them. Or she could find a way to get close enough to him to use that switchblade.
“But why Elaine’s ex-husband, Kit Randolph? What threat could he possibly have been to you?”
“He was still close to his ex-wife, so after we suspected she’d seen something, we monitored her communications. We were smart to do it because after Kim’s death, she reached out to Randolph and was trying to set up a meeting. We thought we’d taken care of the bitch before she could tell him anything, but then we found out he was nosing around her apartment and even took her camera and keys.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t take a chance with him.”
“Another senseless murder.”
“If you knew anything about me, you’d know I don’t do anything that doesn’t make sense. This was too gigantic a deal not to take out insurance if necessary.” He gestured to Roberts lying on the ground. “And you’re the one who caused this man’s death.”
She looked down at Roberts. His eyes were closed, but he was conscious, still pressing her jacket against his wound. Live, Roberts. You gave us both a chance. Now stay with me.
And where are you, Lynch? She knew that only a few minutes had passed, but it seemed forever. Stall. Keep Dietrich talking. Probably the only reason she was still alive was that he wanted to show her how clever he was and how he had outsmarted her.
“And it made sense for you to kill your partners?” She turned back to him. “No honor among thieves?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It all started to unravel after I discovered you and Hayes on the rooftop of that building, right after you killed Kit Randolph. You knew we’d identified Hayes. You couldn’t risk him getting caught and spilling your whole scheme. So you killed him in that hotel. Was that your local staging area? A fleabag hotel with no security cameras, where no one notices anyone coming or going?”
Dietrich smiled. “You’ve given this some thought.”
“As did you. You were taunting me with that fake bomb in my car in the manner of some serial killers I’ve faced off against. You were still desperately hoping that might keep the law from thinking those killings were anything more than the work of a random psychopath.”
“Isn’t that what you thought?”
“For a nanosecond, maybe. Pro tip: Serial killers almost always work alone, and they don’t deal with hired thugs to carry out their plans.”
“Very good, Kendra.”
“It’s like a prism. When the last lens clicks into place, suddenly everything becomes very clear. Like why Cardona had that sticky oil on the bottom of his shoes. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but now I guess it was some kind of industrial oil that could be used to run rock drills or jackhammers. He was helping you reopen the tunnel. He wasn’t running drugs through the campus at all, was he?”
Dietrich smiled. “Excellent. You’ve exceeded my every expectation.”
“You killed him, but it couldn’t have been planned ahead of time. Another dead body on campus and more attention was the last thing you wanted. So you were hoping we would follow the drug angle, since that’s how Cardona made his living.”
Dietrich shrugged. “It was him or me. It certainly wasn’t going to be me, since I was the driving force behind the extraction. He started putting pressure on me for a bigger share when he realized how much money was going to be made on this operation. He shouldn’t have been so greedy.”
“I think you would have killed him anyway. You would have just waited for the timing to be more convenient.”
He chuckled. “You’re probably quite right. That prism of yours is working at top form. Too bad that last lens didn’t click in for you a bit earlier. When you could have actually done something about it.”
“Who says it didn’t?”
“Because you’re out here alone in the dark and soon I’m going to be on my way to a place where no one will be able to touch me, with millions in my bank account.”
Her phone rang.
“Maybe not quite alone,” Dietrich said softly. “Lynch is going to be disappointed when you don’t answer.”
And she was frantically disappointed she couldn’t answer Lynch, but she couldn’t let Dietrich see it. “He won’t be disappointed he’s missing all this bullshit you’re giving me. You sound very self-satisfied about your future prospects.” She paused. “That’s probably because you’re going to go with Delgado to Russia.” She was putting it all together. “At first, I thought