She jumped at a sound behind her and looked over her shoulder to the door. “Sal.”
“Are you all right?” Sal demanded. He came around the bank of chairs to search her face. “I just heard what happened to your friend. That could have been you.”
“Was supposed to have been,” Eve corrected. “I’m sorry, Sal, I should have called you to warn you about this guy again.”
Sal’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you worry about us. I posted the sketch of this asshole at the bar, so if he has the balls to come back, we’ll take him down.”
Sal didn’t often take a belligerent tone but Eve knew he was scared. And grieving. “I’m sorry about Looey.”
He cleared his throat gruffly. “Looey was a good guy. Never would hurt a soul. Jeff Betz is crawling the wall, wishing he had his hands on that guy again. Eve, what’s going on here? This is craziness.”
“Yeah, I know,” Eve said glumly. “You be careful, okay? If he comes back…”
“If he comes back, it’ll be the last thing he does.”
“Sal,” Eve said, gripping his arm urgently. “Promise me you won’t do anything—”
“Anything what, Eve?” he asked, too quietly. “Stupid?”
Eve felt a shiver of apprehension. “Dangerous. Sal, you’re important to me.”
He sighed, wearily. “Dammit, Eve. I hate that he put his hands on you in my bar.”
“I know.” She hesitated. “You and Josie… you’ve been so good to me. Like… parents. Don’t flip out on me and get yourself killed. I’d never forgive myself.”
He was quiet a moment. “All right. Callie’s on tonight. We’ll watch over her.”
“Thank you. Sal, he was in your office last night. He put something in my computer bag. You should check the back door, make sure you’ve thrown the deadbolt.”
He made a frustrated sound, a growling in his throat. But when he spoke, it was calmly. “I will. You want me to sit with you?”
She shook her head. “I’d feel better if you were watching Callie. Olivia’s got all the security guys here watching for him.”
He rose. “All right then. Call me if you need me, honey. I’ll be here quick.”
“Thank you.” Eve watched him go, praying he’d stay calm. Half wishing this Buckland imposter would go back to the bar where fifty cops could bag him, and not too gently, but hoping he stayed far away from the people she loved.
Too antsy to sit still, Eve brought up a search screen and typed in Noah’s name before she realized she’d planned to do so.
Nothing Olivia said had changed Eve’s instinct that this “reporter’s” vendetta was against Noah. But why? And why now? Noah’s name brought back a page full of links to the MSP article on the Hat Squad. That was new, the article. Out in the last few weeks. Three weeks. Amy Millhouse had died three weeks ago. Coincidence? Unlikely.
Eve considered it. The article had brought the detectives a lot of attention, most of it unwanted. Some people, like Sal and me, were proud of their detectives.
But there was another element that might not take so kindly to positive press for the police. Who? Noah put away dangerous people. Any one of them could hate him.
“Evie? Oh my God, Evie.”
Eve looked up to see Tom Hunter rushing into the waiting room. At his side was a tall young woman. She was pale, her eyes bleak and red-rimmed, and even from across the waiting room Eve could feel her desperation. Eve put her laptop aside and rose, grabbing Tom’s hands. “He’s all right,” she said. “Take a deep breath.”
Tom shuddered out a breath. “I just got your messages. I’m sorry.”
“Where were you?” Eve asked, then leaned forward. “And who is she?”
“This is Liza,” Tom said. “She’s a friend. Where is David?”
“Getting a CAT scan. Relax,” Eve said. “It’ll be fine.” She stretched out a hand to Liza, who stood awkwardly to the side. “I’m Eve.”
Liza shook her hand, but tentatively. “Tom’s told me about you.”
Eve held on to Liza’s hand, studying her drawn face. The girl looked as if she were about to pass out. “Liza, when did you last eat?”
She winced. “I can’t remember.”
Tom gave the girl a look of mild reproach. “I told you to buy food.”
“I did. I forgot to eat it,” she said rebelliously.
“The cafeteria is on the second floor,” Eve said. “Get her some dinner.”
