“That said, there’s also a history of predators purposefully targeting victims no one will miss. Their victimization isn’t a byproduct of habit; it’s strategy.”
“And you think that’s what happened here?”
He touched the paper again. “When Marti disappeared, her family raised hell. Her aunt lived down in Dallas and was an executive at a microchip company. She had money to spend on organizing, and she did. There were flyers and searches and news reports. Pressure was applied to the Herriman Police Department.”
“And after that attention this supposed serial killer stopped killing?”
“Yes. I think he moved on after things got too hot. But that means they could have stopped this killer sooner.” He gestured toward another photo.
This dark-eyed girl smiled for the camera, but only with her mouth. There were no crinkles of happiness around her eyes. No bunching of the muscles of her cheeks. This looked like a forced school portrait, and she’d barely played along, hopelessness glowing from her eyes.
“Tiffany Miller was so far off the radar that I can’t really say if she disappeared or not. She was in foster care, no family here in Herriman. I have a tape of two officers discussing the case with some crony reporter of theirs. They’re laughing about Tiffany, calling her trash. One of those officers is the chief now.”
“Jesus. That’s so sad.” She thought of Detective Mendelson so diligently searching for the young woman Lily had helped disappear. It broke her heart that the old Herriman Police Department had just let these girls vanish without any alarm raised. “I assume the department never acknowledged they might be connected?”
“No. Never. Marti Herrera’s aunt was the one insisting her disappearance must be related to some of the other girls, but the police kept repeating there wasn’t a bit of evidence of any foul play, much less connection between them.”
She shook her head and sighed, looking over the sad board and its sad contents. They all looked like girls she’d known herself. Girls who were trying too hard, just as she had, swinging too far into fads and trends, even if you could only afford an approximation of the look. The growing pains of trying to find your place in the universe during adolescence.
She sighed. “I’d better get inside with Everett before he . . . I don’t know. Becomes a cat burglar spy in my absence? Thank you for explaining everything.”
“It’s all right.”
“No. You have every right to be furious about what Everett did, so I can’t thank you enough for understanding.”
“He was worried about you. How could I be mad at that?”
“Well . . . he did violate your privacy and your uncle’s privacy.”
Alex shrugged. “It’s a small town. There isn’t much to begin with. And Uncle Alex said he was a nice boy. He really does love kids. He’d love it if Everett came to see him again.”
“That’s a kind offer,” she said, her heart twisting at the idea of Everett having a grandfather figure in his life. He’d missed out on so many normal things. What if she’d already irrevocably warped him with this isolation?
“I might stay in Herriman for a while to work . . . ,” he said.
Lily cleared her throat and decided to ignore the careful question in those words. “Are you already writing?”
“I’m still researching and contemplating who to contact for—”
“Hey there!”
Lily looked up to see Mac riding back toward the entrance. “Next checkup’s in a month, and I should be cleared for driving. Your boy wants to go fishing, you know! Thought it’d be nice to take you out for a day on the water.”
That would be nice. It would be really nice. But Lily had no idea if she’d be here in a month.
She let Mac through the gate, and then waited there, giving Alex a clear signal he should go. He took it, offering her a tired wave of farewell. “I’ll check in in a couple of days, if that’s all right.”
“Thank you.”
Lily didn’t know what to feel as she headed back into the office, carefully locking the door behind her. Horrified? Grateful? Plain old exhausted? All of them fit the bill. What she didn’t feel was fear, but it sprang fully formed into existence when she opened the apartment door and heard Everett’s hoarse cry.
“Nooo!”
“Everett!” Skin crawling with terror, she raced to his room to find him crouched on the floor with his hands over his eyes. “What’s wrong?”