he was in contact with the guy who did them. And the more time goes by, the more I’m convinced the real killer has Agent Laura Coleman.”
“And I should believe you why?”
I sucked in a deep breath, knowing I was playing my last card. “Because I’m telling you I killed Gerald Peasil.”
He was silent. I knew I had very little time until the trace pinpointed my location. He said, “Why?”
“You were right. He attacked me in the wash. I let him take me into his van so I could find out how many women he might have raped and killed. The kind of thing it would take you days of interrogation to find out, if ever. We fought, and I accidentally killed him. Then I discovered he wasn’t just a serial killer. He was specifically sent to assassinate me.”
“And why are you telling me this now?”
“You’re not paying attention. It’s Coleman. Too many hours have gone by since anyone has seen Coleman. I don’t know how else to convince you of how serious this is except to tell you the truth about Peasil.”
“You’ll tell us what you know. We’ll start a search.”
“Right. First you’ll have to explain everything to your boss and spend about ten hours interrogating me and if my instincts are right we don’t have time for that. Start the search now. I’ll work it from my end. And I’ll turn myself in after she’s found.”
Silence. “We’re at kind of a standoff, aren’t we, Brigid? I have no reason to propose we start a search for Laura Coleman, just your say-so. You don’t come in, and I have no choice but to kick this upstairs. I can’t keep it to myself any longer.” He didn’t sound triumphant, just sad.
“I’m so sorry, Max. I’m sorry to put you in this position.”
“Right.”
“Really. Listen, if you won’t help find Coleman, do me the favor of just holding off the dogs until tomorrow morning. I promise you I won’t run. Can you believe that?”
“No. I can’t.”
I had hoped this would work, but that’s why I already had a plan B just in case. So I didn’t spend any more time trying to convince him. “Okay. I give up. I’m coming in.”
The next tram was coming. Before Max had time to further voice his disbelief, I disconnected and leaned the cell phone against the back of the low wall where it would be unnoticed by hikers but found by Max. I knew Max wouldn’t trust me; he’d trace the phone instead and follow me here rather than wait for me to come to him.
Once I knew he had the phone, I’d tell him to look for the deleted numbers. If something happened to me, maybe he would. But I wasn’t sure what he would do immediately. Would he have the phone traced on the QT? Or would he report our conversation up the line? Would they issue an APB on me? Probably. Possibly. Just to give me the eighteen hours or so that I asked for was playing fast and loose with procedure. With Max I couldn’t tell anymore what he’d do.
But I had enough time to get back to Coleman’s place so I could find out if there was an autopsy report on the lot lizard that would narrow my search on NamUs. I wanted to see where it took me.
Forty-seven
The fifteen-minute tram ride down out of the canyon, plus the drive through back roads to make being spotted less likely, gave me a little time to think about what I had learned from Floyd Lynch.
He was innocent of murder.
He had met the real killer in a chat room. We all knew that the Internet had created a paradise for pedophiles and other perves. You google serial killer chat room and you get a quarter million hits. I know because we’ve tried to monitor them. You can’t do anything with that amount of intel, let alone tell the difference between the fantasy and reality from that many sites.
By doubting Lynch’s confession, Coleman and I were on to something that threatened the real killer to the extent that he sent Gerald Peasil to get me. He probably met Peasil the same way he met Lynch, had shared information and knew that Peasil had a taste for older women.
When that failed, he tried to kill me himself in the park and then kidnapped Coleman.
Even if I could convince Max that Coleman had been abducted, if all the efforts of the sheriff’s department and FBI