looked at the phone lying on the bar. “What? Locke? What?”
Locke started backpedaling. “It’s not his MO. Not at all.”
Drex crossed to the bar and shouted toward the phone. “What?”
“A woman was found dead in Waterfront Park.”
“Near the water, and you say it’s not his MO? He’s sending me a valentine. When did it happen?”
“First call came in less than an hour ago.”
“How was she killed?”
“No visible wounds. No blood. No obvious weapon.”
“Then why’s she dead?”
“Her neck was broken. Looks like he killed her barehanded.”
Drex plowed his fingers through his hair, then held them there, cupping the top of his head.
Locke said, “But you didn’t hear any of this from me. Other detectives were assigned. It’s their case—”
“Not anymore. It’s mine.” Drex pushed the phone toward Gif. “Get the details.”
“He may not want to tell—”
“Then get them from someone else.”
Gif picked up the phone and began talking to Locke.
Drex said to Mike, “Get on your laptop. It may already be online news. Get the buzz.”
“That’s what it’ll be. Buzz.”
“Get it anyway.”
“Where are you going?”
“To bring the car around. Where’s the key?”
While still talking to Locke, Gif fished the key fob from his pants pocket and tossed it toward Drex. But Talia’s hand shot out and caught it in midair. “I’ll drive,” she said.
“You’re staying here with Mike.”
“Half an hour ago, you said you don’t have any contacts in Charleston. You don’t know your way around.”
“We’ll find our way.”
“I’m going.”
“You need to stay here.”
“No, I need to do this. I need to do this.”
He tried to stare her into compliance, but realized how unfair that would be. She had offered to help, and she needed to do something to assuage the guilt she felt over Elaine.
Mike huffed up behind them. “I got the exact location. I’m coming, too.”
The four of them piled into Gif’s car. Drex rode shotgun, the other two got in back. Talia was driving—speeding—toward the waterfront at the confluence of the Cooper River and the Atlantic, where the so-named park, the pier, and other attractions made the area a destination landmark of Charleston.
Gif filled them in on what Locke had told him. “Locke says CID is hopping.”
“CID?” Talia asked.
“Criminal Investigations Division,” the three men said in unison.
Gif continued, “Two back-to-back female homicide victims within twenty-four hours sent up red flags.”
“No shit,” Mike said.
“Have they identified the victim?” Drex asked.
“Sara Barker. Her purse was found beneath her, strap was still on her shoulder. Driver’s license, credit cards, all there. Diamond wedding ring on her finger. It’s believed she was attacked from behind as she was about to get into her car.”
“Age?”
“Thirty-nine. Having dinner out with three girlfriends. Her husband was at home with their two children, boy, age nine, girl, six.”
Drex clenched his fist and thumped his forehead with it. “Completely random victim. Something else he hasn’t tried. Or, hell, maybe he has. Maybe he’s killed dozens we don’t know about, and I’ve only spotted the ones that fit a pattern.”
“Which this one doesn’t,” Mike said. “So you don’t know this was him.”
“I know,” Drex said. “He’s showing off. Catch me if you can, asshole. That’s what he’s thinking.”
Talia broke in. “I see an empty space in there.” She pointed out the parking lot of a busy restaurant. “This may be as close as I can get, and we’ll be inconspicuous here.”
Drex nodded approval. She pulled into the parking lot and claimed the space. The instant she cut the engine, Drex reached for the passenger door handle.
“Drex, you can’t go,” Gif said. “Neither can Talia. Last thing Locke said, he warned me that Rudkowski would bulldoze his way into this, whether CPD liked it or not. If you’re seen—”
“We’re had.” Drex cursed Gif’s rational thinking and underscored the curses with additional ones because Gif was right.
Mike said, “You stay here. Gif and me will nose around and pick up what we can.”
“Thanks all the same, Mike,” Gif said, “but you’re too much mass to go unnoticed.”
Drex said, “He’s right.”
“No offense taken. I’ll stay here in the nice, dry car, and update you off my laptop.”
Drex asked Gif for Locke’s phone number, which he supplied. Before he got out, he asked Drex if there was anything specific he wanted him to look for. “Rudkowski,” Drex said.
“Goes without saying.”
“You see him, shrink out of sight and come right back. Also keep your eyes and ears open for a calling card from Jasper.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wants me to know it’s him,” Drex said. “He’ll have left me a sign.”