Chapter 9
“What did Peterson say?” Lana asked.
Max didn’t say anything as they walked toward the big dance club on the corner of Pearl and Main. Lana thought maybe Max hadn’t heard the question, but that was impossible. There were a lot of people out and about tonight, but it wasn’t that noisy. He’d heard her. He was simply too worried to answer. That scared her.
Lana had spent last night at Max’s place; then today, they’d gone to visit the Wallace kids and their mom at the shelter again. They’d brought Mrs. Wallace some clothes, toiletries, and food for her and the kids, as well as coloring books for Natasha and Nina and games for Terence. After that, they’d gone back to Max’s place and hung out, watching TV, playing video games, and, of course, making out a lot. It was the best day she’d ever had in her life, and she couldn’t wait to do it again tomorrow. Except tomorrow, maybe she’d spend the whole day naked, just so she could drive Max crazy. She enjoyed the fact that he couldn’t see her naked without wanting her.
They’d just gotten out of Max’s Camaro and were heading toward the club when Peterson had called. She’d only heard Max’s side of the conversation, and while he hadn’t said much, he’d definitely been in cop mode.
“Max?” she prompted when he still didn’t reply.
He slowed his steps, pulling her over to the side. When he looked at her, his expression was serious. “Peterson doesn’t have an ID on the John Doe yet, but they think the same person who murdered him killed Denise.”
After seeing the photo of the guy, Lana had suspected as much. “Do they have any leads on the killer?”
“No. But they both had the same drug in their system, administered at some point prior to their deaths.”
“What?” Lana frowned. “Denise didn’t take drugs, I know that for a fact. They must have made a mistake.”
Max shook his head. “This isn’t a drug she took on her own. It’s a heavy-duty animal tranquilizer the killer injected into both of them with a dart gun of some type. The ME found the puncture marks once he knew what to look for. He said Denise had so much of the stuff in her system she barely felt the pain during the torture—for what that’s worth. The drug was what killed her. The gunshot to the head came afterward.”
Lana’s knees went weak and she reached out to grab Max’s arm to steady herself. “Why would the killer give animal tranquilizers to Denise? Who does that?”
Max didn’t answer.
A couple walked past them, laughing about something. Lana didn’t even look at them.
“If Peterson said something else, something that explains all of this, please tell me,” she begged. “Because I’m getting really scared now.”
“You should be scared,” he said. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen these people’s handiwork. My teammates and I first heard about one of their victims in New Orleans back in September. While that murder happened over two years ago, we’ve since learned there have been a lot more of them all across the United States. There could be some in other countries, too, but we can’t confirm that yet.”
Lana’s head spun. What was Max saying? That these people were globetrotting serial killers?
“What’s the deal with the animal tranquilizer?” she asked, not sure now whether she really wanted to know.
Max waited while a group of women strolled past before answering. When he finally spoke, his voice was tense.
“Before I tell you about that, there’s something else I need you to know, something I hope will help you understand how serious this all is.”
Lana tightened her grip on her purse as her teeth, gums, and fingertips began to tingle. She barely noticed. The strange sensations were starting to feel almost normal to her now.
“Peterson told me that Denise’s parents got in from Alaska today,” Max continued. “They went through the apartment and noticed that whoever killed Denise went through her address book.”
Lana remembered the book Max was talking about. She used to tease Denise all the time about keeping a physical address book when everyone else on the planet stored all that stuff in their phone. But what the heck did that book have to do with any of this?
“How do her parents know that?”
“Because they tore out some pages in the middle—including all the contacts listed under the letter M.” He took a deep breath. “Lana, they have your parents’ address. They know where you’re staying while you’re here in Dallas—or at least where you were staying.”
She frowned. She didn’t understand any of this and the confusion was frustrating the heck out of her. Her heart was thumping like mad and every noise around her was beginning to sound way louder than it should. “Why would they care where I’m staying?”
Max grabbed hand, squeezing it tight. “Lana, I think the people who killed Denise did it because they thought she was you. Once they realized she wasn’t, they tortured her to figure out where you were. With all the tranquilizers in her system, I doubt she told them very much, but now that they have those pages from her address book, it doesn’t matter. They know where to find you.”
She shook her head. “That’s crazy, Max. Why would anyone come after me? I’m a recent college graduate with fifty thousand dollars in student loans. And what does any of this have to do with animal tranquilizers?”
For a moment, Max looked like he was at a complete loss for words, which only made her worry more. What could be so bad he couldn’t even say it?
“I never wanted it to come out like this.” He sighed. “Once I realized you had no clue how special you are, I was going to wait until later, when I could bring it up in a way that wouldn’t freak you out.”
