As Ethan and I waited for our lattes, I caught Whiskey Neat staring at me. He smiled again, and all I could think about was the last thing he’d said to me: “Not to be too forward, but I wouldn’t mind you tying me up.” Could he be the murderer? I felt as though I was going to look at everyone differently now: my teachers, my classmates, Tommy, Frank, Derrick, and even Judy. The cashier at the grocery store, and the attendant at the gas station—every single person because we didn’t know who had violated my space.
“I need to change my lock,” I stated, breaking my gaze from Whiskey Neat. I was going to tell Ethan that Whiskey Neat was the guy who had asked if I was a murderer, but I didn’t. I didn’t know why. I should have, but since the guy had been flirting with me, telling him would only lead to Ethan stressing out more.
“Shit,” Ethan muttered. “Let me get my dad to do that.”
“I can’t let him do that. He might be busy.”
“It’s fine.” Ethan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed and held it up to his ear just as Krystal called my name to tell us our coffees were ready. We grabbed them as Ethan started to speak into his phone. “Hey, Dad.”
As he spoke, we passed Whiskey Neat. He winked, and my eyes widened. Was I going to suspect everyone forever?
We walked out of the coffee shop. My phone started to buzz in my pocket, and I pulled it out and saw Maddie’s name on the screen. Crap. “Hey, honey,” I answered.
Ethan raised a brow, and I mouthed that it was Maddie.
“You called me?” she asked.
“Yes, how was your weekend?”
“It was good. How was yours?”
I swallowed. How was I supposed to tell her a killer after me? I felt as though I was living in an episode of Halloween, and Michael Myers was hunting me. “It was good. Ethan took me on a ride-along yesterday.”
“Oh my god, that’s awesome. Was it fun? I bet it was fun.”
I chuckled slightly. The ride-along was fun. Coming home was when it all went wrong. “It was. I can’t wait to get a job and start working crime scenes.”
“That’s amazing, Mom.”
“Thanks, honey.” Ethan hung up his phone. “I better go. I’m almost to class.”
“Okay. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Have a good day. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hung up and slipped my phone back into my coat pocket.
“Everything okay?” Ethan asked.
I took a sip of my coffee. “Yep. I didn’t ask her anything.”
“That’s for the best.” He took a sip of his latte. “My dad’s going to stop by and get the key to your place from me and then go and change the locks.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Buttercup. I told you I’d never let anything happen to you. I just wish I would have thought of it last night.”
“It’s okay. The last fifteen hours or whatever have been crazy.”
“Yeah, they have been.”
“Now that we’ve had a few sips of caffeine, do you want to tell me the other thing?”
Ethan sighed. “Oh, right. How much farther to your class?”
“About three minutes. It’s just inside that building.” I pointed with my free hand at the two-story building where all of my classes were held.
He stopped walking, causing me to stop as well. “Before we left the station, Jessica called me.”
“Okay?” I arched a brow.
“She heard about last night.”
I balked. “How?”
“My boys go to the same school as an officer who works at my precinct. He told his wife that he has to work OT because Captain asked everyone who could to work your detail.”
“And his wife told Jessica?”
Ethan nodded. “I don’t think she did it maliciously or anything, but of course Jessica is taking it to the extreme.”
“How so?”
“When she called, she told me she’s contacting her attorney to change our custody agreement because our kids are in danger.”
“What?” I hissed. “Are you serious?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, she may be right. They might be in danger if they’re with us.”
I stared into his blue eyes. “I’m so sorry. This is all—”
“Hey.” He reached for me, pulling me into his arms. “This isn’t your fault.”
“It is.”
“It’s not.”
I pulled my head back to look up at him. “What if it is? What if I somehow caused all of this?”
“Why would you think that?”
I shrugged. “Because a murderer broke into my condo and gave me a wood plaque.”
“You didn’t cause this, but I’m going to figure out why they’re fucking with us.”
“I know.” I placed my head on his chest, my arms still around him, and both of us still holding our coffees. “I just hate this.”
“Me too, Buttercup. Me. Fucking. Too.”
Everything was going as planned.
I watched Detective Valor and Detective Jones assess my handiwork while Reagan looked around Daisy’s townhouse until a tech found Daisy’s laptop and closed it, blocking me out. I didn’t care. The excitement flowing through my veins was electric because it was time for the second part of my little game.
I’d already accessed the school’s database, retrieved Reagan’s address, and made a key to her condo with my 3D printer. Getting my hands on her keys had been tricky. She didn’t hang them up by the door in her living room, and she didn’t leave them sitting around on a table. Plus, Detective Valor had put black tape over the webcam. I’d tried to see if I could get a picture when I went into Judy’s, but again, she didn’t have her keys laying around, so I had to be even sneakier.
Because I wasn’t going to lose this game.
