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Rankin spoke into his radio, then relayed the answer. “They’re making their way through the park as we speak, and the ME is en route.”
Arnett straightened, stretching his back. “So, next steps. We need to find anyone in the area yesterday or this morning,” he said. “See if anybody recognizes Madison or saw anything strange. And we need to find this Lucifer group.”
“That’ll get us started on the serial killer line of inquiry.” Jo chewed on her lip. “In terms of personal suspects, given what I learned yesterday, I think the strongest possibility is the baby’s father. Since Madison was in such dire financial straits, she may have approached the father for child support, and he may not have responded well to the request. I’ll ask Lopez to get started looking into Madison’s phone and email records, to see if we can get a sense of who that is. Right now the only lead we have is the ex-boyfriend, so I’ll have her see if she can get a warrant for his records, too.” Jo turned and stared into the distance, expression grim. “But first we need to break the news to her friends and her mother.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
Chelsea squinted down at the phone, not seeing the screen.
She’d relayed the news about Madison to Naomie, but wasn’t sure what to do now. No matter how she’d tried, Jo had refused to tell her anything other than they’d found Madison dead—even though Chelsea had been the one who’d reported the whole thing to her. Surely the person who filed the complaint was owed at least a few answers?
She needed to know what was going on.
She stabbed at the phone, connecting a call to David. He sounded distracted and annoyed at first, but when she told him Madison had been found dead, either the news itself or her hysterical tears had snapped him to attention. He promised to call Jo and find out what was happening, and told her it was important that she stay calm in the meantime.
Easy for him to say. But he was right, she couldn’t afford to let herself get worked up. She cradled her belly and tried to come up with a way to distract herself while she waited. A year ago, she’d have called Sienna or her ex-bestie Pierce, but both of those relationships had been severely dented by her choice to date David. Sienna, always judgmental and holier-than-thou, lost it when Chelsea revealed she was dating a married man. Not that they’d ever been exactly close, but after their parents were killed in the car crash, they’d become closer, and had been able to at least hang out and chat now and then—until David. Pierce hadn’t cared about that so much, he’d always said if a man leaves he was never yours, but—well, it didn’t really matter. She couldn’t call him, and that was that.
That was that, but it hurt. She’d been friends with Pierce since they were in elementary school. He’d been her shield against loneliness, because no matter how hard she tried to form friendships with girls, they’d always been jealous of her—her looks, her money, her boyfriends, her good grades, everything. No matter how many fancy slumber parties she held, awesome birthday gifts she gave, or random girl-grudges she stayed loyal to, the jealousy always surfaced and the only thing she got for her efforts was an advanced degree in feminine relational aggression and manipulation.
She shot a resentful glance at the sorority yearbooks on her bookshelves. That was the whole point of sororities, wasn’t it? To have an automatic, have-your-back sisterhood of friends to support you? But no, her ‘sisters’ were exactly the same as all the other girls had been. Jealous, spiteful, manipulative.
She’d become resigned to it long ago, the tightrope dance she had to do when it came to relationships with women. That’s why all this was so important.
The phone shrilled, and she snatched it up.
“I’m so sorry, Chelsea,” David said, tone soft and concerned. “But Jo couldn’t tell me much. They have to be careful about what they release to the public.”
The room turned to ice. “But family’s different.”
“I’m not on her list of favorite people right now. And she’s smart enough to know what she tells me goes straight back to you.”
The ice instantly transformed to flame, and her fingers clenched around the phone. “I—I can’t—I need to know. Who could do such a thing to Madison? Who could do such a thing to apregnantwoman?”
“They probably didn’t realize she was pregnant,” David said. “I’m sure sickos like this just abduct whatever defenseless woman they can snatch.”
Chelsea made a choking sound. “Oh, God.”
“Damn, I shouldn’t have said that.” His voice rose a notch. “Are you okay, Chelsea?”
“No, I’m not,” she blurted, voice shaking. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She was such a sweet person, and I just keep imagining it, seeing someone hurting her. Even the fear on her face—I can’t get it out of my mind.”
“You need to distract yourself, otherwise you’ll make yourself sick. Read a book, or watch a movie you love. We’ll know more soon, I’m sure. Jo’s very good at her job.”
“I feel like I’m going to vomit.” Her mind raced, and she scrambled to keep control. “Are they sure it’s a random killing, not someone she knew?”
He paused. “I assumed so. She didn’t say.”
“She must have given you some sense,” she pressed.
“Do you have reason to think it was someone Madison knew?”
“No…but something’s been up with her lately. She’s been late and distracted. But the thing is, as horrible as this sounds—”
“What?” he asked when she didn’t finish her thought.
“It’s just that—if it was someone she knew, there was a reason for it. But if it’s some random psycho killing pregnant women, they might do it again—”
“Stop,” he interrupted. “There’s no reason to think that. You said yourself Madison has been acting strange lately. Whatever’s going on, Jo will figure it out quickly.”
