she laced her fingers together. She swallowed, nodded. “My brother he, uh, he killed my father. He . . . tried to kill me too, but I survived. He didn’t quite cut deep enough.” She swallowed again, her eyes drifting off behind him as though seeing into the past. “He set the house on fire and my sister died inside. I tried to . . . save her. I tried, but the fire was too hot . . . too . . . intense. There was so much smoke. I . . . couldn’t see.”
Oh God.
“I’m so sorry, Liza,” he said, his voice hoarse as though he’d somehow breathed in some of that smoke she spoke of.
She gave him the ghost of a smile. “Thank you.” She reached over and touched his hand. A frisson of electricity passed between them. He felt it and he saw by her conflicted expression that she did too. Her eyes met his as she drew her hand away. “For everything. You’ve been . . . nicer to me than I deserve.”
“You deserve more than you think you do.” Their eyes held for a few moments before he looked away. “Anyway, you’ve gotta be exhausted. Let me help you up to a room and then I’ll leave you to get some sleep.”
Fifteen minutes later, key card in hand, they boarded the elevator to the floor her room was on. They rode in silence, Reed remembering the first time they’d been in an elevator together. Her eyes darted to his, cheeks flushing, and he thought she was probably thinking about the same thing. When the door opened, he held out his hand. “After you,” he said, his voice deeper than he’d intended, threaded with the recollection of that night.
He walked her to the door of her room and stood back as she opened it. She turned suddenly. “Reed, you . . . believe me, right? That someone was in my apartment tonight?”
“Of course I believe you.”
Liza licked her lips, nodded. She blew out a breath.
“I’m going to do some checking tomorrow, see if there were any other break-ins in the area, things of that nature. Give me your cell number and I’ll call you with any updates.”
“Okay.” She reached into her purse and brought out a business card with the Lakeside Hospital logo on it. “The after-hours number listed is my cell number,” she said as he took it from her. “Thank you, Reed, for . . . everything.”
He nodded once. “Go on in and lock the door. I’ll wait until I hear the chain engage.”
“Okay.” She began to turn.
“Wait,” he said, leaning a shoulder on the doorframe. “Just one last question.”
She turned back, a small line between her eyes. “Yes?”
“Where’s the lake?”
For a moment she appeared confused, and then understanding lit her expression and she laughed. She brought her fingers to her lips as though wiping the smile away, and gave him a concerned look. “You didn’t see the lake, Detective?” She tilted her head, tapping her finger on her lips. God, you’re pretty.
“No. I didn’t see the lake.”
“Hmm. Very concerning. Maybe you should make an appointment in the morning.”
Reed grinned, pushing off the doorframe and taking a step back. Their gazes held. “Maybe I should. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Sleep well.” She ducked inside.
He waited until he heard the click of the lock, followed by the chain sliding into place, and then walked back toward the elevator. He didn’t want to leave her, could feel her pull even from a descending elevator car, and dammit he’d enjoyed making her smile for a moment there. But he knew he had to go, knew it was for the best.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Everyone, have a seat please.” Sergeant Valenti walked to the front of the room, turning toward Reed, Ransom, and the three other detectives who had gathered to go over the murders of Steven Sadowski, Toby Resnick, and Margo Whiting.
“Detectives Davies and Carlyle are managing these cases, but we’re going to need several hands on deck to do the footwork necessary to check into any and all leads. This case could escalate fast and we want to get ahead of it if we can.”
“Sir, are we thinking we have a serial killer on our hands here?” Detective Rob Olson asked.
“Maybe. We usually hesitate to name a suspect a serial killer until there are three victims, but despite that the MO on one of the victims”—he pointed behind him where the victims’ names and photos and all relevant information to each case