by Karen Rose
“You should’ve gone with the poker expansion pack. No additional RAM needed.”
“But racing is cooler. Do you play in the casino?”
“Used to. Now I just watch. One of my red-zones lives at the poker table. Awhile back, I was the top winner for weeks. But racing is cooler.”
“So why’d you go see Claudio?”
“I thought I’d find out about that avatar, see who he’s sold it to.”
David looked skeptical. “He won’t tell you that, will he?”
“He did. Gary asked for references. Claudio felt sorry for Gary’s plainness, and was happy to help him upgrade, giving screen names of clients, two of which bought the dancer. I’ll give them to Noah. He needs to call soon. I have to work tonight.”
David frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”
“I work in a bar full of cops. I’ll be fine. If you’re so worried, come with me.”
He shook his head. “I’m having dinner with Tom.”
Eve frowned. “Not fair. The only time I have the night off, he’s at a game.”
“Take the night off. It’ll be like old times.”
It sounded sweet. “I want to, but I can’t. I missed last night and I need the money.”
“Then I’ll drop you off and pick you up at Sal’s.”
“That’ll work. I think I’ll call Noah again. Sal’s gonna be pissed if I’m late.”
Tuesday, February 23, 6:45 p.m.
“This is a mistake.” Joan Girard followed as Noah and Jack escorted her husband from their nice Edina home, wringing her hands in helpless misery. “A huge mistake.”
“Of course it is.” Axel Girard tried to soothe his wife. “Call the lawyer, he’ll know what to do. Keep the boys calm. Tell them I’ll be home in time to read their bedtime stories.”
“Now that’s a fairy tale, pal,” Jack said caustically. “You shouldn’t lie to your kids like that. But then again, what’s a little lie after three murders?”
“I’m telling you I have no idea what you’re talking about. Joan, go back inside,” Girard said, his smile forced. He gestured toward their picture window with his head, where two terrified children cried as their father was taken away.
Jack wasn’t gentle as he helped Girard into the backseat. “Keep your hands where I can see them or I’ll have to cuff you in front of the kids. Come on, Web. Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Noah’s cell was vibrating for the third time in minutes. “I need to take this.”
“Fine. Just hurry.” Jack got behind the wheel, turning to watch Axel Girard.
Noah glanced at his caller ID. Eve. “What’s happened?”
“I tried to call you before,” Eve started.
“This isn’t a good time. Can I call you back?”
“No. I have some information and need to leave for work. I don’t think you want me to be talking about this in the bar. I found the male avatar. He’s in Ninth Circle.”
Still outside the car, Noah stared at the man in the backseat. “Right now?”
“Yeah. I’m lookin’ right at him.”
So am I, Noah thought, but his gut wasn’t right. “You’re sure it’s the same guy?”
“As sure as I can be. You told me not to approach him.”
“You mean you didn’t? Not even as Nemesis?”
“I didn’t want to get you into trouble. But I did get into the user files. The avatars were changed and I have the dates and times the codes were accessed. You ready?”
He pulled his pad from his pocket. I didn’t want to get you into trouble. Noah cursed himself for not having told her they’d requested the study files. He should have, but he hadn’t. You’re a coward. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
She rattled off times and dates, all within the last three days. “He didn’t access any of their files until after you discovered Martha’s body,” she said. “I don’t know why. I also have user names for you on the dancer. Don’t worry, nobody will know it was me.”
Noah wrote it all down. “This is incredible, Eve. Thank you.”
There was a half beat of silence. “What’s wrong, Noah?”
Everything, he wanted to say. Girard was sitting in the backseat, lips moving. Praying, Noah thought. Joan stood on their front porch, crying. Neither of them had been on the computer when they’d arrived. The family had been at the dinner table.
“I’m not sure,” he said.
“Look, Noah, this guy is hitting on women in Ninth Circle left and right. If this is the guy, he could be hunting as we speak.”
