Damned (Shaye Archer Series Book 7)

by DeLeon, Jana

  Nicolas struggled to contain his disappointment, but she could see it written all over his face.

  “Your friend can hardly pass along suspects without a reason,” he said.

  “No. But he’s not letting this go. He’s going to help me, but he has to be very careful about it because it could cost him his job. Still, he has access to information I don’t, like details from Sunny’s and Hailey’s cases and all the watercooler gossip surrounding them.”

  “I suppose it doesn’t matter much as our suspect doesn’t look so good anymore. The electrician might have a motive to hate me, but he had no reason to target those two other girls.”

  “No reason that we’re aware of. But from the beginning, we’ve known the person we’re looking for has a different thought process than the norm. I’ve seen firsthand what a misguided interpretation of religion can do. And I know how much a single event can affect a person to the point that it changes them completely. Look at Michael Pitre. After killing that girl, he moved his family away and became a fanatic, attempting to control his daughter’s every action and thought.”

  “So what happened to the electrician’s sister and his best friend could have sent him over the edge.”

  “It’s possible, and at that point, regular logic doesn’t apply. The penitent took Hailey for acquiring birth control pills. Maybe the electrician thought this teen didn’t deserve to have a child when his sister and her child were gone. Maybe he felt Sunny Trahan didn’t deserve to live because she was destroying her life while his sister was living correctly but didn’t have a choice.”

  “I understand what you’re saying, but to kill them?”

  “He killed them after they confessed. In his mind, he’s saving them. If they die right after he absolves them of their sin, then they go to heaven. His sister didn’t have that luxury. She died on impact.”

  “You really think it’s him?”

  “I think he’s a possibility. But it could be someone else.” She hesitated a moment, trying to figure out the best way to frame the discussion she needed to have. “More importantly, I need to talk to you about how we proceed,” she said finally.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Hailey’s escape was a huge blow for the penitent. He’s failed and I doubt he’s going to take that lightly. And there’s also the fear that the police will focus on her interaction with the man from the park and she’s able to identify him. He doesn’t know that she can’t remember.”

  “Surely he won’t try to take her again.”

  “No. I don’t think he’ll risk that. But he might be more desperate to please, and in a hurry to finish his business here.”

  Nicolas gasped, the full force of Shaye’s words finally hitting him. “You think he’s going to come after me now because he’s afraid he’s about to be caught.”

  “Yes. So you have a decision to make. Your first option is to leave town. He can’t hurt you if he can’t find you. There’s a lot of pressure on the police right now and they’ll throw resources at this case. They’ll pull available camera footage from everywhere that Hailey went that day, and they’ll have her looking at photos as soon as her memory returns. There’s always the possibility of DNA.”

  “But that won’t help identify him unless he’s already in the database. What are the odds of that? The truth?”

  “Honestly, I don’t think they’re very high. I think the penitent was a normal person with a normal life until the day he wasn’t. And while the DNA probably won’t help identify him, it will definitely help convict him.”

  “But you have to catch him first,” he said slowly. “And reality is, you have no way of knowing how long that will take. Or how long Hailey’s memory will take to return. If it ever does. He could walk around this city for years without being discovered.”

  “He would be taking a huge risk to do so.”

  “Then he could simply disappear. And then what? When would it be safe for me to return? A week? A month?” He shook his head. “How do we know he won’t come back or go looking for me somewhere else? If he’s not caught now, I could spend every moment of the rest of my life waiting for him to appear. You know what that’s like.”

  “I do.”

  Nicolas leaned forward and looked her straight in the eye. “Then let me ask you, if you’d had the opportunity back then to end it all, to keep him from ever hurting another person, to not have to constantly look over your shoulder, would you have done it? Even if it meant putting yourself at risk?”

  “Yes,” she said, without hesitation.

  He nodded. “Then that’s what I intend to do. I can’t live with this hanging over me. And because of my health, I’m at a huge disadvantage and will be for some time. Maybe forever.”

  “You realize what you’ll be doing?”

  “Stringing myself on a fishing hook? It’s still better than the alternatives. Even if it costs me my life, it’s still worth it.”

  She nodded, immense respect for Nicolas’s bravery flooding through her. Most people wouldn’t make the decision he had. Especially people with the means to easily flee.

  “If this is the course you want to take, then we have to be smart,” she said. “You have to be extra diligent about what you do and who you see. The more you can limit your movement to the church and avoid open areas, the better. I’m going to inform Colby that the threat is elevated and to be on alert for a strike. He already has photos of the electrician and is on watch for anyone who is paying attention to you.”

  “What about at night? Is there anything more I can do?”

  “No. I think the building is as secure as it can be without involving Bernard to change things. The camera is working fine, so if anyone were to enter your apartment, I’d see it. And I’m going to figure out the best way to watch on location as well, even if it means walking the block all night long. I’ll also devise a schedule to have you check in before you go to bed.”

  He gave her a small smile. “Watching over me while I sleep?”

  “Whatever it takes.”

