Page 84 of Trapper Road

“We’ve gotten used to taking care of ourselves.”

He taps his fingers against his empty note pad for a moment before asking. “And that’s what you were doing the night Leonard Varrus threatened your daughter — taking care of it yourself?”

I shift in my seat. If he’s going to go into this much detail with every single threat we’ve received we’ll be here all day. “Look, I don’t really understand what Leo has to do with any of this. If you’re asking about people who have threatened us in the past — sure, add him to the list. But if you’re looking for whoever did this to our house, it wasn’t him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he lives in California. That’s where he was when he called.”

“How do you know?”

I hesitate. Mike would definitely not appreciate being dragged into this and the FBI would for sure not be pleased to hear about him using their systems for personal reasons. “I had a friend trace the call. It came through a tower near Leo’s home.”

Something about my statement gives Detective Diakos pause. He considers me for a moment, searching for any tells that I might be lying or hiding something. It doesn’t bother me. I know I’m telling the truth.

Finally, he lets out a breath and opens the folder that’s been sitting in front of him. He pulls out a sheet of paper and slides it across the table. I take it and scan it, but don’t understand what I’m looking at. I glance up at Diakos, waiting for him to explain.

“That’s a cell tower report. Two nights ago Leonard Varrus’s cell phone pinged off several towers around Stillhouse Lake.”

I frown. That doesn’t make any sense. “How? He was in California.”

“He flew to Tennessee two days ago.” Detective Diakos slides another piece of paper from his folder across the table. It’s a flight manifest. All the names are blacked out except for one: Leonard Varrus.

I tap his name with his finger. “You’re sure about this?”

Diakos nods. “We pulled video surveillance from the airport and matched it to his photo on file with the California DMV.”

I slump back in my chair, stunned. It’s true. Leo really was in Tennessee. He must have somehow routed his call with me through something that made it look like he was still in California. He knew there was a chance I’d trace the call. And I fell for it. But I’d only asked Mike to trace the call. It didn’t occur to me to have him track Leo’s phone as well. If I had, I’d have learned Varrus was nearby.

I’ve have learned his threat against Lanny was real.

Another horrible realization hits with so much force I see red. Which means he’s still out there. And Lanny’s still a target. I quickly stand, my chair tipping to the floor with a crash. “Lanny. She’s alone at Kez and Javi’s. I have to go.” I start for the door.

“Your daughter’s safe,” Diakos calls after me.

“You can’t know that.” My mind’s already spinning, worst-case scenarios playing out over and over again. I can’t believe I left Lanny alone. What the hell was I thinking?

I yank the door open, and am about to leave when Diakos says, “The blood in the house belonged to Leonard Varrus.”

I freeze. Turn slowly. “What do you mean?”

“We took blood samples from your house. Kez must have some crazy connections, because she was able to get it all processed and the DNA results run through the system. Varrus was a match. His information was in the system because of his missing daughter. It should have been cleared out after she was found, but sometimes those kinds of things get overlooked.”

I sit back down, numb. “I don’t understand. Leo was in our house?”

“Or at least a large quantity of his blood was,” Detective Diakos corrects. I can’t tell if he’s joking or not, but it doesn’t matter because none of this makes sense.

A chill snakes its way down my back at the thought of him being so nearby. Not just nearby: in our house! I see red at the thought of him walking through our rooms, sitting on our furniture. Even sleeping in our beds.

“What the fuck was he doing in our house?” My voice comes out as a growl and I force myself to take a deep breath and unclench my fists. I need to stay level-headed. I need to figure out what’s going on.

“That’s what we’d like to know.”

I shake my head. “I have no idea. Like I said, I thought he was in California. I have no idea why he’d want to fly out here unless—” I realize then that of course I know why he would come to Tennessee.

“Unless?” The detective prods.

“Unless he wanted to confront Gwen in person. Or try to kill her.” The very thought of him getting anywhere near Gwen makes my blood boil. If I’d known he was nearby, I may have ripped him to shreds myself. “I don’t think you understand the depth of that man’s rage. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”