My heart rate sped up when I saw her in the coffee shop on campus because I knew what she looked like under all of her clothing. I tracked her and knew she went there every day before class for her coffee fix. I’d watch her ass as she walked in through the door, and I’d picture her naked as she walked outside, imagining my tongue running along her breasts as she poured her cooling latte down her body for my pleasure. I’d watch her as she walked to class, not knowing I was behind her. I’d watch her from the tiny square window of the classroom door as she sat in the same seat every day and sipped her coffee.
I was good.
So good that I was able to get into her classroom and take a picture of her house key while the students were in the lab part of the classroom. Once they were out of sight, I slipped in and went straight for Reagan’s purse. I was so good that and I would never be caught.
I took a quick picture and left, smiling the entire time. Everyone let their guard down at some point; all I had to do was wait for my opportunity. Reagan leaving her purse in the lecture hall with her book bag was her downfall.
While Reagan was on her ride-along, I’d slipped into her condo and hung her keepsake from me on her wall. I’d written #2 on the back because, after Amy, Reagan was the second girl I was watching. I had no desire to cross her name off of my list, but I did have plans for my favorite couple, especially when I saw them walk into the coffee shop on campus the day after her ride-along.
I’d heard how pissed Detective Valor had been when they saw my woodworking skills on her wall, and I’d heard everything until the crime scene unit took her laptop, so I was surprised to see Reagan was still going to class. Still, she had a police escort, even if he was her boyfriend.
That didn’t matter though because Reagan McCormick wasn’t my next victim.
While Reagan went into class, I leaned against the wall near her classroom door, waiting for Shawn. I’d texted him where I was, and thirty minutes later, he showed. My father had already come by and got my key to Reagan’s place and was handling that situation. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought to change her locks, though there was no way in hell she’d stay ther
e until this guy was caught—or ever again.
I liked having her in my bed every night and day. When we were teenagers, I only got to experience waking up next to her once when we went out of town for a weekend her senior year of high school. I didn’t realize then how much the older me would want such a small thing to be a regular occurrence.
“Walk with me to the coffee shop?” I asked Shawn. I needed every cup I could get. Reagan still had at least thirty minutes of class, and I knew she wouldn’t leave without me, so I felt comfortable leaving for a few minutes. Plus, the MO of this guy seemed to be killing the women at their homes, and I didn’t think Reagan was stupid enough to be alone right now.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“What’s the word?”
“Talked to Judy. She showed me where she keeps the employee files. They’re locked in a filing cabinet, and no one has the key except her.”
“And the lock wasn’t broken?”
“No.”
“Do you peg her for this?”
He shook his head as I opened the door to the coffee shop. “No. She seemed genuinely devastated when I told her that someone had broken into Reagan’s place.”
“Okay,” I replied as we took our places in the short line.
“Okay? That’s all you’ve got to say?”
I turned and lowered my voice. “I have a hunch.”
“What’s that?”
I stepped forward and ordered another latte. Shawn ordered a black coffee. While he put cream and sugar into his coffee, and we waited for mine to be made, I asked, “Amy was a student here, right?”
“Right.”
The barista called my name, and I grabbed my drink before Shawn and I walked outside and into the chilly air. “And, obviously, Reagan is a student here.”
“You think that’s the connection?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. We need to find out if Daisy was a student too.”
He pulled his cell out. “I’ll call Shay and have her run a check.”
I nodded, and we walked back to where I was waiting for Reagan to get out of class. Shawn waited on the phone while Shay checked the system. If this was the connection, we might be one step closer to finding this guy.
I wanted Reagan safe behind the locked door at my condo and not walking out in the open while I tried to solve the case. My fucking world was in danger, and I fucking hated it. I would burn this town down to find this fucker. I didn’t know what Jessica was going to try and pull. What judge would take a man’s kids from him? I was a police officer. I was a sergeant working his way to captain. What I did know was that whatever Jess wanted to do, it would take at least a few days for a hearing to be set. Nothing would be set in stone until I go to voice my argument. Hopefully by then, Shawn and I would have closed the case.
“Thanks,” Shawn said before hanging up and putting his phone in his pocket. “Looks like you’re on the right track.”
“Daisy was a student here too?”
“She was.”
I thought for a few moments. “How the fuck are we going to figure out who this guy is?”
Shawn shrugged. “We need to talk to Will. Maybe he knows, or maybe we can get a search warrant to check the servers here.”
“Yeah.”
Reagan was the first to exit a few moments later. “Hey.” She smiled at me and then Shawn.
I draped my arm across her shoulder. “Come on, Buttercup. Time for you to be a kept woman.”
After I introduced Reagan to Officer Belt and made sure he was going to stay until I returned home, Shawn and I went back to the station. Since we knew that all the women were connected to Lakeshore University, we had to figure out how this fucker was targeting them, and if there were any other women.
Shawn and I headed straight for the cyber unit. “Hey,” I greeted Will.
He looked up from one of the computer screens in front of him. “Hey, what’s up?”
“All vics attended Lakeshore U. We need you to check their system. See if we can track this guy,” Shawn stated.
