TALKING TO THE REALTOR DIDN’T turn up any new leads. Becker Philips didn’t know anything other than Thom Renzo had agreed to give Maegan first crack at the items in the house. He had set up an appointment through Becker then canceled suddenly the night they were to meet. He did agree that it was odd that Thom contacted Maegan directly by email instead of going through him again. I thought it was odd that Thom had Maegan’s email until I saw it listed on her website beneath the contact information. Becker didn’t know anything about the meeting Thom had set up last minute on Friday, which made me think that those items in the trunk belonged to our victim and he planned to use them on Maegan.
My body went hot and cold and I felt physically ill. I was cold from fear and hot with the flush of someone who was about to lose their breakfast. I closed my eyes and focused on the smile on Maegan’s face that morning when she woke up and found me watching her sleep like a creeper. I held onto the look of surprise on her face after I kissed her forehead in front of her friends, brother, and everyone else inside Books and Brew. Maegan was okay, she was safe, and she would remain that way.
I went through the motions of shaking Becker’s hand and thanking him for his assistance before I headed for the door. I heard Adrian ask the man to call either of us if he thought of something new that might help.
I stood out on the sidewalk in front of the man’s business to wait for Adrian. Usually, I would’ve hauled ass to get out of the cold, but it actually felt good against my flushed face. I tilted my head up and embraced the chilly air that matched the icy tentacles of fear wrapped around my heart.
“We have a lot of time to kill before we meet with Homer Stillwater. Let’s say we get back to the station and make some calls to the Kentucky State Police and make arrangements to search Thom Renzo’s residence and speak with his co-workers at his place of employment tomorrow,” I told my partner.
“Working with other jurisdictions can be tough, but we’ve been really lucky in the past. Let’s hope for the best and see what happens,” Adrian replied.
We were still twenty minutes outside of town when dispatch called and told me that Maegan had been contacted by our prime suspect. They told me that Officer Kasey responded to the call and would contact me when she had additional information.
“Fuck that,” I had said after disconnecting the call. “I’m not waiting.”
I had dialed Kasey’s phone and she answered right away. She assured me that Maegan was fine and explained that she was currently writing down everything our suspect said while it was fresh in her mind.
Even though I didn’t know Officer Kasey well, I trusted her. She was smart, capable, and dedicated to her job. She told me she had it under control and I believed her. Therefore, I didn’t ask Adrian to flip on the lights and sirens.
By the time we reached Books and Brew, Kasey was wrapping up her interview and deflecting questions that Maegan had about the evidence we found inside Renzo’s trunk. How the hell did she even know to ask that? Kasey fielded that like a pro, but I bet Jones would’ve told her everything her pretty heart desired.
“Ah, Detective,” Kasey said. “Perfect timing.”
“Yes,” Maegan said agreeably. “Marley didn’t want to tell me about the evidence you found in Renzo’s trunk. My caller said that she saved me. What did she mean by that, Elijah?”
“She?” I asked. “Our killer is a woman?”
“It’s a theory,” Kasey said. “Hear her out and tell us what you think.”
I listened as Maegan recounted the conversation word for word. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the highs and lows of the caller’s voice, which probably wasn’t easy since it was distorted.
“Elijah, I know killing someone is typically considered a personal thing, but this seems… more. She feels like she did the world a favor. I’m afraid what you’re going to find when you dig deeper into Thom’s background. I’m scared about how close I came to being a victim of something horrible. It was really bad, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said tersely. “I can’t divulge the contents of the trunk, but I will confirm that there’s a high probability that Thom Renzo had no intentions of letting you sort through the junk in the cellar.”
“It’s not junk,” Maegan said, hands on her hips in irritation. I just confirmed her fears and she chose to get mad about my junk reference. Or was she using that as an outlet for the riotous emotions coursing through her body? She grabbed onto any emotion that alleviated the fear; that’s what I would’ve done in her place.
“You’re right, Freckles. I’m sorry.” I wasn’t about to argue with her when I had healthier ways to help her work through her frustration and fear.
“I agree that the killer’s statement indicates a passionate dislike of Thom Renzo and doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the Bliss property. I’m still not sure why you think you were talking to a woman. I’m fully aware that women are capable of committing murder, but statistics are still in favor of men committing violent crimes.”
