“I told my dad we could keep Nelia out of it, but we can’t. The killer must have stalked the families she targeted. I’ve thought about this half the night.” One of the many reasons she couldn’t sleep. “All four boys were taken when they had babysitters. All four boys had been sleeping at the time of the abduction and taken through a window. The killer had to know which bedroom was which.”
Lucy got up and began to pace, but Sean took her hand. “Sit.”
“I’m antsy. I need to be doing something.”
“Talk it out.” He kissed her hand.
He was right. It was always better when she could talk through her train of thought. “I think Nelia or Andrew knew the killer—at least casually. So did the Porters and the Donovans. And if Peter Caldwell fits the victim profile, then the Caldwells must have met the killer as well. At least one of the parents interacted with the killer. Otherwise, how would she know which bedroom belonged to her victim?”
“Casing the house. If there was no external security, someone could look through windows to get the layout.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“But you don’t agree.”
“My gut tells me these boys were specifically targeted because their fathers were having an extramarital affair. I don’t think the infidelity is a coincidence. That means that the boys themselves were stalked as well as their fathers. The killer knew about the affair.”
“Maybe the killer—if you’re right and it’s a woman—had been a previous lover.”
She hadn’t considered that option. “Possibly … but wouldn’t she then target the new mistress? Or the adulterer? And why kill the boys? It wasn’t in rage—the deaths weren’t violent. They were quiet. But it’s a question we need to ask Andrew.” That wouldn’t be fun, but Andrew had to know that reopening Justin’s case meant he would have to talk about everything, including his personal life. “A crime like this isn’t random. If Justin was the only victim, maybe. Maybe random.” She didn’t believe that, either. “I don’t know why. Once we know why, we’ll know who, or at least have a clear direction. I wish I could put all the parents in a room together and have them talk to one another and find out if they know someone in common.”
“Are you going to call Dillon?”
“Yes. Though if I had to guess, my phone will ring at eight.”
“You think someone already called him.”
“My dad, most likely.”
“Why do you think your dad, Carina, and Connor are so opposed to you reopening this investigation?”
“I don’t know if it’s just because they’re trying to protect Nelia from reliving the pain, or not have my mom worried about all of us, or what. Justin’s murder was hard on everyone, but Carina is a cop. She should understand better than anyone that the killer isn’t going to stop. In hindsight, I should have talked to her alone.”
“Why Carina?”
“Because Carina was babysitting when Justin was kidnapped. She knows the case—both because she was there and because she read the files. Without the family audience, I might have been able to have a heart-to-heart with her. Convince her. I messed up.”
“You did not,” Sean said. “But I know how to get your mind off everything, at least for a few minutes.” He pulled her up off the bed.
“A few minutes?”
“Fifteen minutes … twenty minutes … I have all the time in the world for you. RCK can’t start the meeting without me.” He kissed her. “I’m taking a shower. Join me.”
She smiled. “So you really meant it when you said the honeymoon will never end.”
They were halfway to the bathroom when Lucy’s cell phone rang. She groaned. “I have to—”
Sean pulled the phone off the charger. “It’s Dillon.”
Lucy took the call and waved Sean into the bathroom alone. So much for a romantic morning before Sean left for the weekend. But she had to talk to her brother, sooner rather than later.
“Hello.”
“It’s good to hear your voice,” Dillon said.
“I was expecting your call. Dad called you.”
“First Dad, then Carina. Why didn’t you talk to me first?”
“I didn’t think. Andrew called me Wednesday night. Sean and I flew out yesterday to hear what the reporter had to say, what she learned, and then I just thought I should be the one to tell the family. Believe me, Dillon, I wish I had called you first.”
“I know you, Lucy—you were going to investigate Justin’s murder as soon as you got the call from Andrew. Hearing the evidence, even if it was weak, would have drawn you in.”
“So Carina told you what I said.”
“Carina was upset when I talked to her, I got more details from Dad. I would have flown out and talked to the family with you.”
“With me or against me?”
“What does that mean?” He sounded confused.
“No one listened to what I said, Dillon. Carina is a cop. I expected her to be more impartial … or be able to distance herself from the past.”
“Not everyone has the same skills we have, Lucy. Carina is emotionally involved. She’s now a mother. That changes people. But more than that, she went through the wringer after Justin disappeared. Interviewed both as a witness and as a suspect.”
“I didn’t know that.” Carina had been a suspect? How could that have happened?
“She was alone with Justin in the house when he disappeared. For a time, the detective thought that there was an accident and she panicked, tried to cover it up. She was cleared, but it had a huge impact on her.”
Lucy had once been suspected of a crime she hadn’t committed. She knew exactly how Carina felt. Why hadn’t Carina talked to her about it? Because she was so much younger? She wasn’t a child anymore.
“I hope I can turn Carina around,” Lucy said, “but Dad isn’t going to budge. It wasn’t a good conversation.” Understatement of the year.
“Dad is trying to protect his family. He looks at the world differently.”
“It’s not that, Dillon. He looks at me and sees my past. I don’t think he can ever look at me and not think about what happened on my graduation.”
“He loves you, Lucy.”
She knew that in her heart, but it had hurt deep down that her father still thought about her kidnapping and rape. “This isn’t about love. It’s about pain. And—” She didn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway—”
Dillon cut her off. “Don’t avoid your feelings. You’re hurt.”
“Yes.” Admitting it was hard.
“Dad didn’t want to hurt you. He doesn’t understand why you do what you do.”
“I get that. Maybe I never did before, but I get it now.”
“I can talk to him—”
“No. Please, it’s not going to fix anything, at least now. He thinks that if I do this, the reporter will exploit Justin’s murder, drag the family into it, and bring up my past.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think that’s her intention. She will air a program on the murders, of that I’m sure. And de facto that means she’ll be talking about Justin, Andrew, Nelia. But what if exposing the pattern helps us find and stop the killer before she kills again?”
“She?”
“I have a rough profile. I’d like to discuss it with you.”
Dillon didn’t respond for a long minute. Lucy’s heart tightened. Was everyone going to be against her?