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Chapter Fifteen
On the ride down to the lobby, I check my messages to find a text novel from Tic Tac:
The victim is married to a woman named Lindsay, but she seems to have a different address. I took it upon myself to call in a safety check. A uniform arrived and she didn’t answer the door. The neighbor said she’s in Europe for work. We’re trying to confirm her safety. Word is the two are separated. Also, FYI, I don’t think I told you but the cameras at the hotel across from the diner are not working. No-go on any of the cameras around the hotel producing much of anything.
Of course not, I think. This freak of a killer is bold and confident for a reason. He knows the areas where he roams.
I did get some footage from a convenience store from the night Kane was photographed,Tic Tac continues,I don’t see anything on it worth seeing but I’m sending it to you anyway. You might see something I missed. And before you say it—I’m already looking for connections to the case in all directions.
I text him back with: Check out a forensic tech named Noah James.
The elevator door opens, and I don’t have to look far for Rollins. He’s at the door, waiting to get in the car while I’m ready to exit. I shove my phone back in my purse and step into the lobby. He backs up and gives me room, then motions for me to join him, and we step away from the door and put a few feet of space between us, it, and anyone else, including Jay. One thing Jay gets is when to stand back, and more and more, he seems to understand when to step forward. That doesn’t mean he’s savage enough to survive this business.
He is not.
“The guy with the mask is nowhere to be found,” Rollins informs me. “We’re asking for camera footage where we can, but we have to be careful or we’re going to cause a city-wide panic. And holy fuck, I know we were guessing on what horror monster the next killer would mimic, but I was far more ready for the Candyman and a hook than a chainsaw.”
He’s not wrong, about the method of murder or the potential panic. “We need to lock this down. Don’t let the truth get out, or horror freaks will come out of the woodwork wearing masks, acting like fools, and muddying up our investigation.”
He scrubs his jaw and settles his hands on his hips. “I’m glad you agree because I was going to have to fight you on this one if you didn’t.”
“Bring it and some popcorn for the bystanders, because I like a good brawl.”
“I’m pretty sure we all know that, Lilah.”
“Obviously not your ME, because he and I are going to have a brawl. He ran away, I hear.”
“I heard that, too, and I’m pissed. If anyone can deal with a bunch of body parts, it should be him. And what the hell was the boot situation?”
“A tech named Noah wasn’t wearing them. He led me to believe it was a boot shortage. He also said he was told to go on in and process the scene. It was too urgent to wait.”
His brows dip. “Who the hell told him that?”
“He claims the captain via his boss.”
“He’s lying. Both of those people—the captain and his boss—would come to me directly on something this big, and fucking up a crime scene is big. And I heard nothing. I’ll handle him. But him aside, can we talk about the fact that the timeline of five days between killings was not even close to accurate?”
“Yes, well, my father challenged him and used me as his weapon of choice.”
“And tonight was your father’s campaign event,” he supplies.
“Yeah,” I say. “And someone tried to kill him while he was on stage.”
He blanches. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is he okay?”
“Peachy,” I say. “He’d never allow himself to be any other way.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Not even close. We have nothing in common but a badge, and barely that, and because we both don’t want another murder tonight. Leave it at that.”
His lips curve ever so slightly. “All right. So now what? Does he kill tomorrow night or does he revert back to the five-day mark? Please, Lilah, say five days.”
“Is me suggesting a timeline that isn’t tomorrow night going to give you comfort right now? Because it shouldn’t.”
“You always have to be the fucking reality check, don’t you, Lilah?”
“I’m the queen of reality checks. How did he get a chainsaw in and out of the building?” I ask, but I’ve already formed an opinion on this. He didn’t. It was already in the building, and it still is.
