Patricia Rosemoor - Skin

“She’s not here. She don’t come after the class last night. I try calling you.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

The woman must have called while she was working. Why hadn’t she checked for messages on her cell?

“Did you call the police?” Lilith asked.

“No. She’s probably with a boy. If she gets pregnant…”

If only that were the situation. “I’ll let you know if I hear from her.” She couldn’t tell Carmen’s parents a killer might have her. She couldn’t panic them before she knew for certain.

“Gracias.”

After hanging up, Lilith sat there, feeling more than a little lost. What was she going to do now? If the killer had Carmen, that was her fault. She never should have taken the waitress job and made herself up to look so much like her sister. Never should have taunted the man who’d taken her. It was one thing to put herself in danger. Another to put Carmen in danger.

The whole situation was spinning out of her control. No matter which way she turned, she seemed to make it worse. She was beginning to understand how a woman could feel helpless, like a victim who didn’t know if she could get herself out of a mess she created.

She couldn’t stop now, not when she was responsible for saving both Hannah and Carmen.

Dear Lord, what if they died because of her?

What was she going to do?

Only one thing she could think of.

She was going to dance.

PUCINSKI WAS IN HIS OFFICE, going over everything he knew about The Hunter Case when in walked Lilith Mitchell, undoubtedly to give him another going over. At least that’s what he thought until he saw her face.

Uh-oh .

“Miss Mitchell.” He sat back in his chair like he didn’t know she was about to unload on him. “Sit. What’s on your mind?”

She didn’t sit. She paced.

“Carmen Vargas. She’s the teenager I’ve been mentoring. She disappeared last night.”

Where was she going with this? Pucinski wondered. How was it connected to the case?

“Her parents make a complaint?”

“They think she’s with a boy.”

Her eyes looked watery, like she’d been crying. Ah, hell, he hated tears. Next thing he knew he would be patting her on the back, comforting her. He gripped the arms of his chair so he wouldn’t.

Instead he asked, “And what’s your theory?”

“He has her. The killer. He called me this morning and told me.”

“He called you?” And him with no tap on that damn phone. “What else did he say?”

“That if I didn’t dance for him — tonight — both Carmen and Hannah would die.”

“Did he let you talk to them? Proof of life?”

She shook her head. “He hung up too fast.”

“Where was this Carmen last seen?”

She was looking shaky now, like she was going to puke. He hoped not.

“Last night, Carmen was at the gym with me. The Street Survival class. Afterward, I told her that I couldn’t see her today. I was worried that something would happen to her. I-I couldn’t explain. She was hurt and angry and stormed out of the locker room.”

So she thought it was her fault.

Pucinski had some thoughts on that, too — playing amateur detective just wasn’t smart — but he wasn’t going to share them with her. She was hauling a big load of guilt as it was.

“Sit. Really. Please.” He indicated a chair at the edge of his desk and found a lined tablet. “You’re not related. I can’t officially take a report from you.”

“So you’re not going to do anything?”

“I didn’t say that. As soon as you give me the information I need, I’ll send my partner on this case to take a report from the girl’s parents. I’m assuming they don’t know anything about your involvement in The Hunter Case.”

“Of course not.” Lilith started writing. “I couldn’t tell Mrs. Vargas.”

“She’ll know soon enough.”

Lilith’s expression tightened, but she kept writing. When she was done, she handed him the tablet. He checked over the information.

Just then, DeSalvo wandered in, saying, “I was gonna get some lunch. You want anything?”

“Perfect timing. I want you to do this before you do anything else.” Pucinski handed over the tablet and explained the situation.

“Crap!” DeSalvo said. “Uh, sorry, Miss Mitchell.” DeSalvo shook his head. “I can’t believe he’s got two of them now.”

“Neither can I.”

“The faster you get going, the sooner we can start looking for her,” Pucinski said.

“You got it.” DeSalvo nodded to Lilith and left.

“I need you to do something else, Detective. Get a search warrant for Paul Ensdorf’s home and business.”

“On what grounds?”

“If he’s guilty, he has a heart-half that belonged to Hannah. He left the chain for me in my case at the club.”

“How do you know it was him?”

“She was wearing it the night she went missing. I saw it on her myself. And before you ask, yes, I’m absolutely positive it was hers.”

“But you haven’t seen the chain or heart in Ensdorf’s possession.”

“No.”

“Sorry. I need probable cause to go before a judge.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” Lilith sounded discouraged, but she wasn’t finished. “One more thing. What about Rudy Barnes?”

Pucinski started. Sounded like she’d been a busy amateur sleuth. “You want a search warrant on his place, too?”

“Is Barnes a suspect?”

“He’s a person of interest.”

“If you have a folder on him, I need to know. He figured out what I was doing at the club. Challenged me over it last night. Said he didn’t want to see any more dead girls. So what do you have on him? Is he someone I should be watching or not?”

“You shouldn’t be doing any of this.”

“A little late for a lecture!” she snapped. “If we’re lucky, we have a matter of a few days left to find my sister. And who knows about Carmen since he’s not taken two together before. Now what about Barnes?”

Pucinski couldn’t see a reason not to tell her. All she had to do was get on the Internet, and she would find it. “Barnes lived with his family in a far suburb until a couple of years ago. A cousin lived with them, too. She disappeared. A couple weeks later, her body was found in the nearby woods. Her neck was broken. Barnes was a suspect, but there was no proof. The case is still unsolved.”

“Wait! A girl dead in the woods. Isn’t that awfully like the victims killed in the forest preserve? And you haven’t arrested him?”

“I have no proof. I can’t arrest him on a hunch. But he’s being watched.”

“You think he’s the one, then.”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just covering all my bases.”

DEPRESSED ANEW AFTER LEAVING Pucinski, Lilith stopped for some fast food on the way home. It was nearly two, and she hadn’t eaten yet. Not that she was hungry. But she needed energy to meet the demands of the rest of her day, and forcing herself to eat would help provide that.

As she approached the entrance to Hannah’s place, she saw a brightly wrapped package leaning against the door. Her heart began to thunder. Had someone left something for Hannah? She brought the package inside and saw LILITH scrawled on an envelope.

Her hand shook as she pulled the card free from the wrapping and opened it.

FOR A CLASS ACT. WEAR THIS DRESS TO DINNER AT GRANDMOTHER’S TONIGHT. SIX SHARP. DON’T BE LATE AGAIN, OR YOU’LL BE SORRY.

The message was followed by an address.

Lilith tore open the package, muttering, “Oh, God, dinner.” And pulled out a long, flowing flower-print dress that seemed vaguely familiar. “Paul Ensdorf is crazy.”