“Nothing about the crime rules out a woman,” Kasey pointed out. “Nothing about the murder required brute force or extraordinary strength. It seems like a well-planned, clean execution.”
“Except it wasn’t well-planned because Renzo’s call to Maegan was out of the blue,” I challenged.
“It was out of the blue for Maegan, but that doesn’t mean it was that way for Renzo,” Kasey countered. “He could’ve planned it all along.”
“You make a very valid point,” I told Kasey. My gears started grinding again, and I knew the rest of our conversation needed to occur in the privacy of the police station. “Can you guys give me a few minutes alone with Maegan?” I asked Adrian and Kasey.
“Sure,” they both said.
I leaned my back against the counter, placed my hands on Maegan’s hips, and pulled her toward me. “Listen, Freckles, I’m not deliberately keeping you in the dark. Please tell me you know that.”
“I do, Elijah. I don’t like it, but I respect it.” She smiled at me, but I noticed that it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
I raised a hand and cupped her face. I breathed easier when she leaned into my touch, but refused to think about why it mattered so much to me. It just did. I would make time to evaluate what the hell I wanted to happen between us later when I knew that all threats to her were eliminated.
“I need to head back to the station to make some calls, but I still plan on being here after you close. Maybe you are out of the woods, but I’m not willing to take that chance.”
Maegan placed her hands on my chest and slid them up until they met behind my neck. “I don’t want to be a burden to you. Lulu, Rascal, and I can stay with my parents or one of my friends can stay with me. I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
I covered her mouth with my index finger. “I’m right where I want to be, Freckles. I think you know it too.” Okay, maybe there wasn’t much evaluating required.
She gave me a genuine smile then. “A girl can hope.”
I kissed her then. My lips lingered longer than a quick peck but didn’t part hers to delve deeper inside her mouth. I needed assurance that she was fine; the rest could come later when we were alone and had more time to explore.
“What do you think, partner?” Adrian asked once we were back at the police station. Kasey and Captain Roman-Wyatt joined us in an interview room so we could have privacy.
“Kasey and Maegan both make excellent points. Maegan is the only one who’s talked with the killer and is going off instincts.”
“Women’s intuition isn’t something we want to discount,” Kasey said with a wry smile. “Not to mention another certain case where the captain and Adrian had a run-in with a diabolical female. A certain seventy-year-old woman who snuck up on them and got the upper hand by hitting them over the head with something heavy. Maegan could be drawing on that knowledge just as much as intuition.”
“What case is this?” I asked, looking between Adrian and our captain.
“Never you mind,” Adrian said haughtily. “We still got our gal in the end. Well, I did anyway. The captain was in the hospital recovering from his injuries. See, he took his bad cop act too far and incurred a bigger wrath than my good ole boy routine.”
“Are you finished?” the captain asked his former partner with an incredulous expression on his face before he shifted his attention back to me. “I’m still waiting for a return call from Lieutenant Snyder with the Kentucky State Police informing me what time you guys should arrive. Plan on it being an early morning tomorrow, fellas. It’s at least a four-hour drive.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll be in touch with more specifics as soon as they become available.”
“Have a good night, Captain,” I said as he headed for the door.
“Same to all of you. Call right away if something breaks.”
Once the captain left, we resumed talking about our case. Adrian and I told Kasey what the realtor said. She had made a good point at Books and Brew that maybe delaying Maegan’s meeting had been intentional on his part. Did he need more time to work out a sick, twisted plan for her? If so, how would his killer have known that though?
“What if this person had been watching Renzo and waited for the opportunity. Was the killer privy to Renzo’s intentions toward Maegan? If so, why not tell the police?”
“Because they failed him or her,” I said softly.
“Or someone they love,” Adrian added.
“Sometimes you can see why people snap,” Kasey said. “But we still have to pursue this case like we would anyone else, even if Renzo turns out to be as vile as we suspect.”
“Agreed,” I told her. “If we turn a blind eye then we’re no better than the criminals we try to put behind bars.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Let’s start with what we know. Thom wasn’t in contact with anyone local on a personal level, including his uncle who resides outside of town. According to his uncle, Thom didn’t have anything to do with him beyond making final arrangements for his parents. Besides the auction house, Becker and Maegan were the only ones who recently talked to him. In all three cases, Renzo used email instead of the phone.”