“Okay. You want anything?”
“No, I ate lunch. And if David doesn’t need me, I have a… dinner… thing.”
Tom’s eyes widened. “A dinner thing? Is that, like, a date?”
Eve felt her cheek heat. “Yeah, like, a date.”
“Well, it’s about time. Who is he? Can I meet him?”
“I think he’d like that. He’s kind of a fan of yours. You two get food, then come back and let me get to know your friend.”
She watched them go, speculatively. Eve had seen terror and despair in her own eyes for years and Liza’s were filled with both. She also knew of Tom’s penchant for helping those in need. She hoped he hadn’t involved himself in anything dangerous.
Not, of course, that I can talk. David was getting a CAT scan because Eve had gotten herself involved in the Shadowland murders and then with Noah, and by association, this maniac that wanted to hurt them.
With a sigh Eve sat, continuing her search of articles about Noah. There’s something here. I just have to find it.
Chapter Eighteen
Wednesday, February 24, 5:30 p.m.
Harvey put his microwave dinner aside when the doorbell rang. Webster was at the police station, so he’d ducked back home to grab some dinner. It had been a long week and Webster had kept some long hours, which meant Harvey had as well.
Startled to see her, he threw the door open to the woman his son had once loved with all his heart. “Katie, honey. What are you doing here?”
Katie came into the living room, her lovely face pale. “We need to talk.”
Harvey helped her to a chair. “I thought you were at your parents’. What’s wrong?”
Katie stared up at him, her eyes glazed with fear. “Where’s Dell?”
Harvey sat next her, apprehension coiling in his gut. “I don’t know. Why?”
“This is unbelievable.” She shook her head. “Did you know what he was up to?”
“I’m not sure anymore. Talk to me.”
She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “I knew he was losing it, but I never dreamed he’d… Dell’s in trouble. We need to find him and get him out of town.”
“Why? What has he done?”
“The cops say he’s killed someone.”
Harvey shook his head, this time in denial. “No, my son is not a killer.”
“They said he killed a reporter. Kurt Buckland.”
Harvey frowned. “I know that name.”
“He covered V’s funeral. He comes to this bar named Sal’s.”
Where Webster goes once a week. “I know the place. Dell killed him at Sal’s?”
“No. But the cops that go to Sal’s said Dell’s been harassing the bartender and today he tried to kill her. They said he’s been posing as this Buckland guy all week, but this morning they found Buckland’s apartment covered in blood. Buckland’s missing and they say Dell did it.” She was becoming hysterical, hyperventilating.
“Calm down,” Harvey ordered. “How do you know this?”
She blinked, as if thrown by the question. “I’ve been hanging at Sal’s for three weeks. Kissing up to Jack Phelps so Dell could trap him. It’s part of your plan.”
Harvey stared. “You’re Dell’s Trojan Horse?”
She nodded. “I was supposed to snuggle up to Phelps, watch him from the inside.”
“Drug him to make him sleep,” Harvey said dully.
“That was self-preservation. I couldn’t stand the thought of the man touching me.”
“He hurt you?” Harvey snarled soft
ly.
“No, but he’s a sex addict. He blows off work for it and I’m not the first. Like Dell said, it was just a matter of time before the guy got himself fired. We just sped it up.”
Harvey sat back. “So you’re helping Dell fry Phelps by sleeping with him?”
She flinched. “The bastard deserves it for what he did to V. I’ll do what I have to.”
This is all insane. “Why would Dell kill Buckland? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Of course it does. It makes perfect sense.”
Harvey and Katie swung around to look behind them. Dell stood in the kitchen doorway. He’d come in the back door. “What’s this about, Dell?” Harvey demanded.
Dell’s eyes made Harvey’s blood run cold. “You told. You turned me in.”
It took Harvey a minute, but when he understood, he lurched to his feet. “Are you saying I told the cops you killed Buckland? I didn’t even know about him.”
“No, but you knew about last night. I wasn’t playing by your rules. Stupid rules. You would have sat, waiting and watching those two until you died. You’re pathetic.”
