CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Kate said rigidly in the passenger seat, adrenaline coursing through her as DeMarco navigated the residential streets with controlled speed.
Janet Klein lived in a quiet middle-class neighborhood where modest brick ranch houses sat on well-maintained lots with mature trees and small front yards.
The streets were lined with sedans and SUVs, basketball hoops mounted above garage doors, and the occasional child's bicycle or kick-scooter left on a front lawn.
It was the kind of established residential area where neighbors knew each other's names and people walked their dogs in the evenings.
"There," Kate said, pointing to a small brick ranch with white shutters and a concrete driveway. "That's the address."
The driveway was completely empty. No garage was attached to the house, and there were no vehicles parked along the street in front of the property. But what immediately caught Kate's attention was the front door. It was standing wide open with no sign of anyone nearby.
DeMarco pulled to the curb, and they both stepped out of the sedan.
Kate felt her hand drifting instinctively toward her holstered Glock as they approached the house.
The open door suggested either a hasty departure or something more sinister.
Either way, there was no way to predict what they might find inside.
"Janet?" Kate called out as they reached the front porch. "Ms. Klein, this is Agent Wise. We spoke on the phone."
No response came from inside the house. Kate and DeMarco exchanged glances as they stepped up onto the porch. DeMarco knocked on the door but waited less than three seconds before opening it and stepping through the doorway into Janet's home.
The interior was modest but charming, decorated with the comfortable furnishings of someone who had lived there for years.
A floral sofa dominated the small living room, facing a television that was still turned on but muted.
Family photographs covered the mantelpiece above a brick fireplace, showing Janet at various stages of her life along with what appeared to be children and grandchildren.
But it was immediately obvious that something had happened here recently.
A lamp had been knocked over beside the sofa, its shade askew.
Magazines were scattered across the coffee table as if someone had swept them aside in their haste.
Most telling, Kate could see the contents of a purse dumped on the dining room table.
"Janet?" DeMarco called out, moving toward the hallway that led to what appeared to be bedrooms. "FBI agents. We're here to help."
Kate examined the dining room table more carefully. Wallet, keys, makeup, receipts, and various personal items were spread across the surface. But perhaps most significant of all, Janet's cell phone sat among the scattered contents, its screen dark.
"She left her phone behind," Kate called out.
"Master bedroom is clear," DeMarco replied from down the hall. "But you need to see this."
Kate followed her partner's voice to a small bedroom at the back of the house.
The room was tidy except for the bed; several items of clothes had been tossed sporadically.
Dresser drawers had been left open, their contents disturbed as if someone had grabbed items quickly without regard for organization.
"Looks like she was in the midst of packing… and she did it in one hell of a hurry," DeMarco observed, examining the contents of the suitcase. "Basic clothes, toiletries, but nothing that suggests she was planning an extended trip."
Kate opened the closet and found several empty hangers along with clothes that had clearly been left behind. "This wasn't planned. She threw together whatever she could carry and got out of here fast."
They continued searching the house methodically.
The kitchen showed signs of interrupted meal preparation, with a half-eaten sandwich on the counter and an opened can of diet soda left on the table.
Kate looked the bathroom over and found the medicine cabinet was open.
She wasn’t able to find any clear or obvious signs that anything had been taken.
"No indication of struggle," Kate noted as they joined back up in the living room, their search complete. "It looks like she left voluntarily, but she was terrified enough to abandon her phone and leave immediately after our conversation."
DeMarco pulled out her own phone and dialed.
Kate wasn't sure who she was calling, but appreciated how task-minded she was.
"This is Agent DeMarco with the FBI," she heard DeMarco say while she looked back at the scattered items from the purse.
"I need to put out an APB on Janet Klein, female, approximately fifty-eight years old.
" She paused, thinking something else through, then added: "I also need DMV records for vehicle registration under that name.
