Page 12 of The First Hunt (The Final Hunt)
HOLLY
H olly unhooked the lock and opened the door, realizing she should’ve checked the peep hole first. Fortunately, it was Jared.
“Hey.” He ran a hand through his dark wavy hair as she stepped aside to let him in.
His eyes were bloodshot, but he was still wearing his suit. Her apartment was between his house and the Major Crimes Unit, so she doubted he’d been home yet.
Normally, she would’ve told him she couldn’t see him when she had less than two hours to turn in a piece she hadn’t started writing, but her heart raced with excitement at what she’d found. Five more minutes wouldn’t hurt. Especially for something this important.
“I could use a drink,” he said after she closed and locked the door behind him.
She pointed to the kitchen. “There’s beer in the fridge.”
“You got anything stronger?” he asked.
From his swagger toward the kitchen, she guessed he’d had a few already. Probably after finding out their only real suspect in the city’s senseless slayings had passed a lie detector test. “There’s vodka in the freezer.”
He unholstered his gun and set it on the kitchen counter, like he did every time he came over. She got him a glass while he opened the freezer.
“You want me to do that?” she asked as he sloppily filled a generous pour into the short tumbler.
He shook his head. “Nah.” He lifted the glass to his mouth. “You should move into my place. It’s stupid to drive fifteen minutes out of my way to see you when you could live at my house.”
She nodded, not up for an argument tonight, even though she had no intention of moving in with him yet. In less than a year, they would be married. Until then, she wanted to enjoy her freedom. And her space from Jared’s mood swings.
She put a hand on his arm as he lifted the glass again. “I heard about your suspect passing the lie detector test. I’m sorry it wasn’t him.”
Jared winced after knocking back a big swig. “Don’t be. It’s not my problem anymore.” He wiped the edge of his mouth with a sleeve.
“What do you mean?”
He swung the glass to the side, sloshing vodka onto the floor. “I’m off the task force.”
“Why?” From what she’d gathered, Jared was the one who’d brought in their first suspect since a truck painter named Gary Ridgway passed a polygraph last May.
Jared’s mouth twisted into a frown. “They said it’s due to manpower, that they had to take someone off the GRK task force because we don’t have enough staff for our other increasing homicides.
But the truth is my sergeant hates me. He thinks I’m too abrasive or some shit.
” He pointed at Holly with a wavering finger.
“But you can’t tiptoe around a serial killer investigation. ”
Holly bet it had to do with him questioning the suspect’s son today. Jared took another drink, and she wondered how aggressive he’d gotten with the boy. She knew Jared well enough not to ask—it would only worsen his mood.
“I want to show you something.” Holly glanced at the binder on the kitchen table as she led the way to her office. She would tell him the good news about her book deal later. She heard him refill his glass before following her.
A flutter stirred beneath her skin as Jared stepped into the office behind her. “You know how the suspect you interviewed today had an alibi for some of the Green River Killer murders?”
Jared took a drink and stared at the wall.
“What if there are two killers?” she asked.
Jared shook his head. “That’s an old theory.
We know now that the Green River Killer has a pattern.
” He ran his gaze over Holly’s long list of missing women.
He lifted the glass toward the pages filled with names.
“Some murders and disappearances that we’re attributing to him may turn out to be unrelated.
But the majority are connected.” He stepped in front of the map marked with X’s .
“We’re looking for a serial killer who’s strangling mostly prostitutes and runaways.
Some boyfriend might’ve offed his girl, and another might be the victim of a random mugging gone wrong, but there are not two serial killers out there. ”
She spun toward him. “Just hear me out.” She pointed at one of the two rows of names on the far side of the wall.
“What if these victims—mostly prostitutes, some runaways, bodies moved postmortem and all but one dumped outside of Seattle city limits, and killings that started in ’82—are Green River Killer victims.” She pivoted and pointed to her new list with only four names.
“And these victims—two prostitutes and two not, not moved postmortem, and found mostly within Seattle city limits, killings starting in 1980 and last seen either at bus stops or getting inside a blue car, or both—were killed by someone else.”
Jared threw his head back in annoyance. “Holly, you’re not making any sense. Jennifer Duran is still a missing person. And the first Green River Killer victims were killed in the summer of ’82.”