“I didn’t call the cops, Dell.” Harvey took a step back. “Why would I?”
“Because you lost control. I wasn’t your ‘boy’ anymore. You couldn’t stand the fact that your plan wasted a year and mine got results in three fucking weeks.”
“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Harvey warned, but his voice trembled.
Dell laughed bitterly. “I’ll take whatever tone I want. I’ll do whatever I want. And you can’t stop me. Nobody can.”
“Dell,” Katie inserted, “you’ve got to get away. Didn’t you get my messages? I tried to warn you. The cops are passing around a sketch of you at Sal’s.”
“Shut up,” he snarled and swung, hitting her with the back of his fist. Thrown against the sofa, she started to cry. “This is all your fault anyway, you fucking whore.”
Harvey caught Dell’s arm before his son could deliver another blow. “Stop it. Stop this right now. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I will not tolerate hitting a woman.”
Dell made no move to wrest his arm free. They stood, nose to nose, eye to eye, and for the first time, Harvey knew true fear. “No,” Dell said softly. “You just hit little kids. Well, guess what, Pop? I’m not a little kid anymore. And you shouldn’t have told on me.”
Harvey’s heart was pounding too hard. “I didn’t tell. I didn’t. Tell me you didn’t kill anyone and I’ll hide you. Run, and I’ll tell the cops I don’t know where you are.”
“I’m not running because I’m not finished. You,” he barked to Katie, who was edging toward the door. “Get back here. I’m not done with you.” Katie started to run, but Dell grabbed her by the hair and flung her to the sofa. “I said I’m not done with you.”
Harvey took a step forward, but stumbled back when Dell’s fist plowed into his jaw. Then froze when his surviving son pulled a gun with a silencer from one pocket and a pair of handcuffs from another. “I brought my own tools,” Dell sneered. He snapped the cuffs on Katie, turning her facedown on the sofa. “Now you’ll stay put.”
“Dell. Why are you doing this? What has Katie ever done to you?”
Dell’s laugh sent another chill through his blood. “You thought V was innocent, but he wasn’t. He killed that guy. But do you know why he was in that store to begin with?”
“No,” Harvey said, not taking his eyes from the gun in Dell’s hand. “Tell me why.”
“Because he needed the money. Because he wanted to buy more stuff for his fiancée because he was afraid she was steppin’ out on him with another guy. And guess what? He was right. She was just using him, spending his money faster than he could earn it.”
“It’s not true,” Harvey said. “Katie wouldn’t have cheated on VJ. She loved him.”
Dell lifted Katie by the hair again. “Tell him where you were the day VJ died.”
“With you,” Katie whispered, terrified.
Dell shook her. “Louder.”
“With you,” Katie cried. “I was with you. In VJ’s bed. I was with you.”
Harvey couldn’t breathe. “You were sleeping with your brother’s fiancée?”
“She didn’t do much sleeping,” Dell said bitterly and threw Katie down in disgust. “She hasn’t done much sleeping any night for the past three weeks.”
“You were with her?” Harvey asked, faintly. “All these nights?”
“While Phelps slept like the dead in the next room. I know. Sickening, isn’t it?”
But Dell didn’t look sickened. He looked… insane. “How could you, Dell?”
Dell shook his head, slowly. “V was always bigger than life. I can’t count the times he saved me from you, taking the blame for whatever made you mad.” He seemed to have run out of steam and Harvey watched, waiting for the opportunity to take the gun.
“I always wanted to be V,” Dell went on, wistfully. “He got all the girls. When Katie came on to me… I just took what she offered. And I’ve lived with that for the last year.”
“You seduced Dell?” Harvey whispered. “And you’re still sleeping with him?”
Tears ran down Katie’s face. “VJ worked all the time. I was lonely and it just happened one day. I didn’t plan it.”
Stunned, he stared. “But you’re still sleeping with him.”
