The chief of security had already received a heads-up from the Walton County Sheriff’s Department. As a courtesy, local law enforcement agencies notified Eglin’s central dispatch whenever military personnel were involved in an off-base incident. Jess filled the top cop in on the details of Whittier’s gruesome death, including her connection to the man, and drove home.She didn’t sleep at all that night.Whittier’s death headlined the local edition of the Daily News the next morning. Jess left the paper unread on her kitchen table and went to take a shower. She’d scrubbed from head to foot for almost an hour last night, but she could still feel the scratch of dried blood on her skin.When she emerged from the bedroom, her answering machine blinked fast and steady. She hesitated before hitting ‘play’. She’d left the repeated calls from radio and TV stations unanswered last night and expected more this morning, but it was Steve’s voice that jumped out at her.“Jess. Call me.”She reached for the phone, let her hand hover over it for long moments.
