Mariah Stewart - Cold Truth

“You think his brother knows what he’s been doing?”

“No. If he had, he would have turned him in long ago. Steve seems like the type who’d carry his sibling rivalry into his middle age. I think if he had something on Jonathan, he’d have been more than happy to blow the whistle on him.” She reflected for a moment. “I feel pretty certain that Steve doesn’t have a clue as to what his brother has been up to all these years.”

“Still, I think we should stop back at Steve’s and see if he’s thought of anything else since we spoke with him. Let’s see, that was four hours ago, and-”

“Oh, shit.” Cass took a quick glance at her watch. “It’s almost seven. I told Khaliyah I’d meet her at six. Come on, Rick. I’m really late.”

Cass pushed past Rick and ran down the steps. She searched her bag for her cell phone and hit the Speed Dial key.

“Damn. She’s not picking up. We’re going to have to stop at the playground.”

“The playground?” He followed her outside. “Now?”

“Long story. I’ll tell you in the car.”

Khaliyah was practicing foul shots when Rick pulled into the parking lot next to the basketball court.

“I’ll be right back.”

Cass jogged to the court and reached for the ball Khaliyah lobbed in her direction. She caught it handily, but did not take a shot. Instead, she passed the ball back to Khaliyah.

“I’m so sorry, but we’re going to have to postpone our game tonight. I know I said I’d never bail on you, but-”

“You’re not bailing.” Khaliyah bounced the ball a few times before picking it up and holding it against her chest. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I can’t stay.”

“It’s okay. I understand. You’re a cop, Cassie.” She began to bounce the ball again.

“Where’s Jameer? I thought he was going to drive you.”

“He’s here. He just walked over to the stand to buy us some water. He’ll be right back.”

“Stick with him, would you? Make sure he takes you home.”

“Sure.” Khaliyah turned and dribbled in the direction of the basket. She took a shot, missed, got the rebound.

Cass watched, hands on her hips. “You’re good, girl. But you need to practice if you think you’ll beat me next week.”

Khaliyah laughed. “Any week. I can-and have-beaten you. I’ll beat you again.”

Cass went to the girl and gave her a sisterly hug. “Be careful. I don’t like thinking about you being out while this man is still on the loose. He’s very dangerous. Very bad.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You’re the one who needs to be careful.” A flash of concern crossed the girl’s face. “Please don’t let him hurt you.”

“I’m going to do my best to avoid that.”

“Well, you go on back to work now and catch this guy so you have plenty of time to rest up for next week.”

Cass grinned and waved to Jameer, who appeared at the opposite end of the court.

“You call me if you need me. I’ll have my phone with me. You have the number, right?” Cass called to Khaliyah as she headed toward the parking lot.

“You programmed it into my phone,” she called back to Cass and pointed to the gym bag that sat on the ground near the end of the bench, the cell phone Cass had given her resting on top.

“Don’t hesitate to use it.”

“I won’t.” Khaliyah waved good-bye to Cass, then challenged Jameer to a game of one-on-one by pitching the ball in his direction.

“That’s your buddy?” Rick was waiting at the end of the path.

“Yeah. She’s a terrific kid.”

“She’s a beauty. Looks like a good ballplayer, too.”

“Both true. We’ve got high hopes for her. We’re looking for a scholarship to a Division One school. She’s going to go places.” Cass paused to look back once, then patted Rick on the arm. “Now, let’s go see if Steve Wainwright has come up with anything new since we last spoke with him. Then we’ll move on to Billy Calhoun.”

Jonathan watched from the bleachers as Cass and Rick made their way back to the parking lot. He was sick to his stomach, just looking at her. At that moment, he ached to feel the skin of her neck under his hands. Ached to watch her die for all the pain, all the frustration she had caused him.

Ached to finish the job he’d left unfinished years ago.

He was sweating, his nervous system on overload.

He turned his attention to the young girl on the basketball court. Obviously, she was someone important to Cass.

His eyes followed her as she spun around the boy who attempted to block her shots. Beautiful, strong, and young. Too young, he reminded himself. Not much more than a child, really. He wouldn’t think of doing to her what he wanted to do to Cass. The very idea disgusted him.

After all, he did have his standards.

The action moved to the basket at the far end of the court, where several other young people had gathered, boys and girls. The game interrupted, the players stopped to chat with the newcomers. He eyed the gym bag on the ground near the bench, not twenty-five feet from him now.

“You programmed it into my phone,” the girl had said when Cass had asked if she had her cell number.

Nonchalantly, he hopped off the bleachers and strolled by, his hands in his pockets. When he reached the bench, he bent down, as if tying a shoe, and reached over to grab the phone, which he tucked into his pocket. A glance at the group assured him that no one had paid any attention to him. He straightened up, and continued on his way.

Pulling his baseball cap down over his forehead, he pushed his dark glasses back, and with his hands in his pockets, he walked leisurely through the playground and into the park that led toward the bay. From there, he’d walk over the dunes and find a nice quiet place in which to sit and think about how best to fit this little unexpected bonus into his plan.

“What are we looking for?” Cass asked the chief, who’d called her back to Wainwright’s rented house.

“We’re looking for anyplace he might have stashed his souvenirs.”

“Do we know for certain he kept them?”

“We know none of our victims’ wallets have ever been found. I spoke with the profiler, Dr. McCall, late this afternoon. She feels very strongly that he would keep them all in one place, and he’d keep them close to him. We found the car he’s been driving, and we have some techs going over it, but nothing so far. The house is our second choice.”

“If it’s here, we’ll find it.”

“Give me a call when you do. I’m heading over to Lilly Carson’s. I need to assure her mother we’re doing all we can to find her daughter. Then we’re gearing up for a press conference just in time for the eleven o’clock news. I’m releasing the name, the sketch, everything we have on him. I want him to know for certain that we’re breathing down his neck. I want this bastard.”

She frowned. “What do you think the chances are he’s left town?”

“It’s possible, but somehow, I’m thinking he hasn’t. We found his car twenty minutes ago, there’s no train service through town, and the bus only runs three times each day.”

“He easily could have stolen a car, or even a boat.”

“Yes, he could have. No reports of that yet, but then again, he could take a car from any street. Most of the summer people park their cars when they get here, then walk to the beach or to town. It might take a while to notice if your car isn’t where you left it. As for boats, we always have one or two of those missing. We have two now, as a matter of fact. I have an officer looking into that.”

“Chief,” one of the uniforms called from the doorway. “I think we have something.”