Chapter 32
Peter had stayed with Hailey until her parents returned, but then they’d all decided that he should go home and get some real rest before heading into work.
He’d been hesitant to leave, despite knowing Miguel was on his way back, and he’d even considered calling off until Jesse pulled him aside and gave his blessing.
He’d assured him that he was former military and that, together, he and Miguel were more than capable of keeping his daughter safe.
The man might change his mind after receiving the newest updates, but, as Hailey quietly reminded him, she had been promised protection and given until Monday to make a decision.
Though he wasn’t sure he trusted the promises of a crook, Peter had seen the wisdom in her argument. And there was no doubt he’d be more comfortable in his own bed.
But that didn’t mean he’d actually be able to rest better at home.
Concern for Hailey and second thoughts about leaving her kept him awake.
The few times he started to drift off, he found himself jerking awake almost immediately, thinking he heard gunfire.
After two hours of tossing and turning, he finally gave up and decided to restart his day.
As he did every morning—or, more often, afternoon due to his night-shift schedule—Peter flipped on a local news station and let the talking heads provide background noise while he prepared his breakfast. Today he paid a bit closer attention, hoping to hear an update on the murder of Stefania Novak.
If nothing was said during the program, he’d google it once he sat down.
But as the bangers started sizzling in the skillet, he heard the words he’d been listening for.
“Police are investigating the case of a local woman found dead in her home this morning.”
He lifted his gaze in time to see a handful of photos fill the screen.
He sucked in a sharp breath. Though the images were somewhat blurred, he could easily make out that the scene was as gruesome as Detective Thornton had indicated.
One of Stefania’s hands was mangled. The other grasped something light colored, and she appeared to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds—one to each knee in addition to the fatal head shot. Blood was everywhere.
The screen shifted back to the reporters’ faces before Peter could try to get a better look at what was in Stefania’s hand.
He considered trying to find the photos online, but the angle at which that photo was taken probably wouldn’t allow him to see what he was looking for anyway.
Instead, he forced himself to listen to the reporters’ words so he wouldn’t miss any pertinent details.
It was almost impossible to focus though. He knew that scene.
When the segment ended, he grabbed his phone and dialed Detective Thornton’s number. While it rang, he muted the television. He couldn’t believe they’d shown those photos on TV, especially not when the details were supposed to be hush-hush. How had the press gotten them?
More importantly, did the police realize what they might be up against?
Just when Peter thought the detective was going to let the call go to voice mail, he finally picked up. “Thornton.”
“This is Peter Lewis. I need to talk with you about Stefania Novak’s murder.”
“I told you earlier I can’t discuss the details.” The detective’s tone was abrupt, almost angry. He must have just heard about the leaked photos too.
“Understood. But this is important.” Peter smelled something starting to burn and moved back to the stove to rescue his breakfast. “Was Ms. Novak holding a note?”
There was a beat of silence before Eric said, “She was.”
“Written in blood?”
More silence. Then, “What do you know about this?”
Peter squeezed his eyes shut. He’d hoped he was wrong. “If that note is in her handwriting and is an admission that she deserved what happened to her, then you need to call the FBI. This guy has struck before.”
“Are you still with Hailey?”
He wished he were. “No, I’m at my place.”
“We need to talk in person. All right if I stop by, or would you prefer to come to the station?”
“Here is fine.” He gave Eric the address.
“Sit tight. I’m on my way.”
Ten minutes later, Peter welcomed Eric inside. He moved his nearly empty breakfast plate to the counter. Though he’d completely lost his appetite after seeing the crime scene photos, he’d forced himself to scarf down what he could of the meal before the detective’s arrival.
The two men settled at the table, and Eric fixed his intense gaze on him. “I need to know everything you know about this.”
“I don’t know much about Ms. Novak’s case specifically. However, I saw the photos on the news. That scene was eerily similar to one I witnessed several years ago.” Too similar to be coincidence.
“When was this exactly?”
“Six years ago last April.”
Eric jotted the information in his notebook. “What happened?”
“When I was working as a bodyguard, one of my coworkers was shot on the job. He’d worked the night shift with our client, a man named Todd Rickman.
I was supposed to relieve him for the day shift.
When I arrived, I let myself into the house and discovered my coworker’s body lying in the entryway.
He’d taken a single shot to the head, no other wounds.
I called it in and went looking for our client. ”
He took a deep breath. Even now, six years later, that scene still haunted him.
“I found Mr. Rickman in his home office. Same wounds as Ms. Novak. Same sort of note. The investigators concluded that the nonfatal wounds were either inflicted to coerce his confession or were intended to increase his suffering prior to death. Maybe both.”
“So you think we might have a serial killer on our hands?”
“I don’t know if he’s a serial killer, but the FBI ended up taking point because they had already been quietly investigating our client for possible money laundering. And, no, we were not aware of that fact when we accepted his case.”
Eric looked up from his notes. “Money laundering?”
