This might explain why he moved on Ari rather than Twyla’s parents. By that point, he must have known where to find Cass. What he wanted was to know how to hurt her. With our friendship secret, Twyla would have been right to name Ari as Cass’s last significant relationship, romantic or not.
“The other victims weren’t staged that way,” Abernathy reminded them. “From what we can tell, he interrogated his victims and then killed them.” He paused. “He might be less sentimental than you think.”
“What about the music?” Parker studied her. “Music was left playing at all the crime scenes.”
“Serena loved to dance. She sang too, but it made cats yowl in the alley.” Cass’s eyes turned glassy. “The one thing she loved about living over a saloon was the music from downstairs drifting up to us all day and all night. She was always humming.”
“He might be taunting you with it,” Boaz surmised. “He might still be using her to punish you.”
And in doing so, he was wrecking Cass’s good memories by associating them with those brutal deaths.
Scanning the table, I met the gaze of each person present. “Anyone got any better ideas?”
No one offered up a better idea. Collectively, we had none. We were grasping at straws.
“Haven Lake.” Cass wiped her eyes dry. “That’s my best guess.”
“The Lovers are there,” I realized then explained to Boaz. “A pair of oak trees that grew together into an arch over the path that leads to the gazebo overlooking the lake.”
“Then let’s go.” Boaz clapped his hands. “We’ll split into pairs and comb the area.”
“I’ll call Demaryius,” Cass said quietly. “He would want to be there for this, and he can bring help.”
A clan master searching for his mate and several of their peers familiar with her scent could only help.
“All right.” Boaz nodded. “Let’s move out.”
For Cass’s sake, I prayed we weren’t too late.
Seventeen
The park attached to the lake, where the Lovers resided, closed at sunset. There was an RV park about half a mile away, so the posted hours didn’t mean much. There was often traffic from the lake itself as well, so we would have to remain alert for humans.
Parker and Abernathy split into a team, Boaz and Honey paired off, and that left me with Cass.
Demaryius had yet to arrive, but he would be here soon. His clansmen ought to be on his heels, but we had no idea how much time we had left to locate Ari. If any. All Cass could say with any certainty was her girlfriend had been found at dawn.
There had been no postmortem, not that I would have expected much from one way back in the day, so there was no telling when she had actually died. The point was moot since Cass and her girlfriend had been whores, and no one had cared if they lived or died. Only that the beds in the brothel were kept full and warm each night.
“I’m still the same me,” Cass said softly. “What I said back there doesn’t change anything.”
The worry I would view her as a victim, as weak, stunned me. She was a survivor, and I was proud of her.
“I want to kill him with my bare hands for what he did to you.”
The tension smoothed from her shoulders. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. He should have been staked and left out for the sun a long time ago.”
“All those people died…” she shook her head, “…so he could get me back.”
“Those deaths aren’t on you.” I took her hand. “None of this is your fault.”
“He killed them to get to me.”
“Cass.” I pulled her to a stop and got in front of her. “This? It’s not you. You don’t hide. You don’t scare. You don’t back down.” I jerked on her arm. “You’re a fighter. You taught me everything I know. You’re the most fearless woman I’ve ever met.” I frowned. “Don’t let him put you back in that box. Don’t let him diminish you again. Don’t give him what he wants.”
“You’re right.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “It’s…a lot to process.”
“You can break down later.” I smiled. “We’ll have a Keanu marathon. We can do it up big, make a whole weekend out of it. Just you and me.” I let her go. “But we have to get through this first.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Yeah.”
The defiant spark that made her my Cass ignited in her expression, and she regained her swagger. It wasn’t real, but it was a good fake. Only someone who knew her as well as I did could see beneath the mask.
“We’ll hit the Lovers first.” Her tone came out cool and confident. “I doubt he’s staging things yet, but he must have scoped out the area. I might pick up his scent if he’s been there already tonight.”
“Good plan.” I stepped aside and let her lead. “Listen to your gut, and we’ll catch him.”
Until we had a better plan, we had to move forward based on the assumption Delacorte was the killer.
“This time,” she said, her voice regaining its strength, “I’m going to watch the light go out of his eyes.”
“I’ll film it if you want, so you can watch the instant replay every night before bed and sleep secure in the knowledge you’re free, and he’s dead.”
“You’re too good to me.” She flashed a fangy smile over her shoulder. “We’re almost there.”
“How do you know your way around this park so well?”
“You’d be amazed how many guys think this place is romantic.” She shrugged. “If this lake could talk…”
The return to normal was a comfort while we were in the field, but after? I would hold her while she cried, screamed, whatever it took to get her to purge the hurt, the guilt, the loneliness of keeping such painful history to herself.
Eighteen
“I like
