Chapter Eighteen #2
She sighed again. “I found the younger brother in a bar. He wasn’t legal to drink, but it was the kind of bar where nobody cared.
He had a fake ID anyway. It wasn’t hard to find them.
They weren’t actively hiding because they thought they were home free in Oregon.
Tracked them through their bank cards to their corner bar.
We picked the younger brother to lure in, but with the ex-wife’s information I knew how to get them both together. ”
“By offering to…” Simpson made a face.
“Yes. The ex-wife also told me that the younger brother liked very tall blondes. I wore a wig.”
“And a black leather catsuit,” Alexis said gleefully.
Elle gave her friend a dirty look. “Must you?”
“Yes. I must.”
Elle would have words with her later. “It was a ‘Bad Sandy’ Halloween costume. You know. From Grease.”
“And this worked?” Bennet asked in disbelief.
Ronan had gone silent and Simpson was grinning.
Elle’s cheeks were on fire. “I didn’t want to do it, but I’m the tallest female hunter in Sara’s agency.
She figured that my face was too recognizable because the fire had just happened and that photo of me and the toddler had gone viral.
So she figured I’d…camouflage and he wouldn’t be looking at my face. ”
“And this worked?” Bennet asked again, but he was smiling now.
Elle shrugged. “He only had a few brain cells to rub together. Those poor, lonely brain cells didn’t stand a chance against his baser instincts.”
Simpson hooted. “How did you lure him over the state line?”
“Told him I had a hotel room nearby and that…” She closed her eyes, remembering the moment with a shudder of revulsion.
“That his brother was welcome, too.” When she opened her eyes, Simpson and Bennet had sobered.
Ronan had not cracked a smile and she appreciated that.
This had been a humiliating experience for her.
“Anyway, I crooked my finger and he trotted after me like a drooling puppy. Told him to follow me in his car.”
Ronan shook his head. “He didn’t suspect when you started going over the bridge into Washington?”
“Like I said, baser instincts. And he wasn’t expecting anyone to come after him for the bail jumping. They thought they were safe. When he got out of his car in my hotel’s parking lot, he was ready to roll. If you know what I mean.”
“We got it,” Simpson said dryly. “And you arrested him?”
Elle scoffed. “No, Sara and Orrin, one of the other hunters, were waiting in the hotel lot. They slapped the cuffs on him before he could call and warn his brother. I could barely sit in that outfit. Wrestling a horny eighteen-year-old who had fifty pounds on me wasn’t going to be possible.”
“What if he’d attacked you in the bar?” Ronan asked, sounding upset. “You couldn’t have defended yourself.”
“I wore a wire and I had pepper spray. Also, there was another hunter outside listening. He would have come to my aid if I’d needed him to. But, yeah. I was concerned at the time.”
Ronan’s frown was dark. “Sara didn’t take that risk herself.”
“No, but she’s taken plenty of other risks over the years.
Anyway, the older brother showed up for a hot time and got cuffed as well.
The Portland murder victim was Rebecca Carr.
I remember her because she actually drove all the way to San Francisco to threaten me in front of my house.
This was four days after we apprehended the brothers.
She was furious that her boyfriend—the older brother—had been sent to jail.
She yelled a lot and called me names. Said she was going to kick my ass.
That kind of thing. I didn’t react, just stared at her until she left, yelling all the way back to her car. ”
“Her body was found in her car inside her garage,” Ronan said. “Gunshot wound to the head. Police discovered her when they received an anonymous 911 call.”
“At least he’s consistent with the anonymous calls,” Alexis murmured.
“How did she get your home address?” Simpson asked.
Elle rolled her eyes. “The local news carried the story of the apprehension and gave my name. Someone in the bar had taken photos of me.”
“I’d think they’d have carried the story of her murder, too,” Bennet said. “Didn’t you read about it?”
“No. I was staying offline on purpose. I was so tired of seeing my face in that viral photo with the child and, while some people were positive, the hateful comments were unsettling. It made me remember all the comments on the articles after the accident that killed my husband. People can be cruel. So, after saving the toddler from the fire, I’d removed my social media apps from my phone.
If there was a news story about the fugitive’s girlfriend’s murder, I wouldn’t have seen it.
I didn’t report her to the police after she threatened me in front of my house because I didn’t consider her a true threat.
No one ever questioned me about her murder. ”
“That makes sense,” Bennet said, although he did sound reluctant to admit it.
“Saving that child from a fire made her internet famous,” Alexis said, “but Sara told me that Elle bringing in those brothers made her a legend among the other hunters. You even got asked for your autograph, didn’t you, Ellie? I think I remember you complaining about the notoriety.”
“Not because of the arrest of the brothers. It was always because of the fire rescue.” And then she remembered.
She gasped as her mind unlocked, tossing out the memory she’d been searching for.
“Oh my God. That’s where I saw him.” She pointed to the young man’s face, still filling the screen on the wall. “He asked me for my autograph.”
Fort Bragg, California
Tuesday, February 3, 7:15 p.m.
Ronan leaned forward, his heart beating faster. They were a step closer to ID’ing this killer. “Seriously? This guy asked you for your autograph?”
Gary winced. “While you were still wearing the Sandy costume?”
Elle waved Gary’s words away impatiently.
“No. You weren’t listening. The autographs were always about saving the child from the fire.
This was a few months before the Portland recovery.
” She forced herself to think calmly. “Four months before. It was during the day. I’d gone to a café near my house. ”
“In San Francisco,” Ronan clarified.
“Yes. The café has outdoor seating and the sun was shining. I’d just finished my lunch and was sitting there soaking up the sun.
I guess I felt safe because I…well, I didn’t fall completely asleep, but I was drowsy.
My eyes were closed. But I woke up really fast when someone sat at my table.
Shook all the dishes and glassware. It was him.
” She pointed at the face on the screen.
Ronan felt a flash of fear mixed with anger. A man who’d killed ten people had been closer to Elle than Ronan was now. The man could have killed her.
But he didn’t.
He had other plans, apparently. Like framing her for murder.
“What did he say?” Howard asked, his tone gentling.
Ronan didn’t think Howard had been convinced that Elle was innocent until this moment. So many of the puzzle pieces were coming together.
“He slammed a photo on the table and said, ‘Sign it.’ Then he added ‘Please,’ like it was an afterthought. He was very rude.”
“It was the photo,” Ronan said. “Of you bringing that child out of the fire.”
“Yes. I told him what I told everyone—that I didn’t feel right taking personal credit for that rescue, so I didn’t sign autographs.
I told him that I did what anyone would do, and that made me a decent person, not a hero.
I made sure he knew that I told this to everyone, that it wasn’t personal with him.
For a long time I kept lollipops and stickers in my pocket to give to kids when they asked and that usually made them happy, which made their parents happy, too.
But this guy got angry. He sat there staring at me, like he’d incinerate me if he could.
Most people understood when I refused to sign that photo.
Some people got annoyed and flounced off in a huff, but I figured they were the ones that would have sold the signed photo on eBay.
Nobody ever got as angry as this guy did, though, either before him or since. ”
“Did he say anything when you turned him down?”