Avery nodded and she started to get that familiar excitement in her gut—the excitement that came when she knew things were leading somewhere. She looked Anna over and had no problem at all seeing her as just as beautiful and flawless as the three women the killer had claimed so far. She had that same petite figure, the gorgeous face, the demeanor and glow that suggested that everything under her clothes was just as perfect.
“Did she ever actually physically bother you?” Avery asked.
“No. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s almost as if she actively avoided it.”
“And her scarring...does she ever draw attention to it?”
“Not on purpose,” Anna said. “But sometimes I have seen her sort of running her fingers along it as a sort of habit. Right here, on the side of her face and along the bottom of her lip.” Anna traced her own fingers along her face to show Avery.
It was then that Leslie entered the reception area. She had a sheet of paper with some very basic information on it.
“Erin DeVoss,” Leslie said, handing Avery the paper. “I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t let her know that I directed you to her. In all honestly I don’t feel that I have. Erin has her issues, that’s for sure. But she’s no killer. The idea is ridiculous.”
“I’m sure it is,” Avery said, not so certain at all. “But I just have to check.”
When she left the office, she could feel Leslie Deacon’s eyes on her as she exited through the door. Avery didn’t mind, though. It actually urged her on because although Leslie insisted that Erin DeVoss was not capable of being a killer, Avery knew worry when she saw it.
And in that last glance between them, Leslie Deacon’s eyes had been filled with it.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Avery parked her car in front of Erin DeVoss’s house, directly behind a red van. She marked the van down on a mental checklist within her head. A van…perfect for transporting around bodies. She looked to the house for a minute and pulled out her phone. Her heart broke a bit when she instinctually pulled up Ramirez’s number. With a lump in her throat, she instead went to Finley’s number. He answered right away, either eager to please in the new role Connelly was inserting him into or legitimately worried about her.
“Look,” she said. “I’ve got what might turn out to be a strong lead. I just wanted you to have the address in the event that I need assistance.”
“Want me to come on over now? O’Malley would come with me, I think.”
“No, not just yet. Let me get a gauge on the suspect first.” She then gave Erin’s name and address so that Finley would have it on hand if she needed backup for any reason.
With that done, she finally got out of the car. Before heading to Erin’s house, she checked the van. It was a little ragged on the outside and it definitely seemed out of place in front of the townhouse Erin lived in. She was in the nice part of town, where Avery was pretty sure the rent for one of these townhomes was at least double the rent on her apartment. It was the sort of place people that bought into things like cryotherapy lived.
The van looked clean, although she did notice that the back seat had been folded down to allow for more space. She stepped away from the van and approached the front door. She knocked, still not quite sure how she was going to approach questioning Erin DeVoss. She’d have to be crafty while also playing into Erin’s delusions.
Avery knocked a second time when the door was not answered. She had been standing on the porch for roughly one minute before she heard footfalls approaching from the other side of the door. When it was answered, it only opened about two inches, just enough for a single eye to peer out.
“Can I help you?” the woman on the other side said. Avery noticed at once that she was angled at the door so that the left side of her face was concealed.
“I think you just might,” Avery said. “I’m Detective Avery Black and I’m looking into a very serious matter concerning the people you work for. You do work for Cryotherapy Partners and Solutions, correct?”
Erin was quiet for a moment but Avery was having a hard time reading her expression. She seemed alarmed, sure, but Avery didn’t see any fear in her face. “That’s right,” she finally said. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Avery said. “Please…could you let me come in? I just have a few basic questions for you.”
And there it was: fear. It flashed in Erin’s eyes for a split second. As if sensing that she had given herself away, Erin stepped back and looked down at the floor. She pulled the door open and allowed Avery inside.
She took the place in at once, studying and observing. A very well-decorated living room sat to her left. It was well maintained and tidy, right down to the light blue carpet. To the left, there were stairs that led both upstairs and down.
But the sights were not what alarmed her. It was the feel. The place was absolutely frigid. She could hear electric heat humming in the house but she was pretty sure it had not been switched on until recently.
Erin led her into the living room like a good little hostess. Avery sat down on the end of a small couch while Erin remained standing
“Thank you,” Avery said. “Leslie said you were sick. Are you doing better?”
“I think so,” Erin said. “I think it was just one of those miserable head colds, you know?”
“Those are the worst,” Avery said.
“So…what sort of trouble are we talking about?” Erin asked.
Straight to it…and very conversational. Also, if she was truly sick, why the hell is it so cold in here?
Undaunted, Avery continued, trying to act as if she wasn’t cold beyond measure. “Well, there’s been a very quiet report floating around about some cryospas using extreme temperatures. As I’m sure you know, that could be fatal. The NYPD has already busted a few places in New York for dropping the temperature about twenty degrees lower than the recommended two hundred and thirty. One client even went into shock and suffered brain damage.”