We need to make, model, and license plate information added to the APB. "
While DeMarco coordinated with local police, Kate returned to the living room and studied the scene more carefully. The overturned lamp, the scattered magazines, the purse contents dumped on the table. It all suggested someone who had received shocking news and immediately began preparing to flee.
"Local PD is mobilizing units to search the area," DeMarco said as she ended her call. "DMV records show Janet drives a 2018 Honda Civic, silver, plate number RBH-4429. They're adding that information to the APB now."
Kate nodded but remained focused on the evidence of Janet's hasty departure. "DeMarco, what if we're approaching this wrong?"
"What do you mean?" she responded as she slid her phone back into her pocket.
"Janet was clearly terrified when she realized the connection between the murders and the book club. She said 'he knows' and immediately fled her home, leaving behind her phone and personal belongings." Kate gestured around the disrupted living room. "She was literally scared for her life."
"Right, which is why we need to find her before the killer does."
"But…hear me out. What if the killer doesn't even know she's gone yet? What if he thinks Janet is still here?"
DeMarco's expression shifted as she understood Kate's thinking. "You want to set up a sting operation."
"Look at this house. From the outside, there's no obvious indication that Janet has fled. Her car is gone, but that could mean she's running errands. The front door was left open, but someone approaching might assume she's in the backyard or just stepped out briefly."
Kate began moving through the house with a new purpose, examining the layout and considering how they could use the space to their advantage. "If the killer is planning to target Janet like he did the others, he might come here expecting to find her."
"And instead find us waiting for him," DeMarco finished.
"Exactly. But first, we need to understand why Janet was so afraid. We need to know what happened twenty years ago that would make her flee immediately upon learning about these murders?"
DeMarco pulled her phone back out again and settled into Janet's living room chair. "I'll dig into Records and Research, see what I can find about incidents involving Janet Klein or the book club members from that time period."
Kate nodded and continued examining the house's layout.
She did so from a different perspective now that they were planning an attempt to get a jump on the killer.
As she surveyed the space, she noted the sight lines from windows and identifying potential positions for surveillance.
The living room window provided a clear view of the street, while the kitchen window looked out onto a small backyard.
There were only two entrances to the house: the front door and a back door off the kitchen.
Kate thought it through. The killer had shown a pattern of approaching victims when they were alone and vulnerable. Margaret in her library, Jennifer with her evening tea, Eleanor in her garden. If the killer was targeting Janet, he'd probably wait for what appeared to be an opportune moment.
DeMarco called out from the living room. The suddenness of her voice made Kate jump. "I'm finding some interesting connections,” DeMarco said. “Janet Klein filed a police report in Richmond twenty years ago. In October 1995, she claimed someone was following her and making threatening phone calls."
"What kind of threats?" Kate asked as she returned to the living room.
"The report is brief, but it mentions harassment related to her participation in a social group,” DeMarco said as she read from her phone. “The investigating officer noted that Klein seemed genuinely frightened but couldn't provide specific evidence of the threats."
"Did she name any suspects?"
"No. No names at all." DeMarco scrolled through more information. "The case was closed after a few weeks when the harassment apparently stopped."
Kate processed this information while continuing to plan their potential sting operation. "So there is something from her history—about twenty years ago—that could potentially have her running scared. But… still… how the hell is it tied to the book club?”
“No idea,” DeMarco said. “But I’ll keep digging to see if I can find the answer.”
Kate checked her weapon and surveyed the house one more time.
She positioned herself near the living room window where she could watch the street while remaining concealed.
The afternoon was growing late, shadows lengthening across the quiet neighborhood.
Her watch told her that it was come to be 6:20.
She seriously doubted she was going to make it home by seven.
She'd be breaking yet another promise to Allen.
But with the case this close to a major break—and maybe even an arrest—she pushed that to the side.
Allen would understand, and she could deal with the fallout.
For now, she had lives to save. If their theory was correct, they might not have to wait long before the killer they’d been looking for walked right through Janet Klein’s front door.