Page 173 of Dead Man's List

“I am better. They’re going to let me go to a regular room tomorrow.”

“Good.” Kit moved closer, examining his face more closely. His eyes were brighter, his skin less sallow. “Thank you,” she murmured.

That night in the woods, he’d dragged himself to a sitting position in the car’s back seat, and Kit couldn’t imagine how he’d managed it. And then he’d fired at Shoemaker. Twice. He’d get a medal for this. Kit wouldn’t rest until she made that happen.

“You should’ve left me,” he said, his tone logical. “Glad you didn’t, though. Not sure when I’ll be back at work.”

“Navarro’s giving me a temporary partner. I made sure he knew it wastemporary. I want you back.”

Connor’s grin brightened his whole face. “Yes! I finally replaced Baz the Magnificent.”

Kit snorted, even though she felt a little bad for making Connor feel like he’d had to earn his place with her. “Baz is not magnificent. And you didn’t replace him. Nobody could. But I do kinda like having you around.”

“Aw.” Connor faked wiping a tear from his eye. “I’m overwhelmed by your deluge of love.”

“I’d hit you if I could,” Kit said dryly. “Where’s CeCe?”

“I made her go home to get some rest. She was beat. Dad drove her home. You just missed them. So tell me everything. Mom won’t let me watch the news.”

“Because it’s all awful,” Susan said, taking the chair next to Connor’s bedside. “That horrible Tamsin Kavanaugh is gettingso much screen time, doing interviews, talking about her ‘time with Brooks Munro,’ like it was some kind of fated love story.”

“I saw that interview,” Sam said, standing next to Kit. “It really was awful.”

“Tamsin Fucking Kavanaugh,” Kit muttered darkly.

Connor chuckled, then winced. He had a broken rib and his lung had collapsed from the blow of the bullet. But the vest had saved his life. Kit’s belt had done the same with his leg, the tourniquet holding back most of the flow until they’d gotten him to the medical center in Julian.

“Did you find the Ferrari?” Connor asked.

“We did,” Kit said.

She and Sam had rejoined Navarro back at the scene after seeing Connor off in the medevac. They’d discovered many gruesome things that Kit was still mentally processing. Shoemaker had kept fingers and toes and other body parts in jars in that little cabin. “The Ferrari was in a large shed behind that ratty cabin. The shed even had lighting—floodlights mounted on the ceiling that were powered by a generator. When the switch was flipped, they all came on and illuminated the Ferrari like it was a museum piece.”

“A souvenir,” Sam said. “He kept Munro’s Rolex, too.”

“What about the gold bracelet Veronica left in the glove box?” Connor asked.

“It was there, too,” Kit said. “CSU found it. The bracelet was just one item in a bunch of jewelry she was arrested for stealing. Bruce Goddard found out that it had been stolen twenty years ago from a dead woman’s jewelry box in Tulsa. The rest of the jewelry was recovered in pawn shops at the time. We think Veronica and Munro used the money to finance their new start in San Diego.”

Connor frowned. “And the girl? The one you said was in the cabin?”

“Daniella,” Sam said. “She’s here, in this hospital. We’re going to see her after we’re done with you.”

“Why was she there?”

Kit grimaced. “Shoemaker’s daughter wasn’t enough for him, so he apparently picked up homeless teenagers off the street.”

And had been doing so for a very long time.

“Three of Daniella’s friends ended up at New Horizons,” Sam said. “They were instrumental in my figuring out that Neckbeard was Shoemaker. One of the girls—Amy—saw him itching the inside of his wrist, then pulling down his sleeve. I’d seen Shoemaker do that after you two had interviewed him at SDPD. Turns out he was the director of the drama program at the school where he taught. He was apparently good at doing different voices.”

“And looking shocked when told his wife was dead,” Kit added.

Connor sighed. “He sure fooled me. I never questioned that he’d come straight from court on Thursday afternoon. How did he manage to kill Bert Ramsey’s wife? Didn’t he have a tail?”

Kit scowled. “His lawyer lost the tail after he picked Shoemaker up from court an hour and a half earlier. The lawyer claims he was just pissed at the SDPD and wanted their eyes off his client. He seemed shocked to learn that Shoemaker was a killer. And all the other things. The lawyer is being investigated, and the cops that didn’t report that they’d lost Shoemaker are being disciplined.”

“As they should be. That lawyer could have had a hand in killing us both. He needs to be disciplined and so do those two cops.” Connor hesitated. “Is the girl—Daniella—okay?”