“You’re right. I have nothing linking the dead players to my informant or the girls. But again, I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Bowman also sensed these random pieces were connected. “If your informant was right, there’s one player running the games.”
“That’s my guess. And I believe the placement of this latest body in Riley’s patrol area suggests he knows who she is and he’s returned for her.”
Bowman again studied the image of the fifth victim. The only thing he was sure of now was that he wanted back in the trooper’s life.
“Protect her,” Shield said.
“Consider it done.”
Kevin held the disposable phone in his hand with his thumb hovering over the “Send” button. His stomach remained knotted after the killing, and no matter how much he tried to push the girl’s face from his mind, to exorcise the feel of the rope cutting into her neck, to shut out the sound of her last choking breaths, he could not. She haunted him. Chased him in his dreams. He’d thought killing her would be easy. She was a hopeless runaway who was selling her body on the streets. Her death shouldn’t have mattered. But it did.
Closing his eyes, he hit “Send” and slowly raised the phone to his ear. The phone rang five times, and he thought for a moment it would simply go unanswered, but then he heard a curt, “Why are you calling?”
Kevin closed his eyes. “I’m turning myself in to the cops.”
“You’re doing what?”
“I’m going to the cops. I can’t do this. I can’t live with the guilt of choking that girl to death.”
A long pause. “We made a deal. You swore secrecy.”
“I never understood why the girl had to die.”
“It’s important that I won. But it’s more important that someone else lost.”
Still light-headed from too much booze, Kevin opened his eyes and cleared his throat. He wanted these words to be clear. “I won’t bring you into this. I won’t tell.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I mean it. I won’t tell them about you.”
“You also said you would never go to the cops.”
“I won’t bring you into this. You have my word.”
“Why are you telling me this? You could have just gone to the cops.”
“To give you fair warning. To give you a chance to flee. I owe you that.”
“Why would I have to flee if you don’t tell anyone about me?”
“You know how it goes with cops. Some are smart, and events can go sideways. I don’t want you caught up in this.”
“Sideways. Like now. Like you crumbling. Do you really think talking to the cops is going to give you absolution?”
“I don’t know. But I deserve to be punished.”
“Did it ever occur to you that you did that girl a favor? Can you imagine what she would look like in five years? Ten years? She’s a whore. The streets eat up kids like her.”
“She was so young.”
“Her beauty was on the verge of fading. It was a mercy killing.”
“Mercy killing?”
“You do believe in an afterlife, correct?”
“What does that have to do with her?”
“She’s in a better place now. Besides, if the Almighty wanted her to live, then the cards would’ve turned differently. You would’ve won and she would still be alive. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the tightness in his chest to dissipate. “I don’t know . . .”
“What’re you really asking?”
Unshed tears choked his throat. “I don’t know.”
“Do you want a second chance?”
“What?”
“A second chance. Another game and another chance to save a poor girl from the streets. You can give her your winnings and a better life. That’s part of the reason you took the last one.”
“I wanted to help her.”
“Don’t feed me any of your noble bullshit. You wanted to win. To beat me.” The Shark pulled in a deep breath. “You and I aren’t that different. We’re addicted to the game. Knowing the turn of the cards could mean life or death is too much of a thrill for people like us to pass up.”
Kevin rose, glancing at his trembling hand. As much as the idea of killing repelled him, playing again excited him more. Trying to contain his excitement, he said, “Would the same rules apply?”
“They would. You win and I’ll see that the girl lives a long, full life. I’ve let a girl free once before. I can do it again.”
Kevin hesitated, disgusted with addiction and fading remorse.
“Think what you can do for that other girl’s family. You can help them with some of your winnings. Ease their pain. Your pain.”
“I can atone for her death.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay.” A calmness washed over him.
“I’ll find the girl this time.”
“Where?”
“I have a source.”
Kevin was relieved. Trolling for the other girl had created a connection between them. This time it would be more impersonal. It was the edge he needed to beat the Shark. “Okay.”
“Meet me at the same place in twenty-four hours. Lady Luck does owe you, doesn’t she?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Thursday, September 15, 4:30 a.m.
Riley rose early, her eyes opening minutes before her alarm. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and willed herself to stand and get moving. After she dressed in running clothes, she passed Hanna’s door and peeked inside. She found the girl sprawled on her stomach across her bed, her hair draped over her face and both arms tucked under her pillow.
As she moved into the kitchen, Cooper rose in his crate, his tail thumping. She grabbed his red tracking line and, opening the crate, hooked his collar. “Ready, Coop?”
She strapped on her headlight as the two headed out the back door. Their initial pace was always slow, but it quickly sped up.
After they looped around the track for four miles’ worth of laps, she tied his line to a fence and then did a set of fast sprints. By the time she was finished, sweat dripped from her body.
As she collected the dog’s leash she stood for a moment, staring at the nearby woods. A sense of unease crept up her spine. Cooper raised his head and sniffed, forcing air from his nose as he did when he picked up a scent. Cooper had also picked up on her tension.
Five years together had taught her to never doubt Cooper. His body, when it tensed, sent a message up the line, vibrating up her sinew and bone. She stared toward the park, wishing now she’d brought her gun.
Feeling exposed, she tugged him. “Let’s get out of here, Coop.”
The dog barked and glared at the woods for another tense second before turning. They jogged across the lot to the street toward her house. She looked over her shoulder several times, expecting to see trouble, but the area around her remained still. But there was no doubt Cooper had picked up something.
Inside the back door she fed Cooper and then hustled into the shower.