  “What about Father Malcolm and Father Bernard? Am I placing them in danger by remaining?”

  She hesitated before answering. “There’s no way to know for sure, of course, but my inclination is no. The penitent is obsessed with ritual. I don’t think he’d kill two people, especially priests, just to get to you. It is more likely he’d take a shot at Colby during the day and attempt to take you then.”

  “I’ve been afraid of that since the beginning and even mentioned it to Colby when we first met.”

  “And how did that go?”

  “I think he was more amused than concerned.”

  Shaye smiled. “That sounds right. Don’t worry about Colby. He’s been in situations far worse than this and he’s always come out on top. He’s very good at what he does.”

  Nicolas nodded but Shaye could see the doubt.

  She didn’t think Nicolas questioned Colby’s qualifications, and neither did she. But in war, Colby had known who the enemy was. With this, he could be blindsided. And if he were, she knew Nicolas would blame himself. Shaye could tell that hearing what had happened to Hailey had both distressed and frightened Nicolas.

  If the penitent got Nicolas on that chair, would he have the answer the penitent was looking for? He had claimed all along that he didn’t, and Shaye believed he was telling the truth. Not that knowing the answer mattered, she supposed. Ultimately, all roads led to the same endgame.

  But unlike Hailey Pitre, Nicolas had no hope of fleeing.

  28

  Jackson entered Shaye’s apartment, frowning. After the big reveal the night before, he’d gone to his apartment for a shower and to grab a couple hours’ sleep. He and Grayson had already been given the day off since they’d worked back-to-back shifts the day before and hadn’t yet been assigned to a new case. That meant he had time to work with Shaye to identify the penitent. But since he wasn’t at the police station, he lacked access to the gossip on how Hailey and Su
nny’s investigation was progressing. Catch-22.

  “What’s wrong?” Shaye asked as soon as he stepped inside. He’d been fuming the night before at being removed from the case, and she couldn’t blame him. Jackson cared about his work. He cared about the victims. And when something this horrific happened, you wanted to see it through to the end, not pass it off to someone else and hope they made the right calls. It wasn’t that Jackson didn’t trust the detective in charge of the case. He’d already told Shaye that he was highly experienced and excellent at his job.

  But he didn’t have inside information like Jackson did. And as of last night, they hadn’t figured out a way to filter it back to him. Not just yet.

  Jackson pulled his laptop out from under his arm and put it on the kitchen island, motioning for her to sit next to him. He pulled up a document and pointed. “Your instincts were right. There’s a problem with Father Malcolm.”

  Shaye’s pulse quickened. “What kind of problem?”

  “He appeared out of thin air fifteen years ago in San Antonio. Prior to that, there is no record of Malcolm Warner. No address, no work records, not even a Social Security number.”

  “What the hell?” Of all the things Shaye had imagined, this one hadn’t even been on the list.

  “I know. Normally when I see this, it’s someone with a nefarious past having a do-over to escape, either through witness protection or by their own means. But Malcolm is thirty-three years old. He would have been eighteen when this happened.”

  “Assuming he’s really thirty-three now.”

  “That’s true enough but if he’s not, he can’t be far off.”

  Shaye nodded. Father Malcolm looked to be midthirties max. “But for the past fifteen years, he’s trackable, right?”

  “Yes, and it’s definitely him. I’ve matched photos from his driver’s license to pictures on the St. Mary’s website as well as the church he worked at prior and the seminary school in San Antonio. It’s the same guy.”

  “So not an elaborate identity theft where the bad guy offs a priest and turns up at a new church to stalk a new set of victims.”

  “Not unless he offed a high school student about to attend seminary. That’s some serious advance planning. And a whole lot of schooling just to set up a cover.”

  “I agree, but no way someone disappears off the planet to reappear as someone else without something to hide.”

  “Nope.”

  Shaye frowned. “I wonder if something happened to him when he was a teen. Something that allowed him to legally change everything.”

  “You mean like being a witness to a crime?”

  “Or a victim of one. Plenty of victims would start over in a new place as a new person if they had the option. It’s not easy to have a normal life when everyone knows all the horrible things that happened to you.”

  “You’d know that better than anyone. But if that’s the case, then it only lends more weight to Malcolm potentially being our guy. If he went through something horrible as a child, then something could have triggered a break now. Even becoming a priest could have been part of trying to get a grip on his emotional health.”

  Shaye nodded. She didn’t like to dwell on how many victims became perps, but she was well aware of the statistics. If it weren’t for the tireless work of her mother and Eleonore, she could have been one of them.

  “Is there any way to find out more?” she asked.

  “No. If I were legitimately on the case, I’d try putting out feelers to the lawyers in the area where he made the switch. Sometimes you can convince one to give up some gossip, as long as it’s not about their client. Or if I have any idea where the person might have originated from, I send photos to the local PD and ask if anyone recognizes them. But in this case, I’d guarantee you Malcolm didn’t grow up in San Antonio and we have no earthly idea where to start looking.”

