A Glimpse of Evil (29 page)

My stomach clenched and I had to swallow hard. “No need to elaborate,” I told him.

Dutch took over the conversation then. “As Agent Cox said, we really think we can rule out the Mexican Mafia for this, but whoever did kill these guys wanted to make it look like a Mexican Mafia hit.”

“But why?” I wondered out loud. “I mean, why go to all that trouble?”

Agent Todd said, “Maybe the best way to cover up three murders is to make them look gang related. La Familia’s been in the news a lot in recent years. Maybe our killer got the idea to cover his tracks by watching the evening news.”

I sat back in my chair and thought about that. “You think we’ve got a serial killer here, targeting young men?”

“That was one of the theories we were batting around,” Dutch said. “To our knowledge, he hasn’t killed anyone in almost a year, which means he could have moved out of the area, got thrown in jail, or someone killed him.”

“Or he might just be lying low, waiting for another opportunity,” said Todd.

“What’s your radar saying?” asked Dutch.

I eyed the driver’s license photos of the three men that Dutch had placed on the conference table. “Yeah. That could be it. I mean, my intuition strongly suggests they were all murdered by the same guy.”

“What we’re having a hard time with, Abby, is identifying what characteristics connect them to each other.”

“What do you mean, ‘what characteristics’?” I asked.

Dutch pointed to the photos and said, “Jason was white, Felix was Latino, and Avril was mixed race. They don’t look alike, they’re not the same age, and other than the fact that they lived in the same two- mile radius, they have nothing in common. We’ve done extensive checks into their backgrounds; Jason and Felix attended the same high school but at different times and floated in different social circles. Avril moved into the area after he got out of juvie and never attended high school. None of their family will admit to any of them being either gay, or in a gang, and as far as we can tell, their paths never crossed except maybe by pure coincidence.”

“I hate to ask this next question, but did the coroner note any signs of rape or molestation?”

Agent Cox said, “I checked, and the answer is no.”

I sighed. My radar said very clearly that there was a clue right in front of us that we were missing. I wanted to say it was even obvious, but no one had connected the dots yet. I stared again at all three photos and closed my eyes. In my mind I saw Santa Claus reviewing a list of names, and as I focused harder, I saw that the scroll in his hand had the heading “NAUGHTY,” and down a few spaces were the names Jason, Felix, and Avril and one additional name I couldn’t make out. “They were on a list,” I whispered.

“List?” Dutch asked.

I opened my eyes, and stared at Dutch. “Yes.”

“Like a hit list?” Agent Ruben asked.

I shook my head. “No,” I said, feeling that out intuitively. “I think their names were maybe mentioned publicly, like in the newspaper or something. And whatever they were noted for, it was for being bad.”

All four men just stared at me blankly. They obviously had no idea what I was talking about.

“I know that sounds odd,” I admitted, “and I’m sorry I can’t help you more than that, but I do want to mention that there could be a fourth victim.”

“You mean, he’s killed someone else?” Dutch asked.

I took a deep breath and tried to inch along the thready energy I was picking up. “No,” I said slowly. “But he will if we don’t stop him.”

“What’s the name?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But I do know that unless we figure out how this guy is targeting his vics, we won’t be able to narrow the field and he’ll strike again.”

The meeting broke up shortly thereafter, none of us looking like we felt it’d been very productive. “Sorry,” I whispered to Dutch as we left the conference room.

He gave me a funny look. “Why are you sorry?”

“I wasn’t very helpful in there,” I admitted. “I only gave you guys the most obscure tip ever to follow up on.”

“How do you know you weren’t helpful?” he asked plainly. “Seriously, Edgar, you know how this psychic stuff works better than I do. Maybe the fact that you told us to focus only on one direction was because that’s the only direction that will yield us one more clue.”

I smiled up at him. “You’re a pretty understanding guy—you know that?”

Dutch grinned back. “You realize I’m going to quote you on that the next time you and I get into an argument, right?”

I laughed. “What? You and me argue? We
never
do that!”

“Never do what?” Brice asked, walking in on the last part of the conversation.

“Jump to conclusions,” I said quickly. I didn’t repeat the inside joke to him, knowing it might hit a little too close to home.

Brice nodded, but he seemed distracted. “I’m headed out to meet with Candice for a few. Dutch, you’re in charge until I get back.”

“You got it, sir.”

“Good luck,” I added as he turned to leave.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. “Will I need it?”

“Probably,” I told him honestly, and his face fell. “Try starting off by telling her how nice she looks. She’s a sucker for flattery.”

Brice’s lips pressed together, but he nodded and hurried off. Dutch shook his head. “I think we need to stop sticking our noses in their business from now on.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Too late, cowboy. We’ve entered the vortex and there’s no getting out until they resolve it or split up.”

“I’m not sure which to hope for,” Dutch said.

“How about wishing for a sandwich?” I asked, pointing to the clock, which read noon. “Drama always makes me hungry,” I added when Dutch gave me a humorous look.

Brice returned about two hours later and I noticed that he carried the folded contract with him. Close to five I found the courage to head to his office and ask him how it’d gone. “She signed it,” he said.

My eyebrows shot up. “She did?”

Brice leaned tiredly back in his chair. “It took a great deal of coaxing, but I finally convinced her that I could weather any fallout that might come out of it better than she could.”

“Awesome!” I wanted to ask him how the talk had gone between them, but I considered what Dutch had said about butting out, and decided it might be time to do just that. “Very well, sir. Will we see you for dinner tonight?”

Brice nodded. “Yes, but let me pick it up this time. I’ll be over around seven. Just text me what you two are in the mood for and I’ll grab it on the way.”

