A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 254

Of course she’d questioned it—who wouldn’t?

She’d been just five when her parents died, far too young to do anything but believe whatever the adults told her. But as she grew older, that gnawing doubt kept resurfacing, again and again.

Two narcotics officers. Mission completed. Died in a “car accident” on the way home.

Pieced together, those facts never sounded right. Not to her.

But the officers who handled the investigation were her parents’ closest friends. At the funeral, they wept openly and mourned as if they’d lost their own family.

Elissa had always believed they did their best to find the truth. So, either it really had been an accident, or whoever was behind it was powerful enough to erase every trace.

She sniffed and looked up at Frank. “What are you trying to say?”

Frank’s voice was steady, almost gentle. “Lately, I’ve been doing everything I can to find you.”

“In the process, I dug up a few things about what happened back then—about your parents’ deaths.”

He met her gaze, unwavering. “I’m sure of it now. What happened that night wasn’t an accident.”

It was one thing to have your own suspicions. Quite another to have someone else state it flat out.

Elissa’s knees nearly buckled. She stared at Frank, her eyes pleading. “What did you find?”

She waited, barely breathing, afraid to miss a single word. Whoever was responsible—no matter who they were—she would make them pay. Her parents had dedicated their lives to this job. They deserved, at the very least, for the truth to come out.

She owed them that much. She’d see to it that they could finally rest in peace.

So when Elissa spoke, he wasn’t angry—just smiled gently. “I’d like you to move back in. But don’t worry, we’ll have separate rooms, just like before.”

She didn’t answer right away.

Instead, she calculated when Rowan Murphy would be back in the country, then said carefully, “Can I have three days to think about it?”

If her parents’ deaths weren’t accidental, it had to be connected to that old drug trafficking case. But there was no way she could dig up anything on her own.

Frank had leads, but if Rowan was willing to help, he could probably find out even more, and faster.

She needed to ask him first.

Frank read her face in an instant and chuckled. “Waiting for your brother to get back? Planning to ask for his help?”