Death and Her Devotion (Rogue Vows #1)(15)

Stevie nodded slowly. “We have to rule her out as a suspect.”

“She has financial motive. I bet Brandon’s going to be a very rich young boy. She could have easily driven down from Portland yesterday instead of this morning like she claims.”

“You’re right, but I don’t think she’s that type of person,” Stevie said. “You didn’t meet her. She’s very straightforward.”

“She’s also had to sit silently on the sidelines as the father of her child made it big in Hollywood. We don’t know what their financial agreement was. She could have become very resentful for the last ten years. People have killed for lesser reasons.” He paused. “We’ve already met one convincing liar.”

He’d be more than happy to learn that Jenny had been in Portland at the time of Chase’s death. It’d be one more person to cross off his list.

“You haven’t heard from Hank yet, right?” Stevie asked.

“No. He said he’d have preliminary autopsy results for me tomorrow.”

“At the press conference today, you frustrated everyone with your lack of detail.”

Zane grinned. “Is it wrong that I enjoyed that? They were a bunch of wolves.”

“That one reporter was an *. I couldn’t believe the questions he asked.”

“The big one with the mustache?” Zane nodded. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if he got lost in the woods. The question about whether Chase was naked when he was found was pretty tasteless.”

“All his questions were tasteless. He must write for some tabloid rag. Or hope to sell a story to them. He’d better stay away from Brandon. If word gets out that he’s Chase’s son, their privacy is over.”

“That would be a huge story,” Zane admitted, feeling sorry for the young boy. He even felt bad for his mother, although she was still a suspect. He set aside all thoughts of the growing case and focused on the woman next to him, feeling as if he hadn’t seen her all day. “How are the wedding plans coming?”

Stevie burrowed deeper into his side. “I think my mother has it under control. Today I told her to go with her gut on some decisions because I don’t have time to consider them.”

“Do you want to postpone?” He rubbed a finger over the fading scars on her wrists, constant reminders of how he’d nearly lost her in December.

She sat up. “Hell no! We’ve waited six months.”

“Almost seven,” Zane corrected.

“I just want it over with.”

“Thanks.”

She lightly punched him. “You know what I mean. It’s going to be a fantastic day and I can’t wait. I just want to get this planning part over with.”

He pulled her close and kissed her temple. She stiffened in his arms and he instantly let go. “What’d I do?” he asked.

She leaned forward, staring at the TV. “Did you see that?” she whispered.

On the screen, Chase Ryan was at a murder scene, squatting next to a dead body. Zane studied the TV, not seeing what’d caught Stevie’s attention. The camera zoomed out, revealing the rest of the victim, flat on its back. One of the dead man’s arms pointed straight over his head and the other arm pointed out to his left. There was a belt around his neck. Stevie turned on the sound.

“Three o’clock,” said Detective Gunn on the screen. “I’m seeing a pattern.”

“The Clock Killer,” Stevie exclaimed. “Last season, Chase’s character was chasing a serial killer they called the Clock Killer because he left the victim’s arms in the position of the hands of the clock. Each murder moved the hands forward an hour.”

“Chase’s arms were positioned at eleven o’clock,” Zane stated, seeing the body in his mind. “I missed the last season. Did all the victims have belts around their necks? How did it end?”

Stevie thought for a moment. “They did have leather belts, and I think the final victim’s arms were at ten o’clock when they caught the killer, who turned out to be a police officer. But after they arrested the officer, they realized Chase’s partner was nowhere to be found. The officer had caught her and tied her to a bomb that only he could stop. She died in the explosion.”

“So everyone thinks,” Zane added, remembering the fuss the day after the episode had aired. Fans had sworn the next season would start with the character’s surviving the explosion.

Now they’d never know.

“So what’s the significance of Chase’s arms being in the next position of the Clock Killer?” Zane pondered out loud.

“He was the next victim?” Stevie suggested. “Clearly whoever killed him follows the show.”

Zane tried to process the new information. “Do you think it’s important?”

“I don’t know. But it’s definitely interesting. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it at the scene when I first saw him. It’s so clear to me now.”

“We were all a bit shocked.”

“We shouldn’t share this fact with the media,” Stevie said. “It’s too sensational. This death is big enough as it is. Can you imagine the reports if they heard about this? ‘Chase Ryan is the eleventh victim of the Clock Killer.’”