“Fucking hell. Kristy’s right.” Joel slammed his palms flat on the table. “We missed it.”
Kristy handed me the list; there was still at least fifty names of single women with no children between the ages of thirty and forty. I quickly scanned the list, and my eyes landed on a name.
Clumsy idiot.
Shit! I fumbled my cell out of my pocket trying to hurry and connect a call to Meadow. I had to warn her. She had to leave her office, now. The call connected and went to voicemail on the first ring - her phone was off. My stomach churned, and fear threatened to choke me. Mother fucker! How’d I miss it?
“I know who it is. Sally come!”
I didn’t wait to see if anyone was following me. I had to get to Meadow. It was almost five; she’d be leaving the office any minute.
By the time I’d opened the back door of the government-issued Suburban and allowed Sally to jump in, Mike had rounded the hood and was getting into the driver’s seat, and Joel slid in next to Sally, both men ready to have my back without explanation.
“Talk to us,” Joel demanded as Mike pulled out of the parking lot.
“Beth Stevens, thirty-five, she is a systems manager. Remember Meadow’s session with Mandy? Meadow said she’d felt uncomfortable when the woman she was talking to called the bartender a clumsy idiot when he’d spilled a drink? My first date with Meadow, Beth showed up at Meadow’s. She said she was there to apologize, that’s not important, but when she turned to leave the pizza guy was behind her. She bumped him and called him a clumsy idiot.”
“That’s a stretch. A lot of people say that,” Joel noted.
“Right. Then I was thinking about the next day; I went to pick Meadow up for lunch. She snagged her purse on her desk and the strap broke. Beth chastised her about buying cheap purses. Suggested she get a high-quality Coach bag, like she had,” I added.
“I’m tracking, I remember the women talking about purses, but I have to say, you’re still reaching a little. The two of those put together make her a strong suspect, but…” Mike trailed off.
“Beth is also a systems manager at Fusion; she’d have access to the company’s cloud database. Meadow told me she was a computer genius. She’d have the access and the knowledge to erase the security footage. I know it’s her.” Sally barked, reminding me of one more thing. “How many times have you heard Sally growl?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Mike asked.
“Just answer.”
“I guess once. When you first brought her into the office, and we were interviewing the father of a missing boy,” he answered.
“We thought it was because Sally was a puppy and not used to strangers,” I reminded them.
“But the father ended up being the offender and buried his son in the family’s backyard,” Joel finished. “Strong investigative work, Nick. I’m supposed to call Lance and have his swat team surround Fusion based on your gut and a dog.”
“Fuck, no. We’ll go in soft. Get Meadow out and ask Beth if she wouldn’t mind answering some questions. Mike, you take the lead, she’s a superficial bitch. You smile at her and give her attention; she’ll eat that shit up. Trust me.”
I dialed Meadow’s work number and still no answer. Not her cell, landline, or text messages. What the fuck.
We pulled into the parking lot, and every instinct I had was screaming something wasn’t right. After telling Sally to stay, Joel, Mike, and I exited the SUV and took off toward the building in a fast clip. I needed to see Meadow.
“Hey. Nick, right?” Meadow’s friend stopped us. “Rory. I met you a few weeks ago.”
“Yes. Hi Rory. Sorry to be rude but I’m in a hurry,” I told her.
“Well if you’re looking for Meadow her department left early today. She didn’t tell you?”
“No.” I looked around and spotted her car still parked in the front row. “Why would they get off early.”
“Funny story, Beth was fired today. She had such a meltdown; management asked her to leave and told her to come back after four to get her things. The entire department was allowed to leave early. I guess Mr. Klein didn’t want anyone around to witness another tantrum.”
“I gotta go. Joel, will you stay with Rory and get the details?”
I opened the double doors to the building and opted for the stairs, taking two at a time until we reached Meadow’s floor. I felt marginally better knowing that Beth had been asked to leave the building. However, that still didn’t explain where Meadow was. When Mike and I entered the reception area, it was empty. I headed to Meadow’s desk; her phone and purse were both on her desk.
Where the fuck was Meadow?
Without remorse, I picked up Meadow’s phone and started scrolling through her phone log. Missed calls from me, a call labeled mom, and more from me. Christ. Now was not the time for me to be thinking about Meadow’s lack of social circle but my heart broke. She’d isolated herself so deeply the only people she’s spoken to in the last week were her mother and me.
Her text messages were the same; me and her mother. No social media apps, but there was a secondary messaging app. I pulled it up and scrolled through a few messages from VV21. I assumed that was the Veronica Venus Meadow had told me about from her survivor’s group. Their last exchange was at 4:21; Meadow said she was headed to her car.
I pulled out my phone and called Kristy.
“I need you to work your magic,” I said without preamble. “I need everything you can find on Beth Stevens.”
“Anything else?” she asked.
