Chapter 14
That evening, he had gotten the okay to eliminate the next woman on his client’s list. He was given her name, description, and location, just as he had with the others.
He was told that her demise needed to happen next week.
With a handshake and a promise to take care of that, Alex walked the four blocks home.
After settling in, he called the restaurant downstairs and ordered a steak and a bottle of their best Chianti to be brought up at seven thirty. Until then, he would enjoy a beer, relax, and watch the news.
Lying on the couch with several pillows propped under his head, Alex scrolled through the channels until he reached the station he usually watched.
That night’s half-hour local news program wouldn’t start for another ten minutes and would be followed by the national news.
Until then, he planned to play mahjong on his phone.
Minutes later, Alex heard the familiar voice of the local anchor stating the news was about to begin. He went to the kitchen, grabbed another bottle of beer, then returned to the couch.
Let’s see if I missed anything exciting today.
Between commercials, the show aired the stock report, political viewpoints, and weather and sports segments.
Before the last commercial, a breaking news report came in.
The male anchor, Lenny Neilson, stated that the police had just given them information on a woman from West Allis who had gone missing over the weekend.
Her face popped up on the TV screen, causing Alex to cough out the gulp of beer he was about to swallow.
Alongside her image was her name, height, weight, eye color, hair color, and age.
Lenny Neilson stated that Beth Morrow was last seen in front of the gas station at South Twenty-Third Street and West Greenfield Avenue.
Anyone who knew that area would assume Beth was a night worker, given the location.
What the hell! How would anyone know anything?
Okay, okay, settle down and think this through.
She left with me but didn’t go back to the gas station afterward.
That doesn’t point a finger at me, though.
Nobody saw my face, the car is a rental, and I gave her a fake name, which doesn’t matter because she’s dead.
Alex paced, racked his brain, then grabbed a third beer.
The gas station has cameras, but when I was there before, I used a different car.
I should be good. One of her skanky friends must have called the cops to say that she was missing.
That’s as far as it went, and what would anyone expect from a night worker?
They work a high-risk job until they grow a brain and quit trusting strange men—or one of them snuffs out their life.
Every woman on his client’s list was a day or night worker. The corner in front of that gas station was where they all worked. He would swap cars again before the next kill and find a way to camouflage his appearance even more out of an abundance of caution.
“Am I being paranoid?” He gave that some thought. “Nope. I’m being smart and have no intention of ever getting caught.”
The news ended with the short segment showing only Beth’s face and description. The number to call with information wasn’t a typical 800 tip-line number but the Milwaukee Police Department’s District 5 direct line.
What the hell is that about? Why would the calls go to that station instead of the District 2 station near the area where the ladies work?
Alex was familiar with District 5’s location—it serviced the northern part of Milwaukee and the lakefront area. His heart pounded so hard he could hear it. Sweat beads popped up on his forehead.
It’s impossible that she washed ashore. I wasn’t even near Milwaukee when I dumped her. Plus, she had a twenty-pound anchor tied around her neck. Alex thought of the violent storm that had rolled in Sunday night. Did the waves and strong currents push her inland that far?
Feeling nauseated, Alex canceled his steak order. He would munch on a handful of antacids instead.
After backing up the news segment, Alex watched it again. It had said only that she was missing, not found.
So, they don’t actually know anything. Maybe the person who called in her disappearance mistakenly called the wrong police station and they went ahead and filed the report.
Besides that, even if she did wash ashore, they’d be looking at someone who took their boat out of the marina here.
Another good call on my part to do my dirty work far away from where I live.
Tomorrow, the Camry will be returned to the car rental agency.
I’ll go to another agency and get something different for the next unfortunate lady.