“I understand you’re upset, Ms. Hunt,” he said. “But that kind of outburst isn’t productive for anyone.”
“Typical emotional woman,” Barney jeered. “Getting your panties all in a bunch, or should I say pantyhose? I don’t give a rat’s ass about your profiler buddy. What do you think of that?”
“Shut up!” Orlean hissed at him as Ryan dragged Jessie out of the room and slammed the door.
“I’m gonna kill him, Ryan,” she snarled.
“If we’re lucky the state will do it for us,” he told her. “But not if you mess it up. Go take a walk. Cool off. I’ll handle this, okay?”
“Aren’t you pissed?”
“Of course I am. I want to rip his trachea out, just like you were about to. But I want justice for Garland and those women more. So I have to swallow my anger. But rest assured, if this guy did it, he’s not going to be laughing much longer.”
After several deep breaths, Jessie nodded. She knew he was right. Going off on Barney Hemsley, whether he was guilty or innocent, wouldn’t do anything to help Garland.
“I’m going down to the pier,” she said.
“Good idea,” he agreed. “I’ll check in with you in a bit.”
He gave her a kiss and squeezed her arm affectionately. She tried to force a smile but found she couldn’t. As she walked toward the station exit, he returned to the interrogation room.
“Barnard Hemsley,” she heard him say loudly, “I’m placing you under arrest for the murders of…”
The door slammed shut, cutting off the rest of the sentence. She knew what came next. But it didn’t make her feel any better.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
The wind had a surprising bite to it.
As hot as the day had been, with the sun now having set, the ocean breeze felt suddenly malevolent, slicing against her sensitive skin with unexpected ferocity. She embraced it.
There was something clarifying about the sting. It cleared her mind and forced her to focus. The fury of the interrogation room was already starting to fade, replaced by a desire to put the pieces together, to ensure that Barney Hemsley paid the price for his actions.
She felt a buzz in her pocket and checked her phone. The text was from Hannah, saying the cops had arrived, cleared the building’s lobby and parking structure, and were currently doing a sweep of both the condo and the whole thirteenth floor. Jessie texted back thanks for the update and asked her to relay any additional ones.
She returned the phone to her pocket and took several additional deep breaths, trying to clear her head. She was at the very end of the pier, in the same spot where she’d stood with Ryan earlier today, seemingly a lifetime ago.
In the distance she could see the lights of several massive cargo ships, all waiting to unload their freight at the Port of Los Angeles. Much closer in, she saw a few surfers braving the black waters, oblivious to the sea monsters she felt sure were lurking just out of sight. Monsters liked the dark, though not necessarily the one she was hunting.
While Garland had been killed at night, both Priscilla and Kelly were murdered when the sun was still out. That was a brazen act, especially in such a highly populated, heavily trafficked area. It seemed hard to believe someone could have done those things and simply left the scene without being noticed. And Barney Hemsley, with his flyaway hair, rotund stomach, and garrulous nature, didn’t strike her as the type to recede into the shadows unnoticed.
Frankly, despite the mounting evidence against him, Barney didn’t seem right for this in any number of ways. The guy had everything—a huge house, a lucrative career, and a pliant, adventurous girlfriend.
More compellingly, he just didn’t seem like an obsessive, furtive guy. All his desires were right out in the open. If he was into choking attractive women for kicks, Brandee seemed amenable. And had she not been, he surely could have found women willing to play that game for the right price. Plus, he just didn’t seem like the squatter “type,” whatever that meant.
Yes, he had clear connections to both women. But they weren’t as personal as Ryan had suggested. And they could have just been coincidences. Barney was a grotesque human being. But he was also smart, or at least wily enough to almost taunt her into assaulting him. The idea that he would kill women that he knew could be traced back to him, even if they