Into the Night(71)

“Already working on that,” Tucker assured her. “But Jonah’s phone was found on the side of the building. The sides and the back—there are no cameras there.”

Her nails were biting into her palms.

A knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” Tucker called.

Officer Tanner O’Neil—with dark circles beneath his eyes and stubble grazing his cheeks—appeared in the doorway. “I—I heard about the skull you found today.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I think I may know who your mystery woman is.”

They all surged toward him.

He licked his lips. “I saw Henry with her once. The guy acted like he was wild for her, but said she wanted to keep things secret.”

“What’s her name?” Bowen demanded.

“Susannah. Susannah Kaiser. She looked like she was in her early twenties. Blond hair. Pretty smile.” He swallowed. “She left town...or, I thought she did...back before summer started. Henry didn’t talk about her after that. Said she hadn’t chosen him and that was all there was to it.”

Maybe she had, though. Maybe she’d chosen him and Peter Carter hadn’t been able to live with that choice.

“We need every bit of intel we can get on Susannah,” Bowen said. His body was tight with tension. “Her family, her friends. Anyone who was close to her—we need to know who those people are.”

Tanner nodded. “I can get that for you.” But he hesitated. “I heard the cops talking... Was Henry killed because of her? Did that guy at the museum kill him?”

“We need to talk with Susannah’s family,” Bowen said again. “The more information we learn about her, the more we’ll understand her killer.”

Tanner nodded and hurried away.

“We need to take a step back here,” Macey said, striving to keep her voice flat. “Look, I get that the hacks at the FBI look bad—they are bad. But we can’t overlook the possibility that the perp we’re after here has taken Jonah. I mean, doesn’t Jonah fit this guy’s MO perfectly? What if he knows Jonah broke the rules at the FBI? You said Jonah disappeared after you confronted him, right?”

Tucker nodded.

“Maybe our perp thinks Jonah did something wrong. He loves guilt so much.” She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet. “Are we sure there wasn’t any surveillance equipment at the museum? If this guy was after Peter Carter, if he knew what Peter Carter had done, then it only stands to reason that he was watching him, too.”

Bowen moved closer. “If he was watching Carter, then the surveillance equipment could still have been operating. He could have heard your accusations against Jonah. Maybe he thought the guy was guilty—or hell, maybe he just thought Jonah would make for a good fall guy.”

“Crime scene techs are still searching the museum,” Tucker said. “If they find anything...”

Then they’d know the killer had been watching.

“The techs swept Henry’s office,” Tucker added. “They didn’t find anything. And we don’t have any report of equipment being found at Haddox’s place, either. Could be that the guy removed the devices after his kills.”

Because the guy was very good at covering his ass. “He isn’t just going to let Jonah go. If our perp took him, it’s just another game,” Macey said. “He will kill him.”

*

HE WAS SURROUNDED by darkness. And his head fucking hurt.

Jonah twisted his body. His hands were bound behind his back. He was trapped, fucking tied up like an animal. His knees rapped into metal and he felt the rope bite into his ankles.

He was...moving. He could feel it. A steady roll beneath him and the crunch of gravel?

I’m in the trunk. In the fucking trunk.

He’d been at the museum, pissed and scared because he’d realized his hacks had been found at the FBI. That was the only explanation for Tucker being in his face all of a sudden. Samantha Dark must have found out what he’d done, and she’d sent her bulldog agent to interrogate him. Everything he’d wanted had been exploding in his face. Then—

Then I don’t remember. But my head fucking hurts.

The car stopped moving. He heard a door slam. Were those footsteps, walking on the gravel? He tensed and then he heard the groan of the trunk as it opened.

Light didn’t pour in. It was too dark outside for light but he strained anyway, trying to see the face of the bastard who’d taken him.

“I admired your work, Agent Loxley.”

He blinked, surprise shoving through him.

“It’s such a pity...that I’m going to have to kill you now.”

*

DAWN HAD FINALLY COME. They’d searched for hours, they’d scoured security footage from every business near the museum, but they hadn’t found Jonah.

He’d vanished.

Macey stretched slowly as she stood in the conference room at the police station. She’d pulled an all-nighter and she wanted to crash but...how could she just go and sleep when Jonah was out there? With every hour that had passed, the tension and the fear she’d felt had deepened.

They all knew the drill in their business. The more time that passed, the greater the likelihood that they wouldn’t find their victim. Not alive.

“You need to rest.” Bowen’s voice. He’d just entered the room behind her. She turned at his approach, her eyes sweeping over him. He looked tired, too, the faint lines around his mouth deeper, his gaze weary. He’d been out with the search teams, running through the town.