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“And how about Boyd? Anything on Boyd?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m not getting a thing on Boyd. His social media is set to private, and I can’t see anything on it. Well, I could, given some time, but not at a glance.” She paused. “But I’m looking further. I’ve found a few links to different groups and different comment boards that he’s on, and I might be able to get into one of them. It’s one that I’ve accessed before. It’s usually private but…”
She raised her hands off the keyboard briefly, scanning the screen. "Wait a sec. Maybe not so private. Maybe there's something that slipped through here that I've been able to find."
She paused, her eyes narrowing as she read what was there.
“Now, this is interesting. He broke up with his girlfriend three months ago. Seems it was very acrimonious – she cheated on him and then moved out of town to be with the new boyfriend. I’ve found a misguided comment from him here, on this supposedly private chat board, only the privacy levels seem to fluctuate. You know, you really should not put things like this out in the public domain. Even if you’re not a killer, saying something like this is going to come back to bite you.”
Connor didn’t know what Cami was going to say next, but from her voice, he guessed it was going to be something important.
“Read the comment?” he encouraged, leaning closer to have a look.
Cami read it out, and he could hear a wealth of suppressed anger in her tone.
“He says here, ‘Women are users, he’s been badly hurt by two of them now, and he’s going to make sure that someone suffers, just as he’s done.’”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Cami couldn’t get those vengeful words out of her mind as they drove. It was getting late now – already nearly eight p.m., so Connor was going straight to Boyd Langdon’s home address. That was where he might be – assuming he wasn’t out stalking some other woman, preparing to make sure they suffered like he thought they should.
Those words filled her with anger. How could anybody want to commit such sadistic, terrible crimes just because they thought they’d suffered themselves and wanted somebody to do likewise? She couldn’t wait to get face to face with Boyd, and for her and Connor to work together and force him to spill out the truth.
Boyd lived in a quiet suburban area – just the sort of place, Cami saw, where his victims had also lived. This was a well treed part of Boston, with small houses and a few apartment buildings, and a couple of restaurants on the main street that were already busy.
His house was just a couple of blocks away, and within another minute, Connor was pulling up outside. But Cami frowned. The home's windows were dark compared to the houses on either side. Either this man had blackout blinds installed – a possibility, she guessed – or he was having a really early night, or he wasn’t home.
Connor got out in any case, walked up to the front door, and knocked, looking around him at the homes on either side. He looked again at these darkened windows, and shook his head. Cami heaved a big sigh. He was out.
But Connor wasn’t giving up.
“I’m not letting this go,” he said, sounding determined. “And I’m not walking away now, not when he’s the only one of the technicians that could have done this. We need to speak to him tonight. I’m going to ask the office to give me a GPS location on his phone.”
He headed back to the car, with Cami following, glad that they were going to be able to do this. It might take a few minutes to set up, but if his phone was on, it would be a lot easier than tracking him using a food delivery app.
Connor was on the phone before he even got into the car.
This conversation, of course, he had no problem in having in front of Cami. It made her even more frustrated about what he was keeping from her. Why the need for secrecy? He was treating her like a child. This was taking their dynamic all the way back to where it had been when she’d joined, and Connor had partnered with her so reluctantly, not liking or trusting her and only disclosing information on a need-to-know basis.
Did he think she was in danger? If so, didn’t she deserve to know that so she could take precautions?
What precautions she would take, that would hold up against what Bill Oertel could do, she had no idea. Maybe, she reasoned somberly, it was actually better not to know.
“Right. Thank you,” Connor said, hanging up. “They’re going to have it ready in about ten minutes, maximum. The phone is turned on, and it’s on the network.”
During that time, Cami took the opportunity to check her own emails. She hadn’t had a chance to do that today. Now, scrolling through, she was reminded of the conversation she’d had earlier, during that surprise phone call with Steve Billings from Rushmore Ventures.
Connor was not the only one who was keeping secrets, Cami knew. She was, too.
He’d sent an email with some alternative meeting times – three different days next week. He was keen to talk, that was for sure. And looking at that email, with its smart corporate footer, reading the summary of what they were doing and what she would be doing – gave her a flare of excitement.
Maybe this was going to be the right decision. After all, she’d always assumed that she’d end up working for a tech startup. And the list of activities, her potential job description, sounded engaging and challenging. Writing code, innovating new programs, testing solutions, brainstorming new frontiers. She liked that.
Tomorrow, she’d write back to him and pick one of the times. She was interested to get face to face with him and find out more.
And it would be safer than working for the FBI. She wouldn’t feel like there was danger simmering in the background that might explode at any minute.
“Right,” Connor said, interrupting her thinking. “The tracking’s come through. We can go.”
