He took a sip of his drink, set the glass back down. “There’s no good way to say this, so I’ll just begin. Two weeks ago, a Phoenix woman went missing. Disappeared from a bar in Carefree after her shift one night. Two days ago, her body was found in the desert.”
Josh shifted in his chair. Tory caught a flicker of something in his eyes that put her on alert. “You knew about this?” she asked.
“Ham called when she went missing. He thought I’d want to know.”
“Brown’s been calling me for updates,” the detective said. “He’s working for you?”
Josh nodded. “After what happened to Lisa Shane, I asked him to keep me updated on the investigation. He called, told me about the girl. I was hoping she took off with her boyfriend. I didn’t know you’d recovered her body.”
“Information hasn’t been released pending notification of next of kin.”
Tory zeroed in on Josh. “You should have told me when it happened. Why didn’t you?”
“Like I said, I was hoping the girl had just left town.”
Larson’s gaze remained on Josh. “Or maybe you didn’t want to worry her.”
Josh looked away.
The detective turned back to Tory. “The thing is, there are similarities between the Shane abduction and what happened to the waitress, Patty Daniels. The coroner puts the time of death about a week after Ms. Daniels went missing. The ligature marks on her wrists and ankles indicate she was restrained during the time she was missing. Before she was killed, she was violently beaten and raped.”
Tory thought of Lisa and swallowed against a wave of nausea.
“What was the cause of death?” Josh asked.
“Strangulation.”
Josh’s hand tightened around his frosted glass. “Bastard wanted to enjoy it.”
“That’s right,” the detective said. “I’ve seen this kind of behavior in certain types of killers.”
“What type?” Josh asked.
Larson flicked a glance at Tory, but spoke to Josh. “Serials. Men who are sexually aroused by torturing their victims before they kill them.”
Tory trembled. Could Damon be a serial killer? It didn’t seem possible. But she had read about killers, men like Ted Bundy who seemed to live completely normal lives.
She took a breath for courage. “Why are you here, Detective Larson? What do you want from me?”
“I want you to tell me about Damon Bridger. So far Lisa Shane hasn’t remembered anything about the attack on her. The doctors think there’s a good chance she never will.”
Tory had spoken to her friend several times since she had moved from Phoenix. Lisa sounded upbeat, glad to be back in Cooperstown, grateful for the chance to rebuild her relationship with her parents.
She’d been a wild teen, her parents overly strict and determined she marry a man they approved. Now they were getting to know the responsible, successful career woman their daughter had become.
In a way, it was good Lisa didn’t remember what had happened during those terrible days in captivity somewhere in the mountains.
“When we spoke at the hospital,” Larson continued, “you were convinced Bridger was the man who abducted Ms. Shane. You thought he might have been looking for information about where to find you.”
Tory’s hand trembled where it rested on the table. “I don’t know, I . . . I thought it was possible, but you said he had an alibi. I don’t know Patty Daniels. Why do you think she’s connected to me?”
Larson looked at Josh, who reached over and caught her hand, quieting the tremors. “She was your size, honey. And she had your same red hair.”
Her breath froze. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. “Oh, my God. You think Damon murdered that girl because she looked like me?” She shook her head. “I know Damon’s crazy, but surely he wouldn’t . . . wouldn’t . . .”
“You use the word ‘crazy,’” Larson said. “You think he’s mentally unbalanced?”
She dragged in a shaky breath and fought to collect her thoughts.