I told her about the message board that Meadow belonged to and the handle Veronica Venus. The mystery woman was Meadow’s closest friend; I’d like to speak to her and see if she had any helpful information. While Kristy was tracking down the information I needed, I joined Mike in Beth’s office, picking up a paper coffee cup and tossing it in the trash on my way.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“No. No personal items, desk drawers are neat and organized. The computer is password protected so we’ll need a tech to come in to unlock it,” he answered and dumped the trash can over, spilling papers on the ground. He bent down spreading them out with a pencil. “Nothing here that I can tell, normal office trash, a receipt for a vanilla latte dated today, 4:03. Nothing that screams out at me as homicidal maniac.”
“A vanilla latte?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Mike used the pencil to point at the receipt. “Cash receipt.”
“Vanilla lattes are Meadow’s favorite. I threw a to-go cup away on my way in here. It was on the floor next to Meadow’s desk.”
“Fuck. She drugged her. We need to call Kilby and Lance.” Mike pulled his phone out to make the call. How could I have let this happen?
Within the hour Fusion Telecom was swarming with police. Adam Klein had been more than forthright when talking about Beth. Her attitude had worsened over the last four months, leading to her being fired. The time frame coincided with when the murders had started again. He’d also confirmed what we’d profiled. While he couldn’t give the exact dates, the rough estimation matched.
Five years ago, Beth’s husband divorced her. A year after her divorce she began a serious relationship with a man, Brian Astro. They’d been engaged until he ended it a few months ago. Both break-ups fit. While I was pleased that more pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place, we still didn’t have any idea of where Beth would take Meadow. A squad car had been sent to Beth’s to sit on her house, and one had been sent to Brain’s to pick him up for questioning.
I checked my watch and the noose around my neck tightened. Meadow had been with Beth for at least two hours. Two fucking hours in the hand of a depraved killer, they could be anywhere. Beth could’ve already butchered Meadow. I’d been so wrapped up in her I’d dropped the ball. Meadow’s death was on me.
Technical analysts from both the local PD and the FBI were combing over Fusion’s servers trying to recover the security footage that had been deleted. The
cup had been rushed to the lab to be checked for the presence of ketamine. Unfortunately, there was no field test that would detect the drug, and we were in a holding pattern. No leads, no indication where they’d gone, nothing. I was useless standing in front of Meadow’s desk, completely impotent.
Mike rushed over and Sally, who’d been brought up from the car, sat next to me. Much like she’d done to Meadow when she sensed she needed protecting. Fuck, this was all my fault. Why hadn’t I seen it? My dog had a better instinct than me. She knew. Sally had met the woman one time and growled as she stood between Meadow and the treat. Which was more than I did. I’d missed every single fucking sign pointing at Beth.
“Kristy called. Lab tests came back, positive for ketamine. So far, they recovered security footage from six bars including Meadow’s attack. I know you don’t need me to say this, but you were right, it’s Beth. Brian is talking, and they broke up four months ago on the nineteenth. He was having an affair, and she found out about it.”
“Let me guess, a pretty young thing?”
“That’s what he said. His secretary, twenty-two. And the husband? He cheated too. Got his mistress knocked up, after years trying to have a baby with Beth with no luck. A police report was filed on the sixth. A domestic disturbance. She’d come unglued when he was trying to pack his stuff and leave.”
“Fuck!” I yelled, and Sally barked.
“One more thing. And you’re not gonna like this.”
Chapter 24
Sally
“Oh good, you’re finally awake. I thought you were gonna sleep through the good part.”
Awake?
The good part?
Damn my head hurt. My head was groggy, and it was hard to focus. I was lying on my side in the back of a car. It was dark outside, but there was a bright light shining that had me squinting against the harsh cast. I could vaguely make out Beth’s silhouette in the front seat. Why was I in a car with Beth? I struggled to sit up and nearly rolled off the backseat. Both hands shot out, and I caught myself on the seat in front of me.
“Beth? What’s going on?” I wriggled again trying to move my hands. “Why the hell are my hands taped together?”
I finally got myself upright and realized both my hands and my feet were duct-taped together. My original panic multiplied by a hundred.
“So many questions. I think I liked it better when you were passed out.”
“Why are you doing this? I didn’t have anything to do with you getting fired. I promise.”
“Fired. I don’t give a fuck about that stupid job.”
“Why would you do this?” I asked and tried to pry my hands apart, but the duct tape wouldn’t budge.
Duct tape. I remembered the conversation I had with Nick about using tape to tie up Beth. The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was the one taped by Beth. Nick. He’d know I was missing when he got home, and I wasn’t there. Or would he? What if he thought I’d changed my mind about going to his place and went back to mine? Would he look for me?
“Remember when you woke up in the hospital and I came to visit you?” she asked.
I’d never forget the visit. I’d only just woken up from the attack when Beth had appeared at my bedside. At first, she acted like a concerned friend. Careful and cautious with me, then out of nowhere she’d turned into a cold-hearted bitch. That was the first time she’d commented on my face, and how sad it was that I was now ugly and no man would ever come near me again. Yeah, damn right I remembered.
“Yes,” I answered.
“You know what’s so funny? You have no idea how close you came to dying.”
“I think I do.”
“No. Not in the alley. In the hospital. I came in ready to finish what I’d started. I couldn’t have you running to the police and blabbing. But when you woke up and cried your eyes out to me and hugged me, I realized you had no memory of what had happened, and it wasn’t worth the risk of killing you with all the nurses in and out. Not to mention, scrubbing the hospital’s server would be too difficult, there’d be footage of my visit. I let you live Meadow. And you know what I got in return?”
