“Nothing from the parking garage itself?”
“I checked with management, and they said that camera is out of order.” Finch is proving to be pretty good at this stuff.
“Jesus,” I mutter. That’s dangerous. Assaults happen all the time in dark, dank places like that. I immediately think of Daisy. Not only that, I’m sure other women have spaces down there, and I’d bet they’re expecting it to be safe for them, but if the security camera doesn’t work, that’s dangerous.
“Finch,” I snap.
“Yeah?”
“Call their management today and tell them if they don’t get that repaired this week, I’m calling Ames Inspection Division. Maybe a hefty fine is what they need to get that shit done.”
“Yes, sir.” Surprisingly, Finch doesn’t sound like a smartass when he says that.
“Thanks.” I pick up the photocopied journal that Dan created. “Becker seems to have quite a few comments about the guys she sleeps with in here.”
“She has a rating system,” Dan explains.
I read about another guy we should check out. “Evan Parker got a C+.”
“Hey. That’s as good as an A. Every other guy seems to score a D or lower in that book.”
“That’s rough,” Finch grumbles.
Dan looks out his window. “And really shitty. To judge a guy like that.”
“Guys do that kind of shit all the time,” Finch adds. “The dudes in my frat had contests.”
“You were in a frat?” That says a lot about this guy. Frat guys are a pain in the ass.
He nods. “For a year, but then I quit. Guys were pricks.”
Alrighty then. I guess I was wrong about Finch. Again.
I leaf through the pages once more.
“So, she used initials here for some of the people. DF, which I’m going to assume is Dylan Forrester again.”
“She didn’t have much good to say about him. She gave him a D-minus in the sack. And as we read from her social media post, the guy was quick.” Dan chuckles. “Poor girl.”
“And then there’s Bryant Falco.”
“He’s mentioned several times, along with Quinn Maxwell.” Dan reaches back and takes the packet from my hand. “Here. Let me find it.”
“With Quinn?” I pick up my phone. “Hang on.” Without a thought, I type out a message to Quinn.
Me: Do you know someone named Bryant Falco?
Seconds later, I get a response.
Quinn: He was a guy I used to like. A friend. Why?
Me: Did he know Kara Becker?
Quinn: Yes. They dated for a while.
Me: You have his number?
Quinn: Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve used it, but I’ll send you what I’ve got. You don’t think Bryant killed her, do you?
Me: Just part of the investigation. His name came up. We need to check out every avenue.
Quinn: I get it.
A moment later, I receive his number.
Me: Thanks.
Quinn: Anytime.
Pulling out my notebook, I flip the pages back until I’ve got my notes from my conversation with the women from Beedle Drive. Thumbing through, I get to the part where they reference a guy who Kara dated. The one who was a friend of Quinn’s. Susanna called him “Bradley,” and Robbi thought it was “Braxton.” I’d bet my badge they meant Bryant Falco.
Jotting down his name and number in my notebook, I tell the guys, “Got his number. Finch. Call him. We definitely need to bring him in for a chat.”
“I’ll get him in there.” Finch sounds confident, which is good. We need confidence right now because the more we work, the more suspects we seem to be gathering.
Reading through Kara’s journal again, I tell them, “She gave Falco an F.”
Poor bastard.
Reading on, I see two initials I’ve seen before. Starting over, I run through the first page to my current spot for something that indicates who it is. “Who’s DG?”
Dan turns to look at me. “That, I couldn’t figure out. The initials were mentioned several times starting last year—October or November, I think—but no clues as to who he or she is.”
I flip through several more journal pages. “Those letters are in here a number of times. Let’s keep an eye out for them as we search her room.”
“Agreed.” Finch says from the driver’s seat.
“So, what else are we looking for today?” asks Finch.
That’s a good question. “I’d say anything that relates to her life in Ames.”
“Are we talking to the father today?”
Dan takes this one. “Captain said kid gloves around the dad. We can ask, and if he wants to answer questions, he can.”
So that’s what we’ll do.
Chapter Fifteen
Daisy
As soon as my dad is gone, I take a moment to gather myself. No matter how cool and collected I seemed, inside I was shaking like a leaf. Based on the things he ransacked from my files and drawers, I can see he didn’t find anything that would indicate I was up to no good. And I am up to no good—as far as my father’s concerned. No, I keep anything that would incriminate myself in another location. One he doesn’t have access to, and he never will. It’s taken me six years to put my plan into action, and this is it. As soon as that damn book is done, so am I.
Chapter Sixteen
Gage
“Well, how’d you fellas do?” Captain Billings asks us as soon as we walk back into the police station.
“We didn’t find much,” mumbles Dan. “And her father knew less about his kid than we do.”
“Now that’s not fair.” I glare at Dan. Then, looking over at the captain, I say, “He’s still really shaken by her death.”
“I can see that.” The captain has three kids himself. Hell, even if Kara had been my child, I’d feel the same as Becker, and that’s knowing the kind of person she was. She was still his only child. Well, I guess there was another one, but she died very young.
Setting a file box down on my desk, I explain, “We were given permission to bring back her school papers, notebooks, and anything from her life in Ames that we thought could give us some clues
