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Spying on him. Another memory surfaced from the static still filling Sam’s mind. “He said his coworkers in the mail room gave him a hard time. I asked him if he’d informed his boss. He said his boss was basically useless because he spent all day spying on the building’s residents.”
“Through the security cameras?” Robinson asked.
“Those are usually in hallways,” Kit said thoughtfully. “Not much interesting happening there.”
Robinson tilted his head. “I wonder if they have cameras in the offices.”
Sam shrugged. “All I know is that he said his boss watched the people in the building. I didn’t ask him if he watched, too. I didn’t think about it. Didn’t think I needed to. I was more worried about his pretty young things at the time.”
And if the words came out with a bitter edge, he wasn’t going to blame himself.
Kit looked away for a moment before returning her gaze to meet Sam’s. “I am sorry. I’ve had a few shocks on this case. It’s been hard to know who to trust.”
He didn’t look away. “Yeah. I kind of know how that feels.”
She winced. “We’ll go now.”
“I’ll lock the door behind you.” He followed them to the living room, where Siggy had curled up in his doggy bed and gone to sleep. So much for being a protection dog.
“At least I have an alibi for the last twenty minutes,” he added acidly as he opened the front door.
Kit pursed her lips, then nodded once. “Stay safe, Dr.Reeves.”
Detective Robinson gave Sam a considering look as he walked through the door ahead of her. “She believed you,” he said quietly. “I didn’t. The video was to convince me.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Sam snapped, even though Robinson had said didn’t. Like now he did believe Sam. Doesn’t matter. “You’re cops. You see this shit all the time.” I only saw it happen once. “I’m a psychologist.” I only saw it once but it changed me forever. “I hear about the aftereffects. I visualize in my mind what every victim has endured as they tell me their stories, but now I have this real-life footage to add to my nightmares.”
Kit’s throat was working frantically as she looked up at him, and he was taken aback to see tears in her eyes. “We don’t,” she whispered brokenly. “We don’t see this all the time. We come in after it’s happened. We see the bodies. But we had to watch it, Sam. All of it. All of them. So much more than we showed you. I’m sorry I made you watch that. I’m sorry I put things in your head that you can’t unsee. But my duty is to the girls. The ones that are dead and the ones he plans to kill.”
Sam closed his eyes, so damn weary. “I know,” he murmured.
“You’re collateral damage,” Robinson said from Joel’s front porch. “Sucks to be you, man.” But the words didn’t sound crass and unfeeling. Maybe tentatively regretful. “Thanks for the tip on the backyard. It’s going to be a game-changer. Once we figure out where it is that he lives, we’ll be one step closer to IDing him.” He turned and walked down Joel’s steps toward the black sedan parked in Joel’s driveway, leaving Sam standing alone with Kit.
“You okay?” Sam asked gruffly.
She rolled her eyes, drying her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. “No. But I am sorry.”
“I know,” he said sadly, because now that his anger had faded, he really did know. “Just... hurry, okay? I don’t want anyone else to die.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Me either.” Then, straightening her spine, she dug in her pocket and pulled out another one of the treats she’d given him that night in the car, when she’d told him to leave town. To return to Scottsdale.
Sam now wished he’d stayed there.
He also wished he could give this woman comfort. Which makes me a fool.
“For Siggy,” she said, handing him the treat.
“Thank you.”
Then she left and he locked the door behind her. Returning to the kitchen, he put the dog treat on the table, sank into a chair, and dropped his head into his hands, the images of Naomi’s murder replaying in his mind. It all mixed with memories of Marley and he wanted to go back to bed and pretend none of this had ever happened.
No time for self-pity. Get back to work.
He looked at the photos of the runaways he’d thought might have been potential victims, now wondering if Kit had seen them die, too.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Hillcrest, California