What the hell was she talking about? Let me live? No. No way. Beth was a crazy bitch, but there was no way… was there?
“I’m confused, Beth.”
“I’ll tell you what I got. You talking shit about me behind my back. Every fucking day, you talked shit about Queen Bitch, douchebaggette, twat-waffle, any of those ring a bell?” she yelled.
Shit goddammit. She had my phone and was reading my messages to Veronica Venus. Fuck. She was right; there was about five years’ worth of messages. Wait. If she had my phone, Nick would find me.
“Five goddamned years.” She held a phone up shaking it, the shiny purple case reflecting the dim light in the car.
“That’s not my phone,” I lamely said.
“No shit. Do you think I’m dumb enough to bring your phone so your FBI boyfriend can track it? How stupid do you think I am? And the office security feeds have been erased for the last seven days. No one’s going to find you Meadow.”
Wait, then how was she reading my messages to Veronica Venus?
“Did you clone my phone?” I asked.
“Why the hell would I waste my time doing that? The only two people you talk to are your mother and me. You really should’ve been more careful about browsing the internet on company computers. Message boards, online shopping, plastic surgeons to try and fix your ugly-ass face. All on company time on the company computer.”
Me?
What the fuck! I’d never spoken to Beth on my cell phone.
“You? What are you talking about?”
“Do you know how nauseating it is listening to you cry and whine every day about how bad your life is? How lonely you are? How your life was stolen from you? You cannot possibly know how many times I wanted to tell you to shut the fuck up. Flirty sluts like you who think they can bat their eyelashes and steal other people’s husbands are the ones that ruin lives. No one ever thinks about the wife at home, trying to make her husband happy. Giving everything of themselves for nothing. Nothing. All it takes is some skank in a short skirt and you lose everything. Why wasn’t I good enough?”
Holy shit, she’d lost her mind. The woman was batshit crazy, obviously, I mean I was duct-taped in the back of her car, but she was completely off her rocker. I had no idea what she was talking about, and I was afraid to ask.
“They deserved it. Every one of them. Fucking whores out trolling for men not caring if they’re taken or not. You got lucky, I was sloppy the first time and impatient. I took you out back too soon, and you were still able to talk. Never made that mistake again.”
The mother of all lightning bolts hit me. Jesus fuck. It was her!
“Why are you doing this to me?” I had to find a way out of this - she was going to kill me. I had no doubt I was about to be dragged out of the car and stabbed in the face until there was nothing left. I’d read the reports; I knew what she’d done.
Please, God, Nick! I didn’t want him to see me dead in the alley with my face like that. He’d blame himself.
“Why not you?”
“You’re right. Why not me? I’m begging you not to leave me here. Drive to another city and dump my body. Don’t do it here. I won’t scream this time, I promise. Just please, I’m begging you not here.”
“You don’t get a say. You’re not in charge, I am. This is my way.”
“Please Beth,” I tried again.
“Now you want to be nice? Well, fuck you. We’re done talking - it’s time.”
I tried to struggle and stop her from getting me out of the car. I screamed and yelled and tried to bite her. Nothing worked. I was out of the backseat and on the cold, dirty asphalt of the alley.
“Stay still,” she told me as I thrashed around as much as I could with my limbs bound.
“Not here. Please, Beth!”
I kicked and knocked the knife out of her hand, but it wasn’t hard enoug
h because it was back in her hand and headed straight for me. I twisted again, and the familiar burn of her blade sliced my leg.
“God damn, I fucking hate you. Always such a pain in the ass, stay fucking still.”
Her knife caught me again, and I cried out. I was exhausted from the exertion. Not here, please God, don’t let Nick find me. I didn’t think I could keep this up much longer. Her arm went back, and I strained to move my head, but there was no way to get out of the way.
I’m so sorry Nick.
The low menacing growl pulled Beth’s attention from me, and I rolled to my side in time to see Beth stick her knife in Sally as the dog jumped at Beth knocking her to the ground.
No! I tried to scream, but no words came out. Please don’t let that be Sally. There had to be strays running the streets, right? Not Sally. Please, not her.
“Don’t move,” a man yelled as Beth struggled to her feet. “Beth Stevens, you’re under arrest.”
There was so much commotion I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do but lie there as men yelled at Beth to put her hands up and move away from me. I didn’t know where her knife went. Would she still kill me in front of the police?
“Please Beth,” I cried.
“Shut up. This is all your fault. All of it. If you would’ve kept your mouth shut, none of this would’ve happened.”
“It’s over, Beth,” a woman’s voice joined the male voices.
Beth didn’t get the chance to answer. Out of nowhere, she was tackled from behind, her head hitting the ground with a sickening thud. At the same time, I was grabbed under my armpits and pulled away from a struggling Beth. She was screaming obscenities and threatening to kill me.
My body tensed, and fight or flight set in; I fought against the hold, trying to break free.
“It’s me, Red. Relax baby; you’re safe.”
Nick.
All the Pretty Girls Page 14