seating area. Bennett shut the door behind them. Beyond the glass, the sky was getting dark as thunderclouds rolled in.
Emilia tugged on the scarf around her neck. “Hello? Anyone here?”
Footsteps came from an office in the back. Moments later, a man appeared. John McInnis. Emilia recognized him from his driver’s license photo. John was tall and good-looking with a trim beard and striking blue eyes. The sleeves on his button-down shirt were rolled up to the elbows.
When he saw Emilia, a flash of something akin to recognition crossed his face before he smoothed out his expression. “Hi, welcome to McInnis Management. I’m John. How can I help you?”
He was pretending to not know her. An alarm bell dinged internally, but Emilia decided to play the game and see where it went.
“Mr. McInnis, my name is Special Agent Emilia Sanchez.” She flashed her credentials before gesturing to Bennett. “And this Texas Ranger Bennett Knox. We’d like to speak with you about a case we’re investigating. Is there someplace we can sit down?”
“Sure. Come on back to my office.” He waved for them to follow. “Special Agent? Are you with the FBI?”
“No, sir, state police.”
Emilia and Bennett followed John to the inner office. Files were spread across the conference table. The desk contained neat stacks of paper and a half-drunk mug of coffee. John gestured to two chairs across from the desk. “Please sit. And ignore the mess. We’re working on an annual assessment of our properties.”
“Annual assessment?”
“Yes, we tour the homes and apartment complexes to make sure there aren’t any maintenance problems.” John settled in the leather chair behind his desk and flashed a charming smile. “But you didn’t come here to discuss the woes of property management. You mentioned a case you’re investigating. What case?”
Bennett set his cowboy hat on the desk along with an umbrella. “We’re following up on Alice Nelson disappearance.”
John’s brows lifted to his hairline. “Alice Nelson? I thought that case was closed.”
“Who told you that?”
“N-n-no one. I just…” He ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. A flush colored his cheeks. “Forgive me, I’m shocked. Alice disappeared a long time ago after accepting a ride home from Derrick Jackson. After he was found guilty of murdering those other women, I just assumed…”
“No, Mr. McInnis, the case is still active.” Bennett removed a pad from his shirt pocket, along with a pen. “Did you know Derrick Jackson?”
John shifted in his seat. “Not well. Derrick was one of the maintenance men for our properties.” His gaze darted between Emilia and Bennett. “Of course, that’s not something we would like to have advertised again. It took forever for things to die down after last year. It was terrible for our business—”
“No, sir,” Bennett said. “We’ll keep it quiet.”
“Thank you.” His shoulders dropped. “We do background checks on everyone who works for us. Derrick didn’t have a criminal record. When I heard about what he’d done, I was horrified. One of the victims—Rachel McAdams—lived on one of our properties. I always wondered if Derrick saw her while doing maintenance work. It’s awful to think about.”
Emilia sat up straight. Derrick wasn’t the only one connected to Rachel. John was, too, since she was living in a property he managed. “Did you know Rachel McAdams?”
The young woman had been the serial killer’s final victim last year. While returning home from work, Rachel was grabbed from the parking lot of her apartment complex. She was killed and left in a nearby park one week before Christmas.
John shook his head. “Not personally. We have managers that handle the day-to-day business at the apartment complexes. But when I saw in the media that Derrick was responsible for those other women’s deaths, I assumed Alice had been one of his victims.”
Emilia leaned forward. “Did you ever speak to the sheriff about your theory regarding Alice’s disappearance?”
“No. Why? Should I have?”
She found it strange. If John believed Derrick was involved in Alice’s disappearance, why not speak to the sheriff? Alice’s case had never been connected to the others. Then again, even in small towns, people minded their own business from time to time. And Sheriff King never took kindly to interference in his cases.
Emilia needed to be careful. She was personally involved in the investigation and it might cause her to see things that weren’t actually there.
“How well did you know Alice?” she asked.
“Not well. We went on a few dates, but the relationship wasn’t serious. I considered us friends though.”
“You were identified