“That’s what I’m saying.” She tapped the wall. “I think these women weren’t killed by the Green River Killer. They were killed by a different serial killer, someone whose murders were wrongly thought to be done by the Green River Killer.” Thinking of Meg, she added, “Or at least most of them.”
Jared rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Holly put up a hand.
“Sally Hickman and Brooke Holtman were both murdered one day after major news articles ran about the Green River Killer. I think these two killers might be feeding off each other. And the unidentified killer murdered those two knowing they would get attributed to the Green River Killer, not him. He’s the smarter of the two, I’d bet.
” She stared at the lists, her mind spinning.
“Possibly even a cop. Someone with inside information.”
Jared scowled. “And you think you’re smarter than me?”
Holly whipped around. In the short time she’d been talking, his face had contorted in anger.
“What? No—”
“You really think that after I get kicked off the task force, I want to hear about your Nancy Drew theories?” His face was red, and a vein bulged from his forehead.
She gaped at him. “That’s not why I—”
He stepped toward her, spilling vodka onto the carpet. “Just because your sister was murdered doesn’t make you a detective.”
She recoiled from his words while he pointed at the wall.
“The Green River Killer is the only serial killer in this town. And your sister wasn’t one of his victims. She was a nobody stripper killed in a bad part of town because of the lifestyle she was living.” He swiped a hand through the air. “Her case will probably never be solved.”
Her throat swelled, and she blinked back tears.
He’s had a bad day, she reminded herself.
He’s just not understanding what I’m saying.
“I’m trying to help. My theory would explain why your suspect today had an alibi for most of the Green River Killer murders, but not Sally’s or Brooke Holtman’s.
It makes perfect sense,” she continued, ignoring the sour look on Jared’s face.
“The killer is a genius, really.” She gestured to her first column of victims. “He kills and makes it look like a Green River Killer murder, knowing he’d have an alibi for a lot of the Green River Killer murders. That you’d rule him ou—”
“Stop!” Jared shouted.
Holly stepped back, watching his chest heave as he drew in a deep breath. For the first time, he reminded her of her father. She ran a thumb over the engagement ring on her left hand, the metal suddenly feeling as though it were searing her flesh.
Jared knocked back the rest of his drink, then met her gaze, his expression softening.
“Look, the guy we brought in today agreed to come back and take a polygraph. Andy still has to verify his alibi. Until then, he’s still our main Green River Killer suspect.
He’s not going to pass the lie detector test.”
“He already did.”
Jared’s eyes darkened. “How would you know that?”
“Andy called me.”
He unsteadily closed the space between them, stopping when his face was an inch from hers. “Why would Andy call you?”
“He knows I’m trying to figure out who killed my sister.”
“Yeah, I bet that’s why he called.” He narrowed his eyes, making her feel like an interrogation suspect.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Are you cheating on me?”
“Of course not.” Andy was not only twice her age, but also married with two kids. She crossed her arms. She wasn’t going to justify Jared’s accusation by explaining herself. She stepped back. She needed Jared to go home. There was no reasoning with him tonight.
Jared started to pace, almost as if he’d forgotten she was in the room. “ I should’ve been the one supervising that polygraph. Not Andy.”
“That’s what got me thinking about this,” Holly said. “Maybe the questions they asked were about the Green River Killings and not specifically about Meg or Sally—”
Jared’s hand struck the side of her face before she could stop it. Holly raised a palm to her stinging cheek.
“Just shut up,” Jared seethed, baring his teeth.
Her mouth flopped open as she stared at her fiancé in horrified shock.
He’d gotten angry in the past, but he had never laid hands on her.
His nostrils flared as more veins protruded from his red forehead.
His eyes seemed to pierce through her, his pupils dilating with fury, like he was about to jump out of his own skin.
She staggered backward until her spine pressed against the wall, half-expecting him to apologize. Instead, he sneered at her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand as a ripple of fear stirred beneath her skin, crawling down her limbs.
The phone rang. Jared cocked his head toward the kitchen. She sank against the drywall. Thank God. She slid past Jared, only to be yanked back when he grabbed her upper arm.
Jared brought his face to hers, the sweet smell of vodka on his breath making her stomach churn. “No one will believe you if you breathe a word of what just happened.”