Chapter Sixteen
Sixteen
Fort Bragg, California
“Well,” Gary said. “That’s not good.”
Ronan paused the surveillance video he’d received from the inn. Frozen in the frame was Elle leaving the inn last night.
Or what was supposed to be Elle.
The figure was as tall as Elle and had long red hair—Elle’s exact shade—pulled into a ponytail. Just like Elle wore hers.
“That looks like the coat her lawyer bought her last night,” Gary added.
Not just the coat. The person on-screen wore sweatpants like the ones Elle had been wearing the night before when Ronan had picked her up and taken her to the bluffs. The clothing was identical, down to the white athletic shoes.
Of course the camera at the inn’s front door had not caught the person’s face, and the camera in Elle’s hallway had been painted over.
“That’s not Elle Randolph,” Ronan said.
Gary shot him a look. “I know. Your bounty hunter doesn’t walk that way.”
Ronan clamped down his temper. “She isn’t mine.”
And why the hell was Gary noticing how she walked?
Gary looked amused, which made Ronan angrier.
Amused. This was fucking serious. Not amusing.
“Ronan,” Gary said calmly, “you need to work on your poker face if you expect anyone to believe you and Elle aren’t a thing.
Look, dude, I’m on your side, but you aren’t doing your career any favors going all caveman on me.
I’m not commenting on anything other than her walk.
She’s got a smooth gait. This person has a slight limp. ”
Ronan’s anger fizzled as Gary’s words sank in. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Gary patted his shoulder. “Accepted. This is another attempt to frame Elle. Which is good, in a way. It means they don’t know we’re on to them yet.
This also might help us bracket the time of Judith’s death.
” Gary fast-forwarded the recording until they watched the person dressed like Elle reenter the inn.
“They left at one twenty in the morning, returned at six thirty.”
“Assuming this is the person who killed Judith,” Ronan said.
Gary lifted his brows. “You don’t think so?”
“Oh, I do.” And his anger rekindled. “Are we also assuming they’re working alone?”
“For now. That could change.”
Ronan blinked hard, trying to think through the haze of exhaustion. “If they’re impersonating Elle, they have to have entered the inn before one twenty this morning, but looking like someone else.”
“Good point. I’ll have a clerk look at this video to make a photo list of everyone who’s entered or exited the inn in the past twenty-four hours.
It’s possible they could be a guest of the inn or someone who ate in the restaurant.
I’ll go over the photos with Carrie at the front desk and whoever’s on restaurant duty to ID as many of the people as we can. ”
“That makes sense.” Ronan stared at the image on the screen. “I have to assume their hair is really a wig. How did they get a wig so close to Elle’s color and style?”
“Not from any store around here. Maybe in Ukiah. Or maybe they bought something similar and dyed it themself.”
“Maybe. We need to find out where they got the wig.”
“Yes, but I think an even better avenue to explore is where they got the clothes.”
“You’re right. They’re dressed identically to Elle. Everything she’s wearing is new. Her attorney bought it all at Walmart after she and Elle left the station yesterday evening. How did they know what Alexis had bought her?”
“They could have been watching the inn,” Gary said thoughtfully. “Waiting until the two of you left for the bluff.”
Ronan turned to look at him, eyes wide. “How did you know we went to the bluff?”
Gary winced. “Well, shit. I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Ronan crossed his arms over his chest. “Gary?”
“Ronan.” Then Gary sighed. “Look, it wasn’t my idea, okay? Howard said I needed to watch your back. He’s concerned that Randolph is snowing you—or using you for information. He asked me to keep an eye on you.”
“So you followed me.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t my idea.” Gary scowled. “Now I owe my wife a fancy dinner.”
Ronan blinked again. “What? What does your wife have to do with this?”
“She asked me how you were. I told her you looked fine when I saw you on the bluff. Which I knew I shouldn’t have said the moment it left my mouth. She…” Another sigh. “She weaseled it out of me.”
Ronan could only stare. “You shared information with your wife?”
Gary glared at him. “You invited a potential suspect to your house?”
Ronan clamped his lips shut. That was true. Except…“She’s not a suspect.” Which came out far more protective and outraged than he’d intended.
Gary smiled, victorious. “And the point goes to me.”
“What is the point?” Ronan demanded, having totally lost the thread of the conversation.
I need to sleep.
“Okay, stay with me here. You picked up Elle Randolph last night and took her to the bluff where I assume you told her that she’d been bugged for up to two years.”
“You weren’t using a listening device yourself?” Ronan asked acidly.
