of apartment he would live in, and that he would even walk with a limp on his right side. And when that wasn’t enough…” Her narrowed gaze swung to Agent Richardson… “When Agent Richardson here insisted on going by his ridiculous assumption that the man was a college professor, I’m the one who gift wrapped the perp when I set myself up as bait and lured him in.”
“What the hell did she do?” Joel’s breath froze in his chest. “Tell me that she did not say she became bait.”
“Oh, yes, she did. That’s Chloe.” Cedric’s words were grim. “Are you starting to see why I told you to run from her? Getting the full picture now? Wishing you’d listened?”
He wasn’t running. He was watching. She waved toward the officers. “You all listened really well while Richardson was giving his spiel, and that’s wonderful. But before you go searching for this perp, you need to know that his profile is flawed. Not the first time, not the last. He keeps making mistakes.”
Richardson’s face had gone back to being extra mottled. “You have no authority to—”
“You know me,” Chloe said to the cops. “Have I led you astray before?”
“Not even once,” Cedric responded. His voice was clear and certain.
Richardson fired him a dirty glare.
“Sorry,” Cedric didn’t sound the least bit sorry. “Thought she was waiting for a response. Don’t like to leave a lady waiting. My mama raised me better than that.”
Richardson turned off the screen. “If I’m so wrong, tell me what I’m missing.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Educate us all!”
Chloe’s gaze darted around the room. Lingered on Joel. She swallowed.
“That’s what I thought,” Richardson continued. Smug. So very smug. “You don’t have anything to add so how about you let me take over from—”
“It’s not about what the men—the victims—did now. It’s about what they did before. You neglected to mention that the victims knew each other. That they all shared a connection in the past.”
A furrow appeared between Richardson’s brows. “What the hell are you—”
“May I have the remote?” She didn’t wait for him to reply. She just took it. A few moments later, she had Ray Malone’s picture up on the screen. “Ignore the bloody mess that is his body,” she informed the assembled men and women. Her accent thickened just a little. “Instead, focus on the ring finger on his right hand.”
Joel squinted at it.
“That’s a state championship ring. A football ring. Focus on it. Think about it. And now…” She pulled up the image of Gregory Guidry. “Guidry was also big guy, yes, Richardson had that part right. He was big guy who once played high school football and took his team all the way to a championship ring. Go Pirates.” She clicked the remote a few times. Got to the shot of Gregory’s Guidry’s wife. “As you can see, Gregory had the same ring.”
“Uh, ma’am?” One of the cops raised his hand. “I don’t see that.”
“Where are we supposed to see that?” Another officer stood up and peered at the picture. He even shuffled closer to get a better view
Chloe walked to the screen. Tapped her finger against the woman’s bruised cheek. “Do you see the design there? The raised pattern? When Gregory punched his wife, he was wearing his championship ring.”
“Holy fuck,” Joel breathed. Now that she was tracing her finger over the spot on Michelle Guidry’s cheek, he could see it, too.
“A little emblem on the top. A V for Victory. Pretty distinct.” She stepped away from the screen. “If you dig into Donnie’s past, you’ll see that he played on that same team.”
Silence.
Chloe cocked her head toward Richardson. “Though, honestly, it would have been helpful to look up their pasts before you did this big profile reveal. How long does it really take to see if they all went to the same high school? I’m sure you could figure that out with a few clicks on a keyboard.”
He looked away.
“Ah.” Chloe nodded. “You already knew they went to the same high school. But somehow, that wasn’t important enough to note? What about being on the same football team? Did you know about that, too?”
“No,” he gritted out. “I didn’t.”
“Now you do,” Cedric drawled. “Good thing Chloe was here, huh?”
Joel was worried that Agent Richardson might be choking. It was not healthy to be that particular shade of red. He should probably see a doctor. One who gave a fuck.
That wouldn’t be me.
“Maybe this isn’t so much about a killer