mother’s.
“This had better be important,” Nick said. “I’m a little busy at the moment, Coppersmith.”
“Doing what?” Judson asked.
“Getting fitted for my tux. By the way, your mother says that you had better show up for a fitting soon or you’re going to be in big trouble. You’re Sam’s best man, remember?”
“What I remember is that you’re supposed to be working on my case.”
“Some of us—those of us with true talent—are capable of multitasking. Your mother and me, for instance. By the way, Mrs. Coppersmith says to tell you that she hasn’t turned up any odd financial maneuvers on the part of anyone on the list of suspects you gave me.”
“I’ll add some more names to the list,” Judson said.
“Damn it, Sawyer,” Judson said. “Pay attention.”
“Turns out that a couple of other heirs also spent some time in Sundew’s online chat room,” Nick said. “Neither had ever indicated any previous interest in psychic counseling. No, not pleats. Think Armani, not your high school prom rental.”
“Forget the damn fitting, Sawyer,” Judson said. “I’m pulling you off the psychic chat room project for now. Something more urgent has come up.”
Nick uttered a long-suffering sigh. “What do you want now?”
“Deep background on a woman named Louise Fuller.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Family history. I’m looking for a bloodline link between Louise and Zander Taylor.”
“The psycho who tried to murder Gwen? Shit. Think that son of a bitch is still alive after all?”
“You tell me.”
“Give me everything you’ve got on her,” Nick said.
Judson rattled off the few facts they had.
“I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve got something,” Nick promised, cold and serious now.
Judson ended the call.
“Now what?” Gwen asked.
“Now we wait,” Judson said. He hated this part. “I don’t think it’s going to take Sawyer long to find the answers, because I doubt if Louise knew how to bury her own past.”
Gwen watched him. “You already know the answer, don’t you?”
Judson hesitated. “I’ve learned the hard way not to leap to conclusions.”
“But you know, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s the only answer that fits.”
NICK CALLED BACK fifteen minutes later. Judson could hear the energy in his voice.
He put the call on speakerphone so that Gwen could hear the conversation.
“I may have something and it’s not good,” Nick said. “Thirty-four years ago, Louise Fuller was living in L.A. Got caught up in a cult that was heavily into psychoactive drugs. The cult was really a cover for a well-organized criminal gang. The leader controlled his followers with drugs and sex. He used his male followers to sell the drugs, and he pimped out his female followers. Louise was one of the prostitutes. She got pregnant. Gave the baby up for adoption.”
“Any leads on the father?”
“No. That’s a brick wall. Louise was living in a drug haze at the time. The cult leader was sending her out onto the streets every night to sleep with anyone who had the cash. According to the caseworker, Louise was delusional and incapable of handling motherhood due to addiction and mental health issues. The baby went to a childless couple who—”
“Were later murdered in the course of a home invasion,” Judson concluded.
“You’re thinking Louise’s baby was the future Zander Taylor, aren’t you?” Nick asked.
“It explains a lot. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who murdered his adoptive parents.”
“Yeah, struck me as a possibility, too,” Nick said. “At the time, young Zander was in therapy. Actually, he had been for years because he was exhibiting the usual warning signs—torturing small animals and setting fires—at an early age. He was thirteen when the so-called home invasion took place. He told police he came home from school and found the bodies. Afterward he went into foster care for a couple of years, bounced around in the system creating havoc wherever he landed and, eventually, to everyone’s great relief, disappeared.”
“What about Louise?”
“The cult eventually broke up,” Nick said. “The leader vanished. Louise moved to Wilby and started making her wind chimes for fun and profit.”
“Looks like Taylor tracked her down at some point. By then he had a handle on his own talent. By all accounts, he was an expert when it came to charming people. Louise would have been an especially easy target because she was psychologically fragile.”
Gwen spoke up from the other seat. “And because she was his mother, for heaven’s sake. Part of her would have wanted to be reunited with her only child.”
“You’re usually right when it comes to that kind of stuff, Gwen,” Nick said.
“I’m guessing that Louise gave the crystal that powered the camera to her son,” Gwen continued. “She was always worried about demons. Maybe she gave him the crystal as a sort of personal protection device.”
“Taylor came back to Wilby periodically to get his weapon refocused,” Judson said. “Louise probably never knew what he was doing with it.”
“The problem with that theory is that no one there in Wilby had even met Taylor until he showed up to take part in Evelyn’s study,” Gwen said. “If he was visiting Louise occasionally to get the camera crystal tuned, why didn’t someone notice?”
“Louise lived in the middle of the woods, a few miles outside of town,” Judson reminded her. “It would have been easy for Taylor to visit her without being seen by any of the locals. It wasn’t like he would have had to see her very often to get the camera retuned. His kills were probably months apart.”
“And the camera might have been good for two or three kills before it needed tuning,” Gwen said quietly.
“If that’s true, Taylor wouldn’t have had to visit good old Mom more than two or three times a year, at most,” Nick said. “So maybe he could keep his visits to her secret. But if you’re right, it means that she kept those visits secret, too. Why? What would be the point?”
“I don’t have all the answers yet,” Judson said.
“No kidding?” Nick snorted. “Sounds to me like you’ve got most of ’em. Why call me?”
“I had to get as much of the backstory as possible because someone else with Taylor’s talent is using his camera to murder people for profit. Whoever he is, he was using Louise to retune the camera. But Zander Taylor didn’t kill for the money. He did it for kicks.”
“Psychos like that don’t usually change their M.O., so we can forget the theory that Taylor is still alive,” Nick said.
“Yes,” Judson said. “We’re dealing with a different killer who happens to have the same kind of talent. And if you believe in genetics—”
Gwen went very still. “Family.”
“What did she say?” Nick asked.
“She’s thinking what I’m thinking,” Judson said. The deep thrill of intuition heated his blood. “Based on what little we know of psychic genetics, there is at least a possibility that the killer we’re hunting is related to Zander Taylor.”
“Louise Fuller might have given up more than one baby,” Gwen suggested.
“Ah, yes, the ever-popular twins, separated-at-birth scenario,” Nick intoned. He voice lightened. “Afraid that won’t fly in this case. According to the file, Louise had no other children. Her son was delivered by cesarean section. She had her tubes tied at that time. She told the caseworker that she couldn’t risk giving birth to another
