Laurel’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t realized Monty would resort to such a ruthless strategy so quickly.
“That sounds lovely. We appreciate you coming in to see me tomorrow.” He ended the call.
“Monty,” Laurel said.
Monty took a deep gulp of his latte. “That’s the only language she understands. She’ll be here to talk to us tomorrow morning.”
Laurel wanted to groan. She turned to the screen at the far end of the conference room and quickly brought up the streaming channel.
Somebody buzzed in at the front door, and she stood, hurrying to the reception desk to see Pastor John and a woman on the screen. She buzzed them in, and they walked up the stairs.
Laurel straightened. “Pastor John. Don’t you have church services today?”
“I was let go after Zeke firebombed me in front of the entire congregation,” the pastor said. “I heard your phone message this morning and thought I would just cut you off at the pass.” He pointed to the woman next to him. “This is Lativa Jones, and we were together all last night. So if you’re trying to pin the Rachel Raprenzi kidnapping on me, you’re way off base.”
Lativa appeared to be in her early thirties with curly red hair and sparkling green eyes. “I’ve never been an alibi before,” she said, grinning, “but we were together all night.”
Laurel looked at Monty, who’d followed her down the hallway. “All right. Have you been to Santa Fe lately, Pastor John? Before you answer, please remember that I can track your movements and that it’s a crime to lie to a federal agent.”
The pastor frowned. “I’ve never been to Santa Fe.” His voice remained level and he did not fidget.
“Are you certain you’ve never met Delta Rivers?” Laurel asked.
He sighed. “Yes. I promise.”
She would have Nester double-check his whereabouts for the last month, but she couldn’t create a scenario where he’d killed the victims. “Very well. How about Pastor Zeke? Has he been to Santa Fe recently?”
“I have absolutely no idea where that man has been,” Pastor John snarled.
She had leads to pursue and didn’t have time to waste. “Would you return tomorrow morning when Agent Nester Lewis is back in the office?” Nester could track them in real time. If Pastor John had an alibi, he’d be cleared of the other murders, considering the same crampons had been utilized at all scenes except for Teri Bearing’s. That one kept poking at Laurel’s subconscious.
“Sure thing,” Pastor John said. “I need to clear my name.” He slid an arm over the woman’s shoulders. “We’ll be back tomorrow.” They left with Lativa chattering excitedly about being part of the process.
Laurel hurried back into the conference room with Monty on her heels.
Rachel came onscreen beside a thirtysomething man with curly black hair and greenish brown eyes. “Oh, no,” Laurel muttered.
“What?” Monty pulled out a chair
“That’s Lucas Carver.”
Monty set his elbows on the rough wooden door. “Who’s Lucas Carver?”
Laurel shifted uncomfortably. “We attended graduate school together and then were at Quantico at the same time. Whenever any professor graded on a curve, if I had the highest A, he would have the next grade.”
“Oh,” Monty said, nodding. “So if he had the highest grade, then you—”
“No,” she said, “I always had the highest grade.” She sat back to look at Lucas. How in the world had Rachel found him?
Rachel smiled prettily, despite the bruise on her face. “So tell me, Mr. Carver,” she said, “you’re an expert on serial killers, correct? You’re a profiler?”
Carver laughed, the tone charming. “We don’t really believe in the term ‘profiler.’ We’re more behavioral analysts, if that helps, and please call me Lucas.”
Rachel twittered, looking like a heroine from a tragic novel with a bruise over her cheekbone and her blond hair up in a ponytail. She held her right arm against her ribs as if experiencing pain. “I’ve detailed for our audience what happened to me last night, how I was kidnapped and put into the dog crate but then managed to escape.”
Carver reached over and patted her hand. “You did escape. You’re a very brave young woman, and you are smart, and you kept your wits. You’re the first one to live after facing this brutal killer. You’re very impressive.”
She smiled, the expression somewhat shy.
