Page 41 of Headcase

“I need a favor,” Asa said.

“Anotherfavor?” Jericho barked.

Asa huffed out a breath. “Yeah, one you’ll actually follow through on and not rat me out over. Besides, that body didn’t dismember itself.”

Jericho scoffed. “Man, you said don’t tell your dad. I didn’t. You’re welcome.”

“Can you boys fight about this later?” Calliope asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” Asa muttered. “Do you still have an in with the police? Like that ex-boyfriend of yours?”

Another snort of derision. “Gabe works at Best Buy now,” Jericho reminded him. “And Gabe’s former colleagues were all his buddies, so I don’t think I can ask for their help either.”

“Shit,” Asa grumbled, looking at Lucas. “What about you? Still have any pull with your Fed friends?”

“No, pretty sure that ship sailed when I accused a fellow agent of being a mass murderer and then got locked up for thirty days.”

“Um, I know someone,” Cricket said, waving her hand with an irritated look on her face. “Why do none of you ever ask me?”

All eyes swung to Cricket as Jericho’s voice popped up on the line. “There you go. I gotta get back to work.” Then he was gone again.

“Who do you know, Cricket?” Lucas asked.

Cricket smoothed a hand over her black skirt with the white polka-dots. “My cousin, Jagger. He’s a detective. Violent crimes.”

“You have a cousin named Jagger?” Lucas asked.

Asa’s gaze jerked to August. “You had a baby with a girl whose cousin is a homicide detective and you’re giving me shit for dating a reporter?” he asked, exasperated.

“Dating?” Lucas said, a smirk forming. “Are you twodating? I thought he was just a hookup. That’s what you told Jericho.”

“Holy shit. Does Avi know you have a boyfriend?” Cricket asked, clapping her hands together like an excited child.

Zane was looking at Asa like he was insane. He hadn’t meant to say dating. It had just slipped out. Asa could take it back, but he didn’t want to. Dating seemed such an innocuous word for what they were doing. They weren’t dating. Zane was his. He’d marked him. Claimed him. His obsessive need for Zane was so much more than a word as casual as that.

“Can you ask your cousin if any of the computers were confiscated in these most recent suicides?” Zane asked quietly. “They sometimes take them to look for a note.”

“Yeah, I can ask. But what are we looking for, exactly?” Cricket asked.

Zane shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. Something out of the ordinary.”

Cricket frowned. “But wouldn’t the cops have noticed something?”

“Only if they knew what to look for,” Calliope said. “I know what to look for. Cricket, if your cousin can get me access to one of the victims’ computers, I can look for any hidden programs and websites he visited. In the meantime, I’m going to take a deep dive into the darknet abyss and see what I can find on a US version of the Blue Whale challenge.”

“Cricket, can you also see what information you might be able to get from the staff? Any and all gossip might be helpful,” Asa said.

Cricket stood and nodded. “Always happy to gossip for the Mulvaneys.”

Once she was gone, Asa grabbed Zane by the arm, helping him to his feet. “Calliope, can you get me a list of names of all the victims and expand the search to look for more victims.”

“Expand the search how far?” Calliope asked.

Asa grimaced, giving Zane’s arm a squeeze. “Nationally. Check the whole fucking country.”

“Got it.” Then Calliope was gone as well.

“You can’t tell Dad about Zane,” Asa said to August, pulling Zane closer.