CHAPTER NINE
Kat Gentry tried not to pry.
She and Hannah were on the way back to her office after the meeting with Finn. Kat had stayed in the car for what ended up being an hour. At some point she drifted off, only to startle herself awake from an Afghanistan nightmare.
They still came from time to time, even though it had been years since the IED explosion that left her with injuries both internal and external.
She glanced in the rear-view mirror long enough to take note of the physical remnants of that day, including multiple facial burn marks and a long scar that ran vertically down her left cheek from just below her eye.
When Hannah returned, she didn’t seem especially chatty, so Kat let it lie. They were almost back to the office when her passenger finally spoke.
“He says he doesn’t hate me.”
“Well, that’s good,” Kat said, not sure where this was headed. “Do you believe him?”
“He said it’s not my fault,” Hannah replied, eyes forward.
“That I never asked him to confront Dallas. That he should have taken more precautions if he thought the guy was a threat. That there were more productive ways to try to convince me of that. That he had been jealous and let that guide his decisions instead of good sense.”
“That makes it sound like he thinks this was his fault,” Kat said as she pulled into her building’s garage. “It wasn’t. The only person to blame here is Dallas Henry.”
“That’s what I told him. He acknowledged that I was right, but that it didn’t stop him from feeling responsible. He seemed really torn up about it.”
“You both need to cut yourselves a little slack,” Kat told her. “If the two of you are consumed by guilt, that’s a win for Dallas Henry. Don’t give him any victories.”
Hannah nodded as they got out of the car and headed to the elevator. That seemed to resonate for her.
“Do you think he’ll be able to return to school next month?”
Hannah sighed at the question.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted as they got in the elevator.
“He came out of the coma five weeks ago and after some trouble early on, he’s speaking normally again.
And he was generally getting around the house on his own.
But he was moving pretty slowly. I’m not sure how well he’ll be able to navigate a large campus.
There still seem to be a lot of questions.
Is he going to need transportation assistance?
Will someone have to carry his backpack?
We didn’t get into any of that but I’m sure he’s been thinking about it. ”
The elevator dinged and they stepped out onto Kat’s floor.
Her new office, the one that Ash Pierce didn’t know about, was at the end of the hall with just a number, 606, to identify it for potential clients.
No reference to her name or it being a detective agency.
Just a nondescript door leading to an ordinary office in a building that was largely unremarkable, other than its top-notch security.
As a former army ranger, Kat felt comfortable defending herself, but it was nice to have the extra measures in place, especially considering what they knew Pierce was capable of.
She was just opening the door when her phone rang. At the sight of the name on the caller ID, she got a rush of adrenaline. It was Jamil Winslow, the head researcher for HSS, who she knew through Jessie.
Even though Kat didn’t officially have access to law enforcement information about the authorities’ search for Pierce, Jamil had agreed to keep her in the loop whenever something new popped up in their system.
And because it was his nature, Jamil kept on top of everything new.
If he was calling, it was almost certainly about Pierce.
She didn’t bother with pleasantries when she picked up. She’d learned early on that he didn’t care for them.
“Hi Jamil,” she said breathlessly, putting him on speaker. “What did you find?”
“A body was discovered earlier this afternoon on the outskirts of Lake Tahoe,” he replied without any preamble. “It matches the criteria you told me to keep watch for.”
“Okay,” she said, feeling slightly guilty about her level of excitement as she and Hannah moved to her interior office, “what criteria?”
“The fingertips were cut off and the teeth removed,” he answered. “They know the victim was female but her face isn’t recognizable. Some kind of disintegrating agent—investigators believe it’s lye—was sprinkled over her.”
Those were exactly the hallmarks of Ash Pierce’s past murderous handiwork that she’d asked him to be on the lookout for.
“How was she found?” she asked.
“Between a service road and a lightly traveled hiking trail,” he said.
