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

Sean’s eye twitched and his muscles coiled. He felt Elise’s warm hand pressed against the small of his back.

He tilted his head back and forth to crack his neck, and then he said, “Whatever.”

Turning his back on Ashford, his mouth still gaping, Sean took Elise’s arm and pulled her into the house.

“Don’t listen to him, Sean.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, and his house never felt like such a home before.

He squeezed her tight. “What he says doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that the killer tracked down Ty, and we have two more dead bodies.”

“It’s awful.” She hid her face against his chest. “Two people killed today on six, twelve. Wh-where were their bodies found?”

“Not on the Golden Gate Bridge, so those coordinates were just a tease. The bodies were found in the Bayview area.”

“You were right. He was just toying with us.” She leaned back to look into his face. “Who were they, Sean? Did Captain Williams tell you their names?”

“A man and a woman this time.”

She closed her eyes and her lashes fluttered on her cheeks. “Was that cop right? Were their fingers missing?”

“Just like Katie Duncan’s.”

“You never told me that.” Her nostrils flared as her eyes flew open.

“That was supposed to be confidential information. How that moron found out and why he’s spreading it around, I don’t have a clue. I’m no longer on the case, as he pointed out.”

“Then why did Captain Williams call you at this time of night to tell you about the bodies?”

He left the circle of her arms and paced to the window to stare out at the dark street. “Because the killer left me another message.”

“What was it this time?” She pressed her fingers against her lips.

“Elise...”

“Just tell me, Sean.”

“He left me the same type of note that he left you at the school, but with slightly different numbers. They’re working on it, but the location was a joke last time so we can’t trust him.”

Two vertical lines formed between her eyebrows. “Where did they find the note?”

He clasped the back of his neck and chewed on his lip. Did Elise really need the visual of a note wrapped around a severed finger and shoved into one of the victim’s pockets? “He left a note on one of the bodies.”

“What does he want with you?”

“I already know that. The bigger question is what does he want from you?” He tapped on the window with his fingernail. “How did he know about Ty? How did he know about you and me, about our spending time together?”

She knotted her fingers together. “I don’t know. He didn’t get all that from my purse, or from my house. He must’ve been the one who attacked Ty. He probably told Ty he was working for you. Where else would Ty get that crazy idea?”

“When Ty regains consciousness, we can ask him. Maybe he can give us a description. How did the guy even approach Ty?”

“It’s like he’s dancing around me, us. He’s playing some kind of game with us that started the night he attacked me.”

“And that game has its roots in the past, twenty years in the past.” Sean blew out a breath, crossed the room and took Elise’s hand. “I’m sorry the night had to end this way. I’m sorry about Ty.”

“Me, too,” she whispered, and tears welled in her eyes. “For a moment there we pushed it all away, didn’t we? For a moment it was just the two of us.”

He kissed her trembling lips. “It can be that way again, Elise. This will all be over soon.”

She nodded, her eyes widening, and he had a feeling he’d just made a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep. Would it ever be over for him? In his gut, he knew it would never be over until he found out what happened twenty years ago in this city.

He stroked her hair back from her face. “I’m going to get a shirt on and see you back home. You still have two more days of school to get through, right?”

“You don’t have to follow me back. I’ll head straight to Courtney’s place and drive right into the garage. It’s a secure building. I’ll be fine.”

He walked into the bedroom and pulled a clean T-shirt from his closet. Yanking it over his head, he returned to the living room and said, “I’m not comfortable with you driving alone at night. It’s late.”

He scratched the stubble of his beard. This whole incident with Ty Russell had spooked him. How the hell had the killer gotten a line on Ty?

As far as he knew, the only time Elise had seen Ty since he’d been in the city was the day he swooped down on her in front of Courtney’s place. He hadn’t seen his name in her phone contacts, and he doubted Elise had anything in her house with Ty’s name on it.

“Well, I guess I could always use a police escort. I’m obviously not very good about noticing a tail since the Alphabet Killer managed to follow me from the Golden Gate to Chinatown that day.”

“He did, didn’t he?” The coil in his gut wound tighter. “You said you were careful that day.”

“Absolutely, and then when I got close to Chinatown, it was such a big mess because of the parade I had to take a million detours. For each turn I made, I checked my rearview mirror. I even drove down a couple of little alleys—nothing.”

“Elise, how many times did you see Ty since he came here?”

“Twice—once on the sidewalk in front of Courtney’s place and just now.” She combed her fingers through her hair. “Why are you asking? I certainly never told him anything about you or where you lived. I didn’t even know where you lived until I followed you here tonight.”

“You followed me here tonight.” He dug his fingers in his hair.

“Um, yeah.”

“There’s only one way your stalker could’ve known about Ty.”

“My stalker?”

“He saw him at Courtney’s place—with you, with me.”

Her head cranked back and forth. “No. That can’t be. He doesn’t know Courtney. He doesn’t know where Courtney lives. How could he? He couldn’t be that good, to be able to follow me around the city when I’m on the lookout for him. No way.”

“He’s not physically following you, Elise. He’s tracking you.” He barreled toward the coat closet by the front door and reached for the shelf for a flashlight.

“Tracking me? How?”

When he turned with the flashlight in his hand, he almost knocked her over.

Her eyes took up half her face as she grabbed his arm. “How is he tracking me?”