But Girard was not hunting. “Yeah, I know. Do me a favor and call Abbott. Tell him about seeing the avatar. He can go online and monitor.”
“He knows how?”
“Ah, he’s a quick study. He figured it out. How are you getting to work tonight?”
“I have my car back, but David’s scared to let me drive alone, so he’s driving me.”
“Good for David. You got your keys back, then?”
“No. I looked, but didn’t find them. I’m still using the set Callie gave me last night.”
“I’ll see if CSU found them at the scene,” he said. He drew a breath. “Eve… we had to request the participant files from the university. I’m sorry.”
There was another beat of silence. “I knew you would. It’s not your fault, Noah.”
“I’m still sorry. I’ll stop by Sal’s later if I can.”
“That’s fine,” she said, but it was as if all the air had been forced from her lungs. She disconnected and he felt as if all the air had been forced from his lungs, as well.
Jack rolled down his window. “You okay?”
No. “Yeah. I’m coming.”
Tuesday, February 23, 7:55 p.m.
“Excuse me, Miss Wilson?” Eve looked up from the drink she was mixing to see a petite redhead perched on a bar stool, her hands folded primly on the bar. Eve had seen her before. She was Trina, married to Noah’s cousin Brock, who occasionally sat with Noah as he drank his tonic water. Trina sometimes came in with her girlfriends and they were pretty good tippers, but somehow Eve doubted Trina was here for a drink today. Eve knew when she was being scrutinized. And found wanting.
She smiled, despite the jitters in her stomach. “Chardonnay, right?”
Trina didn’t smile back. “Right, but I’m not here to drink tonight. I came to see you. What are your intentions regarding Noah?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You kissed him today in the Deli. Don’t look so surprised,” she added dryly. “You of all people should know how the rumor mill churns.”
“Cops and firefighters,” Eve murmured. “Nosy bastards. No offense intended.”
Humor flickered briefly in the woman’s brown eyes. “None taken. So?”
“I could say it’s none of your business,” Eve said.
Trina’s eyes narrowed. “But you won’t. I care about Noah. He’s a good man.”
“I know,” Eve said quietly.
“And for some reason he cares about you.”
“I know,” Eve repeated, brushing aside her irritation at for some reason. Trina was protecting her family. That Eve understood. “That kiss…” Didn’t mean anything, she wanted to say, but that was a lie. “Was a mistake. I’ve told Noah I’m not interested.”
“You kissed him, where everyone would see,” Trina said, her lips thinning in disapproval. “You never struck me as a tease, Eve.”
“I’m not a tease,” Eve responded, indignant. But several customers were watching, so she leaned forward. “Talk to Noah. It needs to come from him. It was for his job.”
Trina looked taken aback. “You’re helping him?” she asked.
“I’m trying. But you don’t need to worry. I don’t intend to cling when it’s all over.” Eve’s tone was harsh, sardonic. Because clinging was exactly what she wanted to do.
“I see,” Trina murmured. “You do realize that you can hurt him?”
Eve swallowed ha
rd. “Yeah. I got that part. I’m doing my best not to.”
“And you’re not interested? At all?”
God, yes. “No,” she said. Firmly.
Trina sat back, all primness gone. “You’re as bad a liar as he is.”
Eve blinked at her. “Excuse me?”
Trina pulled a bowl of salted peanuts closer. “You want him. He wants you. He’s a good man. You seem to be a good person, too. So what’s the problem here?”
Eve shook her head. “Wait. You want me to want him?”
“I want you to cling like socks out of the dryer.” She popped a few nuts in her mouth while Eve stared. “He’s overcome a lot. From what I’ve read on the Internet, so have you. Two lost souls, both want each other… Color me a romantic, but it could work.”
Eve’s cheeks flamed. “It’s not that simple.”
Trina’s red brows rose. “Why not? You dying? Six months to live?”
Eve coughed. “No,” she said, stunned.
“Diseases? Witness protection? Secret husband? Undercover nun?”
