I’m sure he killed Kim Mock in prison, but he did it to protect his brother. He threatened Monique Delmont and got all the evidence I had given her against his scumbag brother. The evidence proving Alex was a serial killer. He must have found Marie’s body after I killed her. I don’t know how he could have known about me unless Marie or Alex told him about my mother and about Alex being my father.
“I’ll talk to the sheriff,” I say. “He knows the Snohomish County Sheriff and can get more information than we can.”
“What should I do?”
“Call Mr. Bridges again. The guy from the victims’ advocacy group. See if he can remember anyone in particular that Mrs. Delmont talked about.” I’m hoping he mentions the names Blume and Moriarty. I want to get into those cases and find the dead girls’ parents again. I want to see if they’ve also had hang-up calls. Part of the evidence Michael Rader took from Monique were pictures of their murdered daughters.
Ronnie hurries off and I take a deep breath before knocking on Sheriff Gray’s door.
“Come in,” he says, and I can hear a desk drawer closing.
When I enter, I can smell hamburgers and onions. I’m sure if I look in his drawer there will be a greasy bag full of the stuff. He’s got a smudge on his chin. I don’t point it out. Who am I to judge? His wife does enough of that to the point he has to hide his food like an alcoholic hides his bottles. Burger-aholic. That’s him.
“You look like hell,” he says.
I try to perk up. I don’t do a good job of it.
“Sheriff, I need your help with this case,” I tell him. I shut the door behind me and take a seat across from his desk.
“You’re biting your nails again, Megan. What’s wrong?”
I take my finger away from my mouth and wipe it on my slacks. I grip my hands in my lap and take another deep breath. I don’t know how much I should tell him. I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t know because I might walk out of here in handcuffs.
He beats me to the punch. “This is to do with the picture I gave you, isn’t it?”
I can feel my eyes water and I don’t want to cry. I really like this man. I love my job. I love that I’m making a difference. Helping victims. Getting justice. Maybe in the form of vengeance, but justice all the same.
I nod. “I need to tell you some things. I hope you don’t hate me when I’m through. The picture you gave me is me when I was sixteen. I was going to high school in Port Orchard.”
He doesn’t say anything. I notice some hamburger grease around his mouth and I know I’m deliberately distracting myself. I take another breath.
“I’m not going to quit this case,” I say.
He nods. He knows he’s not going to stop me.
“I’m being stalked by a man named Michael Rader.”
Having said it out loud feels like a weight taken off my chest.
He doesn’t ask why. He says, “What can I do to help? I assume this guy is part of your investigation.”
His offer knocks me down. I expected him to take me off the case a long time ago. But he knows what this means to me. I tell him about Michael Rader’s visit to Monique’s house several years ago. I tell him of the threat he made to kill her daughter, Gabrielle, and her grandson. He doesn’t ask how I know this but I’m sure he will someday.
“Are you sure it’s him?” he asks.
“I had a kind of date with Dan Anderson a couple nights ago. Dan had both pictures. The one of me leaving here and the older one from high school. He said someone left them in the mailbox at his cabin. They were the same pictures you have.”
“Do you think Dan is in danger?”
“I don’t know. Can we spare anyone to keep an eye on him?” I ask.
“And you don’t want Dan to know about it. Am I right?”
“He’s already pretty pissed at me because I wouldn’t tell him anything. If someone could just keep a loose watch on him, it would be great.”
“I’ll get a car out there.”
I can breathe again. This is going better than I thought.
“Dr. Andrade said he found a chemical substance in Monique’s system. A paralytic agent. He can’t identify it yet. He thinks she