Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Hours flew by as Zoe combed through Annabelle’s phone records and emails.
There was a renewed energy at the station—the kind that Pineview Falls wasn’t used to, not because nothing bad happened here but because people had grown complacent.
Now, with one murder and two disappearances, everything had changed.
“The hunting darts were laced with adrenaline,” she said, reading out the latest report sent by the coroner.
Aiden threw his head back and squirted in eye drops. “Adrenaline? That’s interesting.”
Zoe shuddered at the thought. “She must have been subjected to extreme stress. She was already abducted and was likely chased through the woods.”
“It also accelerated the process leading to a heart attack. The hunting ground will be remote, wooded, deliberately chosen, and offers both symbolic and practical value. It grants the killer dominion over the setting and reinforces the predator-prey dynamic.”
She chewed on the tip of her pen. “Do you think Kevin was onto something? Trevor and Annabelle had been fighting.”
“Highly unlikely. But the break-in is interesting.”
“Ethan is there with CSU to see if there are any prints to lift. I don’t understand why anyone would break in. Are they looking for something?”
When Aiden became distracted by something else on his laptop, Zoe returned to dissecting Annabelle’s life.
She had made several calls to Jackie in the last few days of her life.
But no other number stood out. According to Aiden, the women knew the killer.
It was the only plausible way for both of them to be abducted by him.
Perhaps, Jackie’s phone records would reveal someone.
But they would take some time to obtain.
“I might have found something from your old case files,” Aiden said suddenly. Zoe was so engrossed in the victims that she hadn’t spent much time thinking about her own connection to the case. “Do you remember Darren Galanis?”
Zoe shrugged. “Not really. Who’s he?”
“A year ago, you worked on a homicide during your stint at Lakemore. A stay-at-home mom was killed by the man she was having an affair with. Ring a bell?”
She blinked. “Oh yeah. I was on like ten homicides in six months. That place is crawling with criminals.”
“He was the perpetrator’s roommate…”
Flashes of a short man of medium build, with a missing tooth, zapped through her mind. “I think so… he always wore Hawaiian shirts, I think. Didn’t leave an impression though.”
“Not to you but his statement didn’t sit right with me. Too structured, too rehearsed. Gave unnecessary details, kept his narrative fluid so nothing ever caught him out. Classic countermeasure. His priors include breaking and entering and workplace harassment, altercation with ex?—”
“So what?” She pressed her fingers against her temples, the information dump making her dizzy. “What does that have to do with me?”
Aiden hesitated, as if carefully choosing his next words.
“I pulled his movement patterns. Traffic cam hits, ALPR logs, and cell tower pings. That’s the part I was confirming.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but he’s been orbiting you.
Left Lakemore and moved to Seattle when you did, was in Harborwood when you were, and now he’s in Pineview Falls. ”
Zoe’s tongue felt heavy. Was this man stalking her? She already suspected someone was watching her. How else would Viktor Axenov know where to show up and to take the deposit box key from her? Or could this be related to why she had been sent the lock of hair and letter?
“I have to talk to Simon,” she exclaimed without thinking. “He said he’d look into the letter.”
Aiden’s jaw clenched but he didn’t say anything.
Fat drops of rain began cascading outside, making the asphalt slick and shiny.
She winced, rotating her shoulder, still stiff from her beatdown.
It was a miracle she had won the fight. She must have completely surrendered to her rage to win a fight so brutally.
“You’re still hurting,” Aiden said blankly.
“And you won’t let it go,” she hissed.
They stared at each other, neither of them backing down, until Zoe tore her gaze away, suddenly in a foul mood.
She couldn’t let Aiden wear her down. She had a recurring nightmare that she was back in his office for a session, except this time Aiden was holding sharp knives.
And he intended to use them to cut into her brain and feed his academic curiosity.
But could Darren be following her? From Lakemore to Harborwood to Pineview Falls? Aiden suspected he could be involved in the murders, but Zoe wondered about his connection to Viktor.
Viper .
The name echoed in Zoe’s ears, drifted around in her brain aimlessly, looking for some logic or context to latch on to.
Zoe didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t understand. She cleared her throat. “So, the fire was indeed a massacre. It was arson.”
He flattened his mouth in disapproval. “This level of arson takes preparation. This wasn’t a crime of passion. It was premeditated.”
“Why would anyone want to kill six teenagers?” she said. “And they didn’t even entirely know each other.”
“Unless we are missing something? Teenagers can be nasty. Maybe they bullied someone and this was payback?”
“They weren’t the same age, Aiden. The youngest was fourteen. Unlikely they engaged in some coordinated activity that led to this.”
He brooded for a while. “Unless… there was only one target.” A eureka moment. “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no reason to kill six kids—especially when they didn’t really know each other. Then there’s the fact that they made it look like an accidental fire and circuits shorting leading to everything going haywire. Maybe there was only one target and the fire was to make it look like an accident?”
Dread filled Zoe’s senses. “Why would anyone want to kill a kid?”
“I have no idea,” he whispered.
A knock on the door and Lisa poked her head in. “Good time?”
“Yeah, of course. Where are we on Annabelle’s laptop?” Zoe said.
Lisa set the laptop on the desk. “They definitely deleted a lot of data and files before we got our hands on it. Our IT department is very basic. Could you guys retrieve everything that was wiped off?”
“For sure,” Zoe said. “Did you find anything useful?”
Lisa beamed and turned the screen in their direction. “She was in this chatroom talking to someone.”
Zoe and Aiden leaned forward to read the screen.
AnnPlays: So? You finally tried it?
Specter: Yeah. Spent a couple hours in. Looks basic on the surface, but it pulls you in.
AnnPlays: Right? It’s not even complex, just… real . Like your brain stops questioning it after a while.
Specter: That’s what got me. After a bit, I forgot I was wearing a headset.
AnnPlays: I felt the same. Lost all track of time. The world design is unreal.
Specter: Everything feels… too real. Like it’s waiting for you to mess up.
AnnPlays: It’s just good VR. I’m glad you liked it.
Specter: Maybe. Or maybe it’s more than that.
AnnPlays: What are you talking about?
Specter: What if it doesn’t stop when you log out?
AnnPlays: Okay, weird take.
Specter: Just saying. Some things in there feel like they’re watching you.
AnnPlays: That’s not funny.
Specter: I’m not joking.
AnnPlays: I’m done with this convo.
Specter: No, you’re not.
“Who is this Specter?” Zoe asked.
“I don’t know. It kind of works like Reddit. It’s a username and there’s no way to track unless we get a court order…”
Zoe hung her head low. “Yeah. That will be fun. Was this their only interaction?”
“No. I think they chatted two more times. It’s all archived though. I can pull it out. This could be something, right? This creep that she was talking to online?” she asked desperately, like she was clutching at straws.
“It’s hard to say,” Aiden said softly. “Online spaces operate within a psychological boundary. An artificial detachment from reality that allows people to express darker impulses without consequence. For most individuals, that boundary remains intact. They compartmentalize. They understand the distinction between online persona and offline consequence.”
“Right.” Lisa let out a frustrated breath. “So this Specter might just be some harmless freak.”
Zoe nodded, but Aiden’s words loitered in her head about how online space provided hard boundaries for dark impulses. A sharp discomfort tugged at her chest, questioning how strong her boundaries were to keep her dark impulses from hurting someone.