Page 185 of Protecting Peyton

“Not sure. Jordy mentioned that he’d taunted the police for years. Maybe it was more of the same, but that’s not important. Wellbourne hasn’t heard anything from the Boston DA about getting a statement from Peyton and O’Connor isn’t picking up his phone. That’s what I don’t like.”

Double fuck.My heart raced, internal alarm bells ringing. “We need to find them.”

“Exactly. What kind of car was he driving? I’ll get Jordy on it right now.”

“A white Tesla.”

“Well, that fucking makes it easy.” You couldn’t turn a corner in this town without bumping into a flock of Teslas.

I needed to hit something. I should have paid attention to my instincts and not let her go with him. She could be in danger right now because of me.

Peyton

As Zane openedthe door for me, I squinted in the bright light of a beautiful sunny day. The air outside was fresh and crisp.

He walked me out to the detective’s car and opened the door. “How long will this be?” he asked O’Connor.

The detective leaned over. “We should be done by lunch.”

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, it was childish, but I’d hoped for an answer more like an hour.

“Okay.” Zane thrummed his finger on the car’s roof. “Have the lieutenant call me, and I’ll pick her up.”

O’Connor gave him a nod. “You got it.”

Then, I kissed my man and slid into the seat. It was grin and bear it time. Once I was done with this, it was over until the trial, which Pete and Zane had insisted would be a few years out.

When Zane picked me up after this, I could finally get on with the rest of my life, free of the danger that had plagued me.

“Is that the watch?”

I held up my wrist. “It is.”

A block later, O’Connor patted his pockets. “Shit. I’m supposed to call my boss, and I musta left my phone back in the motel. Can I borrow yours?”

“Sorry. Mine is still at work.”

He waved a hand. “Aw, he can wait.”

I hadn’t noticed it at first, but the detective looked tired, like he hadn’t slept.

“This trip must have been hard on you,” I offered.

“You can say that again.” He blew out a sighing breath. “My boss didn’t want me to, but I had to come. Nancy and all the other women deserve my best effort.”

I recognized the name Nancy as his ex-wife, the killer’s third victim. “But at least you got your man.” It had to be doubly satisfying to have captured the man who killed his ex-wife.

“Yup. That’s one dirtbag that will never see the sun again, but it won’t…”

His face fell further without finishing the sentence.

“I’m a good listener if you want to talk about it.” My guess was that this brought back the memory of losing his wife, rather ex-wife.

“Catching him now doesn’t bring any of them back, not my Nancy, not your friend Cassandra, or any of the others. It sucks that we didn’t catch him sooner. So many senseless killings since my Nancy, and I couldn’t stop him.”

I bit back the sadness of his reminder of Cassie. “It’s not on you,” I insisted, leaning over to touch his arm. “He’s the monster. He’s the one responsible for them, and all the others.”

A tear crept down his cheek. “I still feel responsible. She shouldn’t have died. If I had been able to stop him sooner, so many women would still be alive.” He wiped the tear away.