Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,73

simply have them vanish so he could back the theory they’re not related. Just unfortunate random acts.”

Trey’s voice came through the speaker again. “Agreed. So I looked back at the crime scenes he worked at his previous precinct. When he was on a beat. Same deal there. Always the first on the scene, then keepin’ himself in the investigation by sharin’ as much information as possible with the detective assigned.”

“I assume that’s why he aimed high, got promoted to detective. He could manage them from a different angle, not chance someone finding out about his brother,” Reese said.

Brantley grunted, something that sounded like agreement. “Probably easier when he was assigned to a sector. He knew how to time it.”

“Exactly. But it’s the women from those old cases who caught my attention,” Trey said. “They disappeared at roughly the same times as the current set. All in groups of four over the period of a year.”

“Somethin’ catch your eye on the dates?” Reese asked.

“Yes. The months of their disappearance change, but they’re always taken on the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth of the month. In that order. Those happen to be the days of the month the first four women were born, too.”

“He memorializing them?”

“Maybe. And the first woman’s body did turn up three hundred and forty-seven days after her disappearance. Every woman since has been the same.”

“OCD, perhaps? Not a memorial, a ritual?” Brantley theorized.

“Could be, sure.”

“And no one tied that together before?” Reese asked, looking over at Brantley.

“How could they? You’ve got the man responsible for their disappearances, and possibly their deaths, handling the cases.” Brantley directed his voice to the speaker. “Did he stay involved in the first cases?”

Trey was quick to answer. “According to the notes, yes. One of the detectives marked it down as questionable. Seemed put off by how nosy he was. Looked like Collins showed a significant amount of interest and it drew suspicions. Shortly thereafter, another woman went missing.”

“He was takin’ the heat off himself,” Brantley said. “Probably got a little too close when tryin’ to cover it up. Realized he had to do something to redirect. Do you think there’s a significance with those dates?”

Reese shook his head. “I don’t. I’m leanin’ more toward it being a tradition he’s set for himself. A way to remember the others by.”

“Or a goal,” Trey said. “He has those dates set in his mind, which gives him something to look forward to. Not sure how he selects a month, though. The disappearances aren’t spaced perfectly.”

Reese sighed. Just another thing they didn’t know for certain.

“You at home?” Brantley asked Trey.

“No. Still here at HQ. JJ and Baz are upstairs, pullin’ more information. Figure if y’all are pullin’ a late night, we will, too.”

“Well, keep at it, Trey. I think you’re on to something,” Reese told him. “Let us know as soon as you find anything else.”

“Will do.”

The call disconnected.

“He’s comin’ out of his shell quickly,” Reese told Brantley.

“Just wait. My brother might be reserved but he knows how to get shit done.” Brantley reached over, squeezed his hand. “Why don’t you catch a couple hours’ sleep. I’ll keep an eye on the house.”

Because they were in it for the long haul, Reese knew he couldn’t argue, so he reclined the seat. Within seconds, he was out.

Chapter Seventeen

When Trey disconnected his call, Baz made his way down the stairs. He hadn’t wanted to interrupt and was doing his best not to insert himself into Trey’s research. The last thing the guy needed was Baz providing his opinion when it wasn’t warranted. Trey was doing a damn fine job, and Baz wanted him to maintain that confidence.

At his desk, he sat down, opened his laptop, and typed in his password. His stomach growled and he thought about food but shrugged off the thought. Too much to do.

“The brother? Really?”

Baz looked up at the loft, where he’d left JJ, but he was unable to see her. He could definitely hear her, though, and she seemed perplexed about the idea their suspect could be Detective Collins’s brother.

“You don’t think so?” he called out, spinning around in his chair so he could see her if she chose to come down.

“I mean, maybe,” she said, appearing at the top of the stairs, iPad in one hand as she tapped the screen with the other. “I just wanna know how the good detective could cover somethin’ like that up.”

“Family,” Baz mused.

“Nope. No way.” JJ shook her head as she started down the stairs.