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Riley thanked him, and they dashed around the fence to the street. “So he’s taken Dan somewhere in a car, and definitely not back to his apartment.”
“But where?”
Riley unlocked the car. “Let’s go back to the clinic.”
The tires squealed as Riley turned out of the parking lot and drove down Dorchester Avenue toward Dix Street. By the time they reached the clinic, Dr. Priest and Emma were standing on the front porch as the doctor locked up.
Gary got out of the car and ran over to them. “Does Mr. Ludlow have another address?”
“I don’t think so,” Dr. Priest replied.
“He didn’t always live on Dix Street,” Emma piped up. She glanced at the doctor. “This was before you came here. When he first joined us, he was living someplace else, but he wanted to be closer to the clinic.” She frowned. “I don’t know where he lived, though.”
Gary thanked them, and they got into the car.
Riley’s face was grim. “Ludlow’s our killer, isn’t he?”
“It’s too much of a coincidence for him not to be. Everything fits.”
“I don’t like this. He’s been so careful. Why would he take chances like this?”
Gary had been pondering the same thing. “Maybe he panicked. Think about it. Remember that note he left at the last crime scene? He thinks he’s invisible. Then he gets a voicemail from me, and then Dan walks into his clinic.”
Riley nodded. “So right now, he’s not thinking straight at all.” He shivered. “Doesn’t that make him more dangerous?”
The question mirrored Gary’s conclusion, and cold surged through him. He got his phone out and scrolled. “Lewis? Start checking public records, the County Clerk’s office, local assessors…. See if you can find a property registered to Christopher Ludlow. Then search records to find the license plate of a black Honda Civic belonging to him.”
“Okay.”
“And Lewis? I need it, like, yesterday.”
“On it.” Lewis disconnected.
Gary pointed to the street ahead. “First stop is the hotel, just to make sure we’re not panicking over nothing. Dan could be sitting in his room as we speak.”
Except if that was the case, Dan would have his phone charging, and he would’ve answered Gary’s calls.
Please be safe. Please be safe.
He’d lost Brad, Cory…. He couldn’t lose Dan.
Chapter 38
7:00 p.m.
DAN FELTas if his eyes had been glued shut, it took such an effort to open them. He was seated on a chair, and although he couldn’t make out details yet, he knew the room was shielded from daylight. There was a lamp somewhere. He wondered for a moment why he couldn’t move his arms. Then he realized they were tied behind the back of the chair. His ankles were bound to the chair legs. His head was like lead, and he closed his eyes again.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, if only for a brief spell.”
And there it was, confirmation of what he’d learned before whatever drug Christopher had used had dulled his senses.
He’s going to kill me.
Dan squeezed his eyes even tighter, his stomach roiling.I’m not ready to die.Because if that were to happen, then he really was the butt of some enormous cosmic joke.Why draw Gary and me together, connect us, only to rip us apart?
Keeping his eyes shut wasnotgoing to make this nightmare go away. He’d have to face it sooner or later.
He opened them to find Christopher in a chair facing him. Dan’s gaze was drawn instantly to the wall behind him, and his heartbeat quickened. A large photo had been placed in the center, and on the left were images of the seven victims, each one crossed in red.
