What You Don't Know(44)

“What about this shit?” Loren asks, pointing at the words above the bed. “That never made it into any of the reports at all. That was between me and you and Seever.”

“What’re you saying?”

“How would this guy know to write those words up there, unless he’d heard them before?”

“If you think I’m guilty of something, say it,” Hoskins says. “Don’t be a pussy. Ask me.”

“You never told anyone about him saying that, did you?”

“No.” Hoskins answers immediately, without thinking, and realizes that’s a lie a moment too late. Because he did tell someone—Sammie. “I never told anyone.”

“I never told anyone either,” Loren says.

Loren looks at him, then away. Another throwback to when they were partners. Being suspicious of each other. It’s hard being chained to one person for so long, and there were times they hadn’t handled it well.

“You think I killed Carrie Simms?” Hoskins asks. “Is that what you’re getting at?”

“Did you?” Loren asks.

“You’re really going to ask me that when you look like Seever’s doppelg?nger?”

“Don’t act like this is new, Paulie. You know how I work.”

Yeah, I do, Hoskins thinks. Seever’s the best thing that ever happened to him. Seever made Loren’s career, it got him a promotion, a private office, a nice raise. Seever made Loren a legend, and after it was all over, after the hunt was done, everything seemed so bland in comparison. So tame. These three dead women are perfect for Loren; he gets to go back to Seever, life is one big carousel and here they are, back where it started, like star football players reliving the playoff game.

“Bullshit,” Hoskins says. “It was never like this before. And now he’s in prison, so you can cut the crap.”

“Okay,” Loren says. “Maybe I dressed up like Seever for you.”

“What?”

“You and Seever, spending all that time together in that room. Which one was it? Interview Room Two, the one all the way at the end of the hall, right? Good ol’ IR2—isn’t that what everyone calls it? Seever was filling your ear with all his dirty secrets, and you haven’t been the same since then.”

“What the fuck are you getting at?”

“I wanted to see your face when you saw me like this,” Loren says. “I thought you were going to shit your pants out there. You and your girlfriend both.”

Hoskins bites the inside of his cheek, hard, because he’s going to start laughing if Loren doesn’t stop talking. It’ll be hysterical, horsey laughter, and he’s not sure he’ll be able to stop once it gets started. Loren and his stupid shit, his fucking crazy ideas. If you tried to make someone like Loren follow the rules and act normal, you’d end up with a bomb strapped to your car’s undercarriage.

“I didn’t kill anyone,” he says wearily. “So you can put that stupid-ass idea right out of your head. This is a copycat killer, plain and simple.”

“I know you haven’t killed anyone. I had you cleared first thing, when Abeyta and Brody were pulled out of the water,” Loren says. He puts his forefinger on the center of the glasses and pushes them up his nose, like Seever always did, and that one movement is so damn true it’s nearly surreal, and Hoskins is hit by a wave of fear so hard it feels like a stomach cramp, nearly makes him double over. “But there’s someone out there who admires Seever, wants to finish his work.”

Loren had him cleared, and that pisses him off, but he doesn’t argue, doesn’t question why the hell Loren would suspect him first, out of anyone. Maybe he’ll bring that up later, but now he’s too damn tired.

“I’ve got to go,” he says.

“You remember Alan Cole?” Loren asks.

Hoskins shakes his head.

“He used to work with Seever, supplied the uniforms for the restaurants. The two of them were real good pals, did a lot of partying together, but we were never able to pin anything on him.”

“The real skinny guy, with the mustache?” Hoskins asks. “Yeah, I remember him.”

“Jesus, I wish I would’ve ripped that pussy tickler right off his face.”

“Why do you bring him up?”

“Cole was charged with sexual assault and attempted murder a year after Seever got locked up,” Loren says. “He bolted, been on the run ever since. I think he’s our guy. The one behind this shit.”

“Any sign of him?”

“Not yet, but we’ll find him. Turds like him always turn up, you just have to sniff ’em out.” Loren pauses. “And I don’t want you telling your girlfriend out there about this. That’s the last thing I need, it getting out that we’re looking for Cole, give him a chance to run.”

“If you’ve already got a suspect, I don’t know why I’m here at all,” Hoskins says. “Sounds like you’ve got it under control.”

Loren looks at him.

“The chief’s orders,” he says shortly. “He doesn’t think it’s Cole, still wants us to follow up on other suspects.”

“Okay.”

“I already have a task force put together,” Loren says. “You can meet them all tomorrow. In the conference room on eight.”