“He told me he needed me,” Katie sobbed. “He said we could get Phelps together. Make him pay. I wanted to make Phelps pay.”
“Oh, you will,” Dell said. “Don’t worry. You’ll have the starring role.”
Harvey looked up at his son. The crazed light was gone from his eyes, replaced by an amused detachment that was more terrifying. “What are you going to do?”
“Well, I got to thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if, after losing his job through gross incompetence, Phelps killed himself? Then I kicked it up. He loves women. Wouldn’t it be even greater if he was discovered dead in his bed next to his newest bimbo who was shot in the head? Think about how that would look on a magazine cover. It would get headlines. The world would see Phelps for who he really is. It would ruin him.”
“You can’t do that,” Harvey blurted.
Dell’s eyes narrowed. “Watch me, old man.”
“No, no,” Harvey backpedaled, stalling for time. On the sofa, Katie was sobbing in fear. “I mean, you can’t just punish Phelps. Webster was there, too. What about him?”
“Oh, I have a plan for him, too. No worries.” Dell took a step forward.
“Why Buckland?” Harvey asked.
Dell smiled, enjoying his fear. “I wanted to be sure the story would get printed.”
“You killed a reporter, posed as him, so that you could take over his column?”
“No. I killed him because he refused to write the story I wanted him to write. Kept whining about professional ethics and corroboration. Turns out I was right.” He took another step forward, pointing his gun at Harvey’s chest. “But I wasn’t close to being finished. I had days of stories left to write. You really shouldn’t have told on me, Pop.”
“I didn’t. I swear—” There was a quiet pop and Harvey looked down at his chest in disbelief. Red was spreading across his shirt and he couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Dell leaned close. “You really shouldn’t have hit us all those years, either, so that was for me and V.” He yanked a sobbing Katie to her feet. “Time to go.”
Wednesday, February 24, 5:30 p.m.
“So is this Buckland imposter connected to the Shadowland killer?” Abbott asked when Noah and Olivia had finished the story. “Could they be the same person?”
Carleton shook his head. “Unlikely. The temperament is completely different. The imposter is reckless and the Shadowland killer is very careful and meticulous. Both dangerous, but not the same person.”
“Considering we know what the imposter looks like, that would have been too good to be true,” Abbott grumbled. “But the timing can be no coinc
idence.”
“This Hunter,” Micki said. “What exactly did he see?”
“A black SUV,” Olivia said.
“And a ring,” Noah added. He’d told Olivia and she’d already added it to the BOLO. He held up his hand. “Like my college ring, but there are a lot of people with college rings. And most schools use the same ring companies, so the designs are the same.”
Kane held up his right hand. It was ringless, but he wiggled his finger. “I had one.”
Olivia looked up at him, charmed. “I didn’t know that, Kane. What did you study?”
Kane’s smile was slightly embarrassed. “Dance. Helped me play football.”
“I have one, too,” Carleton said, holding up his right hand. “We’re going to have a hard time tracking him down if that’s the only thing we have to go on.”
“I know,” Noah said flatly.
“His prints aren’t in the system,” Olivia said, “but we’ve got a sketch.”
“No sign of Buckland’s body?” Abbott asked.
“So far, none.” Olivia looked grim. “The tech guys are tracing the email he sent to the Mirror’s editor with the article on our dead women, we think from Buckland’s laptop.”
“All right.” Abbott sighed. “So full circle, back to our dead women. No suspects, no forensics, and no idea who he’s going to strike next. I need to decide if we’re going to release the Shadowland element to the press. Pros? Cons?”
“Pro, we warn the people in the study,” Noah said. “We tell participants not to leave their houses to meet strange people they meet online.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Like they should need to be told.”
“Con,” Jack said, “we show him our hand.”
“If you expose the connection,” Carleton said quietly, “he’ll change. He’s stayed a step ahead of us all this time. If he thinks we know his MO, he’ll find a new one.”
“Which is exactly why Eve fought so hard not to be connected to this case,” Noah said. “She didn’t want us to lose that Shadowland advantage.”