“He couldn’t be in two places at once,” the detective continues.
A cold chill wraps itself around my neck while I break out into a sweat under my arms. I feel clammy. Unsettled. And he hasn’t even told me the worst of it yet, I’m certain.
“He’s been in Toronto since Thanksgiving.”
“CanadianThanksgiving?” The first week in October. A week before the incident with Jackson. When I first met Sylvan and Faust.
Slowly, watching me all the while, the detective nods.
“But that doesn’t make sense. He’d tell me if he was close. He’d say if he was an hour away. He?—”
“Sure,” Lincoln soothes. “If he weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“It must be about work. Maybe he had a client in the city and he?—”
“He didn’t. He hasn’t been working. We contacted the CEO of his firm. We know he’s sent anonymous texts to at least one of the victims, including information on you. We know he bought a ticket to Haunt Night, and he was there Halloween night.”
My stomach twists into knots.
I don’t speak. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“What we can’t seem to figure out,” Lincoln continues, “is where he is now.”
My pulse thunders loud in my ears, but on the outside, I remain calm.No.I don’t believe Nolan did it. They have the wrong person, and I’m not giving up my brother yet. It’ll give them time to find therightkiller. I shake my head and clear my throat, meeting the detective’s eye directly.
“This isn’t rational.” My voice sounds far away from myself. “If it were him, and let’s say he’s targeting men who have… bothered me…” I swallow as I trail off. “Why hasn’t he come after Faust and Sylvan?” For one heartbeat, even as I’m staring right at him, I forget I’m speaking out loud. My own head is a mess of a puzzle I can’t solve.
Lincoln must see it, because he clears his throat.
“Jackson Merit. Will Barbour. Mitchell Breems. Ace Lancaster.” He says all of their names carefully, and I tense at each one. “It’s unfair, but in the world of crime, there are hierarchies. Cases and victims that get more attention than others from the public. These men may or may not have been good people, but that isn’t the point I’m making. The point is this: Very few others have mourned their passing. Not enough to make them go viral, or demand justice, or amplify their deaths. Maybe they don’t deserve amplification,” he shrugs. “Jackson Merit had a record. And other people far more deserving than him never get justice, either.”
I take a breath and I don’t look up.
“But, as you said, your brother is professional, and successful. He knows all of these points exactly. And he knows harming a star hockey player for Drayton University?Thatwill cause an outrage.”
“So you’re saying they’re safe.” It’s the first thing that comes to mind. Maybe I’m selfish, but in the moment, it’s all that matters to me.
Lincoln lifts one shoulder in a shrug, watching me carefully. “For now. Until your brother finds a way to get to them too.” He exhales slowly, glancing down at the desk, then back up at me. “But the real question is,are you?”
I tense, my shoulders locked, and I refuse to hear all the subtle insults and constant control Nolan had over certain aspects of my life. He’s also treated me in luxury, answered the phone every time I’ve called, been there while Mom hasn’t.
I grit my teeth and narrow my eyes. “He won’t hurt me.”
“I’m not so sure that’s true.”
“Do you have any evidence to suggest he’s after me?”
Detective Lincoln smiles, but it seems sad. “He’s staying above the bookstore right now, isn’t he?”
I don’t answer immediately. I think of how the boys fed me, how Sylvan caught me when I almost fainted in the alleyway. How both of them stepped in front of Jackson for me, before we knew one another.
“You went there. You’d know.” It’s the only betrayal I’ll utter right now.
Lincoln glances down at the desk, then back up. “I don’t have a warrant yet. But I sent a guy over there before you walked in here.”
I know I’m holding my breath, hanging onto his every word, but I don’t speak.
“There was a book shredded into pieces right outside your door, scattered on the bat doormat? Stolen, no doubt, from Blackwell’s, which is open, as I’m sure you know.”