“My goodness,” Erin said. For the first time, she faced Avery head on. Avery saw the scarring on the side of her face. She’d seen worse in her line of work and was able to study it without staring.
“Anyway, we spoke with Leslie today and everything she said seems to be on the up and up,” Avery said. “But when I discovered there was an employee out sick today, I had to take the chance. I figured I’d get a more honest answer out of an employee that wasn’t surrounded by her co-workers at the time. Rest assured, Leslie has no idea that I’m here. So anything you might reveal, she won’t know it came from you. You have my word.”
“I see,” Erin said.
In the midst of her explanation, Avery had seen relief show through where a flash of fear had resided only moments ago. That spelled guilt in most cases. Erin had been scared when she’d first realized she was being visited by a detective but then relieved when she’d discovered the bullshit reason.
Then she started to speak and when she did, her left hand went to the side of her face. Anna at the cryospa had mentioned this—a little nervous tic that Erin had. Avery watched her do it and took notice of the discolored pinky on her hand. She could not be certain by any means but it looked at first glance like it could very well be frostbite.
It’s her, Avery thought. But had the killer been a woman all along?
She was feeling so certain that she nearly stopped paying attention to Erin as she answered Avery’s fake question as well as she could. She caught the end of it, hearing enough to remain confident that Erin suspected nothing. She did appear to be nervous but her demeanor suggested that she was still relieved—almost like she was dodging a bullet.
“…and Leslie truly does have everyone’s best interests at heart,” Erin was saying. “She’s a really professional lady and if there is anything underhanded doing on, anything unsafe, then I know nothing about it. It would really surprise me, though.”
“Well, that’s good to know,�
� Avery said, getting to her feet. “Ms. DeVoss, I certainly thank you for your time. I’m all done here.”
Erin got up quickly, clearly eager to show Avery back outside. Avery paused for a moment, not even looking in the direction of the door.
“Oh, there is one more thing,” Avery said. She did not move an inch, standing her ground right there between Erin’s foyer and the living room. Behind Erin, a small hallway led into the kitchen. Before the kitchen, a flight of stairs led both upstairs and downstairs.
“Yes?” Erin asked.
“Would you happen to know a woman by the name of Carolyn Rodgers?”
“I don’t think so,” Erin said, much too quickly for Avery’s comfort.
“How about Patty Dearborne or Sophie Luntz?”
“I don’t believe so,” Erin said. Avery couldn’t tell if she was being honest or not. For all Avery knew, Erin hadn’t known the names of the women she had killed.
“And could you tell me what happened to the pinky on your left hand? It looks like frostbite.”
The last word—frostbite—was what did it. Erin’s eyes went wide but still, the fear was only fleeting. What Avery saw now was almost defiant.
You got me, those eyes seemed to say. So what?
Avery pulled her sidearm. She did not raise it to point it at Erin, but she made its presence known. “Erin…why don’t you give me a little tour of your home?”
Erin said nothing at first. In fact, she seemed amused.
Clearly some sort of mental break…she’s not thinking clearly. Or, rather, she is but her thoughts are clearly not logical or sane. This could be bad. I should have just told Finley to send backup right away.
“Don’t you need a warrant?” Erin said.
“Probably,” Avery said, pushing her worry aside. “But with the things I believe you’ve done, I’m pretty sure lack of a warrant will be swept under the rug when all is said and done. So save us the time and hassle, why don’t you?”
Again, Erin was quiet for a few seconds before responding.
She’s feeling me out…looking for a way out of this. Even though she had worked at trying to get caught, she wants a way out. Maybe she feels like her work isn’t quite finished yet.
“There’s nothing here,” Erin finally said.
Avery realized that Erin’s demeanor had not changed at all once the gun had been pulled. “You sure about that? Judging from the letters you sent the police and the media, it seems to me that you wanted to get caught.”
Erin let out a huge sigh and then finally let her eyes take in the gun. She shook her head and smiled lazily. That smile was one of pride. She knew her game was up but rather than being upset, she was proud of what she had done.
“It’s not that I wanted to get caught…not really,” Erin said. “But I wanted people to know about what I was doing. I wanted people to share in my knowledge—the knowledge that we can beat death. We can cheat it.”
Gotcha, Avery thought. Holy shit. Is she cocky or does she simply not care what happens?
“Tell that to the three women I just mentioned,” Avery said.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think,” Avery said. “Now move your ass.”
Erin remained motionless, looking at the gun. With no choice left, Avery raised it and pointed it at her chest. She thought about the layout of the house, wondering where her best play would be.
Where would there be evidence? Kitchen? Bedroom? No…probably downstairs. It’s out of sight and at the lowest part of the house…making for easy escape and clean-up.
“Downstairs,” Avery said. “Now.”
Slowly, Erin headed for the stairs. She was hesitant to turn her back on Avery but had to as she started to take the stairs down.
“I wasn’t sure how long it would take the cops to figure it out,” Erin said. “I was hoping it would get so far along that the FBI might get involved. The more attention my work gets, the better.”
