Page 95 of Chameleon Killer

“That isn’t a yes,” I promised him.

“It isn’t a no either.” He looked away, jaw working once before control settled back into place. “When are you calling Brewster?”

“Soon.”

“What are you telling him?”

I folded the message and returned it to the envelope. “Not everything.”

Flint’s gaze snapped back to mine. I expected an argument. Instead he nodded slowly, as if I had confirmed something he had already feared. “That,” he said, “is exactly how this starts.”

I didn’t ask whether he meant the Auditor’s influence, the destruction of my objectivity, or the distance growing between us.

I was afraid the answer was all three.

Chapter

Fourteen

MALLORY

The next morning, Flint replaced the murder board in his apartment with a building.

Metaphorically.

The glass whiteboard that had held victim names, timelines, and questions now displayed floor plans, property records, exterior photographs, utility maps, fire exits, and a satellite image of the address printed on the Auditor’s invitation.

Red marker circled three entrances.

Blue marked security cameras.

Black Xs identified doors Flint apparently considered unusable.

A photograph of the rear loading dock had been enlarged and taped to the lower corner. Another showed the parking garage entrance. A third had been taken from across the river with enough zoom to capture several dark windows on the upper floors.

I stood in the living room dressed in his old Carter News T-shirt again, coffee forgotten halfway to my mouth.

“You went there.”

Flint didn’t look up from the laptop balanced on one knee. He sat at the far end of the sofa, freshly showered, dressed in jeans and a dark long-sleeved shirt. His hair was still damp around the temples.

“I went near there.”

I didn’t quite snort, but said, “That picture was taken from the loading dock.”

“Okay, so near is a flexible term.”

“And that one?” I pointed toward the photograph from across the river.

“Public property.” So dismissive.

“The garage?” I couldn’t decide if I was angry, worried, or impressed.

“Also publicly accessible.” He still hadn’t looked up.

“You went inside.”

That made him look at me. “No.” Far roo quick to be evasive.