Page 51 of Seven Deadly Sins

He nodded. “That’s what I’m leaning on. My biggest suspect is Carl Landry.”

“Why?”

He gave her a quick glance. “The opportunity to find people he deems as sinners, the meeting today which I’d be willing to guess these other men attended. We know they were all at the club today by either their mouth, the club roster, or their wife’s lips.”

Harper rubbed her temples. Proving any of them to be the person who used assassins would be near impossible. They’d have to catch them in the act. Even more impossible since the person stayed behind the scenes.

Her phone buzzed. “The chief wants us back at the station.”

~

For a lecture no doubt. “I’ll contact my buddies when we arrive.” He made two calls before he and Harper joined the chief. One to his FBI buddies, and another to men who were once active agents and were now for hire for just about anything. The FBI would arrive within three days. The others would start digging immediately.

Chief Donnelly wasn’t happy about anything they told them. “I didn’t authorize the FBI.”

“We’re getting nowhere on our own.” Liam crossed his arms.

“I’m also getting complaints from Harrington’s most upstanding citizens about you two harassing them. It’ll only get worse when the FBI starts pounding on their doors. HPD is not happy.”

“Making people happy during a serial killer’s rampage isn’t a big concern of mine.”

“Instead of bothering people, you should be out looking for the woman who kidnapped Ashley Stevenson. She’s our killer.” The chief’s face darkened.

“But she’s only the assassin. We need the one who has hired her.” Liam refused to back down. He was right. All he needed to do was prove it.

“Heed my warning, Agent McConnell, or I’ll contact your supervisor.” The chief waved a hand dismissing them.

Harper glared over her shoulder at the chief’s door. “How can he be so unreasonable?”

“Stress from the pressure of ending all this.” He didn’t fault the man, but he also wouldn’t be deterred.

Back in the office he shared with Harper, he booted up his computer to dig deeper into the backgrounds of the men they’d visited today. Landry’s background seemed too clean. Parts of his life seemed to be missing. Not married, no children, attended Harvard, successful plastic surgeon. Nothing more. No social media, no news articles or press releases. It was as if the man’s past had been scrubbed. Was what Liam found real or was Carl Landry an alias?

There were no Landry’s on the list of those who died under the care of Harper’s grandfather. “What do you think about the idea that Landry isn’t the doctor’s real name?”

She turned from the case board. “A new identity?”

“Yeah.”

“That would mean he’d been planning this for a very long time.”

“I’d say from the day he lost someone he cared about.”

She leaned against her desk. “Without DNA, he’s a ghost. The chief is right. We need to focus on the assassin. Draw her into a trap and prevent her from killing herself like the other one did. Force her to talk.”

“This isn’t the CIA. We can’t torture people and make them talk.”

“I bet you know people who can.” She tilted her head. “Am I right? I heard the two phone calls you made.”?

He laughed. “Alright, Miss Smarty Pants. Yes, I have a team working on this case. They will keep us updated.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” A flicker of pain crossed her face.

“I didn’t want you involved in case it went all wrong.” He kept his gaze on her sad one.

“I don’t need you to protect me, Liam. I was doing just fine before you showed up.”

“Yes, you were, but this perp wants us working together. I’m sorry for veering away from that.” He got to his feet. “Let’s go home. We can pick up something to eat on the way.”