describe it?'

Jess held in her sigh and humoured him. 'Silver band. Looked like an imitation diamond in the shape of a flower. Basically a knock off engagement ring.'

'It was cut glass, but you're spot on with everything else. And I know for a fact similar rings were found on all the three bodies.'

'Seriously?'

'It could be nothing,' he warned her quickly. 'It's why I want to identify them as quickly as possible. I need to know if they were engaged.'

'Because then you can dismiss the rings.'

'If they weren't, then the rings could be the physical link between these bodies and Charity.'

'But if Ash is right, those women have been dead for decades. How can their killer be tied to Charity?'

'I don't know yet. The pathology report will confirm how they died, and we may find more answers there.'

'Or more questions,' Jess muttered.

'We'll solve this, Jess. You and your sister have nothing to worry about.'

Jess stopped looking through the images and placed the tablet aside. His face was so earnest. He truly meant what he said. For a reason that was completely beyond her, he was intent on helping them.

'Why are you doing all of this?'

'Doing what?' he asked, his brows knitting together.

'Helping us. You know we had nothing to do with Charity's murder, but most people would have walked away by now. I know you slept with my sister but-'

'I didn't sleep with Ash,' he interrupted.

'You didn't sleep with her? But I thought that's why you started helping us,' she admitted.

Elijah shook his head. 'I assumed that your sister would have told you. I didn't expect her to keep it a secret from you.'

Jess waited patiently as the Deputy fidgeted. He took a big mouthful of tea before blanching, forgetting that his mug wasn't filled with his usual coffee.

'A few months ago, the woman I was engaged to broke it off with me. My job is long hours. Not conducive to a social life. And it's hard to switch off. But they were all just excuses for what happened. She'd found someone else. I don't know how long the affair had been going on and for a time, I blamed myself for what happened. If I'd paid more attention. If I'd worked less overtime. Missed less of her functions. Maybe she wouldn't have been pushed into someone else's arms.'

'I don't think you should take all the blame for a relationship breaking down. Were you a cop when you met?' Elijah just stared at her, a smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. 'What?'

'You remind me of your sister. That's practically what she said. And yes, Abigail knew I was a cop when we got together. But it's hard to accept that the life you thought you had wasn't actually real.'

Jess' heart clenched. 'I think I can understand that.'

He looked at her in sympathy. 'Those things your housemates said were in answer to some very pointed questions. The Sheriff was looking for dirt on you, and the officer in charge of questioning knew that.'

'Still doesn't change the way they see me,' she whispered.

'Something your sister said to me stayed with me. It doesn't matter how other people see you, but how you see yourself and what kind of person you want to be. It made me realise that I was only seeing myself through Abigail's eyes. I was weighing myself worth on a woman that had cheated on me.'

'And now you're over it?' Jess asked with genuine curiosity.

A chuckle escaped from the Deputy's lips, and he ran a hand over his scalp. 'It's going to take more than a week, but when your sister stepped into that station, my head was in a really dark place. She touched my hand when I passed her a drink and she saw where my head was at. What I was planning to do,' he said in a small voice as he twirled the mug in his hands.

Jess stared at him. Could he really mean?

'Your sister convinced me that she was the real deal. And how could she not be? She knew so much about me. Past. Present. Future. Or lack of a future in my case. She convinced me that the thoughts in my head were poisoning me. You could say she guided me out of the darkness that was entirely self made.'

'She stopped you...' Jess couldn't say the words.

'Stayed with me the whole night.'

Jess sighed. 'I guess I owe my sister an apology.'

'Given the circumstances, I think you drew a plausible conclusion.'

Jess lifted the tablet again. 'I hope your detective skills are better than mine,' she said with pink tinged cheeks.

They lapsed into silence as Jess returned to her search. So many images, all with brief descriptions of who they were, when they went missing, and the family that was searching for them.

She tried to remember that not all of these women would have ended up like the ones at the science building. They could be living happily somewhere else. They could have escaped from lives that they hated and were somewhere better. Just because they were missing didn't mean that they were dead.

But as much as she tried to remember that, she couldn't help but see them all as ghosts. Their bodies abandoned somewhere like garbage that nobody wanted. Their loved ones left searching for answers.

An image of a smiling girl with sad, down turned eyes made her pause. The birthmark was exactly how she remembered it, right below her left eye.

'This was the one that possessed me.' She handed back the tablet.

'Darcy Jenkins. 22 years old. Reported missing by her roommate in 1987.'

'She lived in Austin. She was a waitress. Why does she just sound like a normal person?'

'Because she probably was.'

'Then how did she end up dead and stuffed into a wall? How did Charity end up with her throat slashed? She doesn't deserve this. Darcy didn't deserve this,' Jess growled, clenching her fists.

The Deputy chose his words carefully. 'Something bad happened to them, Jess.'

'But why?' she demanded.

'There could be so many reasons, but it only comes down to one. There are people in this world who enjoy hurting others. And it's my job to make sure they're punished.'

'Why do you do this job?' She couldn't help but stare at the tablet on the table. Darcy's smiling picture was still on the screen.

'So that other people like Darcy and Charity don't have to go through the same thing.'

'You're a good man, Deputy.'

The Deputy cleared his throat. 'I'm just doing my job.'

'Can you send me the rest of these?'

'I can do that,' he said, relieved that the compliments had stopped.

'And Charity's sketchbook. I wondered if you had any copies of her drawings?'

'Why do you need that?'

Jess flicked a few crumbs off the table and avoided his gaze. 'You said the Sheriff was trying to dig up the dirt on me at the sorority, and it makes me wonder if Charity ever drew anyone else.'

'I'm not sure,' he answered honestly. 'I only saw the first few pages.' But his forehead creased as he thought about it.

'I didn't mean to throw shade on your Boss,' she apologised, misinterpreting his silence.

'It's not that.' He licked his lips, trying to figure out the right thing to say. 'The Sheriff is under a lot of pressure to resolve this, with next to no information to go on. You and your sister appear to be the only ones with the opportunity and motive to kidnap her. But even those would not hold up in court. If the Sheriff is looking for proof, then the sketchbook proves a much deeper connection between you and Charity. I don't want to think of him burying any evidence which would weaken his conclusion.'

'But you can't be sure?' She could sense his hesitation.

His eyes flickered to her before landing on Darcy's image.

'Things never used to be this complicated,' he muttered.

'Welcome to my world.'