Dutch and I left the office around six, and I’ll admit, I was so tired and had such a headache I could hardly think straight. “You okay?” Dutch asked as we drove.

I realized I was squinting from the throbbing behind my temples. “Fine. Just another headache.”

“You get your staples out tomorrow,” he reminded me.

I brightened a little at that. “I know. And thank God! I cannot wait to shampoo my hair.”

Dutch was about to reply when my phone bleeped. I dug it out of my purse and said, “It’s Candice.”

“So answer it.”

I punched the screen and greeted my good friend. “I signed the contract,” she said right away.

“Good for you!” I didn’t want to let on that I already knew.

“Brice insisted.”

“I figured he would.”

“I’m still worried this could come back to bite him in the butt.”

“I’m not,” I told her firmly. “Really, Candice, the energy isn’t there for trouble. It actually feels like now that you’ve signed the contract, a lot of stuff is going to fall into place for you.”

“You promise?”

“I do.”

There was a bit of a pause then, and I had to bite my lip to keep from asking her if she had told Brice her true feelings. Waiting paid off because she said, “We didn’t talk about anything other than the contract.”

“I figured.”

“But I
am
going to talk to him soon.”

I sighed. “You know, Candice, for someone who used to jump out of airplanes all the time, I’m amazed at how scared you are to take this one tiny leap.”

“It’s not a tiny leap,” she insisted. “This is way bigger than that.”

“See, and it’s because you’re thinking it’s some huge thing that you’re putting it off. It’s just a conversation, honey. And through that will be an exchange of information. Either he feels the same as you do, or he doesn’t. My money is that he does, because Brice Harrison does not strike me as the type of man to take risks with his career lightly. But he’s doing that for you.”

It was Candice’s turn to sigh heavily and this was followed by an even lengthier pause. “So I heard from Genevieve,” she said, changing the subject.

“Yeah?”

“She’s almost through with the list. She’s going to fax it to me in an hour or so.”

“So you’re back on the case?”

“I’m contractually bound to investigate,” she said, and I detected the humor in her voice. “I need to bring this one home for Brice.”

“Good for you,” I said as we pulled into our sub. “Keep me in the loop, okay?”

“Will do,” she assured. “And speaking of keeping people in the loop, I’ve decided to bring Antoine in on this.”

“Really?” That was a surprise.

“Yes. I have a distinct feeling he was the one who turned me in to the board.”

“Uh . . . then why would you want to loop him in?”

Candice sighed. “Because I think you were right to recommend we do that in the first place. The guy did save your life, and if I were him, and someone was purposely stonewalling me, I’d probably mess with them a little too.”

I smirked. “Really?” I mocked. “That doesn’t sound
anything
like you.”

Candice ignored the sarcasm. “Yeah, well, maybe once he sees that we trust him with our information, he can trust us with his. And who knows? If we show him the names we get from Genevieve, maybe one will register with him.”

“Oh, honey! That’s a great idea!” But even as I said it something nagged at me but my headache prevented me from digging too deeply into what felt off and as Dutch pulled into our driveway I was actually anxious to get off the phone with Candice and go find some Excedrin. “Listen, hon, we’re home and I’ve got a killer headache. Can you and I chat later?”

“Oh, sweetie! I’m so sorry. Of course, of course. Go take care of yourself.”

The doorbell rang at seven thirty. I got up from the table where we’d all just sat for dinner to answer it, thinking it was probably Dave—because no one knew when we were having a nice hot meal better than that man. I was surprised then when I opened the door to see Candice looking sheepish on my doorstep. “Hey,” she said.

“Oh, hey! What’s up?”

Candice held up several sheets of paper. “Genevieve’s list of congregation members who have occupations as handymen or contractors.”

I motioned for Candice to come in, and she stepped through the door, already shrugging out of her coat when she happened to catch sight of Dutch and Brice, sitting at the table and looking quite surprised by her appearance. “Ooops,” she said, her voice almost panicky. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later.”

I flattened my back against the door, barring her hasty exit. “Don’t be ridiculous! Please, come join us for some Chinese.”

With her back to the table, Candice gave me a steely glare. “I don’t want to impose,” she said loudly.

I narrowed my eyes right back at her. “It’s no imposition at all! There’s plenty. And you look hungry. We’d love it if you’d stay, right, Dutch?”

From the other side of the room I saw the deer- in-the-headlights look on Dutch’s face, but one warning glare from me and he quickly recovered. “Sure,” he said. “There’s plenty of food for one more.”

“And Brice wants you to stay too, right, sir?”

I expected that since Brice had been caught off guard, he’d mutter something stupid, like, “Uhhhhh. . . .” But he completely surprised me when he actually got up from the table and came over to us. “I’ve got your favorite, kung pao chicken,” he said calmly, taking Candice’s sweater from her and motioning to the table.

“Uhhh . . . ,” Candice said, and I stifled a giggle.

We had a wonderful time at dinner and it reminded me of old times. At first, Candice and Brice were a little stiff and formal with each other, but soon their obvious attraction took the edge off, and by the end of dinner they were laughing and sneaking goo-goo eyed glances at each other.

I cleared the dinner dishes, suggested they take advantage of the lovely evening and go for a nice walk. “It’s such a cute neighborhood,” I coaxed as I grabbed plates and glassware. “Really, you two look like you could both use some fresh evening air.”

Candice smiled slyly at me and I pretended not to notice. Brice got to his feet and offered Candice his arm. She blushed and could hardly refuse. Once they’d gone, Dutch came in to help me with the dishes. “You’re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?” he asked.