Chapter Twenty-One
Maci went upstairs soon after their discovery, claiming to need a nap, but Chance knew better. She was terrified and he didn’t blame her.
If Rich was the stalker—now killer—then she’d been in his grasp more than once. He could have taken her at any time, especially knowing all the security measures in place.
He hadn’t done it because it would’ve made it too obvious they were up against an inside man. Instead he’d bided his time, set the game up for extended play.
Bringing Maci into it as his target had been a mistake. There was no way in hell Chance was going to let anything happen to her.
“We need to figure out a plan of action,” he told his brothers.
“We have to be careful who we bring in on this. If Rich is definitely our guy, we don’t know what sort of internal measures he has in place to get info.”
Chance had no doubt Rich was their guy. “He could have phones tapped. Hell, he could have someone else working with him.”
Brax got up to get himself another cup of coffee. “Nobody in the LeBlanc organization would think twice about giving Rich intel. He was handpicked by LeBlanc himself.”
Chance rubbed the back of his neck. “The last thing we need is for him to go to ground because he figures out we’re on to him.” Maci would never be safe.
“I say we go see LeBlanc in person and let him know what we suspect,” Luke said. “He needs to make sure Stella is in a safe place where Rich can’t get to her.”
“Agreed. Then we can check the dates of the murders with Rich’s known whereabouts.” Chance was ready to move. “Let’s get Mom and Dad back here. Someone needs to stay here too, just in case.”
Weston pointed at his computer. “I’ll stay here and see if there are any more cases I can tie this to. And we’re going to have to come up with more than a couple years in ROTC in order for the police to take this seriously. Rich isn’t just going to roll over and confess.”
Chance nodded. “You’re right. Let’s make sure everyone is safe, then we’ll figure out a further plan. Start pressing your PD contacts. Let’s see what we would need for them to make an arrest.”
“Once I show all this to my colleagues on the force and they see it’s a serial killer, believe me, they’ll want to make an arrest. You guys be safe and keep me posted.”
Chance ran up to say goodbye to Maci, but she was sleeping. Good, she needed the rest.
He reached over and kissed the top of her head. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” He was talking to both mother and baby.
And he meant every word.
L ESS THAN FORTY - FIVE minutes later they were back in LeBlanc’s office.
“Gentlemen, should I call in Dorian and his team?” LeBlanc asked. “I’m hoping you actually have something useful for us this time.”
The man was frustrated. Chance couldn’t blame him.
“We’d actually prefer to speak to you alone, if that’s okay,” Chance explained. “We’ve had a breakthrough in the case, and we have reason to believe the stalker may be working inside your organization.”
LeBlanc’s eyes got wide. “What?”
Chance didn’t want the man to panic, so he chose his words carefully. “We’ve found some similar cases from the past few years that we believe were committed by the same person.”
Brax gave the man his most comforting smile. “We have some questions we think will help us nail down who the perp is. But first—do you have confirmation Stella is still safe?”
Once they started making their case against Rich, it was going to tip him off. They needed to have everyone secure before that.
“Yes, I spoke to her not long before you arrived. She’s safe, but we’re not going to be able to keep her out of the limelight much longer. She’s doing a photo shoot at castle ruins in Scotland. That will hold her off a few more days.”
Chance glanced over at his brothers. “And Rich? He didn’t go over there, did he?”
“No, he stayed here in case he was needed.”
“That’s good. We might need him. What can you tell us about Rich?”
“He’s worked for me for five years. Stella responds well to him so I’ve kept him around. My one rule was that he wasn’t allowed to sleep with her and he’s not broken that. Why do you ask?”
Brax shot Chance a look. Chance understood what his brother was communicating: this needed to be handled delicately.
“Before we get into specifics, we need to run a few dates by you and see what you, Stella, Rich, Jason Rogers and your office manager were doing on those days.”
LeBlanc was confused. “Marguerite?”
Chance nodded. He’d tossed Jason, one of the main security guards, and Marguerite Frot into the mix for subterfuge. If Rich was listening or had means of accessing what they were talking about, maybe it would throw him off the scent.
LeBlanc sat down at his desk. “Okay, fine. What are the dates? My system will allow us to pull up schedules. It should list what security teams were working also.”
Chance wasn’t a huge computer person, but he was thankful for this program that was about to make their lives much easier.
Luke read off the dates. They waited as patiently as they could as LeBlanc started with himself and listed what he’d been doing on each day. Then moved to Stella.
Chance grit his teeth when he next listed what Marguerite then Jason had been doing the dates of the murders. Since both of them were red herrings, they didn’t matter.
Finally, he got to Rich.
“On the first date, Rich wasn’t working. He generally takes Mondays and Tuesdays off since Stella’s calendar doesn’t tend to be full for those days.”
Chance glanced at Luke and Brax. Rich not working meant he’d been free to commit the murder.
“Date two, it looks like Rich had a doctor’s appointment. I vaguely remember that. A few weeks later he had a spot taken off on his shoulder that he was concerned might be cancer. Stella was distraught and did a six-week segment on different sunscreens.”
“Okay,” Chance said. They would have to follow up on that. He may not have gone to the doctor’s appointment at all or it could’ve been very short. It was inconclusive at this point.
“Third date, Rich was not working again.”
Chance grabbed his phone, ready to contact Weston. They were three for three with Rich, and Chance was sure LeBlanc was about to say the same for the date of the fourth murder they’d found.
