“That makes it even more imperative to find them. One thing for damned sure—J.J. isn’t in on it. He could easily be a victim.”
Mo had been waiting for them to finish before she spoke. “Someone could go back out to the cemetery where we found Richard and Wendy. And someone else should head back to the Haunted Mausoleum. Cover both old haunts.”
Van Camp nodded. “All right, I’ll take officers out to the mausoleum. I have a pretty firm grasp of the place now. And we already have an all-points bulletin out on a dark SUV with Horsepower tires. Oh, and by the way, Jimmy doesn’t own an SUV. He drives a Chevy.”
“Good.” Aidan nodded, feeling a sense of relief. “We’ll take the old cemetery that borders Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,” Aidan said. He glanced at Mo as they began walking toward his car. “I just have a feeling....”
“What?”
“It all goes back to Lizzie grave.”
They reached his car and got in, Rollo clambering into the backseat. Logan was preparing to follow them. “Can you have Jane trace Sondra Burke’s lineage?” Mo asked.
“Sondra was from here?”
“Her family goes back a long way, but...I’m thinking she might have been related to the Highsmith family. Which would have meant—”
“That she went back to Lizzie—Major Andre’s daughter—as well.”
Mo nodded. “Lizzie grave, Highsmith, Continental currency. Do you think—”
“That the Continental currency could be in Lizzie’s grave?” Aidan finished. He pulled out his phone and asked Jane to get on it immediately.
“Aidan, what if it has something to do with the grave itself?” Mo asked. “Wouldn’t the killers have gotten to it by now?”
“They might have been missing the last piece of the puzzle. Or...it could’ve been too much of a risk. But maybe they were getting rid of any and all Highsmith descendants,” he said.
“J.J.!” she whispered.
He turned to her, a concerned expression on his face. “Well, we’re headed there now,” he said. He called Logan and conveyed their thoughts. Logan was calling Adam Harrison; he’d get the proper clearance to tear the old graveyard apart and exhume a few bodies.
Aidan glanced at Mo again.
He was definitely falling in love. She was beautiful, engaging, honest.
And they could be together and even work together. True, he worked in the city. She’d left the city for a little peace.
But this life was what she’d found. Maybe she needed to realize she’d come here trying to ease her turmoil. She’d tried to escape a particular place. Whereas he’d tried to run away from the strange talent that could allow him to be the most helpful—and even save lives.
Maybe he could make her see that they’d both been running.
And perhaps they could both stop running. Together.
She looked at him. “What?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m just thinking.”
“About the graveyard?”
“About you—but I am going to think about the graveyard and the mausoleums now.”
He drove down the side street.
“There’s no SUV,” Mo noted.
“Someone could have gotten them here, knocked out with chloroform and then moved the vehicle.”
“Do you really think he always kills them when he first takes them?” Mo asked quietly. “That would mean— Well, maybe no hope. You told me last night that you were certain Sondra was killed before she was taken to the tomb and...beheaded.”
Aidan inhaled. “Yes, I said that. But I don’t know for sure when they were killed—how long after they were kidnapped. I’m not certain even the M.E. would be able to determine the timing exactly.”
Logan parked his car behind them, and as he got out, he handed Aidan two extralarge flashlights, one for him and one for Mo. “It’s a big place. I’ll go left. If I hear Rollo, I’ll know you’re on to something.”
“We’ll take the wall of vaults over here,” Aidan said.
Aidan and Mo walked along the vaults together, casting light in all directions. Rollo sniffed and sniffed as Aidan ripped away vines.
“The whole situation doesn’t make sense,” he mused. “The crew around Richard was definitely in the hotel. We know there are two people, so that means nothing. But since all five were in the hotel at the time, how the hell did one person sneak up on two adults and a child and knock them out?”
“You think Detective Van Camp is wrong—and that Jimmy is involved?” Mo asked, sounding a little shocked.
“I’m not sure what I think.” His phone rang and he answered it quickly.