Chapter 19
Eli pushed his chair back and stood up. “She’s right. Let’s move to the conference room where we have the maps that lay out where the other bodies were found. We’ll compare that with what we know about Scott and look for a pattern, see what we can figure out.”
Asher nodded, then winced again as he tried to rise from his chair. Kansas gave him an I-told-you-so glare before offering a stabilizing arm to help him limp across the hall.
“I’m fine,” Asher repeated through gritted teeth.
The foursome gathered around the conference table where Eli spread the map that he, Asher and the rest of the investigative team had marked and labeled over the past months.
A second three-dimensional map reflecting the topography of the region and the few existing roads and trails hung on the wall.
“Okay, what do we know about Scott? Does he have any properties where he could be staying now that his house is kindling? Are his parents alive? Any siblings?” Eli asked, a sense of urgency pumping through his veins.
“He never talked about family that I remember,” Asher said. “But he isn’t someone I shared personal stories with.” He glanced at Kansas. “You were friendly with him. What can you tell us?”
Kansas scowled at Asher. “I was polite to him, but I didn’t encourage him, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“I wasn’t implying anything,” Asher tossed back. “Why so touchy?”
Kansas folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re suggesting I had a relationship with our coworker, who has kidnapped a woman and appears to be a serial killer?”
Asher raised his hands. “I only—”
Eli loosed a shrill whistle to stop the tense exchange. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Save the lovers, quarrel for when we’re off the clock, huh?”
Asher and Kansas both jerked offended looks at Eli, which he dismissed as he leaned over the map again. Kansas turned her back to the table and stalked over to the wall map with a huff, while Asher drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair.
Noelle stepped closer to Eli and pointed to the last spot where a body had been recovered. “Consider this—the last two bodies were both found close to Shelby. One here at the Two Bears River hiking trail and more recently one here in the lot behind Shelby Fish Cannery.”
Kansas turned to look over her shoulder with an odd expression creasing her face, then returned her attention to the wall map, studying it more closely.
The niggling voice in Eli’s head was shouting now. What was he missing?
“It stands to reason Scott will pick a place near Shelby again,” Noelle said, “especially since he knows we’re onto him and the roads upstate could be getting treacherous.
Statistically speaking, the crime scenes are—” Noelle fell silent, her brow furrowing as she leaned closer to the map, her gaze and her finger moving from one marked crime scene to another, muttering, “Lake Chahoogee… Muskee Glacier Pass…”
Eli’s heart beat a double-time rhythm. “Noelle? What is it?”
Noelle spun around to face Kansas, who was still gaping at the topographical map. “Kansas, at the hospital earlier this week, you said you conducted rescues at Lake Chahoogee and Muskee Glacier Pass, didn’t you?”
Eli pivoted his chair to study his cousin as his gut churned. Kansas nodded slowly, her attention still locked on the wall map, her complexion gone pale. She raised a shaking finger. “And Two Bears River and the lot behind the cannery.”
Like a gong sounding, the message his brain had been whispering now shouted to him. He bit out a curse and plowed both hands through his hair.
“What?” Asher asked, then, his face blanching, he muttered the same curse word.
Kansas slumped against the wall, looking like she might collapse any second. She sent her troubled blue gaze from Eli to Asher and back again. “Please tell me this is just a very freaky and disturbing coincidence.”
Noelle sat heavily in the nearest chair. “What is it you just said, Eli? There are no coincidences?”
“Yeah. That,” Eli said hoarsely and lifted a troubled look to Noelle. “Remember the other day when I explained that a law enforcement investigator’s job wasn’t to build a case but to gather information and follow where the evidence leads?”
She nodded, her expression glum.
“I broke that rule, despite my best intentions. I got sidetracked, blinded by thinking this was about me. But…” Eli shifted his gaze to his cousin “…it looks like you’re the link, Kansas.
He’s copying your aunt’s murder and leaving the victims, all women who match your general description, at places you’ve been on rescues in recent months. ”
“But…why?” Kansas asked, her voice cracking. “Wh-why me?”
No one said anything for a moment, but finally Noelle answered quietly, “You said yourself he’s flirted with you, and you’ve rebuffed his advances.
Maybe his interest in you grew into an obsession.
If he was already unstable and had within him the ability to murder without compunction, maybe he thought killing the women would snag your attention. ”
Kansas gaped at Noelle, then Asher…then clapped her hand to her mouth and raced from the conference room.
Asher started to rise, but Noelle lifted a hand. “Let me.”
Once Noelle left the room, seeking Kansas, Eli pinned a hard glare on Asher. “If we’re right about this, if Montgomery is doing this because of an obsession with Kansas, he could come after her next.”
Asher’s jaw clenched, and his eyes darkened with fury. “Over my dead body.”
“And mine.” Eli took a calming breath. He needed to weed out his own turbulent emotions and think clearly.
“He could be hoping this latest kidnapping will trigger a search and rescue that will lead Kansas to him. Hell, now that he knows we’re onto him, he could have been planning to snatch Kansas tonight.
Thank God she’s been with our family all day prepping for my mother’s party. ”
“So we’re agreed she needs twenty-four-hour protection until Montgomery is brought in?” Asher said, his jaw rigid.
Eli exhaled. “Good luck convincing her of that. She might be freaked out over this turn of events, but she’s strong-willed and independent.”
Asher only grunted.
Eli cast a glance to the map again. “Okay, so we have a better idea of Montgomery’s motive and possible future target, but we still have to find the woman he took tonight—before it’s too late.”