  “Hustle said his accent is Southern, and Nicolas said he’s always playing country music, but I suppose that still leaves a large part of the country as an option. And then there’s the part where you’re not assigned to the case and have to be careful about what can be tracked back to you.” Her back tightened. “How did you pull the background? They’re watching everything you do. Won’t you have to explain?”

  “That’s why I grabbed my laptop and did it at a café. I masked my IP address and used another officer’s log-in to access the system.”

  She blinked. “Whose log-in did you use?”

  “Vincent’s.”

  “Oh wow.” Detective Vincent had been Jackson’s senior partner when she’d first met him. He was a sexist, lazy, useless lump, occupying a desk until he could ride into retirement. He’d gone out of his way to make things difficult for Jackson and had insulted Shaye more times than she could count.

  “How did you know his password?” she asked.

  “It’s 123456.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “The department’s computer security requirements are lousy, and with budgets constantly being cut, there’s not much chance of improvement anytime soon.”

  “But what if Vincent notices?” Of all people, Vincent wanted Jackson off the force more than anyone.

  “He’d have to give a shit before he noticed anything. You know how lazy he is. And since he’s still working the Clancy records, he pulls a ton of background checks every day. Even if he sees it, he’ll just assume he input some information wrong or that it was a system error.”

  “And if Malcolm turns out to be our guy? Then someone will notice a background has already been pulled.”

  “Yeah, there’s that. But they still have no proof it was me.”

  “That doesn’t mean they won’t know. And that’s all brass needs to cause you problems.”

  “If they do, then I’ll deal with it. This isn’t the only law enforcement agency in the state. I have options.”

  Shaye knew he was saying it to make her feel better. She also knew that if Jackson were dismissed from the PD for any reason to do with impropriety, he’d have a tough time securing a good position in a large agency. And she doubted he wanted a future that included arresting cow-tippers and drunk-and-disorderlies or writing speeding tickets. But the damage was already done. He couldn’t take back the background check and if Malcolm turned out to be their guy, then someone at the department finding the check was only a matter of time. Whether or not they could pin it on Jackson wasn’t the issue. They’d know even if they had no proof, especially if the whole thing exploded and everyone learned that Shaye was involved.

  “In other news,” Shaye said, changing the subject, “I’ve verified that Croft did fly out to New York. In fact, according to social media posts, he’s still there.”

  “So he’s off the list. That’s good. What about the electrician?”

  “I watched him several hours yesterday evening and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He went straight home after the job. He lives in Metairie, so not exactly a convenient base for things here.”

  “No. But it’s convenient to Metairie Cemetery.”

  “Yeah, I thought that as well.”

  “Does he live with anyone?”

  “A young woman opened the door for him and greeted him with a kiss, so I’m assuming girlfriend. But I don’t know whether or not she lives there. I got as far as finding out that he doesn’t own the house and I ran down the rental company last night. I was planning on calling today to see if I could get any information.”

  “Let me do it. They’ll answer quicker to a badge and I don’t have to give them much of a reason for the questions. Not like you.”

  She nodded. “I feel like I should be doing more, but I can’t think of what.”

  “You’re worried he’s going to make a move on Nicolas.”

  “Yes. He knows Hailey escaped and even though she never saw his face while she was held captive, he doesn’t know she can’t identify him from the park.”

  “But assuming she’d never see
n him before then—and I believe that’s the case—she won’t be able to point directly to someone, even when she remembers.”

  “The penitent knows Nicolas hired me, remember?”

  Jackson swore. “That’s right. And if he doesn’t already know, it wouldn’t take much to find out about our connection. But he doesn’t know I was working Hailey’s case.”

  “Are we sure of that? If the penitent is Malcolm, he could have seen you the day Pitre was at St. Mary’s. It wouldn’t have taken much to figure out why.”

  Jackson blew out a breath. “So the penitent has every reason to believe that the noose is tightening. You’re right. If he’s still determined to follow through with Nicolas, he’s going to move quickly. Have you told Nicolas your concerns?”

  She nodded. “He understands all the implications, but he wants to stay put and draw the penitent out.”

  “I have to give him credit. Most people wouldn’t stick around for that, much less volunteer. Colby’s with Nicolas all day, right?”

  “Yes, and I’ve already told him the situation has escalated. That the person harassing Nicolas is suspected in one strangulation murder and another attempted one. But he’s still unidentified and for now, we have to keep it quiet as Nicolas doesn’t want the cops to know about his situation.”

  “How did Colby take that somewhat thin explanation?”

  “In stride. I think he probably filled in the gaps enough to know the score.”

  “Probably.”

  “So I was thinking maybe we spend our day and night playing backup to Colby’s backup.”

  “I think that’s an excellent idea.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “We’re going to get this guy.”

  “Yes. We are.”

  Colby walked up to Jackson’s surveillance car and hopped in the back seat. They were a block away from St. Mary’s, and not visible from the church grounds. He’d just delivered Nicolas home for the night and was meeting with Shaye and Jackson to give them his impressions from the day.