AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As the television continued to drone on in the background, the Servant prepared himself for the deadly dance that lay ahead. And as he slipped silently from the motel room and into the night, the shadows embraced him, welcoming their dark emissary into their midst.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
The clock on the dingy interrogation room wall read 10:37 p.m., its ticking a steady rhythm in the otherwise silent precinct. Rachel sat hunched over a desk that had seen better days, her fingers tapping restlessly as she scanned the phone records of Mr. Thompson. The dim light overhead cast shadows across her face, deepening the lines of concentration that furrowed her brow.
“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath.
“Anything yet?” Ethan asked quietly, his voice breaking through the silence. He leaned against the doorframe, concern etched into his features as he watched his partner tirelessly pursue the phone records.
“Maybe…” Rachel replied. “Most of the calls are local. A few are from spammers. But…” Her cursor hovered on the screen over a few calls from a week before. “These calls… they’re different. Not from any known contacts. Not any listed business. Not known spam. Could be a connection.”
“Can you trace them back to a location?” Ethan questioned, stepping closer to get a better look at the computer screen.
“I’m… not sure. It’s not leading me…” She trailed off as Ethan nudged at her hand insistently.
She allowed him access to the keyboard.
“Lemme see if homicide has turned off my passcode yet.”
He cycled to a separate database, and Rachel scooted back, watching, impressed, as the ex-homicide-detective-now-Ranger tapped away.
He opened a new portal on the webpage and clicked his tongue. “Which date was it again? Oh—yeah. Never mind. I see it.”
Ethan’s fingers flew over the keyboard, typing with practiced efficiency.
Suddenly, the local area code appeared on the screen, and Rachel felt a surge of excitement.
“Got it,” Ethan said. “It’s a local number.” He stepped back, beaming as Rachel scrutinized the screen. She could tell he was proud of himself, but she also didn’t want to burst his bubble.
“Nice,” she said simply. She read the number twice, committing it to memory.
“Good work,” Ethan praised, relief evident in his tone. “We should follow up on this first thing in the morning.”
“No, we’re doing this now.” Rachel’s gaze met Ethan’s. “I can’t let this monster take another victim.”
“Rachel, it’s late. We’re both exhausted.”
“Every minute counts,” she countered, grabbing her hat and jacket as she stood up.
But she hesitated, glancing back at the screen. “What’s this?”
“Huh?”
“This second link. Under the first.”
He leaned in. “Oh. Huh. Shit.”
“What?”
Ethan’s gaze never left the screen. “This number connects to our suspect, but it was used from two different locations. A cellphone tower pinged both calls.”
“Two?”
“Two primary locations, yeah. Two home addresses.”
“Why two?”
He shrugged. Then looked at her. “Still wanna tackle this tonight?”
