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“Duty calls,” I said, shrugging. We’d shared our tearful farewells the night before, but I think we were both a little sad we didn’t get one final goodbye before we headed our separate ways this morning.
“Did Sawyer get home all right?”
“We just left her. I don’t know what she’s going to decide, but at least she knows what her options are now, so that’s something, I guess.”
“I like her.”
“Me too.” And I did. I had tried not to, but in the long run it wasn’t up to me to decide who I liked and who I didn’t.
“I had a thought on my way home, maybe it will help your detective friend with his case,” she said.
“Oh?”
“Remember I had that session on how people are using social media more and more to pray?”
“Yeah.”
“One of the things they brought up was how people are using these ridiculous hashtags that are doing more harm than good. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I was reading the handout on the plane and noticed there’s this new Instagram trend going around. Parents are uploading pictures of their kids’ sigils. They’re tagging them with stuff like #godsblessed and #clericintraining.” She heaved a sigh.
I glanced over at Leo. “Hashtags?”
Sunny continued, “People are pretty much advertising their cleric children on social media because they’re proud.”
“Fuck me,” Leo groaned. “That’s how he figured out which kids were potential initiates.”
“I think so,” Sunny replied sadly. “Nothing secretive or super smart. Their own parents were putting them in the target without realizing it.”
I felt sick. It was something that stupid and simple. One person’s parental brag was a psychopath’s Yellow Pages for who to kill.
“Thanks, Sunny.”
“All right then, Lula-Belle, I gotta get back to the temple. Don’t be a stranger, though, okay? And bye-bye to you too, Leo.” She hung up.
Honestly, I’d talk to her every day if I could. But she and I both knew it didn’t work like that. Our phone use was monitored, our most frequent numbers checked and cross-checked, and periodically we would be audited on why we had so much communication with another cleric.
They were trying to minimize the connections like those between me and Cade, but they also wanted to make sure something like my bond with Sunny wasn’t given an opportunity to flourish. They knew we were sisters and some chatter was to be expected, but if they ever got the idea I was growing dependent on her in any way, they would drive a wedge between us so quickly we wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye.
I didn’t want to go another five years without seeing her, but I would play it safe for both our sakes. Now that she was alive, I wouldn’t risk losing her forever. Not again. I knew what it did to my heart, and I didn’t think I’d survive going through it a second time.
We got back to Seattle early the next morning. Another night, another shitty motel. At least I hadn’t been visited by any irate goddesses or picked up any teenage stowaways. After I dropped Leo off at the temple, I made my way to the twenty-seventh precinct police department, where I suspected Detective Stowe was about to start his morning rotation.
I had a file folder with me, one I had requested the LVPD let me bring to Stowe in person. They’d been hesitant, but had agreed after it occurred to them how much potential paperwork I had saved them from doing. And now, thanks to Sunny, I had a pretty good idea of how the killer had stalked his victims.
I made my way through the lobby of the old brick building, the walls painted a deep gray green that reminded me of the ocean, and was directed by the civilian receptionist to an area at the back of the second floor, where I would likely find Stowe.
Sure e
nough, I heard his snapping gum before I saw his face.
When I took the chair across from his, he jumped a little, startled by my arrival. “Ms. Corentine. Did we have an appointment?”
“No.”
“Is something the matter?”
Oh, where to begin?
“Well, I was under the distinct impression you were a homicide detective. I thought you might like to solve a homicide.” I dropped the manila folder on his desk and gave him a few minutes to flip through it and absorb the contents.
