The Night Shift(10)

“The three employees, two high school girls and their eighteen-year-old manager, were marched into the back room. There’s a panic button, a silent alarm, in case of a robbery or emergency.” He gestures to a small button mounted under the register. “None of them set off the alarm.”

“They knew the perp,” Keller says, a statement, not a question.

Arpeggio gives a one-shouldered shrug. “Or it all happened too fast.”

He turns to the back room. The door has a sign that reads, ICE CREAM MAKERS ONLY. Inside is a small space with commercial freezers and shelves packed with supplies. Stacks of napkins, cartons of plastic spoons, boxes of straws.

“All three employees were lined up facedown on the floor.”

Keller studies the area. No items seem out of place. No signs of a struggle. But three pools of blood stain the carpet. Atticus stares at the ugly red blots for a long time.

Arpeggio pushes through a side door that leads to a narrow hall with a single bathroom at the end. “Our survivor was in the bathroom. She didn’t see or hear anything and was knocked in the head the moment she came out. No clue why she was spared.”

“Were any knives missing from the shop?”

“We don’t think so,” Arpeggio says, his tone loaded with This has nothing to do with Blockbuster. Unlike the video store, the killer came prepared.

“Cell phones?”

Arpeggio shakes his head. “The unsub took them. Money was left in the register. Nothing else of value taken, as far as we can tell.”

Taking the phones suggests that there was something on them the killer didn’t want the authorities to see.

Arpeggio continues, “Cell company says all the phones went dark a few minutes after ten, just after closing. They’re pulling together detailed reports for all the phones, and should get them to us today, tomorrow at the latest.”

Keller nods approvingly.

Arpeggio looks at his watch. “I’ve gotta get over to the high school. Talk to the girls’ friends.”

“Mind if we tag along?” Keller asks. “It’s on my list. Vince Whitaker went to school there…”

Arpeggio eyes her suspiciously, then shrugs his reluctant assent.





CHAPTER 9


ELLA





Ella is surprised when she opens the apartment door and Brad is there. He’s supposed to be on a business trip.

“Oh, thank God, I was worried about you.” He’s standing, like he’s been pacing circles around their small living room. His suitcase sits by the door. He gives her a long, bewildered look. Clearly, her outfit isn’t helping things. “Where have you—”

“Work.” Ella tries to appear nonchalant as she throws her keys on the table. “You’re back early?” she says. “I thought you weren’t coming home until—”

“The conference was a drag. I got in last night. Thought I’d surprise you. Apparently, I did.”

She notices a bouquet of wilted grocery-store flowers and some Chinese food still in the delivery bag on the table. He’s had a long night, it appears.

“Didn’t you get my texts?”

She’d seen a series of messages, but hadn’t read them, assuming he was just checking in.

“Sorry,” she says.

Brad looks at her wearily. They’ve been through this before. Brad works in cyber security. He sells software to companies to help them prevent data breaches and the attendant blackmail and ruined lives that often accompany criminals roaming through high-powered executives’ emails and browser histories. He could drone on about it forever—how he’s the front line of defense in a new war. He was supposed to be out with fellow IT sales nerds for several days of PowerPoint presentations and watered-down drinks at an Embassy Suites in Atlantic City.

“I thought we were past this,” he says, staring at her.

“Past what?”

He rolls his eyes. He’s wound up, probably been stewing all night.

“I said it was for work.”

He shakes his head.

She can try to explain. Tell him about what happened at the ice cream store, being called to the hospital to help a survivor. But it won’t explain her outfit, where she’s been all night. And, honestly, she doesn’t feel like trying. She never really wanted to move in with him, much less get engaged. It just happened.

Now, for the first time in their relationship, Brad does something unexpected. Something bold. Something not boring and predictable. He looks at Ella, his eyes blazing, and says, “I’m done.” He marches to the front door and yanks it open. “I’m going to the office. Have your shit out of here by the time I get back.”

Good for him.





CHAPTER 10


KELLER





The conference room in the high school is more of a teacher break room than designated meeting space. It smells of burnt Folgers wafting from the ancient industrial coffee maker next to the fridge with a sign taped to its door, undoubtedly warning of the weekly food purge. Frayed workplace-discrimination signs are tacked unevenly to the walls. Keller and Atticus sit at the long cafeteria-style table, waiting for school officials to join the meeting while Arpeggio huddles out of earshot with a senior detective named Sheila Mintz. Detective Mintz has tight curly brown hair and deep frown lines, an inescapable side effect of working murders for a career.