Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(33)

“Know what?”

“That it would be the kidnapper calling?”

“I didn’t,” Josie said. “I was just going by what the note said. Right before the call came in, Amy told me she felt badly for not having talked with Jaclyn. She told me about the college courses, by the way.”

“That’s good,” Oaks said. “She trusts you.”

He turned his body in the doorway so Josie could slip past. She stayed on the edge of the room. One of the FBI agents was photographing Jaclyn Underwood’s body which lay face-up on her bed, a stab wound roughly two-inches long near her solar plexus. From what Josie could see, she had been a striking young woman with deep olive skin and long, dark hair. Her face was frozen in an expression of surprise, her brown eyes wide and glassy. Blood darkened the form-fitting, yellow cotton shirt she’d been wearing and the purple bedspread below her. Next to her body was a discarded cell phone.

“He came here and used her phone to call the parents,” Oaks said. “Then he killed her.”

“He called Amy,” Josie said. “He wanted to torture her. Now in addition to taking Lucy, he’s killed someone she was close to—Amy cared for this girl a great deal.”

Oaks shook his head. “Amy Ross barely has a life outside of her home. We couldn’t find any evidence that anyone would want to harm her. No evidence that she’s feuding with anyone. We went through her phone records and emails. We talked with her neighbors and other parents at school. They say she’s distant, but no one has anything bad to say. She would have to socialize to develop enough of a personal relationship with someone that they’d want to hurt her this badly.”

“Then we’re missing something,” Josie said.

Oaks said, “Maybe we need to take a closer look at the husband. Maybe this person is trying to hurt her and Lucy to get to him.”

“He seems a more likely target,” Josie said. “He’s built up some wealth working for Quarmark and there have been lots of death threats against him. This could be related to the drug pricing. Think about it—family members have to stand by and watch their loved ones suffer and die because they can’t afford the treatment they need.”

“And this guy is torturing Colin by making him watch his wife suffer, by making him wonder if his daughter is okay or not. He has to watch the slow death of his family.”

Josie nodded. “Did you find the murder weapon?”

“No,” Oaks said. “We believe he took it with him.”

“He came in through the sliding glass doors?” Josie asked.

“Looks that way,” Oaks said. “There are some droplets of blood on the floor inside and out the glass doors, so we know he went out that way.”

“There’s a camera at the main entrance. We should check the footage.”

“There’s a rear entrance, too,” Oaks said.

“I can go talk to the building manager, get whatever footage they have,” Josie offered.

“That would be great. I’m going to have a couple of agents canvass the other tenants and the neighbors.”

Josie took a last look around the room. On the floor beside the bed, Jaclyn’s suitcase lay thrown open. On top of the folded clothes was a hair dryer and an open cosmetics bag. Josie could see cream concealer and powder foundation, mascara and lipstick. “She must have been unpacking,” she said. “He snuck in and surprised her. He didn’t spend much time. He came here with the intention of killing her and using her phone and that was it.”

“We’re dealing with a ruthless individual,” Oaks agreed.

Josie went back out into the hallway. She took another peek inside the bedroom Jaclyn used as a home office. The books on her shelves were a mix of contemporary novels and textbooks, most of which had to do with architecture. Sadness washed over Josie. Jaclyn Underwood wouldn’t be designing any buildings. She would never graduate from college after working so hard to get this far. She would never get married or have her own children. All that life unlived. Young victims almost always pierced her veil of professionalism—not that she ever showed it. Jaclyn Underwood, like so many before her, would visit Josie in her nightmares for years to come. The thought that she would likely be the one to have to tell Amy about Jaclyn’s murder made her heart even heavier. She was about to turn and leave the room when the edge of an object poking out from beneath Jaclyn’s desk caught her eye.

Josie dropped to her hands and knees and peered beneath the desk. It was a compact, similar to the one Jaclyn had in her suitcase except it was a much more expensive brand, and the color was Ivory Nude. Josie stood and took a more careful look around the room. She opened the closet which was packed with exercise equipment—a yoga mat, a portable elliptical machine, exercise bands and small dumbbells. Dresses hung from the rod. On the shelf above the rod were some shoeboxes and a pillow. Josie stood on her tiptoes to confirm that the pillowcase had the same pattern as Jaclyn’s bedclothes. She left everything as it was so it could be photographed and went across the hall into the bathroom. The toothbrush holder sat to the right of the bathroom sink, a shiny chrome cup with four holes in the top. All of them were empty which made sense since Jaclyn had been in Colorado for the weekend. She hadn’t had a chance to remove her toiletries or cosmetics from her suitcase. Josie studied the empty toothbrush holes, seeing exactly what she had expected to see.