Gary just rolled his eyes. “Pay attention, Ronan. You went to the bluff. If I saw you there, maybe this person did, too.” He pointed at the screen where the Elle impersonator was heading back into the inn. “They would have seen what Elle was wearing.”
Something was wrong about that.
Well, more than the fact that Gary had followed him and seen him embracing Elle. He’d have to unpack that later.
Because his brain had finally woken up. “No. By that point, there wouldn’t have been time for them to drive to Ukiah to buy the stuff, because the store closes at eleven.
And there isn’t a store open that late here on the coast, either.
And don’t say they already had the clothes.
That this person happened to have the exact same clothes at the exact same time is way too much coincidence. ”
Frowning, Gary nodded. “I agree. Well, then that means this person followed Elle’s lawyer into the Walmart.”
A tingle of excitement sizzled across Ronan’s skin. This was a legitimate lead. “We can get the store’s surveillance footage. See if we can get a better view of their face.”
Gary grinned. “You go get some sleep. Let me take care of getting the footage. If they say no, I can get a warrant quickly.” He sobered abruptly. “We’ve got ten murders riding on this.”
“I know.”
Fort Bragg, California
Tuesday, February 3, 12:45 p.m.
“One more bite,” Alexis coaxed.
Elle pushed the bowl of oatmeal away. She’d managed half of it, but another bite would not end well. “I guess I’m lucky the kitchen didn’t poison it when they sent up the room service. Most of the staff think I’m responsible for Judith’s death. Because I am.”
Alexis sighed. “Ellie.”
“I wish I’d never become a bounty hunter. Ten people would still be alive.”
“You don’t know that. Whoever Sara sent out might have inspired the same reaction. Either way, this isn’t personal against you.”
Elle laughed bitterly. “It sure feels personal.”
Alexis sat in the chair beside her at the small breakfast table. “I need to go back to the city tomorrow, but just for the day. I have to be in court in the morning, but I’ll be coming back. You’re not going through this alone, Ellie.”
Elle leaned her head against Alexis’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to ask Detective Clarke to provide you some kind of protection while I’m gone.”
“Because you’re afraid of an angry mob?”
“No, because when the killer realizes that you haven’t been arrested for Judith’s murder, he may come after you.”
“Or when the town learns I haven’t been arrested, they’ll become an angry mob,” Elle said glumly.
“That’s not going to happen.” But Alexis didn’t sound so certain. “We can’t afford to panic now. We need to remain clearheaded. To think.”
“I can’t. I’m still processing that someone was stalking me for two years. All the rest of it, the other murders, Judith’s murder…it’s too much.”
“Maybe that’s what the killer wants. To make you confused and afraid.”
“He’s succeeded. I’m completely confused and utterly afraid to leave this room. Which makes me a selfish coward.”
“Ellie,” she chided, “you’re neither selfish nor a coward. You’re smart and resourceful and you have an amazing heart. You’re brave and highly capable, too, otherwise Sara never would have hired you in the first place.”
The mention of Sara’s name had Elle checking her phone. “Still no news on the baby. I hope this doesn’t take too much longer. Felicia’s got to be in some major pain.”
Alexis made a face. “Felicia isn’t really in labor yet. She just said that so Sara would come home.”
Elle set her phone on the table. “How do you know that?”
“Because Felicia told me so. She’s also wanting to get out of the hunting business now that they’ll have a baby.
She thinks it’s too dangerous.” Alexis arched a brow.
“People tell me stuff. I’m like a priest or a bartender, but with confidentiality if it’s a conversation with a client on retainer.
Felicia called—as a friend—to confess, because she felt awful for lying to Sara. ”
“I didn’t think either Sara or Felicia minded lying.”
“To informants and skippers, no. To each other, yes, they do.”
“That’s actually good to hear. I’ve been worrying over how easily Sara lies to people.”
“Sometimes a lie is…necessary.”
Elle met her friend’s eyes. “Like telling Ronan that you were up all night with me?” she whispered.
Alexis didn’t look away. “Yes,” she whispered back. “I’ll lie to protect you any day of the week, Giselle Randolph.”
Elle’s eyes stung. “That’s so messed up, but I love you for saying it.”
“Sara would, too,” Alexis said at a normal volume. “Lying to informants and skippers is business. Her lying to the cops is also business. She wouldn’t lie to a friend, but she might for a friend. Sara is very good at compartmentalizing her professional and personal lives.”
“That’s not true,” Elle objected, “not if Felicia had to lie to her to get her to come home.”