I nodded. “More than anywhere else, right now. Whoever this guy is, he wouldn’t know who Killian is, or where he lives.”
“Unless he followed one of your drivers. Which I’m not saying he did, just that it’s not out of the realm of possibility.” Jonah lifted his hand. “Maybe not likely seeing as Holt knows how to shake and spot a tail. I think you’re covered. But Addison, you can’t go MIA at all. Otherwise, we’re going to have to find a safehouse for you. One of the FBI’s choosing.”
“You can’t make me go into hiding,” I stated with conviction. I was my own person. I made my own choices about my safety, but I was also smart and would listen to reason.
Jonah closed his eyes and lifted his head to the ceiling then sighed. “No, but it’s not okay for you to scare the life out of your mother and sisters.” He pointed to the bathroom door that was just now opening. Simone exited with her hair in a high ponytail and not a stitch of makeup on her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she looked calmer.
Simone instantly noted how Killian was holding me and her lips shifted into a beaming smile. She had her slouchy cardigan hanging off one shoulder and covering most of her hands, but she lifted one and waved to Killian with a single finger. “Hot guy photographer, I assume?”
I rolled my eyes as Killian chuckled and looked down at my face. “You talking sweet about me to your sisters?” I shrugged one shoulder, not wanting to give too much away as he leaned down in front of everyone and gave me a peck on the lips. “How do you like your coffee, gorgeous?”
“She likes flavored creamer and nothing else,” Simone prattled off, moving to her man and hooking her arm around his shoulders. He wrapped a long arm around her waist and brought her close to his side where he sat, and she stood.
“Don’t have flavored creamer, but I’ve got milk and sugar until we can get some,” Killian answered.
“Perfect, thank you.”
He gave me a second kiss in front of my family and let me go. I turned to find Simone grinning like a loon. All signs of her upset completely wiped away by the sight of me and my new hot guy photographer. “Shut up. Not a word,” I warned.
She shook her head then pretended to lock her lips together and toss an imaginary key over her shoulder.
“What else do we know about the latest victim? Was there a note other than my picture? Anything we can go off?” I asked.
Ryan and Jonah both shook their heads. “None of it makes sense. This victim had your body type and hair color, but not the burns on the arms. And she wasn’t strangled. She actually died from a blow to the back of the head which knocked her out, then she was burned. As if the killer had used an accelerant but we won’t know until we hear back from the forensics report. It’s on a rush but it still takes time.”
“Where was she found?” I shivered and said a little prayer in my mind that the victim would rest in peace, grateful that she wasn’t awake for the violence she withstood after the blow to the head.
“The dumpster in front of the old building you’d been kept in with Simone. So that tie is still there.”
“Anyone could have looked that up though,” I offered. “The Backseat Strangler was a widely publicized case, and media was everywhere when Simone and I were taken from that building, not to mention Sonia being the Senator.”
Killian set a cup of coffee in front of me and I wrapped my chilled hands around it, letting the heat soak through to my bones before taking a sip. He took the rest of the coffee orders, but I could tell he was keeping an ear to the conversation but also being a good host.
“The other thing we know about this victim is that she fought. There were bruises and broken nails on her fingers.”
“DNA?” I asked.
Ryan shrugged. “We’re hopeful. The Backseat Strangler never left DNA though, so if this is a partner, he’s being pretty stupid, and his MO is a bit chaotic. Frantic almost. The girl in the park wasn’t killed there but dropped there to be found. The MO was the exact same as the Strangler, except the burns down