‘She called you?’
‘She had my card.’
‘You see who it was?’ This was from Rivers.
‘No. Whoever it was had gone by the time I got there.’
‘So how do you know she wasn’t making it up?’ Rebecca asked, a little tightly.
‘My instincts.’ He could tell she was pissed at him for not sharing this snippet of information earlier, probably because she wanted to have the upper hand with Hickok. Truth was, Jake was still analysing the night’s events himself. There had been no sign of anyone following Amy, but she had been genuinely unnerved and a little jumpy. If she had made up her stalker then she was one hell of an actress.
He believed her.
‘Okay, so let’s say someone is targeting her specifically,’ Hickok theorised. ‘Do we have any names: people she’s pissed off, ex-boyfriends, husbands?’
‘There was a woman, a fan, who had an altercation with her at a book signing a couple of days ago,’ Rebecca told him. ‘When Amy returned to her car, someone had written the word “bitch” across the windshield. The fan may have vandalised the car, but she has a solid alibi for the night of the murders.’
‘Name?’ Rivers was still scribbling away.
Jake figured they’d have a full transcript of their meeting by the end of it.
‘Nadine Williams.’
‘Got it.’
Hickok shot his partner an irritated look.
‘Anyone else?’ he questioned Rebecca and Jake.
‘Not that we’ve come up with.’
‘Seriously, Angell? That’s all you’ve got for me?’
Rebecca glared at him.
‘We’ve been eliminating suspects. Forgive me if you don’t like where we’re at. If we’d had some warning you were gonna show up out of the blue and muscle in on our investigation, perhaps we could have lined a few more up for you.’
Rivers had stopped writing to listen to their exchange and sat with his jaw agape.
‘You’re being a little unfair, Joel,’ he chipped in, as Rebecca finished her outburst. ‘Detective Angell is well respected.’
Hickok scowled at him.
‘Shut up talking like an idiot, Rivers. When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. Why don’t you get back to writing your essay?’
The younger agent’s face turned scarlet. ‘You can’t speak to me like that,’ he spluttered.
‘Sure I can.’
‘You haven’t changed,’ Rebecca muttered. ‘Obnoxious as ever.’
Hickok grinned at her and opened his mouth to retort. Exasperated by the route the meeting was taking, Jake stepped in.
‘Our investigation has shifted to the dead kids. Maybe we should focus our attention on that,’ he suggested, shooting a warning look at Rebecca to cool it. He didn’t know what had happened between his partner and Hickok in the past, but it needed to stay there.
‘Yeah?’ Hickok looked interested. ‘What have you got?’
‘Kasey Miller had a jealous ex. Shawn Randall. He’d gotten into a couple of fights with Ben and didn’t accept the relationship with Kasey was over. He claims to have been out in the campus bar, drinking alone. So far we have no witnesses to verify that.’
‘You think he could be our guy?’
‘Possibly. According to other students he has a bad temper and he has the motivation, but nothing ties him to Amy.’
‘Maybe her book was selected at random.’
‘And her stalker?’
‘Could be an unrelated incident,’ Hickok mused. ‘Or paranoia. Or perhaps she is making it up for attention. The ex-boyfriend is our priority right now.’
‘So you’re going to discount any connection?’
‘For the moment.’
‘You’re making a mistake,’ Jake disagreed, peeved by Hickok’s high-handed manner. Amy was involved somehow. He’d bet his salary on it.
‘Well I guess we could send Rivers over to check up on her.’ Hickok glanced at the younger agent’s pile of notes and smirked. ‘He’d probably like that. They could compare novels.’
Rivers immediately rose to the bait, dropping his pen in anger and glaring at his partner.
‘I’m warning you, Joel. Stop–’ He was interrupted by a knocking at the door.
It opened and Vic Boaz stuck his head in. He immediately clocked Hickok and a scowl formed on his face.
‘What are you doing back here?’
Hickok’s smirk widened to a grin.
‘Officer Boaz. Long time no see. How’s the family?’
Boaz muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
Jake knew the officer had worked with Hickok and Rebecca on the Alphabet Murders, which had been perpetrated by Boaz’s older brother, Rodney Boone. He didn’t particularly like Boaz, having found him to be a lazy cop looking for an easy ride through the job, but Jake figured that had to have stung.
Low blow, Hickok.
Ignoring Hickok and dismissing Rivers, Boaz focused his attention on Rebecca and Jake.
‘We’ve had a call come in; figured you should know. A body has been found, out in the woods by Beaver Creek.’
‘How is this relevant to us?’ Hickok demanded. ‘We’re in the middle of another murder investigation here.’
Jake felt his heart sinking, already knowing what was coming. He glanced at Rebecca and knew she was thinking the same thing.
Boaz’s scowl deepened as he finally addressed Hickok.
‘I think you’ll find it’s relevant. Another paperback has been found with the victim.’
10
Amy paced back and forth across her apartment, raking her hands through her hair.
‘Why is this happening?’ she addressed no one in particular. ‘Why has he picked my books?’ She wasn’t whining; more distraught that she had unwittingly written the death scene for another innocent victim.
‘We’re still trying to establish that,’ Jake told her. He had been given the job of breaking the news to her that the killer had copycatted another of her novels. Rivers was with him; Hickok having chosen Rebecca to accompany him to the crime scene. Under normal circumstances Jake would’ve argued against the logic of splitting up from his partner, but Hickok and Rebecca had unresolved issues and it was creating a bad atmosphere. For the moment he was glad to be away from them.
Amy had been writing when they’d arrived. Her laptop was still lit up, sitting on the oak dining table, the words on the screen illegible from where he stood. Beside the laptop sat a coffee cup and a pair of reading glasses.
Her apartment was a mix of shabby and chic in muted shades of cream, green and soft grey. Cushions were scattered across the two couches and the pictures and ornaments in the room combined contemporary with antique. It had a feminine and homey feel. In the corner of the room, beside the open patio doors, Huckleberry watched them from his bed, where he had retired after enthusiastically greeting Jake and Rivers. The long curtains billowed gently, the much-needed breeze adding a little respite from another hot summer day.
‘You know there are four more books in the series?’ Amy looked at Jake, her eyes troubled.
Amber coloured eyes. He hadn’t noticed them before. Almond in shape and framed by long lashes. They were the kind of eyes a man would fall for. Maybe a killer would fall for? She worked at the Velvet Lounge as a waitress. Perhaps she had attracted the wrong kind of attention. She had been followed from there. It would be worth checking out if Shawn Randall ever drank in her bar. Jake stored the idea away. Something to look into later.