“Reagan told me that she’s only used her computer at home and at school. The school is the connection, we’re guessing,” I went on.
Will nodded. “Yeah, I’ll get a search warrant and see what I can find out.”
We left Will’s office and went down to talk to the ME’s office to find Daisy’s time of death. “Gentleman,” Rikki greeted.
“Any update for us?” I asked.
She walked over to her computer and brought up Daisy’s file. “She had fifty-nine stab wounds. Time of death was around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning.”
My heart sank. I’d never had a strong reaction to hearing how someone died, but all I could think about was walking into my condo and seeing Reagan dead and bloody on my couch. I didn’t like where my head was. I wanted to go back to stopping by Judy’s after my shift, having a drink while I stared at Reagan’s ass, and then going home to devour every inch of her. Then I’d hold her all night and do it all over again the next day.
“Any hairs or fibers?” Shawn inquired.
“Nothing. Just like the other case.”
“Do you know the type of knife?” Shawn questioned.
“My guess is it’s a chef’s knife. Same as the other case.”
“So, we definitely have a serial killer on our hands?” I asked, though I already knew we were dealing with the same guy.
“Yes, I’d say so,” Rikki answered. “Stab wounds are consistent in depth, even though the number is different.”
All the knives were tested at Amy’s, and none of them had blood on them. There wasn’t a knife missing either, so that meant the killer brought his weapon with him—the crime was premeditated. I’d bet the same would be true for Daisy’s knives.
“Fuck,” Shawn breathed.
“Did you get the tox report back from Amy’s case?” I questioned.
Rikki turned to her computer. “Actually, it just came in.” She clicked open an attachment to an email. “It’s clean.”
“There’s nothing?” I asked.
“No.”
“But there was a wine glass,” Shawn stated.
“After death, bacterial invasion of the body commences almost immediately. The body starts to metabolize numerous sulfur-containing drugs and alcohol.”
“So, since it was almost twenty-four hours before we found the body, it is possible the killer slipped her something that metabolized before we could run the tox screen?” I questioned.
“Yes, unfortunately.”
We had little to go on, but we needed to search every database we had available for leads on killers who use a chef’s knife, go after students, and leave behind wood plaques.
The wood plaques that would haunt me for years to come.
Shawn and I made our way back to our desks. “Valor,” I heard Captain Rapp call out. “Another minute.”
I looked at Shawn, and he shrugged. Being called to the captain’s office was like being called to the principal’s office—it wasn’t good.
I made my way to his office, and as I got closer, I noticed there was a Cook County Sheriff with him. “Sir?”
The Sheriff handed me a piece of paper. “Sergeant Valor, I’m here to serve you with this emergency order of protection.”
I snatched the papers from his grasp and scanned them. “So she went through with it then?”
“Do you blame her?” Captain asked.
“This is to stay away from my kids,” I snapped.
“I know that, but given the—”
“They aren’t in danger,” I countered.
“You don’t know that.”
I went to open my mouth and argue again, but then everything hit me. We didn’t know when or if this asshole would strike, and if Reagan was with my kids, they would be in danger. I looked at the papers again and read the hearing date. “Two weeks?” I asked the Sheriff.
“It’s standard,” he replied. My gaze moved to his name: Pierce.
“Thi
s”—I waved the papers in my hand—“is bullshit.”
“Not to throw salt into the wound,” Captain said, “but you’ll need to be on desk duty.”
“No!” I shouted and then lowered my voice. “We already went through this.”
“That was before you were served with an emergency protection order, Valor.”
“If I may,” Pierce cut in. “One of the guys at my station had something similar happen to him. He surrendered his off-duty firearm, and he was still able to work as long as he was with his partner. At the end of each shift, he’d surrender his service weapon to our captain.” He nodded toward Captain Rapp. “He, his partner, and our captain had to sign off on a form at the end of every shift with the time and date. For added protection—because his ex was a bitch from hell—he did it in front of a surveillance camera for proof.”
“I can do that,” I stated. “I need to work this case.”
Captain Rapp nodded. “I agree. So, surrender all of your weapons from home, and then each night, we’ll put your service weapon in a locked box and log it in.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Good luck, Sergeant,” Sheriff Pierce said. “I’m off to serve the other emergency order.”
“Other order?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Who’s it for?” I questioned.
He looked to Captain Rapp, and it was Captain who spoke. “I’m assuming he means your girlfriend.”
“There’s an order of protection against Reagan?”
Pierce didn’t confirm or deny it.
Not having my laptop for class sucked. My hand hurt from all the notes I had to take during our lab, and I had no idea when or if I would get my computer back.
While Braeden, whose wife had told Jessica he needed to be my detail, watched TV, I used Ethan’s home computer to do my homework. There was no webcam on the monitor, and it put me a little at ease that I was no longer being watched. At least that was what I hoped. Could the person have put hidden cameras in Ethan’s house? My purse? My cell phone? I felt like a prisoner—or a kept woman, as Ethan had jokingly called me.
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