Brody Law: The Bridge / The District / The Wharf / The Hill

“I get it.” She waved him off and strode to her car, jabbing her thumb on the remote. He’d probably go and tell Detective Brody now.

And what if he did? She didn’t owe Detective Brody anything, either.

As she rounded her car, a white square on her windshield caught her attention. She rolled her eyes. Perfect—a parking ticket.

She snatched the object from beneath her wiper, her eyebrows colliding over her nose. This was no ticket envelope. She unfolded the slip of paper and scanned the words.

The blood thundered in her ears as she crushed the paper in her fist, her gaze shifting wildly around the parking lot. Her dry mouth made forming words almost impossible.

She swallowed. She licked her lips. She tried again. She screamed.

“He’s here. The killer’s here.”

Chapter Six (#ulink_7a6d6ad7-0201-5a3e-927c-8778503ad729)

The woman’s scream pierced through the air. The sound tore at Sean’s insides. He jerked his head up and scanned the parking lot. A few of the vultures who had been circling the crime scene shifted their attention to a lone woman standing beside a car, waving her arms.

Standing beside a blue hybrid.

A long blond ponytail whipping across her face.

What the hell was Elise Duran doing here, and why the hell was she screaming?

The adrenaline pumped through his body, and his legs responded. He shot up the incline to the parking lot and sprinted across the asphalt.

Curtis had beaten him to it, but it didn’t look as if he was having any luck getting a coherent response from Elise, still waving her arms around and talking gibberish.

“Elise! What’s wrong? What are you doing here?”

She stumbled toward him, holding out a clenched fist, her face white. “He’s here. He’s here. The killer.”

Adrenaline crashed through his body again before the first wave had even subsided, and he grabbed Elise’s arms. “Where? Where is he?”

“Here.” Her trembling fist prodded his chest. “He left this.”

He had to practically pry open her frozen fingers to get to the crumpled piece of paper she’d balled up in her clenched hand. He smoothed it out against the back of his hand and cursed.

Curtis hunched forward. “What is it, Brody? What’s it say?”

“It says, ‘Did you come to see my handiwork?’”

Curtis gurgled, his hand hovering over his weapon. “The SOB is here?”

“How long have you been away from your car, Elise? How much time did he have?”

Her head cranked back and forth. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve been here for about twenty minutes. I didn’t notice anyone near my car. He’s here. He was here.”

“Maybe someone saw him.” Sean shielded his eyes and tipped his head back to look at the lampposts. “Are there cameras on this part of the parking lot?”

“Nope. It’s like our guy knows this area. No cameras where he dumped the body, either.” Sergeant Curtis held out his hand for the note, and Sean extended it between two fingers even though he wanted to rip it to pieces.

Why had Elise come here anyway? He’d been worrying about her all the way to the crime scene, and she’d been right behind him.

“Where’s Officer Jackson?”

“He’s back at the crime scene, extending the yellow tape. Why?”

“I had him combing through the crowd earlier, asking questions, on the lookout for something just like this.”

Elise’s eyes popped open. “Really? You suspected the killer might be here?”

“A lot of times they stick around to prolong the thrill.”

“That’s taking a risk.” She hugged herself and hunched farther into the big sweater she’d wrapped around her body.

“Our boy likes taking risks, doesn’t he? He used your key to enter your house, sent a picture to your phone.”

Her face crumpled. “Sent me her picture. Who is she, anyway?”

“We don’t know yet.” But the killer had sliced off her finger as a keepsake—something Elise didn’t need to know.

Curtis held up the note. “Do you want me to put this in an evidence bag and track down Jackson to see if he saw anyone suspicious?”

“Yeah.” Sean smacked the roof of Elise’s car. “Ask him if he noticed anyone lurking around the parking lot, if he saw anyone near a blue hybrid.”

Elise dragged a hand through her hair, loosening strands from her ponytail. “How did he find my car, Detective Brody? How did he know I was here?”

Despite her rigid posture, Elise looked ready to shatter into a million pieces. He tilted his chin toward the stone benches on the walkway to the visitor center. “Let’s sit down over here. And you can call me Sean.”

She turned and tripped over her own feet.

“Whoa.” He took her arm to steady her and kept possession of it as they walked toward a bench.

She sat on the edge and crossed her legs, her head swiveling from side to side. “Do you think he’s still here?”

“I think he’s long gone. He must have a police scanner or he was watching the area, knew we’d gotten the call and rushed over to see the spectacle.” He cleared his throat. “He must’ve seen you, Elise. Must’ve recognized you.”

She closed her eyes and a breath shuddered through her body. “He knows my car because he saw it in my garage, so he looked for it.”

“It must’ve increased his excitement tenfold to see you here.”

She slammed a fist against the back of the bench. “Now I’m even more upset that I came out here. I don’t want to give him any more satisfaction.”

“Why did you follow us?”

“I didn’t exactly follow you.” She rubbed her hand, red from the sudden contact with the bench. “Sergeant Curtis had mentioned the location of the body, so I waited until you took off.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.” The strands of her golden hair danced around her face, and his fingers itched to tuck them behind her ears. Instead he folded his arms and drove his fists into his biceps. “Why’d you come out here?”