“Whose access code was used?” They watched the screen intently, waiting for whatever file they were loading to drop.
“The sheriff’s.”
“You memorize them?”
Dave shrugged. “My mind kind of does that on its own.”
Jay smiled at the half smothered pride in the other man’s voice. It seemed Dave was starting to believe in his own self-worth.
The first thing to appear on their screen was a photograph. Jay felt his stomach clench as blond hair appeared. The distorted features of someone who had drowned violently followed. He looked away as the rest of the naked body appeared, beaten and broken.
“Christ.”
Dave also turned away, but his face was determined. “I think that’s Miranda Williams.”
Jay half choked. “But the hair—”
“Might have been dyed. Yes, look at this.”
Dave hit a few keys and split the screen, keeping up the sheriff's photo and bringing up a tabloid image of a very drunk Miranda Williams. Even with the distortion, the resemblance was clear.
Jay swore again as his mind raced. “As we’ve been chasing Stella’s leads, then that confirms our suspicions that whoever took Miranda also took Stella.”
“Yes. It also confirms what you told Ms. Carmichael. That they might have both been taken. though only one was the intended target.”
Jay raised his eyes to the screen as another document landed. Dave closed the tabloid image and devoted the screen entirely to their piggy-back into the police’s hidden mainframe.
“Looks like they agree,”
Jay frowned. “But how? They couldn’t possibly have run an ID so fast, especially without letting the wrong people hear about it.”
“Maybe she had an ID on her?” Dave ventured as he scrolled through the report, ticking off notes on his notepad.
Jay cast a glance over the handwritten list. He felt his breath catch even though it hadn’t been unexpected. The list covered the main points that seemed to define this serial killer’s chosen target. Everything matched. The age, race, physical attributes.
“What is your next move?” Dave asked, looking up from his list to Jay.
Jay met the gaze steadily. “We need to find out if Miranda was a natural blond or had dark hair. Then I want to see if any of the other victims had had their hair dyed.”
Dave half smiled. “I see. You think that if Miranda was taken because of Stella, the killer might have tried to make her more palatable?”
Jay felt his eyes narrow. “That is one possibility. If not, then why not just kill her another way, or dump her body elsewhere. Look at the marks. They look the same as the other victims. This is the sort of ritualistic stuff that defines serial killers.”
“So if he wasn’t making her fit the pattern to make killing her more satisfying, what else could he have dyed her hair for?”
“To remind me he still has Stella,” Jay replied, eyes losing focus as he thought. “He knows we’ve closed in, and this is a reminder to not do anything rash.”
Dave frowned for a moment then spoke in a tone that suggested he was voicing his thought as it occurred to him. “Or as a warning, a reminder that the next body could be Stella. Or even a punishment.”
“Punishment?”
“For involving others. The police station gets destroyed, and on the same night, a body like Stella is dumped.”
Jay’s chest tightened. Dave's logic was as sound as always.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The next week dragged by, leaving Jay in a strange state of being. Some moments, everything seemed heightened, crystal clear, then it would all crash down and fade between a wave of fear and failure.
The second week after Gary had vanished with the USB, Jay took himself in hand. He needed to push Stella to the back of his mind. He had lots of practice being cold and calculating, and now, it was only that mantle that would win this game. From now on, he was going to enter this game under the assumption that Stella was already gone. But that did not mean he couldn’t ensure she got justice.
“Are you alright, Jay?” Dave asked as he stepped out of the bathroom to find Jay in black track pants and a dark gray tank. “You look different somehow.”
“I’m fine, but I can’t just sit here again. We have nothing new on Lloyd’s people, or Gary, or anything.”
“You going out? Don’t forget we’re moving into the house I bought today.”
“A run might clear my head, but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon enough.”
***
Jay let the wind blow past him as he ran, but all his senses were on high alert. He had to think of a way to contact Gary again without it being noticed. So far, nothing had happened to make him believe that Gary had shared the contents of the USB, but neither had he tried to contact Jay. Jay kept his face smooth as he noted the people around the park. He would watch them all and see which were tails. He had no doubt that at least one would be. After all, the person who started this game couldn’t stay a step ahead unless Jay was under constant watch.
The idea made him stop. Jay feigned himself to be out of breath and moved to stretch out on a patch of sunny grass.
Constant watch.
He realized now that that had to have predated his release from prison. Stella’s last letter was what put him on the trail of Miranda Williams. Whoever planned this had known that and acted accordingly which meant that they had not only been watching Stella, but him too. Jay’s mind immediately jumped to bloodangel_53. He had hit a block with
