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In the footage, the man gently pushed open the front door to the motel and slipped inside.
“He just walked right past the clerk?” Ripley asked.
“We’re a motel. People come and go. Besides, the desk isn’t always manned.”
“Skip to the next camera,” Ella said.
Dennis did. The time in the corner said two-seventeen a.m.. The unsub stepped lightly, moving from door to door, eyeing the door handles to find out which ones were occupied. For a moment, he froze like a mannequin outside room one-twenty-five – Ella’s room – then placed his ear against the door. Ella felt her stomach tighten but didn’t look away. Ragecoursed throughherveinslikemolten lava, threatening to erupt, but she kept it in check, promising herself to channel that energy into something more beneficial.
Then the killer moved on, door to door, out of sight. Dennis switched the camera again, and this time, the killer made a beeline directly to Gary’s door.
“He knew Gary was here,” Ella said. “Look. No hesitation.”
Ripley, leaning over the desk, said, “Agreed. This wasn’t luck. He came here for Gary.”
The figure stood outside Gary’s door, head down, inhumanely still. He reached out with a single hand and seemed to caress the wood, then retreated slightly to the right of the door. Even through the peephole, Gary wouldn’t have been able to see him.
“He’s baiting Gary out,” Ripley said. “Playing to his paranoia.”
“He knows him,” Ella said.
“Mind if I don’t look?” Dennis asked. “I… can’t watch this.”
“Of course,” Ella said. Dennis turned his chair around just as the action began on screen, but Ella spotted something. A small fragment that seemed out of the ordinary. “Wait a second. Dennis, rewind that.”
The owner asked, “Do I have to?”
“Yes, please. Rewind to the part where he’s hiding away from the door.”
Dennis did so, reluctantly. “What, here?”
“Yes.” Ella clocked the time in the corner of the footage. Two-twenty-two a.m. Then she watched the killer closely. More specifically, his mouth.
“Ripley, look.”
“What?”
“He’s talking to someone.”
Ella’s partner leaned in for closer inspection. “God, he is. But is he talking to himself? The victim? Who?”
The footage played out, showing Gary answering the door and the unsub responding with a sudden knife attack before pushing Gary back in the room, out of sight.Ella’s stomach churned as she watchedthe senseless murder,rage simmering in her chest. Right there and then, she vowed to find this man, even if it took her until her dying day. This killer would not go free. He would not evade justice.
But Ella turned her attention to Ripley’s question, because Ella was sure she already had the answer. Ripley had the answer too, spoke it, she just hadn’t realized.
“Mia, you already said exactly who he’s talking to. When you put this altogether, it’s obvious.”
The footage finished, showing a brazen killer walking out of the hotel room, past a maid’s trolley and out through the door.
“What?” Ripley asked.
“Our unsub, he’s talking to God.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ella waited in the motel parking lot while the forensics team did their dirty work inside. Ripley came out too, boots clattering on the pavement like a beaten snare drum. She had a cigarette in her mouth.
“You don’t smoke,” Ella said.
