Page 93 of NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority

“Start with her name,” I said.

“I don’t know her real name. Online, she goes by BeenThere2. After I posted on HHNF, she started sending me private messages. I never gave her Shane’s name. I just talked about my boss. I guess she figured it out.”

“You guess?” Kylie said. “Your Facebook page shows you all happy about working at this cool new restaurant, with pictures of the exterior and the menu. How hard would it be for her to figure out who your boss was?”

“I didn’t think of that. I just wanted to vent. At first, it felt good to be supported, but then... then she took it to the next level.”

The dam burst again, and Natalie buried her face back in the pillow. If she was hoping for any genuine compassion from either of us, she was sorely mistaken. Kylie leaned over toward me and whispered through gritted teeth, “Fucking screwball.”

It took another two minutes for Natalie to cry it out.

“Show us the messages BeenThere2 sent to you,” Kylie said.

“They’re in my laptop. I’ll get it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kylie said, and followed her into the bedroom.

They came back, and Natalie opened her computer to the HHNF page we’d seen last night, but now we could read the direct messages. There were dozens, often coming minutes apart. Even without analyzing them carefully, it was easy to see how seamlessly BeenThere2 went from being a sympathetic observer to a champion of women’s rights, to an avenger ready to punish the offender on Natalie’s behalf.

“We’re taking your laptop,” Kylie said. “And we want a list of all your social media accounts, along with your usernames and passwords.”

Natalie nodded her head in instant agreement.

“And if you want to stay out of jail, do not access your social media from any device, whether it’s yours or anyone else’s.”

“I promise,” Natalie said.

We stood up and headed toward the door. “Any questions?” Kylie asked.

“Just one,” Natalie said. “How is Shane?”

“Shane was lucky,” Kylie said. “He survived. Which is more than I can say for the others.”

“There were others?” Natalie said, choking on the words. “And they’re... they’re...”

“Dead,” Kylie said, spitting out the word.

Natalie clenched her eyes tight.

“Open your fucking eyes!” Kylie said.

Natalie wentwide-eyed.

“And keep them open,” Kylie told her. “You brought these evil people into your life, and they did evil things on your behalf. Our job now is to stop them from doing this to anyone else.”

“Thank you.”

Kylie opened the front door. “So keep your mouth shut, and as soon as we leave, lock this behind us. We’ll talk to the doorman on the way out, but don’t open it for anyone you don’t know.”

We left, and Natalie shut the door. Just as the elevator arrived, she swung it open again. “Detectives!” she said, her voice a loud whisper.

“What?” Kylie snapped.

“Tell Shane I’m sorry,” Natalie mewled through fresh tears.

Kylie turned away and stepped into the elevator. “Yeah,” she muttered. “That ought to make him feel better.”

CHAPTER 62