“A couple was hiking with their dog and he apparently took off, leaving the trail. They chased him for nearly a quarter mile before they caught up. He was digging at a mound under a pile of leaves and twigs. They were pulling him away when the guy noticed a toe jutting up through the dirt. They uncovered it enough to make sure that they had really found what they thought. When they saw the rest of the leg, they called 911.”
“Hey Jamil, it’s Hannah. I’m here with Kat. Do the authorities up there have any idea when she was killed?”
“The medical examiner is checking on that now,” he said.
“All they’re confident about so far is that it was pretty recent, but prior to yesterday.
There was a late summer snowstorm on Monday night and the investigators didn’t find any snow in the grave or signs of footsteps or other nearby activity.
They said that if she’d been buried after the snowfall, there would have been at least some sign of it.
They also noted that the dirt the killer used to dig the grave was still pretty freshly excavated.
They estimated four or five days at most.”
“Okay, so today’s Wednesday,” Kat said, doing the math aloud. “If she was buried before Monday night, we’re talking at least 48 hours ago. And five days ago, was Saturday. So, our window for the burial, if not the actual murder, is from last Saturday until Monday night?”
“Right,” Jamil agreed. “And there’s a little more. They don’t know how she died yet, but they believe the injuries she sustained were post-mortem. Something about coagulation. Other than the fingertips, teeth, and melted skin, there are no other obvious injuries.”
“Oh, just those then?” Hannah said, unable to control the sarcasm.
Kat winced slightly. Hannah was a funny girl, but Jamil Winslow wasn’t big on snarky humor.
“That’s correct,” he replied, either not picking up on her tone or just not caring. “As a result, they think she was suffocated or poisoned. They’re testing for both.”
“That’s awesome work, Jamil,” Kat said. “Are you willing to do some more?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’m already doing everything I can on HSS’s current cases so you won’t be pulling me away from my normal duties.”
“Glad to hear it,” Kat said. “I’m sure the police up in Tahoe are already all over this. But just in case, can you check to see if there were any cameras on that service road or the main road accessing it? Check that window of time we discussed: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.”
“I believe they are on that, but I’ll confirm with them,” he promised.
“Thanks, and I realize this next request is more involved,” she warned before diving in.
“While you’re at it, can you do a sweep of all the security cameras at gas stations, convenience and grocery stores, and motels all the way along the route from Tahoe back down here to L.A. , ideally using facial recognition?”
“That’s a huge swath of territory,” Jamil noted, though he didn’t sound bothered. “It’s almost 450 miles, mostly along US-395.”
“I get that,” Kat said, amazed that he had those details at his disposal without checking, “but Pierce’s options to get back here are limited.
There’s no way she could get on a flight without being grabbed up.
And she wouldn’t risk taking a bus or renting a car.
Too many cameras. Too many people. Too many chances to be identified.
She’s likely driving a junker that can’t be traced to her.
Or maybe even the vehicle of the victim if she was confident the woman couldn’t be ID’d before she got back here. ”
“What makes you so sure that she’s coming back to L.A.?” Hannah asked.
Kat could see the slightest hint of apprehension in her expression, which was a rarity for Hannah.
“She’s been off the grid for over a month,” she explained.
“We had no idea where she was. She could have just gone on her merry way if she wanted. The fact that she was willing to risk all this—a murder using her signature technique, in a location pretty far from here—tells me she’s planning something big.
And what’s more important to her than coming after us? ”
Neither Hannah nor Jamil responded. They both knew the answer to that one: nothing was. Kat wasn’t done though.
“Plus, the last time she did this to someone, in Ensenada, Mexico, it was to assume the woman’s identity so she could sneak back into the U.S.
She chose a woman who matched her physical characteristics and wouldn’t be missed for a while.
My guess is that she’s doing the same thing here.
This murder wasn’t random. That’s why it’s so important that we find out who this new victim is.
Once we do, we’ll have a better sense of how Pierce wants to implement her endgame. ”
“I’ll do my best to get you what you need as soon as possible,” Jamil said.
“I appreciate it,” Kat said, and then before she could stop herself, added, “because she’s coming for us.”