He squeezed my hand. “I see. And when all of this is over . . . are you going to?”
A knock sounded on the door before I could answer. “Ryan’s here. I guess we should get that.”
He stared at me, then let go my hand. I followed him out of my room and leaned against the wall while he opened the door. Ryan walked in, wearing a baseball cap, jeans and a T-shirt. It was strange seeing the Chief of Police in normal clothes.
“Good morning,” he announced. Jason shut the door and we followed Ryan to the living room where he sat down in one of the chairs. Jason and I sat across from him on the couch, waiting. He glanced back and forth at us, his face full of uncertainty. “I’m assuming from the phone call this morning that you have nothing. What do you think we should do at this point?”
Jason looked at me and then back to him. “I think we need to hold out a little longer. The girls didn’t go missing on the nights they were with the suspects. I was looking at the timeline and the dates Aylee was able to get from Chatfield. The murders range anywhere from two days to two weeks after their interactions with them. The killer went after them on nights they weren’t accounted for. I’m assuming that’s what they’ll try to do with Aylee. Or worse, it could be someone completely different.”
“Someone we’d least expect,” I added. It was highly possible and the thought terrified me. I’d never gone into a case not knowing exactly who I was looking for.
Ryan let out a heavy sigh. “I will tell you one thing of interest. I’ve been doing my own digging and found something this morning.”
“What?” Jason prompted.
He leaned forward. “I found out who’s been bribing the news stations to keep quiet about the missing women.”
Now it was my turn to ask, “Who?”
“Drake Blackwell.”
One Week Later
We were heading to William Randall’s house for a celebratory dinner. Mark had procured him another team to own and apparently that team was huge. Diane had called to make sure I was coming and I hadn’t wanted to let her down. Besides, Drake was going to be there, and unfortunately? so was Chazz. A week wasn’t a long enough time to cool Jason’s temper.
There were people everywhere when we walked in, and the first person I saw was Mark, surrounded by a group of people. He acknowledged Jason with a nod and threw a small smile my way.
“Don’t know if I like him smiling at you,” Jason grumbled under his breath.
“I remind him of his dead wife. My heart hurts for him.”
Jason put his arm around me and steered me in another direction. “In that case, I’m keeping you away from him. Don’t need him imagining that you’re her.”
Our first stop was the parlor where Diane was trying to herd everyone into the dining room. When she saw me, she smiled and rushed over, looking beautiful in her gold toned dress. “I hope you’re hungry. I had the chefs make broccoli and cheese quiche. It doesn’t really go with the menu, but William didn’t notice. He’s too ecstatic over this new team.”
“Is everyone here?” I asked.
She nodded. “Including Mr. Davies who seems a little uptight. You never told me what happened between you two.”
I whispered in her ear, “I gave him a bit of his own medicine. I’ll spare you the details.”
When we got into the formal dining room, the table was large enough to fit twenty-two people. Diane ushered me toward the end where she took a seat and I took the one beside her. Looking down the table, I caught Chazz’s gaze at the far end. He glared at me, but I quickly averted my stare, smiling wide.
Once everyone was seated, William was on my opposite side with Mark beside him and Drake just a few seats down, sitting beside his wife. As soon as he was alone, I was going to make my move.