You were pretty damned close, Avery thought.
Erin reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to face Avery at once. Avery kept the gun trained on her as she stepped down. Ahead of them, a hallway led to a small walkway that led out onto a back porch. There was only one doorway along the hall ahead of them. Avery was pretty sure she heard something electrical running from behind the door.
“That room” Avery said, nodding toward the door.
“Well, I can’t go in there right now,” Erin said. “I’m in the middle of something.”
The way she spoke made Avery fairly certain that Erin DeVoss was mentally unstable. Either she had absolutely no fear of the repercussions that would soon be coming down on her or she truly didn’t think she was doing anything wrong.
Avery stepped closer to her, the gun still trained on her. “You do it or I will.” She badly wanted to place her under arrest right there and then but so far she had not actually seen anything. She had the admission, sure. But this woman was clearly off her rocker, so her admission might not mean much.
With a little shrug, Erin walked toward the door. She turned the knob slowly, almost as if teasing Avery, and pushed it open. She walked inside slowly and Avery could see the cogs turning in Erin’s head. She was trying to find a way out of this, a way to—
When Avery saw the large storage freezer against the far wall, she stopped. A tank of some sort was attached to one end of it. There was a humming noise as well as a very faint hissing.
“What’s in there?” Avery said.
“Don’t be stupid,” Erin said. “You know.”
Avery rushed to the freezer, strafing a bit to keep her Glock aimed at Erin. She tried opening the freezer with her free hand, so baffled by what she had stepped into that she didn’t notice the lock for another several seconds.
“Where’s the key?” she said.
“I don’t think—”
“Get the key now or I’ll figure out how to shut this thing off by myself.”
Erin came forward with that same lackluster shrug. She reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a set of keys. As she passed Avery, she made a big display out of jingling them in front of her. “Fine,” she said. “Happy?”
The keys jingling in front of her face caused just enough of a distraction. With the keys still dancing and making noise directly in her face. Avery didn’t see the key coming at her face until it was too late.
Erin had the key trapped between her pointer and middle finger, using it as a sort of shiv as she sent a right-handed punch at Avery’s face.
Avery brought her right hand up but not fast enough. The key hit her in the forehead. Not only did it gouge out a chunk of flesh, but it also hurt a hell of a lot more than Avery thought it would. It was like being struck in the head with a hard projectile and it sent her stumbling backward.
Erin came rushing at her and while Avery’s first reaction was to fire off a shot, she resisted. If it went wild and struck the freezer, there was no telling what would happen. All she could do was regain her feet and fight back.
But as a thin river of blood from her forehead ran directly into her eye, fighting back was almost impossible. She sidestepped a charging attack from Erin but by the time she wheeled around to fire off a shot that would only hit the wall if she missed, Erin had launched herself into Avery’s back in a thunderous shove.
Avery went flying into the front side of the freezer. When she struck it, something made a thudding noise inside. She could also hear Erin coming at her again but could not see her. The world had gone red and the headache that was spreading across her skull was like poison.
She waited until she could practically feel Erin’s presence on her. She lifted the gun and fired twice. She heard a small, punctuated scream but then felt a huge right fist slam into the side of her head.
Avery managed to get back to her feet but as soon as she wiped the blood away from her face, she smelled something. It was strong and overpowering and—
&nbs
p; Homemade chloroform, she thought, remembering the detail from the forensics reports.
As soon as this registered in her aching head, she felt a strong arm around her chest. When she tried to fight, she nearly got away but the chemicals spiraled into her brain and instead of fighting to her escape, she succumbed to the darkness.
It came quickly and like a soft inviting void that promised to take her away from the pain in her head, the blood in her eyes and the nearly fatally injured lover that she had left in the hopes of closing this case.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Avery felt herself falling and then something hard hit her back. She tried opening her eyes at the pain in her back and along the back of her head, but they felt far too heavy. There was also something sticky on her face that seemed to keep her from opening her eyes. And with that sense of stickiness, it all came rushing back to her.
She finally pried her eyes open. She sat up and felt like she was drunk. She grabbed the open lid of the freezer and tried to pull herself up only to find that she was too weak.
Drugged, she thought. Chloroform. Havre to fight it…stay with it…
She peered out and saw Erin pulling a naked female body across the carpeted floor. She was headed for the bathroom. The young woman was a light shade of blue and motionless.
She was in here before me, Avery thought. Erin took her out and put me in. I wonder if she’s alive. I have to—
In a dreamlike haze, she saw Erin set the woman down on the carpet and come rushing toward her.
“Oh, no no no,” Erin said. She slapped Avery hard in the face, sending her back against the back wall of the freezer. Avery tried catching herself but she was far too wobbly. She looked up at Erin again, just in time to see something falling on top of her. It made no sense at first but when she heard a metallic clicking noise she figured out what was going on.
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