She’d gone very still in his arms. „Are you happy now, Abe?“
He tugged on her chin until she lifted her face. „Yes.“ He lowered his head and brushed a kiss against her lips. „Are you?“
„Happier than ever in my life.“ She said it so gravely, it squeezed his heart.
He needed to see her smile again. „I bet I could make you happier,“ he teased lightly.
Her lips curved. „I bet you could.“
Thursday, February 26,
11:15 p.m.
He waited until they’d left the kitchen before making his way through her backyard to his van. At first he’d been shocked, shaken, and unsure, but now he was filled with cold rage and certainty. He’d hunted and bagged his quarry. Three men now lay moaning in his basement, waiting for him to mete out justice. He was ahead of schedule. He had time to right one more wrong.
Friday, February 27,
8:45 A.M.
It was Friday, but nobody was thanking anybody, Abe thought. Spinnelli looked haggard after last night’s press conference, like he’d rather be anywhere but leading their morning meeting, but he was there, marker in hand. There truly were all kinds of courage.
„What do we know, people?“
„I checked with the men you assigned to tail the six defendants common to Judge Hillman and Simpson,“ Abe said. „Four are accounted for, two can’t be found. The two we can’t find might be alive and kicking, but we don’t know, so they’ll keep looking.“
„They found Simpson’s car last night,“ Jack said. „The driver’s window was smashed in from the outside, like maybe he locked himself in and our guy broke the glass to get him. Nine-one-one got a call from his cell phone about six yesterday morning, but the caller never said anything and ten seconds into the call they were disconnected. They tried to call back, but no luck. We found the phone smashed into pieces on the floorboard of Simpson’s car. Apparently our boy is wising up to the danger of GPS.“
„Where did you find the car, Jack?“ Abe asked.
„Parked outside his health club. One of those twenty-four-hour places.“
„His wife said he liked to work out before the morning rush,“ Spinnelli said. „Did you find anything on the health club’s security tape?“
Jack’s eyes gleamed. „White van. Plates registered to an Oldsmobile owned by Paul Worth.“
A collective breath was drawn. „Finally,“ Mia said. „Something we can use.“
„But we didn’t get him on film,“ Jack said, disgusted. „The van blocked the camera.“
Spinnelli rubbed his hands together. „Let’s get a warrant for Paul Worth’s house. Kristen, do you have the name of the accountant who’s got his power of attorney?“
„No, I do,“ Abe said. From his notebook he pulled the piece of paper she’d given him the day before. „I’ll call for a warrant“
The door to the conference room opened and Murphy came in, bags under his eyes and Mia winced. „You don’t look so good, Todd.“
„Thank you for noticing,“ Murphy returned dryly. „I found June Erickson, the girl who filed the attempted rape charge against Aaron Jenkins. She’s a college student in Colorado.“
Spinnelli stood a little straighten „When did you find her?“
„This morning at about four a.m.“
Mia whistled. „You called people at four a.m.? I bet you made some lifelong friends.“
Murphy grimaced. „You could say that.“
„Thanks, Todd,“ Spinnelli said. „I appreciate you sticking with it.“
„Couldn’t stomach being called incompetent,“ Murphy frowned. „Anyway, June’s parents didn’t want to talk to us, but when they found out Jenkins was dead, and woke up a little more, they changed their minds. I’ve got numbers for June’s dorm and her parents’ house. They’re all expecting us to call at seven-thirty Mountain time so that June won’t miss her first class. I thought a three-way call would be most efficient. It’s almost time.“
Spinnelli placed the speakerphone in the middle of the table. „Let’s go.“
Kristen reached under the table for Abe’s hand and squeezed as Murphy dialed one number, then the other, then made the introductions.
„Thank you for taking the time to talk with us,“ Abe said. „I’m Detective Reagan. Detective Mitchell and I have been working a serial homicide case for the last week.“
There was silence on the other end. Then, a bewildered, „What does that have to do with us?“ from Mr. Erickson.
„Aaron Jenkins was killed as a consequence of the other murders. After his death, we were able to look in his old record and your name came up. We’re hoping you can give us some information that will let us figure out what connection Jenkins had to the killer.“
„Is this the vigilante case we saw on CNN?“ Mrs. Erickson asked.
„Yes, ma’am, it is,“ Abe said. „The record we opened showed your daughter filed a complaint against Jenkins for sexual misconduct.“
Again silence, then a younger voice. „He cornered me under the stairs when I was in middle school.“ Her voice faltered. „I’m sorry. I don’t like to remember it.“
Kristen leaned toward the speaker. „I understand, June,“ she said. „I’m the prosecuting attorney working with the police. My name is Kristen. I meet lots of young women like you and it is hard to remember, but we really need your help. Can you tell us what happened?“
„He pushed me under the stairwell,“ June said and there was clear hesitation in her voice. „He tried to get… fresh.“
„I understand. What did you do then, June? How did you get away?“
This time the silence was prolonged. Kristen frowned at the speaker. „June, it’s Kristen. Are you still there?“
„Yes, I’m here.“ She sighed. „There was another girl who came along just then. I was screaming, but everybody was afraid of Aaron. This other girl was the only one who tried to help. She first tried to pull him off me, but she was small and he was big.“
„They usually are, June,“ Kristen said. Abe nearly winced when her grip on his hand tightened. But her voice was steady and he was proud as hell. „What happened then?“
„She ran to get a teacher. They were… just in time. Nothing happened.“
Abe knew from the report that something had indeed happened. Jenkins had ripped the girl’s clothes off and was about ten seconds from rape when help arrived. But he said nothing to dispute the girl’s words. Kristen was doing beautifully on her own.
„Well, I don’t really agree with that,“ Kristen said pragmatically. „You were frightened and assaulted. That was something.“
„Yeah, well, the teacher reported it. She said she had to. There were cops everywhere. It was terrible. Aaron was so popular. Anyone that crossed him… well, let’s just say my life wasn’t the same after that“
Mia passed her a note. Ask her the name of the girl and why she wasn’t in the report?
Kristen nodded. „Believe me, June, I understand. One of the detectives here has a question. Who was the other girl, and why wasn’t her name in the report?“
„Her name was Leah,“ June answered and Kristen closed her eyes briefly, clearly recognizing the name. „After the teacher came and Aaron ran, she begged us not to tell she’d been involved. She got made fun of so much anyway, she didn’t want to be singled out.“
„You never told us this, honey,“ Mrs. Erickson said.
„She asked me not to, Mom. She begged me not to. It was the least I could do. She put herself at risk to help me.“