Eve shook her head, feeling like she’d been run over by a very small truck. “No.”
“Do you like him?” Trina wagged her forefinger in warning. “And don’t you lie to me.”
“Yes,” Eve murmured. “Very much.”
“Good. Now we’re getting somewhere. So you like him, you want him, and there are no reasonable impediments to a relationship that I can see. Do you like roast beef?”
Eve had given up trying to keep up. “Yes.”
“Good. We eat Sundays at five.” She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket.
Eve saw it held an address, neatly printed. “You planned to invite me all along?”
“Yes.” Trina smiled then. “Noah made me promise not to interfere, but I figured that kiss this morning nullified any promises previously rendered. I wanted to talk to you, find out if you were leading him on.” She sobered. “You’re not. Whatever’s bothering you is real. But time is precious and Noah’s wasted a lot of years. Figure out how to deal with whatever’s keeping you from ‘being interested.’ See you on Sunday.”
And with that she slid off the stool and left, leaving Eve staring after her.
Tuesday, February 23, 7:55 p.m.
“So all we have tying this guy to the murder is his car leaving a parking lot after one of the victims?” ADA Brian Ramsey frowned into the glass separating them from an ashen-faced Axel Girard. “Nothing more?”
“No,” Noah said. Either Girard was good or he was telling the truth.
“That’s not enough to at least hold him?” Jack demanded.
“Not unless you have something physical tying him to the victim or the scene.”
Jack huffed in frustration. “Dammit, Brian.”
“What about his alibi for Sunday night when the Lewis woman was killed?”
“His wife says he was with her,” Jack said sarcastically. “All night. Like we haven’t heard that before. Dammit, those pictures don’t lie. He was there.”
“His car was there,” Brian corrected. “That’s what the defense will claim.”
“He never reported it stolen,” Abbott said. “If the wife says he was with her all night, he couldn’t have been in the parking lot to begin with. Somebody’s lying and those pictures from the diner’s surveillance system are clear.”
“Crystal clear,” Jack added. “Wives always say their husbands were there all night.”
Brian grunted his agreement to that. “Noah, you’re being awfully quiet.”
Noah glanced at Jack, who was glaring at him. They’d had this conversation already and Jack was not a happy partner. Jack was also an uninformed partner. Noah hadn’t told him about Eve’s call. He’d started to a dozen times, but… hadn’t.
“I don’t think he did it, but I sure as hell don’t want to take the chance that I’m wrong. If he did it, I don’t want to give him opportunity to kill again.”
“What about his alibis for the nights the other two were killed?” Brian pressed.
“Ian’s time of death windows are wide on the other two,” Noah said. “As best we can pinpoint, Girard was home with his wife.”
“We passed out photos of the three victims at our press conference today,” Abbott said. “They’ll run on newscasts and in the papers. We’re hoping to find somebody who saw these women the night they were attacked.”
“That’s good, but that doesn’t help me right now,” Brian said.
Noah thought of the dates Eve had given him, when the killer had changed his victims’ avatars. If Girard had alibis for those times, other than his wife, he’d be cleared. But if he used the information Eve had given him, Ramsey would want to know where it came from and if it resulted in proving Girard’s guilt, they couldn’t use it anyway.
And Eve’s hacking would be exposed.
Noah blinked hard. Too little sleep and too much worry were fogging his brain.
“Noah?” Abbott prodded. “What are you thinking?”
Noah rubbed his temples, hard. “That we need more information. His car was there, but was he? And if he wasn’t, how did his car get there? He’s involved somehow, Brian. Can’t we keep him here until we figure out how?”
Brian shook his head. “Until you can place him at the scene, you can’t hold him.”
“Goddammit,” Jack spat. He glared at Noah. “You know he’s going to do it again.”
“I know he’s going to do it again,” Noah spat back, “but he might not be him.”
Brian shrugged. “Cut him loose, guys.”
