Page 94 of Seven Deadly Sins

The master bedroom was clearly a woman’s with a white canopy four-poster bed. The open closet showed a few articles of clothing from thrift store to glamour. Same with a few pairs of shoes. Yes, these two had left in a hurry.

She peered at a pair of white sneakers. Rust-colored dots marred the right toe. “Liam.”

~

“Want to bet that blood matches our latest victim?” Liam studied the drops on the shoe.

“I’m going with that.” Harper turned. “I doubt they left anything behind that would identify them, but let’s search anyway.”

He nodded. “I was about to search the home office when you yelled. Bag those shoes, please.” He headed back the way he’d come and stepped into a minimalistic office. Glass and metal desk, metal filing cabinet, oil paintings of ocean scenes on the walls.

A desk plotter occupied the spot where an empty laptop stand stood. He ran his fingers lightly over the paper. He didn’t feel any indents to signify note taking or appointments. The office didn’t look as if it were used much.

He tried to open the top drawer of the filing cabinet only to find it locked. He doubted this Lucy woman would have anything in there to identify her anyway. No, she’d hide anything with her name on it, if, and it was a big if, she had bills to this house under her real name. Which Liam doubted.

Still, they had a first name and an address. They’d be able to get something. He sent the little info they had to the IT guy he trusted at the agency. If anyone could find out Lucy’s surname, it would be his guy.

“I think we’re done here.” Harper glanced into the room. “Nothing out here.”

“Give me a minute, okay?” He sat in the leather office chair and felt for a latch, a button, anything that would open a secret drawer. Most expensive desks had them and…a faint click let him know he wasn’t wrong.

The bottom drawer which seemed to be deep enough to hold files wasn’t as deep as it seemed. The bottom lifted up to reveal several Manilla envelopes. He grinned up at Harper. “Want to bet this is good stuff?”

She laughed. “You’re always wanting to bet when you know I’m going to agree with you.”

Standing, he tucked the envelopes under his arm, tempted to leave them. If they were important, Lucy would be back for them. He paused. “We need to find more of these envelopes and paper to put in them. I don’t want her to know right off if she comes back that we took these.”

“You want to set a trap?”

“Absolutely. Then, we’ll ask more questions of the neighbors, just in case someone saw something.” Anything. “Maybe Macey and Harris found out something.”

“I doubt it. We got lucky.” Harper led the way back through the kitchen and around the house to the street.

The medical examiner’s van sat parked in front of the victim’s house. Two men wheeled a gurney from the house with the victim’s body in a black bag.

Harper stowed the bag with the bloody shoes in the back of her jeep as Macey and Harris joined them. “Find anything?”

“We’ve questioned everyone on this street. Not a difficult task when they’re all out here watching the show,” Macey said. “But all we’ve got is some vague descriptions and the fact that the occupants of that house,” He jerked his head toward Lucy’s. “Weren’t very friendly but had lots of company coming and going.” His gaze landed on the envelopes Liam held. “Looks like you did, though.”

“Maybe.” Liam put them with the shoes, then closed the back of the jeep. “We’ll know more when we can go through what’s in them.”

“We could take them off your hands.” Harris gave a slight smile. “Give you more time to pound the pavement.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather go through them myself.” Especially since he didn’t know who he could trust completely other than Harper, the chief, and his IT guy. “I’m hoping they’ll reveal something that can send the two of you on a hot trail.”

The phone in his pocket buzzed. He reached for his at the same time Harper reached for hers. This usually meant one of two things. Robert or the chief.

He read the text. “Remember how much fun the escape room was? Let’s try something even better. Even bigger. In two minutes, I’m going to begin a video. This video is live and the link will be posted on every news channel. In this video, a young man, Reynold Sharpe to be exact, will be put through several dangerous trials. Trials that could end his life. Not a great loss, considering he’s a glutton of drugs and sex, but I digress.

“You cannot interfere outside of what I command you to do. If Reynold succeeds in this chain of events, I will release him to his father in one piece. If the two of you don’t follow my orders, I’ll send the son to the father in pieces. Wait for the next instruction.”

Liam’s gaze speared Harper’s. “Who is Reynold Sharpe?”

“The mayor’s son.”

Chapter Seven

It was onlyseconds later that a link to watch Reynold live came through. Soon, the entire state would be watching a poor teenage boy play games for his life. Harper wanted more than ever to see Robert Thompson in the scope of her gun.