AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, my God… yes.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Beau got the call from Lori while driving, heading back to the office. “What’s up?”
“Just left Jessica’s hospital room. Unfortunately, she’s no good to us for now. Broke down when I told her about yesterday’s shooting and went into a Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizure. Emotional stress can bring it on, and we both know, Jessica’s suffered her share. It scared the hell outta me, but the medical staff handled it well. Thank God.” Lori’s voice shook when she first shared the news, but she got a grip on herself so as not to let Beau see just how much it had upset her.
“I’m sorry about that, Lori. I know you’d hoped to make a breakthrough with that girl.”
“Yeah, well, shit happens.” She’d tried to sound hard, but it came through as rather pathetic. To stop him from picking up on her worry, she added, “I’m on my way to see Tyler now. Hopefully, I can get more information from him than he knows he has. I’ll meet up with you at the office after lunch.”
“Good.”
“Any more news on yesterday’s shooting?”
“Not much. Probably better if you read the reports. Looks like Jeb follows the same path as Tyler, even to the tattoos. All his parents could add is that he pretty much lived in his room, played with his computer, and seldom left the house, except for school. The difference between him and Jessica is that they aren’t poor. In fact, his workaholic dad has a huge job as manager for a chain of department stores and his mother is a lawyer.”
“Let me guess, never home.”
“Pretty much what I gathered when I interviewed them. They were stunned at what Jeb had done. I actually got the feeling that his old man had a sort of sick pride in his boy being able to organize himself to such an extent that he could pull this off.”
“Except he didn’t. Just followed orders.”
“Yeah, that pretty much burst his bubble. Neither parent had ever heard of Johnny Ray. They said you could come and talk with them, and they gave me his computer equipment for us to search. Bringing it in for Larry now.”
“I doubt it’s the same one he used with Ray. I’m thinking he’d have given instructions like he gave Tyler on destroying the laptop before he carried out his duties.”
“You’re probably right. Tyler was very helpful in telling us about how he had to leave his computer in a trash can before he went into the school.”
“Yeah, and in a place where there didn’t happen to be any video feed for us to examine. This Ray character is not only manipulative, he’s also smart.”
“Not like the patsies he uses.”
“Nope. Gotta go. See you later.”
“Ahh, Lori? I never mentioned this earlier, but thanks for letting me stay last night. Can’t tell you how much it meant. Best sleep I’ve had in months.”
“Good. Me too. See you later.”
Beau ended the call and sat in his seat behind the wheel, not able to move. He’d actually opened up to Lori, and it hadn’t been easy. He made a face at himself and acknowledged that when he flirted with or led other women on, words flowed like soapy, warm water. But with Lori, he couldn’t seem to bring things down to that basic level.
It was different. She was different. Somehow, she’d snuck under his armor and had begun to matter. Christ, how had that happened? He’d been on his own for so long, he’d given up on meeting anyone who might come close to filling up the emptiness.
Did she?
He didn’t know for sure. Waking up next to her that morning had been wonderful. He’d felt like he’d taken medication to ease all the achiness usually greeting him at the beginning of the new day. Beside her, he’d felt invigorated, softer in his heart, and needy for her attention.
Jesus, man. Fucking give your head a shake. She couldn’t have been clearer in her disinterest. You were just a hot body in the blizzard of emotions last night. So suck it up, Snowflake.
Chapter Twenty-five
Lori didn’t intend to play Tyler’s games. He knew a lot more than he let on, and she wasn’t about to let him off the hook.
Facing the same chubby, red-headed boy Lori first saw on the bus, she surveyed him with the eye of a profiler who had insight into his recent behavior. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Lori Page.”
He glanced up from his seat at the table, and she saw the beady eyes survey her with contempt before he flashed what was meant to be a smile but appeared more like a sneer. “I remember you. My prick still hurts because of you kicking me there.”
“Good. You gave me no choice. I have some questions that need answers, and I think you have them.”