“I sure wish we could find his cell phone. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and find his number when we search his residence tomorrow. A laptop with some clues would be greatly appreciated too.” Adrian looked up toward the heavens like he was asking for some divine intervention.
“So, are you saying that the killer followed Renzo from Kentucky to Ohio, but didn’t bring a murder weapon?” Kasey asked.
“Maybe our person has been watching Renzo for a long time. Saw an opportunity. Maybe they did know that Maegan was in danger. Could be they showed up to warn Maegan and snapped, using the first thing they found to take Renzo out.”
“Okay, let’s continue with that theory for a minute and see where it leads us,” I told them. “Our killer followed Renzo for four hours to Ohio and killed him at the first opportunity. Renzo didn’t see or hear them pull in?”
“Maybe he was too busy lying in wait for Maegan. He wouldn’t have known that she was bringing two men with her,” Kasey said. Damn it. I knew she was just stating a likely possibility, but it made me sick to my stomach all over again. “Sorry,” Kasey said when she saw my expression.
I waved her off. “Our killer must’ve stashed their car someplace close by then while they hid Renzo’s car at that old barn.”
“How’d they know about the place if they weren’t from around here?” Adrian asked.
“They passed the place on their way to Renzo’s house since they traveled down that road when they exited the interstate,” Kasey pointed out.
“Then they traveled back on foot to pick up their car. It’s possible,” I said. It would’ve been a very cold two-mile walk, but it was doable.
“Or we’re not talking about one killer.”
My head snapped up from where I’d been studying my boots while I worked the case out in my head. “What makes you think that, Kasey?”
“It’s just a possibility. Maybe they only planned to confront Renzo and things escalated. One driver took Renzo’s car to the abandoned property and the other drove behind and picked them up.”
“They stuck around at least twenty-four hours to drop off the evidence behind Maegan’s shop and leave the clue at her house. Then they left town,” I theorized.
“Yeah, that works,” Adrian said. “The nearest hotel is in Goodville. Let me make a call to see if they had any out of town guests, specifically Kentucky.”
“I think we’re onto something here,” I said. “Sure, anger and intense emotions could propel someone to ignore the cold and other extreme conditions to focus on their goal”—I knew this from firsthand experience—“but, it also makes sense that they had help.”
Adrian returned after a few minutes, shaking his head in disgust. “Well, there was a room rented to a Patsy Walker and Carol Danvers, who the clerk said were hot chicks from Kentucky. They slipped him some extra cash to forget to obtain their driver’s license information.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kasey said.
“The kid admitted it. He said they were tall, blonde, and sexy as fuck. He tried to say that they glamorized him or some shit.”
“Glamored,” Kasey said. “It’s a term associated with vampire lore,” she explained when she saw my confused expression. “They can look into your eyes and get you to do whatever they want.”
“Huh,” Adrian said. “I doubt that flies with his manager though. She didn’t seem very happy that he possibly let two murder suspects stay in their hotel.”
“It’s them,” Kasey said confidently.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Patsy Walker and Carol Danvers are also known as Hellcat and Captain Marvel. They’re female superheroes,” Kasey told us.
“Fuck!” Adrian said. “There’s no way that’s a coincidence. They called Maegan on their way out of town to let her know she was safe from them.”
“So, we’re looking for two smoking hot blondes that are somehow connected to Thom Renzo in Kentucky,” I said. “It’s not much, but I guess it’s something.”
“This case just took an interesting turn. I wish I could go with you guys,” Kasey said. Then she threw her head back and had a good laugh at the raised-brow looks we aimed at her. “I’ve always been partial to blonde chicks. And you thought Jones was the one you had to worry about around your girl.” Kasey slapped me on the arm as she walked past me. “Have a good night, fellas.”
Adrian chuckled beside me. “I like Officer Kasey’s style. See you in the morning, partner.”
I looked down at my watch and saw that I had hours to kill before Maegan’s shop closed, which meant I had time to plan a surprise for my girl. Yeah, it was past time, I admit it.