“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Ryder found your man, Nathan Lawrence. We have him in one of the interrogation rooms, but we don’t have him on anything, so holding him... So far, he’s just scared and confused. But get here as quickly as you can. With your pictures.”
“On my way,” Dan assured him. He turned back to the table and told Katie, “We have to go. Now. Jeremy, thank you. Sincerely, thank you.”
“Wait!” Katie said. “Wait. We’ve all figured out Jeremy might be in danger, and we’re just going to go off—”
“Katie, I’m fine,” Jeremy said. “Good alarm system. Shotgun. I’m good.”
“But you sleep, too,” Katie protested.
“Not through the blare of my alarm,” Jeremy assured her. “This takes away nothing from anyone. Most people don’t spend their lives afraid of being attacked. And they don’t use firearms, and they may not have alarms. I’ve trained at the shooting range. I know what I’m doing. I’ll be all right. In fact, bad as this may sound, I’d love to shoot the blood-soaked bastard who killed your mom and dad.”
“I’ll tell Ryder and Axel, too. They’ll keep an eye on the neighborhood,” Dan promised.
“See!” Jeremy said to Katie.
“Katie, please, we have to get moving,” Dan said.
“I’ll be in here a while longer,” Jeremy said. “Can’t seem to get enough of that avocado toast!”
Dan managed to extract Katie at last; in the car, she was quiet.
“I know you’re worried, but Jeremy is right about one thing. He’s not vulnerable. The killer goes after those who are vulnerable.”
“My father wasn’t a vulnerable person.”
“But your father wouldn’t have expected a guest on his boat to be an axe murderer,” Dan reminded her. “He would have thought he was with a friend.”
Katie didn’t reply.
“I’m about to see Axel. He’ll make sure Jeremy’s house is covered. Okay?”
She looked ahead and nodded. And then she managed “Thank you.”
“Katie, we’ll solve this. I promise. We’ll solve this.”
She looked over at him, and he wasn’t sure if he saw belief in her eyes or not. But he did see something he wasn’t sure he’d seen before. Trust. And maybe even...
Affection.
No commitment, she’d said.
He looked ahead again. He was committed to the case. And whether she wanted it or not, he couldn’t help it.
He was committed to her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They went through security at the FBI offices. There was a reception area with a comfortable sofa. Axel met them there, asking Katie if he could get her anything and pointing out that since she was the only one there at the time, there was a television and she could control it any way she liked.
Then he led Dan down a hallway to an interrogation room.
Adam Harrison was in the room; three chairs faced the one side of the table where Nathan Lawrence was sitting.
He looked up hopefully when Dan and Axel returned to the room.
“I swear!” the man said passionately. “I don’t know anything about the axe murders! You all think I know something, someone, that I can help... I have a wife! A good life, and I... Oh, my God! That’s awful, I would never, never...”
Dan sent down the folder he’d stuffed into his jacket pocket, opening it and displaying the picture he’d taken of him, Jennie and the unknown man, presumably Neil Browne.
Nathan Lawrence sat back in confusion. He was a well-dressed man in casual designer clothes, well-groomed, with a nice face, brown hair with a touch of gray, and a lean, gym-toned body.
A match for his wife, Wendy. They lived to a certain style, Dan thought, and considered themselves entitled to that lifestyle. Except that Wendy might want a divorce...and was therefore determined to catch him cheating.
Dan had never thought that the man was cheating. He had family money, but from all appearances, he liked his job as a teacher.
“I don’t understand. That’s Missy and Franklin Turner,” he said, looking up at Dan. Then he frowned. “I’ve seen you. On the streets. Um, in the French Quarter.”
“Yes, that’s where I took this picture. You were having dinner near the river.”
“Yes, of course. That’s where I met Missy and Franklin,” he said.
“Who are Missy and Franklin? Friends?” Dan asked.
“Well, no. I mean, not really. They befriended me on social media and then asked me to meet. They have a group that meets, and it’s just about finding the best in ourselves. It sounded interesting to me. Getting together with others, finding out where help is needed in the city and beyond.”
“Just a group that meets to help others in the city?” Dan asked.
Adam cleared his throat and said, “Nathan likes the idea of community outreach. You know that he’s a teacher. He devotes his free time to their wrestling team.”
“You’re a wrestler?”
Nathan laughed at that, shaking his head. “No, no, I do the arrangements for the team to travel, and I set up their meets.”
“And he helps out at a church soup kitchen,” Adam said.
“Great. So, when was your last meet with the wrestling team?” Dan asked.
“Oh, a couple of months back,” Nathan said, frowning. “Midwinter.”
Before Dan had started watching him. Maybe his travels with the team had spurred his wife’s determination to watch him.
“And the soup kitchen?” he asked politely.
“Protestant church in Metairie,” he said. “You can ask them. I haven’t been there for several weeks now because Wendy—my wife—seems to have plans on Friday nights, and that was when I put in my hours.”
“Let’s get back to Franklin and Missy,” Dan said. “They found you on social media?”
“Sure. All kinds of people meet on social media.”
Dan glanced at Axel. Axel pressed a piece of paper across the table.
“Write down how you’re connected.”
“It’s a business site,” Nathan said, writing as directed. “The site is letsdoit.com. All kinds of people are on it. Some do a little to help the community, and some do a lot.” He hesitated. “I guess some are looking for friends, and some are looking for recruits.”
“This couple, Franklin and Missy, they wanted you to come to a meeting?” Dan asked.
“Yes.”
“And did
