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“Mr. Collins?” Josie said.
Beau blinked several times. His eyes were glassy with fresh tears. “We have money now. A lot of money. But none of it means anything without Claudia. Why would he keep torturing me if he’s already taken away the most important person in my life?”
The door swooshed open. Noah stood with his cell phone in hand. “Last ping was at the city park—well inside of it. It was a couple of hours ago, but we should probably take a look.”
Josie reached over the desk and pressed a hand over Beau Collins’s. “We have to go. If the killer makes any further contact with you, you need to call us immediately. Or take your phone out to the officer we have watching you. If you tell him the killer has just messaged, he can call dispatch and have them ping Claudia’s phone right then and there. It may be the only way we can find this guy—and put a stop to all of this.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Josie huffed, watching her breath dissipate before her, as she climbed one of the more remote hiking trails in the city park. It was almost at the opposite end of the park from Lovers’ Cave, for which Josie was grateful. She had no desire to revisit that scene any time soon, with or without her team. On either side of them, trees rose toward the sky, their trunks like tall, dark sentries stretching off as far as the eye could see. Josie’s calves burned and in spite of the fact that the weather had dropped below freezing, sweat gathered along the back of her neck. She unzipped her coat and kept trudging. Behind her, the footsteps of the rest of the team crunched over the dirt. Heavy breathing could also be heard. Gretchen mumbled, “I should not be this out of shape.”
“Too many pecan croissants?” Mettner teased.
“I’m not too out of shape to kick your ass, Mett. Just remember that.”
Noah laughed. “I’d actually pay to see that.”
Josie was too focused on the path ahead to join in the banter. She looked at the map on her phone and stopped. “I think this is it,” she said.
Turning in a circle, her heart sank. They were in the middle of a trail that hardly anyone used, mostly due to the steep incline that snaked around the northernmost part of the park, near where Denton University bordered it. Sometimes students used the path to access the park.
Mettner said, “There’s nothing here. What’s so special about this spot?”
“Nothing,” said Noah. “That’s why he chose it.”
Gretchen looked back down from the direction they’d come. “This comes up from the main area of the park and what? Loops back down?”
“Yeah,” said Noah. “The other end of it comes out where the softball fields are but it’s so steep not that many people use it.”
“But enough people do for him to blend in,” said Mettner. “This park is still pretty active, even for January, especially during the day.”
As if proving his point, two women power-walked up behind them, shooting dirty looks at the detectives as they edged their way around them.
“Shit,” said Josie once they were out of earshot. “There are three access points to this trail, assuming he didn’t cut through the woods.”
“And it’s been almost four hours since he was here,” said Mettner. “Another dead end.”
“No,” Josie said. “It doesn’t have to be. We can get another geo-fence—”
“Which is going to show what?” said Mettner. “Nothing. This guy is too smart.”
“But even the smart ones mess up from time to time,” said Josie. “It’s worth a try. We run through the license plate readers near the park.”
“’Cause that worked out so well for us last time,” Mettner groused.
“Hey,” Noah said, his tone a warning. “We’ve got to try everything. You saw what this guy is capable of.”
Gretchen sighed. “It’s worth a try. He’s obviously still in the area. I think we should also use the dog.”
All eyes turned toward Josie. A long, pregnant moment unfurled itself between her and the rest of them. When the silence was too uncomfortable for her to bear, she snapped, “What?”
No one spoke.
Josie tried to take the edge off her tone. “Listen, I get that this is awkward. Luke and I used to be engaged. Luke…” She trailed off.
Noah filled in, “Betrayed you in every possible way?”
“Ouch,” Mettner said under his breath.
