Page 73 of Long Past Deadly

Frank whistled through his teeth and nodded. “Good find. I wouldn’t say no to a cold coke.”

“Alanna?”

She shook her head. “No more caffeine.”

He went to the kitchen, grabbed two cokes and a bottle of water and went back in record time. Why that was necessary he didn’t analyze.

Frank pulled one of the heavy chairs and sat. “Complicated search you gave me.”

“I hope you found something. I need more data.” Alanna had grabbed her own seat, and leaned on folded elbows to stare at Frank. “Do tell.”

Frank took the coke from Quaid and popped the top. “Yes, I found a file on a girl on the date you gave me. Case is cold. Not solved. No name. No suspects. I found your assault report, too. You should have told me.”

Alanna kept her face neutral and took her water from Quaid. “A test of sorts. You heard part of it in the alley, and I figured you would find it. It’s not something I easily talk about.”

Quaid settled next to her. He didn’t want Alanna taking any heat for protecting herself. It was the only strategy she had left in this messy situation. “And in the dates around the incident, any other missing or Jane Does?”

“Yes, a couple that fit. One from two weeks prior. One a month after.”

Alanna straightened in her chair. “Where?”

“Same downtown area, same age as our girls the other night.”

“They weren’t solved?”

“No, disappeared, but the locations and trace evidence match the incident report from yours. That’s what took me so long. I made the lab do a comparison. So we put in the system like evidence and did a run. Unfortunately, we discovered thirty-seven girls in the last fifteen years. They can’t be all his. Can they?” He handed over the two-page list of names with dates.

Alanna scanned through the information. “Doubtful. We can eliminate the dates we know are his assassination windows. He wouldn’t have been here.”

“Do you have those dates?” Frank looked from her to Quaid.

Alanna pointed at the whiteboard. “These details came from my boss. He’s been reviewing the cases with the classified materials and getting permission to release.”

Frank rose and studied the board. “This Mercer is a piece of work.”

“You won’t get an argument from us.” Quaid set his drink aside. He didn’t want caffeine either.

“Hand me a pencil.” She pointed, and he did what she asked. “Let’s eliminate a few of these names. Read me those dates, will you?”

Frank raised a brow, but did what she asked. When they were finished twenty-two names were eliminated. Twelve case files left. She handed the sheet back.

“Tell you anything?” Quaid stopped himself from touching Alanna. She wouldn’t appreciate the gesture in front of Frank, but reading her expression and body language, she needed the contact. He slipped his hand under the table to touch her thigh. Her leg twitched, but her posture relaxed.

“Well, twelve cases are better than thirty-seven. Eight of these are downtown, but the other four are the beach area. And, unfortunately, we still have no proof it was this Mercer.”

“Any trace evidence on file from those twelve.”

“No. No bodies. Disappearances only.”

Alanna sighed. “Besides the two you found who matched the trace evidence, we have nothing to compare.”

“We can make assumptions, but proof is not going to happen. What were you expecting?”

“Confirmation of his hunting ground and some answers to his methods.” She rubbed her eyes.

“It’s safe to say he likes to return to the scene of the crime. Four people assaulted in the same area, and three have disappeared. Why didn’t he disappear you?”

Alanna gazed at Quaid. “Whit stopped him.”