Page 40 of Junior Has a Secret

“Jack is weird,” he says, “and sometimes scary because of it.My only comfort is so are you, and you haven’t killed me yet.”

“Lucas is the crazy one,” I say, “so be warned.Life with him will be life without sanity.”I move on.“If he’s a copycat, the Umbrella Man is everywhere.It would be logical.”

“Yes, but the press is obsessed with the FBI agent daughter of the future governor who hunted the Umbrella Man.It might have helped him get elected.”

“You stab me in the heart and twist the blade, Tic Tac.You’re as lovely as you are foolish to move in with Lucas.”

“Stop with the Lucas stuff.Seriously, Lilah.What if it ties to the Junior messages and it’s another message?Maybe this is about you, not your father or the current governor.”

What if, indeed.No coincidences just feels right to me.And this gives me the answer that feels right.“You’re just making all kinds of good points, Tic Tac.Maybe I’ll make you a field agent after all.”

I can almost hear his heart racing.“Please don’t.No.Lilah, I do not like blood or bodies.I have nightmares and—”

“Relax.I’m joking.That would ruin your already-ruined love life.I don’t want to do that to you.Unless—are you and Lucas—”

“Oh, come on, Lilah.He’s a hound dog for women.We are not and will not ever be together.”

“And yet you are about to be together while doing your jobs.Get him out of bed, where he is always hanging out, pathetically alone for a hound dog or perhaps for that very reason.You and Lucas check traffic cameras, and find out who came in and out of that house and when.”

“With the cellphone issues, the cameras are going to be unlikely to help, but we’ll stretch beyond and hunt for footage.”

“I also need to know all the dirt on the current governor.We need to be careful not to make this about me rather than the killer using me for distraction.”

“On it,” he confirms.

“Put my cousin on.”

“He’s really sleeping.”

“Wake him up,” I say.

“He’s ah, not actually alone this time.”

“Okay then,” I say.There’s something in his voice that rings with a lie.He’s covering for him.Where, oh where, is my cousin?And why does the idea of him being Junior nag at me, almost as incessantly as Jay’s rambling?I set that aside for now.I have a John Doe who needs my focus.And theirs.“Wake him up,” I repeat.

“Really, Lilah?Do you have any boundaries?”He grunts.“Never mind.No.No you do not and I love and hate you for it.”

There’s a pinch of acid in my throat.“You’re officially undercover, Tic Tac, in your first field operation.”

“What?No.You said—”

“Make sure Lucas in not Junior.”

He’s silent several long beats.“You think—it’s him?”His voice is stricken.

“He’s one of the few people I repeated information to that Roger said to me.And until now, the notes were all Kane hate.”

“He does hate him,” he whispers conspiratorially, “but if it’s him, maybe he thought you weren’t listening about Kane, and he tried to call on the agent in you, to intrigue you?He’s lazy, but smart like that.And this last note was different.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure it matters.He went quiet.He could have returned with a new strategy.”

“We just tried to connect Junior to the murder, Lilah.You do know that, right?”

“I’m aware, Tic Tac.

I disconnect.

Chapter Thirty-One