I peeled back Nick’s sleeve for a better look. “How’d you figure out Aimee and Theresa were here?”
“Aimee’s been texting with her husband. We traced the pings to a tower nearby and found an old address for Theresa’s mother in the vicinity. Seemed like too much of a coincidence. Figured it was worth checking out. Do I even want to know what you and Vero are doing here?”
“Same thing you are. Solving mysteries. Stopping bad guys,” I said, erring on the side of less is more. “Only I guess we were faster.”
“Remind me never again to question the efficacy of your research skills.” Sirens wailed in the distance, their whines growing closer.
“At least I brought my partner with me. What the hell are you doing out here alone, Nick? You could have been killed. Where’s Joey?”
“He’s spent all day looking for your ex after Steven gave us the slip this morning. I didn’t want to pull him off surveillance. I was only planning to do a drive-by to see if Aimee was here, but I heard gunfire and called for backup.”
Vero returned, frowning at her phone. “I tried Joey’s number three times. He didn’t pick up. I left him a message and told him to meet you at the hospital.”
The hair on my neck bristled. The more I thought about it, the more this didn’t sit right. Nick said the reason Feliks was able to get away with so much was because he had a few dirty cops in his pocket. Joey became partners with Nick right after Feliks had been arrested. Right after Feliks had developed a fascination with Nick. And Joey knew Nick and I were having dinner last Saturday night at Kvass, which would explain how Kat had known we were there. Then there was Cam … Cam was Joey’s CI, but he’d chosen to reach out to Nick when he knew Joey was out of town. Why? And why clam up and run as soon as Joey got back?
I give you everything I have, and then Joey and I are done.
Cam said that finding EasyClean’s identity had cost him. He knew something about EasyClean, enough to give us a clue, that EasyClean wasn’t necessarily a woman. It was as if he’d wanted us to figure out who EasyClean was, but he was too afraid to be the one to tell us.
Never assume you know who you’re dealing with online.
What if it wasn’t Feliks’s men who’d roughed Cam up, but a cop? A cop who didn’t want anyone to know about the forum because he’d been using it himself. A cop who’d been moonlighting because he needed money. A cop who’d been spending a lot of off-hours surveilling my ex in the name of helping his new partner. What if Joey only claimed Steven had given him the slip to deflect suspicion and clear the way for a well-timed attempt on Steven’s life? What if Joey had known where Steven was all along because he’d been the one to put the app on Steven’s phone?
Shit! His phone! Steven’s phone was in the van. He’d used it to tell Ted he was on his way here. And we hadn’t had time to remove the tracking app.
Which meant Joey could be following him right now.
Sirens blared. Red-and-blue lights flashed as cop cars and ambulances turned in to the Westovers’ driveway. EMTs rushed to Nick’s side, two of them hovering over him. I grabbed Vero’s hand, hauling her behind me around the side of the house. “We have to find Steven.”
Her breath puffed out in a cloud between us. “Why? He’s on his way here. Why don’t we just wait for him?”
“Because I’m worried he won’t make it this far. I think Joey might be EasyClean.”
“Joey?” I could feel her mind spinning backward in her sudden stillness, as if she was seeing the events of the last few days differently, the same way I had. “This isn’t good, Finn. We have to tell Nick.”
“No, Vero! We can’t say a word to him about this. We don’t have an ounce of proof. We thought for sure Aimee was FedUp, and we were wrong about all of it.”
“But what if you’re right this time?” Vero handed me the keys to the Aston. “Go. Find Steven. By now, he must be close. I’ll stay here in case he makes it this far.”
Nick shouted my name as I sprinted into the woods.
CHAPTER 41
I dialed Steven’s cell phone as I raced through the dark woods behind Carl’s house. The Aston glimmered in the parking lot ahead. My lungs burned as I reached for the door.
Steven answered without bothering to greet me. His voice was as chilling as the cold night air. “You have so much explaining to do.”
“I know,” I panted. “And I will. I swear. But you need to listen to me.” I pressed random buttons on the key fob until the interior of the car lit up and the doors unlocked. Ducking inside, I studied the controls and pushed a button to start the engine.