Deadly Fear (Deadly #1)(79)

A killer who’d been right there with them, for every step of the hunt. Watching…

Watchman.


Monica shoved open the glass door at the sheriff’s station. Four a.m. Who’d be there?

“Agent Davenport?” The sheriff came out of his office, rubbing his eyes, looking dead on his feet, with a red mark on his cheek and a long, thin wrinkle on his forehead. “What are you doin’ here?”

She glanced over at the fax machine. A pile of papers lay scattered on the floor near them.

Luke crossed the room and started gathering up the papers.

“Oh, shit, he hasn’t taken another one, has he? Not another—”

Luke whistled. “Damn. It says here that May Walker was institutionalized twice in the past ten years.” His eyes met hers. “She was schizophrenic.”

That would explain her medications. And the woman’s affect had been off, her responses too slow, and her anger had stirred too suddenly.

He rose, reading the pages. “May was told about Kyle’s death a week after it happened.” He shook his head. “She told the officer to keep the body and, ‘bury it wherever the hell you want. Just don’t make me see it.’ ”

And she’d forgotten to tell them? Or just hadn’t remembered the guy’s death? With a diagnosis of schizophrenia, there was no telling. If May had been having hallucinations, well, maybe she actually believed that Kyle was still alive.

“Kyle West?” Davis muttered. “Wait—ain’t he our suspect?”

Luke held up a grainy photo for Monica. The same grainy license photo they’d accessed through the Department of Motor Vehicles before and given to the deputies. The image showed a guy with glasses. Too-long hair. An angular nose and weak chin.

“Not anymore,” she muttered. But if it wasn’t Kyle…“Why didn’t Sheriff Martin tell us this?” Yes, okay, she could see May not being fully aware if she’d been off her meds, but Sheriff Martin should have known about Kyle’s death. Informing local authorities was standard procedure. He had to have known.

And Martin had to know that they’d find out the truth. The guy knew the system. A search would turn up Kyle’s death certificate.

But he’d held back that information about Kyle. And that part, well, it was damn interesting.

She’d remembered that dark night with Jake Martin… had he been just pretending? Had he really remembered her, too?

He’d gone to Angola, the prison that housed Romeo. A prison he visited every month. And the killer kept throwing Romeo up in the case. “It’s all about Romeo,” she muttered. Damn him, why couldn’t he stay buried?

“Romeo?” Davis straightened. “Dammit, I’m tired of hearing about him. My f*ck-up, coming back to haunt me.”

Monica stiffened. Her gaze lifted, slowly, and locked on the sheriff. “Run that by me again.” His f*ck-up?

“You don’t know?” Luke’s rough whisper.

But she didn’t look his way. Monica was too focused on the Sheriff. His lips pressed together, and for a minute, she wasn’t sure he’d answer her. Then Davis said, “The Romeo Killer grew up here in Jasper. I met him when he was just a kid, when he was mutilating pets, and I—”

The Romeo Killer grew up here in Jasper. That was all she heard. Her face flashed ice cold, then pin prickles of heat shot beneath the skin.

“You didn’t know.” Luke spoke slowly.

Monica managed to shake her head. She hadn’t wanted to know. Not a damn thing. She’d made a point of staying away from all the Romeo case files. She hadn’t wanted to learn what made that * into the freak he’d become. After she’d gotten away from him, she’d never wanted to see him or hear about him again.

At the Academy, she’d even dodged a few profiling classes because she hadn’t wanted to sit there and hear Romeo’s crimes re-told to everyone.

Buried my head in the sand. Pretended he didn’t matter.

“Are you…” A hand brushed her shoulder. Sheriff Davis. “Are you all right, agent?” Real concern rumbled beneath the words.

No, no she wasn’t all right. She’d been so focused on protecting herself and hiding her past that she’d been blind. So blind. “That’s the link.” She spun away from him and his comforting hand. Her gaze shot to the victim board. Sally. Patty. Laura. Jeremy. She hurried forward, read their profiles again. All born in Jasper. Just like Romeo.

“Monica?” Luke paced to her side.

She shook her head and pitched her voice low. “The messages weren’t about me.” Blind. A rough laugh escaped her lips. “The killer’s been telling us, but I didn’t listen.” Her head turned and she found Luke watching her, eyes so intent. “The newspaper clippings, the bloody flower—it’s all pointing to Romeo.” Not her.

Hell, maybe she was some kind of sick side benefit. But all the other kills…“Like a damn tribute to him.”

He used fear to break them. Romeo hadn’t just killed his prey, he’d broken them first.

Just like the Watchman.

“What’s happenin’?” Davis asked, standing hesitantly behind them, the lines on his face thick. “Who’s gettin’ a tribute?”

“Romeo.” The name left a bad taste in her mouth and she swallowed quickly. “Sheriff, I want you to get the warden from Angola Prison on the line.”