Maegan placed her hands on my chest and slid them up until they met behind my neck. “I don’t want to be a burden to you. Lulu, Rascal, and I can stay with my parents or one of my friends can stay with me. I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
I covered her mouth with my index finger. “I’m right where I want to be, Freckles. I think you know it too.”Okay, maybe there wasn’t much evaluating required.
She gave me a genuine smile then. “A girl can hope.”
I kissed her then. My lips lingered longer than a quick peck but didn’t part hers to delve deeper inside her mouth. I needed assurance that she was fine; the rest could come later when we were alone and had more time to explore.
“What do you think, partner?” Adrian asked once we were back at the police station. Kasey and Captain Roman-Wyatt joined us in an interview room so we could have privacy.
“Kasey and Maegan both make excellent points. Maegan is the only one who’s talked with the killer and is going off instincts.”
“Women’s intuition isn’t something we want to discount,” Kasey said with a wry smile. “Not to mention another certain case where the captain and Adrian had a run-in with a diabolical female. A certain seventy-year-old woman who snuck up on them and got the upper hand by hitting them over the head with something heavy. Maegan could be drawing on that knowledge just as much as intuition.”
“What case is this?” I asked, looking between Adrian and our captain.
“Never you mind,” Adrian said haughtily. “We still got our gal in the end. Well, I did anyway. The captain was in the hospital recovering from his injuries. See, he took his bad cop act too far and incurred a bigger wrath than my good ole boy routine.”
“Are you finished?” the captain asked his former partner with an incredulous expression on his face before he shifted his attention back to me. “I’m still waiting for a return call from Lieutenant Snyder with the Kentucky State Police informing me what time you guys should arrive. Plan on it being an early morning tomorrow, fellas. It’s at least a four-hour drive.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll be in touch with more specifics as soon as they become available.”
“Have a good night, Captain,” I said as he headed for the door.
“Same to all of you. Call right away if something breaks.”
Once the captain left, we resumed talking about our case. Adrian and I told Kasey what the realtor said. She had made a good point at Books and Brew that maybe delaying Maegan’s meeting had been intentional on his part. Did he need more time to work out a sick, twisted plan for her? If so, how would his killer have known that though?
“What if this person had been watching Renzo and waited for the opportunity. Was the killer privy to Renzo’s intentions toward Maegan? If so, why not tell the police?”
“Because they failed him or her,” I said softly.
“Or someone they love,” Adrian added.
“Sometimes you can see why people snap,” Kasey said. “But we still have to pursue this case like we would anyone else, even if Renzo turns out to be as vile as we suspect.”
“Agreed,” I told her. “If we turn a blind eye then we’re no better than the criminals we try to put behind bars.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Let’s start with what we know. Thom wasn’t in contact with anyone local on a personal level, including his uncle who resides outside of town. According to his uncle, Thom didn’t have anything to do with him beyond making final arrangements for his parents. Besides the auction house, Becker and Maegan were the only ones who recently talked to him. In all three cases, Renzo used email instead of the phone.”
“I sure wish we could find his cell phone. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and find his number when we search his residence tomorrow. A laptop with some clues would be greatly appreciated too.” Adrian looked up toward the heavens like he was asking for some divine intervention.
“So, are you saying that the killer followed Renzo from Kentucky to Ohio, but didn’t bring a murder weapon?” Kasey asked.
“Maybe our person has been watching Renzo for a long time. Saw an opportunity. Maybe they did know that Maegan was in danger. Could be they showed up to warn Maegan and snapped, using the first thing they found to take Renzo out.”
“Okay, let’s continue with that theory for a minute and see where it leads us,” I told them. “Our killer followed Renzo for four hours to Ohio and killed him at the first opportunity. Renzo didn’t see or hear them pull in?”
“Maybe he was too busy lying in wait for Maegan. He wouldn’t have known that she was bringing two men with her,” Kasey said. Damn it. I knew she was just stating a likely possibility, but it made me sick to my stomach all over again. “Sorry,” Kasey said when she saw my expression.
I waved her off. “Our killer must’ve stashed their car someplace close by then while they hid Renzo’s car at that old barn.”
“How’d they know about the place if they weren’t from around here?” Adrian asked.
“They passed the place on their way to Renzo’s house since they traveled down that road when they exited the interstate,” Kasey pointed out.
“Then they traveled back on foot to pick up their car. It’s possible,” I said. It would’ve been a very cold two-mile walk, but it was doable.
“Or we’re not talking about one killer.”
My head snapped up from where I’d been studying my boots while I worked the case out in my head. “What makes you think that, Kasey?”
“It’s just a possibility. Maybe they only planned to confront Renzo and things escalated. One driver took Renzo’s car to the abandoned property and the other drove behind and picked them up.”
