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Evening painted the sky as Nicky rushed into the realtor's office, which was shockingly ritzy. The office was modern and crisp, outfitted in the latest styles and newest tech. Everything was high-end and sleek. The furniture was leather, and Nicky could tell from the smell that it was real.
Apparently, this Katz guy was no low baller, despite the fact that he never sold that old warehouse. A perky young receptionist sat behind a sleek desk, fingers clacking away at a keyboard, when Nicky and Ken stormed up.
"Can I help you?" she asked, standing at attention, but all Nicky did was hold up her badge.
"I'm looking for Jordan Katz."
"Mr. Katz isn't here right now," she said. "Can I deliver a message?"
No. Nicky wouldn't accept that. She needed Katz now. If anyone had something to do with those girls dying, it had to be him. It was too much of a coincidence for him to not only have a history of assaulting women, but for him to have also matched with Meghan on a dating app.
Katz had guilty written all over him.
"A message isn't good enough," Nicky said. She held her badge up higher. "We're with the FBI. We need to know where Katz went."
"Um, well--"
Nicky didn't like using intimidation when she didn't need to, but in this case, she did need to. Meghan's life was on the line.
Nicky couldn't lose another.
She couldn't lose Rosie again.
"If you know where he is," Nicky said, "you need to tell us. It would be an obstruction of justice not to.
"I--" The receptionist looked between the pair of them, chest trembling with uncertainty. Nicky did feel bad. This girl probably had an allegiance to Katz, for whatever reason, but Nicky had to do her job.
"You're doing the right thing," Nicky said. "Please. You need to tell us."
With that, the receptionist swallowed and nodded. She picked up a pen and scribbled down an address, then handed it to Nicky, who took it instantly.
"He's throwing a banquet at a theater nearby," she said. "It's sort of an invite-only, black-tie event. Only Mr. Katz's top clients and family members are invited. I think it’s for his uncle’s retirement or something. Really, that’s all I know.”
"Thanks." Nicky didn't waste a second, turning on her foot and hurrying out of the office with Ken right on her tail. They could take this bastard down. It was time.
"Gonna let me drive for once?" Ken asked as they hurried up to the car.
"Not a chance," Nicky said. She was in charge of this mission, so she liked being in charge of the wheels.
The sun was setting, casting an orange hue over the parking lot. The parking lot was still warm from the sun, but the air was cool, the asphalt hot. Nicky slid into the driver's seat. The moment Ken got in the passenger side and strapped in, Nicky pressed her foot to the gas.
If Katz really was the killer, and he was busy at some event, then there was a chance Meghan was still alive. Nicky wasn’t too late.
Too late, like she’d been too late all those years ago, with Rosie. No matter what Nicky was doing, it always came back to this. As Nicky drove, she couldn't help but return to that night all those years ago. Maybe what Meghan had gone through--or was currently going through--was the same. Maybe she felt the same fear, the same terror.
After the man had thrown Nicky and Rosie into the lake, only to pull them out, he took them into what would be their prison for the next several days.
The cabin. It was dark, dank, and smelled of mildew and mold. They thought for sure he would kill them. Nicky would never forget the way she and Rosie clung to each other on the cabin floor, terrified of what was to come next. She could never forget the way the building creaked around them, and how every moment spent in it had been terrifying.
The first night there, they didn’t sleep at all—how could they? With every creak in the house, they were waiting for the man to come back, to kill them finally. But it never happened. They lived through, until the sun began to rise through the narrow gaps in the building’s walls.
That would only be the beginning of their torment.
That was why Nicky had to save Meghan before it was too late. If she was alive, she deserved to get out of her hell, the same way Nicky had.
***
The car screeched to a halt in front of the opulent theater. It stood grand and white against the dark night sky. Nicky parked and quickly hurried out with Ken.
