Chapter 3 The Missing Page

The crime scene techs had packed up, and the room had gone still. Mara stood alone now, the rose in evidence, the body gone, but the presence still thick in the air. Her eyes kept going back to the notepad.

The last page had been torn cleanly-not ripped hastily. Someone had taken their time.

She called HQ to request fingerprint and handwriting analysis, then slipped the notepad into a folder.

Back at her apartment, Mara spread everything she had across the floor: the guest list, employee schedules, surveillance stills, and the notes. One small clue stood out.

Juliana hadn't checked in under her real name. She had used an alias: Evelyn Moore. A quick background check confirmed it-Juliana had a history of investigative travel. Her last known location? A remote island in the Philippines, working on an expose about political corruption.

So why was she here, alone, in a second-rate hotel?

Mara stared at the scribbled line again.

"Bring the photo."

What did she uncover overseas that someone would kill to erase?

Then she noticed something else. The page before the last-where the repeated message was scrawled-had slight indentations. Mara took a pencil and gently rubbed across it. A second message emerged:

"Don't trust the badge."

Her heart skipped. Was someone inside law enforcement compromised?

The case was no longer a simple murder. It was a message. And Mara might be the next recipient.