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“No, no. He broke in. To be fair, I may have pushed him to do it. But—”
Groaning, she puts her hands over her face.
“What did you do?”
“Who says I did anything?”
Litza sends me a deadpan look that tells me she isn’t in the mood for my attempt at levity.
“All right. I told him I was going on a date with Carl.”
“You hooked up with two guys in one night…? Who are you?”
“I didn’t hook up with anyone…really…”
She rolls her eyes, and I place my hands on her shoulders. “Listen. I went out with Carl, because I was trying to be nice and he kept asking. It also allowed me to piss off Ethan. It was a great idea…it worked really well. Up until they got into a fight. Well, fight is a bit much; Ethan pummeled him. Bad. Mercilessly.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. He beat up Carl for going on a date with you?”
“No. He did it because Carl wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ethan wanted to make sure he learned the lesson.”
Litza buries her face in her hands.
“Trust me. It’s not Ethan.”
Her eyes narrow as she peeks over her fingers at me.
“Where is Carl now?”
“Don’t worry about it. Ethan handled it.” I can tell by her cold eyes she isn’t convinced but is willing to go along with my assessment of the situation.
“So, in other words, we still have nothing.”
“Seems so.” My spirits drop. “Have you been able to find anything that links them?” Litza turns her attention begrudgingly back to her computer and pulls up the files on each one of the missing girls.
“Not really. The man has a type. Early to mid-thirties with brown hair. All different routes. All different areas of town. Not even the fucking timelines line up. Same thing we knew before. The only thing that changes is we have a few more cases to look at. But as far I can tell, the police haven’t been able to piece much together in those cases either.”
“I wonder if your friend can help.”
She huffs a laugh and rolls her eyes. I keep trying to nudge her into meeting this mysterious online stranger who makes her eyes light up. If it can bring my younger sister happiness, I’ll take every opportunity to push her towards it.
“I’ve asked. He’s as stumped as I am. Though we’ve agreed to share information if we find anything new. I’ll send him the details for the other cities. Maybe he will have more luck.”
“I’m surprised. You…sharing. And you say you don’t know who I am.” I place my hand across my chest, mimicking shock.
“This is business. Not a romp with a stalker. Why did you deliberately piss him off? I mean, I know you tend to do that but stalkers aren’t normally the most tamable people. A bit stabby, you know?” Poking me in the side, she sits back with a smile.
“Tit for tat kinda thing.” I shrug and lean in. Her left brow lifts as she tries miserably to hide a smirk.
“Mm-hmm…so…deets! Give me the tea! Spill it! Scald me!” she says, too enthusiastically.
Litza is so wrapped up in the whole story, by the time I’m finished, she sits back with a stunned look on her face. Once she’s gathered herself, a lecture on home security is launched at me. I’ve never been good with technology, and I hate the way it looks. Cheap plastic boxes, wires running everywhere…the alerts when a moth crosses into my territory—a shiver runs my spine just thinking about it.
I finally cave-in and tell her she can install cameras, with the proviso that I have to approve them—which I never will. It’s a complete lie, but the idea makes her feel better.
Once she’s gone, I pull out my phone to send a text to Ethan with the information we have on the other missing women. Hopefully, he’s heard something.
I’ll send the details over to my brother.