They needed to be ready to move. Brax and Luke had the same tense body language Chance did.
“Okay, date four.” LeBlanc clacked on his keyboard. “Oh, I could’ve given this to you earlier. Rich was with me the whole day that day in Los Angeles.”
Chance’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
LeBlanc nodded as he looked up from his screen. “Yes, I remember it now. Half the office and Stella had that stupid virus. Rich was one of the few who tested negative, so he came with me to the opening of a new LeBlanc office branch there. He was acting as part personal assistant, part pretty boy for the press and part security.”
Chance spun to face Luke. “What was the time on the fourth case?”
“Midafternoon, Texas time.”
Chance looked back at LeBlanc. “You’re absolutely sure Rich was with you that whole day? He didn’t take a later flight or something?”
“I’m positive. I remember because we were almost late. Flying at that time during the height of the pandemic was problematic, even on a private plane.”
Brax handed Chance his phone. Pulled up on it was the press report of the office opening. It had been a bold move on LeBlanc’s part, considering most people were working from home, with no indication of returning any time soon.
There was Rich, smiling beside LeBlanc. The footage was time-stamped in a way that meant it was impossible that Rich had killed the fourth woman. When they looked further into the first three, they’d likely find the same thing.
Chance’s jaw ached at how hard he was clenching it. Rich was a smug bastard, but he wasn’t the killer.
“So, does all this information help you with your theory?” LeBlanc asked.
Brax and Luke looked as frustrated as Chance felt.
“Yes,” he finally managed to say. Eliminating suspects was an important step to solving anything. But that didn’t make Chance feel any better.
“Then can I ask exactly what this is about? What these other cases you’re referring to are?”
Luke recovered quickest. “We’ve come across some disturbing facts, and we need to gather more information before we give you details. For now, let’s keep this conversation between us, please.”
Chance was trying to wrap his head around the fact that they would have to start back at square one when Dorian entered LeBlanc’s office.
“I saw you guys on the door roster. Has there been a breakthrough in the case?”
Nobody answered. Neither Chance nor his brothers wanted to mention the words serial killer in front of LeBlanc.
It was LeBlanc who finally took charge. “Evidently, there is some sort of breakthrough but nobody wants to tell me what it is.”
Brax tried his charming smile. “Only because we want to make certain of a few things first.”
They were about to get fired, Chance could feel it. That was the last thing they needed. Access to information surrounding Stella was going to be critical.
Dorian came to their rescue. “Nicholas, sometimes security teams have to work in ways that don’t make sense to the client. You and I had to learn that about each other early on. Let them do the job you hired them for.”
“Fine.” LeBlanc threw up a hand. “Take them to the conference room and help them with whatever they need. I have a business to run.”
Once they were in the conference room, they explained the situation. They were going to need Dorian’s help to catch this bastard.
Dorian sat down hard in one of the plush leather chairs as he took it all in. “Holy hell. We’re dealing with a serial killer, not just a stalker?”
They gave him a little time to process it. They’d all felt the same way.
Dorian ran a hand over his jaw. “I need to double Stella’s security now. Even though the guy’s focus seems to have moved on to someone else.”
Maci . Chance would be taking her to ground until this was over. He wasn’t taking a chance with her. If he had to move her to a different country too, he’d do it.
“So, what’s the killer’s motive? How’d you put together that we’re dealing with more than a stalker?”
They explained the similarity of terms used in the notes at the murder scenes and the ones the stalker had sent to their office.
“The guy wants a challenge,” Dorian said after hearing them out. “Has the need to be the best.”
Chance nodded. “That’s what we concluded too. We’ve been looking at people who fit that profile—former military or even law enforcement.”
“Agreed.” Dorian was studying the reports Luke had brought with him. “I’d also widen the search to look at martial arts or MMA fighters. They use that kind of language also.”
“Hell, gamers use it too,” Brax muttered. “Maybe we tried to narrow it down too much.”
“Honestly, we thought it was Rich,” Chance explained. “He had some ROTC experience and his father was military, but it can’t be because LeBlanc just provided an alibi for one of the murders.”
Everybody grumbled about that.
“And this whole thing with Stella felt like the stalker always had the inside scoop on what we were doing,” Chance continued.
“It definitely feels personal. Like he’s taunting everyone. And that the choice of victim feels less important than the actual challenge. First Stella, now Maci.”
Chance agreed with Dorian’s deduction, but the choice of victim was very important to him. “This still feels like an inside job to me. Or at least that the stalker/killer is getting inside info from someone.”
“We’ll run a complete security diagnostic. If there’s info being leaked inadvertently from someone on my team, we’ll find it.”
“And if it’s someone leaking it on purpose?” Luke asked.
“We’ll find that too. It may take a little longer, but I promise you it will happen.”
Chance walked over and shook Dorian’s hand. “We’re going to keep at it. See if there are any more murders we can link to this. We’re bringing in some law enforcement contacts.”
Dorian nodded. “That’s one of the reasons Nicholas wanted to bring you guys in in the first place—your local contacts and influence here. I’ll admit I was skeptical when he first mentioned it. But you’ve done nothing but prove me wrong.”
“Let’s just catch this guy,” Chance said. “He made it way too personal when he targeted Maci.”
Dorian gave him a tight smile. “I completely understand. He’s messed with the mother of your unborn child. I’d stomp him into the ground.”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”