She pointed into Evan’s old room where tufts of pillow spilled across the floor and slashes tore through his old mattress. “Whoever hit the house found what they were looking for in the main room. They left the parents’ bedroom alone, both bathrooms are untouched, and the office is spotless. However, everything that Evan left behind was destroyed.” She pointed to the slashed mattress, broken figurines, shelves ripped from the wall, and clothes strewn across the floor. She made her way to the den. “In here they were looking for something, and things that are broken are more in line with the search. If they had still been looking for something, they’d have continued the searching the other rooms. Instead, they went from here to Evan’s room and trashed it.”
Books, papers, DVDs, pictures, and decorations littered the floor and shelves of the family room.
“What could Evan or his parents have done—”
Before he finished the sentence, her cell belted out the Munster’s theme song. Expecting Franklin, it surprised her to see Kyle’s name. “Kyle?”
“How could you and Sullivan do this?” he screamed.
Jolting at the anger, Jo frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Evan quit the Cave yesterday—”
“He what?” Her voice gave out on her barely pushing sound past her lips as she took in the chaos surrounding her in a new light. Worms felt as if they were invading in her stomach, making her sick at the thought of what Evan had done.
Jo and her team had thought about using one of the gamers as bait when the leads petered out. But with how the killer could slip in and out of the country undetected and kill in multiple locations, they refused to chance someone being killed under their noses. This killer had patience since several of the victims had not been members of the Cave in years. Which showed their killer could and probably would wait until Jo and her team couldn’t guard the person anymore. Then strike the second they turned their backs. So Jo nixed the idea.
“Quit the Cave and made a big deal about it on the forums. It’s insane. Serioulias has gone off the deep end with their replies.” Kyle’s tone changed from confrontational to worried. “You didn’t know?”
“Hell no I didn’t know. I haven’t been in the chat because of the wedding stuff.” She turned to Sullivan her blood pounded in her veins. “Process everything, Sullivan. The killer was here. I’ve got to get home.”
His eyes widened as she turned and raced for the door. Tossing her cell in the cup holder, she started the car, jumping when the passenger door was flung open, Karma leaped in and slammed the door behind her.
“Go!” Karma yelled tugging on her seatbelt.
Jo flipped on her lights and siren and floored it.
“Jo, are you there?” Kyle’s voice drifted from her car speakers as her cell synced with her handsfree.
“Yes, you said their replies when you referred to Serioulias. So you’re telling me the account is shared?” She slung her Mustang onto the ramp for the highway and pushed her foot to the floor quickly flying through the gears.
“God yes. I would’ve thought Allen told you.”
“No. I’ve not been able to track him down since we talked at Halloween.”
“Recently?”
“Been trying to get a hold of him for a month,” she replied while weaving through Trussville traffic headed for I-459.
“Dammit. He must have gone on with his parents to South America. They received a grant for a dig.”
“I don’t care. But I couldn’t get you either.” She refused to add that she hadn’t questioned Rian. Unwilling to cross that line again, she had exhausted other venues. The primary one being Aaron Scott.
“I’m out of the country on a shoot.”
Jo shook her head when Karma opened her mouth. “Allen knows who Serioulias shares his account with?”
“Sure. I mean Allen has no idea who Aaron shares it with, but I do since I’ve been around the clan chat since the beginning.”
Her heart raced, keeping time with the speeding tread of the tires on her car as she rushed to her home. “I need a name. Do you have one?”
“I mean you could probably find out. Mark, the man who started the Cave, it was his girlfriend—”
Lucy? Jo shivered. Oh, God. Not Lucy. The girl, now a college graduate, took Arabelle out and still called Jo on the day Mark died. Mostly for comfort, but also asking if she or Sullivan had found the killer yet.
“–but Serioulias is protective of her.”
She missed the first part, but it didn’t matter as a new thought seared itself on her brain. “Kyle, did you know Mark?”
“Yeah, I liked DaggersEdge—that was Mark’s handle, he was awesome.”
“What was it like when he left the Cave?”
“Oh, his girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend, DaggersDawn, she went ballistic when he talked about leaving. They stopped dating for a while before he decided to leave the clan.”
She couldn’t take her eyes from the road as she raced off the exit and onto the streets that would lead her home. With two-lane roads, Jo needed to concentrate, so she gestured for Karma to take over questioning Kyle.
“What was Mark’s character like on Legends of Stone?” Karma squeaked as Jo slid onto the shoulder of the right side of the road to avoid hitting the car in front of them.
“Oh, he was a tank. He loved the armor and swords, that kind of stuff. He even had a collection of them he’d wear to different gaming and fantasy conventions.”
“You said Serioulias had posted a lot of stuff on forums—” Jo cut in
“And the IRC channel—”
“Screenshot everything in case they try to delete it and send it to me. How long has Evan been working on this?” Jo turned left. The tires squealed as she slowed enough at the red light to make sure everyone stopped before gunning her car through it and onto the road leading to her home.
“For at least the past month.”
“You didn’t think to tell me?”
“Jo,