“We’ll put an unmarked car on his house,” Abbott said. “That’s the best we can do for now. Get something physical to connect Girard. But first, take a break and cool off.”
“I don’t need a break,” Jack said, disgusted. “I’m going to the morgue. Maybe Ian’s finished with Samantha Altman by now. Maybe he’s found something physical.”
Noah winced when Jack shut the door too hard.
Brian Ramsey was looking at him with concern. “You okay, Web?”
“Too little sleep, too much coffee.” And too much worry. “Thanks for coming.”
Abbott looked distinctly unhappy. “I’ll cut Mr. Girard loose. Noah, go to my office.”
Feeling like a kid about to be scolded by the principal, Noah could only obey.
Ten minutes later Abbott closed his office door, a cup of coffee in each hand. “There’s a fine line between too much and not enough,” he said, handing him a cup.
“Too much and not enough what?” Noah asked and Abbott shrugged.
“You tell me,” he said, sitting in his chair. “And I mean that. You better tell me.”
Noah’s head nodded. His mouth, however, did not cooperate.
“Sometime today,” Abbott added sharply. “What’s going on between you and Jack?”
“Too much and not enough,” Noah muttered, then met his boss’s eyes. “Eve.”
Abbott looked unsurprised. “Are we talking turf war or cold war?”
Noah laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Both. Jack’s been after her for months.”
“Yeah, I knew that. I go to Sal’s. I’ve got eyes. And today Eve locks lips with you.”
Noah’s brows went up. “You know about that, too?”
“Yes,” Abbott said, clearly annoyed Noah would even ask the question. “I sent two uniforms to keep an eye out. Instead they got an eye full. What were you thinking?”
I wasn’t. For those few seconds he’d held her, Noah hadn’t thought about anything at all. Except that he’d wanted more. He still did.
“It wasn’t planned, Bruce. She’d been confronted by her advisor’s assistant and that asshole Buckland within the space of an hour. She was trying to keep her involvement… secret. Jack accused her of doing so to protect her job.”
“And wasn’t she?” Abbott asked, and Noah shook his head.
“No. She knows it’ll all come out eventually and she’ll lose her spot in
the program.”
“There are other graduate programs.”
“She said she’d be blacklisted from those. Anyway, Jack apologized later, said he was basically jealous. Of me.”
“Yeah,” Abbott said, again unsurprised.
“Why do I get the impression that you know all and you’re just making me dance?”
“Being captain is more than nodding when you bring me information,” Abbott said testily. “I know my staff. Personalities have to work. Until this week, yours and Jack’s did.” His frown softened. “And you didn’t see your face last night when she was talking.”
“When?” Noah asked, feeling testy himself now.
“Every time she opened her mouth. Do I need to take you off this case?”
“No.” Noah drew a breath. “She called you about the male avatar, right?”
“She did. I’ve been following him off and on.” Abbott pointed to his screen. “He’s still there, doing the tango. And if he’s in there, Girard can’t be him. Is that it?”
“Partly, yes. And partly that it just doesn’t feel right, Bruce. After all he’s done to date, he drove his own car and let it be photographed by security cameras.”
“How could he have known he was being photographed?”
“Because there were about a hundred signs all over the goddamned parking lot,” Noah snapped, frustrated. “That was the point of the surveillance system. The two store owners wanted everybody to know they were on candid camera. That was the deterrent.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Plus, I just don’t think he did it, Bruce. I’ve been doing this job a long time and I don’t think he did it.”
“Jack’s been doing it a long time, too,” Abbott said quietly.
“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think he informed me of that, several times?” Noah pushed his knuckles into his throbbing temples. “There’s more I couldn’t tell him.”
“Because you’re not supposed to know.”
Noah looked up. “Now you’re scaring me.”
“I figured this was bound to happen. Eve hacked into ShadowCo’s server. What did she find that we can’t legally use?”
“Times that the killer logged in and changed the avatars’ faces.”