Page 99 of D for Dead

‘Sure.’ It seemed to calm Amy to be doing things, and Rebecca understood her frustration, cooped up in her apartment under police watch, waiting and unable to do anything as a killer struck again and again – one who seemed to have a personal vendetta against her.

Events were taking their toll on her. Dark shadows were smudged around her eyes and her complexion was pale and drawn. Rebecca noticed how she kept nervously fidgeting with her hands, tucking the long strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ears and biting at her nails.

Over the course of the morning they’d gone over the murder of Danielle, Amy talking through the details she could remember. Jake’s name cropped up once and Rebecca didn’t miss the look in Amy’s eyes, noticed the way she bit into her bottom lip. She understood she wanted to ask after him but, to her credit, she didn’t.

‘We have the local police going over to Tucker Johnson’s house to bring him in for questioning,’ she explained now. ‘We will find out what happened to Danielle and also if he has any part of this. You said he was maybe late thirties, early forties when he attacked you?’

‘Yeah, around that age.’

‘That would put him in his fifties or sixties now. He could be our guy.’

Amy poured coffee into cups, added milk and sugar before handing one to Rebecca and taking another over to Boaz. ‘Do you really think it could be him after all these years?’ she asked, returning to the kitchen.

‘I think it’s possible. We will know more later on today. Of course we haven’t been able to rule out your ex-boyfriend yet.’

‘David?’ Amy paled. ‘Why do you think he’s involved?’

So far they had been careful how much information they had told Amy about Gavin’s involvement, but Hickok had given Rebecca the go-ahead to fill her in.

‘He’s back in Juniper and we picked up a number of cigarette butts across from the road from your apartment. He’s been watching you, Amy.’

‘Shit. Are you serious?’ Amy closed her eyes, rubbed her hands over them. ‘My car, the pictures. You think it’s him?’

‘Yes, I think it’s likely.’

‘Oh, jeez. It never rains, but it pours, right?’ She was silent for a moment as realisation dawned. ‘Oh crap, you think he could have killed these people?’

‘Maybe.’ Rebecca paused. ‘Was he ever violent towards you, Amy?’

‘No. He was controlling, but not violent. He was big on mind games.’

‘What kind of mind games?’

‘He was possessive and didn’t trust me, and he would often turn up when I wasn’t expecting him, convinced he was going to catch me cheating on him. Sometimes he would get paranoid and go hunting around my apartment looking for signs.’

‘So he had jealousy issues, then?’ Rebecca pressed.

‘You could say that. He liked things done his way and on his terms and was good at trying to break down my confidence, make out things were my fault. He could be a real Jekyll and Hyde; one minute he’d be showering me with gifts and flowers, the next trying to make me feel worthless, telling me I should be lucky to have him in my life.’ Amy paused, a little embarrassed. ‘He did control me for a while, knocked my confidence too, but I eventually wised up to his games, realised he was never going to change, and I managed to get him out of my life.’

Rebecca knew Gavin’s type, understood how they operated. ‘I’m guessing he didn’t take the break-up well?’

‘You could say that.’ Amy smiled tightly, but didn’t elaborate. ‘I got him out of my life, that’s all that mattered. Or at least I thought I did.’

‘Controlling would fit our subject’s MO. He’s calm and methodical, and doesn’t act in the heat of the moment. He plans things. He wants them done a certain way and knows how to achieve that.’

‘Jeez, I slept with the man. I was in a long-term relationship with him.’ Amy started to pace nervously. ‘Are you saying I had sex with a serial killer?’

Boaz chose that moment to bring his cup back for a refill, catching the tail end of the conversation.

‘I have experience with this stuff, Amy. You wouldn’t know this, but I found out I personally knew someone who was a serial killer.’

Amy looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate, while Rebecca rolled her eyes behind Boaz’s head. All they needed were a few of his pearls of wisdom.

‘When I was struggling to cope and deal with things, I found the church helped me.’

‘The church?’

‘Yeah, Pastor Ralph is a real good guy. Maybe you could pay him a visit.’