Peter’s breath caught. He hadn’t made that connection yet. How had he missed it? He must not be on his game. He stared back at the detective as puzzle pieces tried to fall into place, but they weren’t quite fitting yet.
The pen in Eric’s hand clicked in a triple beat. “We’ll come back to that. Just to clarify, they never caught the person who murdered your coworker and the client?”
“Not as far as I’m aware. I’m not law enforcement and no longer with the agency either, so there’s no guarantee I’d have been notified, but I think someone would have told me.
I also do an online search every now and again to see if there’s been any news reports on the case. I’ve not seen anything in years.”
The detective nodded, dropping his eyes to his notebook again and clicking his pen a few more times. “I don’t have to tell you that I do not like the idea of this kind of killer running around Kincaid. I like the idea of him having a connection to Hailey even less.”
A sentiment Peter shared one hundred percent.
“One of the things I didn’t share earlier was that we found a high-powered rifle in Ms. Novak’s house. Same caliber as the one used to shoot at you two the other day. We’re running ballistics to see if it’s the same weapon, but her fingerprints were on it.”
Peter’s mind raced with that information.
Could Stefania Novak have been the shooter?
There was clear animosity between the women, primarily on Ms. Novak’s part, but would she have taken things that far?
He thought back through what he knew of the situation.
The woman was one of Hailey’s coworkers, so it stood to reason that she knew who Hailey’s clients were, had desperately wanted one of them.
Was this a case of extreme jealousy, or could she have some connection to the money laundering Hailey had discovered?
Another piece of the puzzle seemed to fall into place.
Maybe. He’d have to make sure he wasn’t forcing a connection that wasn’t there.
But Eric was speaking again. “—went back to Ms. Novak’s residence today to see if there was anything else to be found, especially in light of what you shared earlier.
It’s not conclusive, but there are other reasons to believe that she was behind or at least complicit in some of the recent incidents involving you and Hailey. ”
“Such as?”
“We found a package of window chalk. Appeared to be unused except for the white one.”
“That’s not unusual.”
“No. And if that had been the only thing we found, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.
But under the packaging was a receipt for it, dated the day before Hailey’s tires were slashed.
Numbers on it match Ms. Novak’s credit card.
Still doesn’t prove she bought them to use on Hailey’s car.
” Click. “Shoved into a nearby drawer was a key card labeled ‘Master.’ I’m going by the 1798 Building when I leave here.
If it’s confirmed to be the missing card, then there’s a good chance that Ms. Novak was involved in both the shooting and last week’s break-in. ”
Meaning she could very well have been one of the people who attacked him.
Peter straightened. “There were at least two people there that night. Could her accomplice have murdered her?” But there had also been two people involved in ambushing Hailey Monday evening.
Both of them had been caught. How many people were involved in this?
The detective held his gaze. “It’s a theory we’re working on.
We still have to reasonably prove the card wasn’t just planted, but the other evidence, particularly the gun with her fingerprints on it, leads me to believe it’s very likely she was involved here.
” His phone began ringing, and Eric paused to answer it. “Thornton.”
While the detective handled his caller, Peter tried to digest the information he’d just received.
Hailey’s coworker had been behind perhaps all of the attacks on her, including the break-in at the 1798 Building, when her computer files were compromised.
So did that mean none of it had anything to do with Eukaria?
But what about the possible money laundering link between his former client and the investment firm?
Or what if Stefania’s murderer had planted that card in her home?
Hailey could very well still be a target.
Eric put his phone away. “That was a development I wasn’t expecting. Ms. Novak is apparently related to one of our guys in jail.”
“Jake or the other guy?”
“Jake. Apparently, he and Stefania are half siblings. Adding him to the equation doesn’t give us the right to presume Ms. Novak’s guilt in the crimes against you and Hailey, but with all the other evidence, it definitely points that direction.”
Peter tried to rearrange the puzzle pieces to include that new bit of information. “Even if they were accomplices, he couldn’t have killed her. Not if he was behind bars when the murder occurred.”
“Exactly. This might be one of the most complex cases I’ve ever had to deal with, and that’s saying a lot.
I don’t like the tie between these people and Hailey.
Or you for that matter. The original money laundering issue and threats were bad enough.
But with this, we don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with. And if Hailey’s still a target—”
“She’s extremely vulnerable.” Her home was a beautiful place on the outskirts of town.
Set back from the road and far enough away from the nearest neighbor to provide a significant amount of privacy.
An excellent place to raise a child, but a horrible setup for an unprotected woman who might have caught the eye of a vicious killer.
Her parents’ house was a bit better—still isolated, but with other adults who would do all in their power to protect her.
But Peter knew she wouldn’t stay there forever, and the agency’s resources were limited.
Hailey was facing an impossible situation.
Unless they could resolve all of it, there would soon come a time when she’d have to make a decision—return home or find a new place far from here to live.
If she was the target of the same person who’d killed his agency’s client six years ago, he doubted she’d be safe anywhere, no matter what Eukaria’s CFO promised.