behind. He flushed red when he moved, and his wedding ring had dug deep into the flesh of his left hand. His custom suits and shirts fit immaculately, and if his mind moved as deliberately as his body, it was also extremely resistant to shock.
“I need you to be patient, Beth.” Noah set his briefcase on the table and lowered himself carefully into the chair beside her.
“I need to be out of here.”
“And we’re working on that. But it would help if you told me what you were doing in that hotel room, and why you booked it in the first place.”
It was those last words that actually snagged Beth’s attention.
“Wh-what?”
“The room was booked through an online service in your name.”
Of course it was. Beth ran her hands through her hair and tried to suppress the sick laugh welling up in her. I really should have seen that one coming.
“You have to tell me what’s going on, Beth,” said Noah.
How long had they been setting her up? At least three weeks from what Susan told her, but they could have been hanging around for months. Driving back and forth from Perrysborough—picking those times when Kinseki’s gullible idiot was on shift, figuring out which members of the staff were on his payroll—building their possibilities, mapping out her life, waiting for their chance.
“Noah, all you need to know is that I have to get out of here. If they’re not charging me, they can’t hold me, right? You tell them whatever you need to, but you get me out of here. Now.”
She did not have a whole lot of time. Patel would already be at work. She’d talk to Susan. She’d talk to Rafi and Angela. Rafi knew Beth’s given name, and he knew more about her parents than anyone else did.
Rafi won’t say anything. I can trust him.
Then again, Rafi’s silence would just let Detective Patel know that he had information. It would be easy for her to find out that Beth and Rafi had been friends back in the bad old days. Those old details could lead to old names. If the detective was patient, and she felt to Beth like a very patient person.
Once Patel had Beth’s given name and even a partial list of her parents’ aliases, she’d have no problem finding Beth’s first victim.
Beth had to be gone before that happened.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“It’s everywhere!” roared Todd as Dana and Jeannie came into the kitchen. “It’s all over the fucking news!”
This was a nice house, and it had a nice kitchen—polished wood cabinets and soapstone counters. And Todd was in the middle of it, microwaving burritos. There was a party-size bag of Doritos on the dining table. And a plate of taquitos on the pass-through.
The whole meal is going to rhyme, thought Dana, dazed. She collapsed into the nearest chair. Except for the booze. Because there was also a full bottle of vodka and a six-pack of beer.
Dana was wearing too-long yoga pants and a pink sweatshirt with cutouts on the shoulders. She didn’t want to think about how she was hiding in somebody else’s house and probably wearing their clothes. It made her sick on a whole different level. That was probably stupid, but it was true.
“What’s on the news?” Jeannie grabbed the taquitos off the counter and brought them to the table. “Here you go, hon-bun.” She put one on Dana’s plate.
Dana couldn’t even make herself look at the “food.” She stared straight ahead of her. There were French doors off the dining area, and she could see that the house had a nice back deck and stairs going down to a nice patio and a nice spread of lawn. There was a nice privacy fence and nice old trees. She couldn’t see any other houses, but they’d probably be just as nice.
There is no way we are still in Chicago, she thought.
“Your goddamned fuckup!” roared Todd. “It’s all over the fucking news!”
Jeannie pointed at Dana’s taquito. “Now, you eat that, hon.” As if to demonstrate how this worked, she ate one of her own in two bites, and, still chewing, she tore open the bag of Doritos.
The smell of the fake cheese hit Dana hard, and to her shock, her mouth watered.
“Come on.” Jeannie shoved the bag toward her. “You’ll feel better. I promise.”
“Oh yeah, listen to her and all her promises.” Todd cracked the seal on the bottle of vodka. “Just look where they’ve gotten you so far.”
“Did they say anything about Mom?” she asked.
Todd