The Killer You Know

by Kimberly Van Meter

  Silas walked into Sheriff Mankins’s office to find the man sitting at his desk, staring at his wall of accomplishments, his expression weary and bleak.

  Lester acknowledged Silas with a subtle grunt but didn’t seem ready for a full conversation.

  “You’ve read the coroner’s report,” Silas guessed.

  Lester exhaled as he swore softly under his breath. “Yeah,” he answered, his tone heavy. “What the hell am I going to tell those grieving parents? This is going to destroy them. They’re barely hanging on as it is.”

  “May I speak frankly?”

  “Nothing is stopping you.”

  Silas took a breath. “Let me help you with this investigation. Let’s be honest. Your staff isn’t trained for something like this. I can help you catch whoever did this.”

  That seemed to rouse the sheriff. “My staff can handle this case just fine,” he disagreed with a little salt in his tone. “Just because you’re FBI doesn’t mean you’re any more qualified than my deputies to solve this case.”

  “I don’t want to step on toes. But you’re already overwhelmed by this case. The truth is...you and I both know that you should’ve retired a while ago.”

  “You always were a little shit,” Lester said, shaking his head as if amazed not much had changed. “So what do you think you can do better than we can?”

  Silas had to tread cautiously. He was going directly against Oppenshaw’s instructions but he couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t going to take the chance that Rhia’s case was bungled like Spencer’s.

  Especially seeing as if there was even a remote possibility that the two cases were related, he wasn’t going to lose this opportunity to finally get justice for his brother.

  “I handle cases like this every day. It’s what I do. I don’t have the personal connections that you do to this town. You’re going to hesitate to ask the hard questions. I can be the bad guy and you’ve got no blood on your hands. I’ll shoulder that burden for you.”

  Lester narrowed his gaze but didn’t shut Silas down, which seemed like a good sign.

  “You and I both know that we’re going to have to find the baby’s father to see if he had motive to kill Rhia. In order to do that, we need to start poking a little harder at soft spots. You want to do that?”

  “God, no,” Lester admitted.

  “Then let me. I don’t care if no one wants me on their Christmas list. What matters is finding this son of a bitch before he can do this to someone else’s child.”

  “Do you really think it could be someone here?”

  “Statistically...the numbers say yes. Emotionally, I would love to be able to tell you it was a stranger passing through. But nine times out of ten...the victim knew their attacker.”

  Lester rubbed at his forehead as if trying to massage away the pain squeezing his brain. “What’s happening to my little town?”

  “What happens everywhere eventually,” Silas answered. “Port Orion had a good run but there’s a killer hiding in this town and I aim to catch him.”

  “It used to be that you could sleep with your doors unlocked and not waste a minute worrying that someone might walk in uninvited. Now...that’s not the case.”

  “Times have changed,” Silas agreed, sensing that Lester’s nostalgia was a sign that he was ready to let Silas in. A beat of heavy silence passed between them until Lester drew himself up to meet Silas’s gaze.

  “You think you can catch this bastard?”

  “I do,” Silas answered without hesitation. He’d been waiting a lifetime to do this—he wouldn’t fail. “I won’t let you down.”

  Lester nodded but Silas knew the old man’s pride was a bit bruised. However, Lester, at his heart, was a good cop and he’d do what needed to be done to get results.

  “I’ll let the department know that you have full run of our resources. No one will get in your way.”

  “Thank you, Lester. You won’t regret it.”

  “That remains to be seen.”

  Silas understood Lester’s cryptic answer. They both knew that it was possible the killer was someone he saw every day, smiled at, chatted with, shared coffee with...hell, it could be anyone at all.

  Because the one thing that Silas had learned in his career was that people with secrets to hide became experts at hiding their secrets.

  * * *

  Quinn sat with her best friend Johnna Silverton at the bar. She hadn’t wanted to come but Johnna had played the guilt card, saying Quinn had been dodging her calls since this case had blown up and because it was true, Quinn had no defense.

  “Okay, the word on the street is that an ultra-hot detective guy is in town working this case. What do you know about him?” Johnna asked, hungry for details.

  “He’s not a detective, he’s FBI,” Quinn clarified, toying with the tiny straw in her gin and tonic. “His name is Silas Kelly and I guess his family used to live here.”

  “Kelly... I know that name...wait a minute...wasn’t there a kid who died years ago named Kelly?”

  “Yeah, it was his little brother, Spencer. I guess the murder was never solved, either. Tore the family apart. They moved after Silas graduated high school.”

  “I thought I recognized the name. How scandalous. So, what’s he doing here?”

  “He’s trying to see if there are any connections to his brother’s case.”

  “That’s a stretch, don’t you think?”

  Quinn shrugged. “It’s his dime, not mine.”

  “Well, from what I hear...he’s a hottie. So you’ve seen him?”

  “Of course,” Quinn said, mildly annoyed at how interested Johnna was in Silas. But then Johnna loved a fresh challenge when it came to men. The minute Quinn thought of Johnna setting her sights on Silas, her hackles rose. Not a good sign. “He’s all right,” she lied, trying to throw Johnna off the scent. “I mean, he’s pretty stiff. The man doesn’t have a funny bone in his body. He’s one hundred percent the job. He probably sleeps in his suit.”

  Johnna frowned at first but then her expression turned sly. “Maybe he just needs someone to show him how to loosen up?”

  “Do yourself a favor and steer clear. He’s no fun at all. I brought him good intel and did he thank me for my troubles? No. He took the information and then shoved me out the door. I’m telling you, he has zero manners.”

  “What intel did you give him?”

  Quinn hesitated. “I really shouldn’t say. It’s not common knowledge and it’s kind of a big deal to this case.”

  “And how did you get it?”

  Quinn smiled angelically. “I can’t reveal my sources.”

  Johnna rolled her eyes. “Talk about someone who takes herself too seriously. I mean, c’mon, Quinn...this is the hometown rag we’re talking about. We’re not talking the New York Times.”

  That stung. She hated when people said things like that. Quinn took pride in her job and it pinched when her hard work was so easily dismissed.

  “Well, that’s why I’m trying to build a good portfolio so I can go somewhere where my work will matter.”

  Johnna winced, immediately contrite. “I’m sorry, Quinnie. I didn’t mean it like that. I just... I don’t know, I guess I never really thought you were serious about this whole reporter gig.”

  “I’m very serious.”

  “Oh.”

  Man, she was in a cranky mood. Her conversation with Silas was still sitting wrong. Not to mention the comments her Uncle Leo had said and now her best friend. Did the entire town think she was a joke?

  “Did you know Rhia?” Quinn asked, switching tracks.

  Relieved to change the subject, Johnna answered, “Not really. I mean, just from what I read in the media. She seemed like a good kid. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her.
”

  “What if she wasn’t as good as people thought?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what if she had some dark secrets?”

  Johnna frowned. “She was a kid. How dark could her secrets be?”

  “Maybe she was like Laura Palmer.”

  “Who?”

  “You know, Laura Palmer from that show Twin Peaks.”

  Johnna rolled her eyes in annoyance. “You and the obscure television references. Okay, I’ll bite. What was Laura Palmer like?”

  “She seemed this Goody Two-shoes. Everyone liked her. The town darling. But as it turned out, she was sleeping with everyone under the sun, including her own father. But to be fair, when she was sleeping with her father he was actually some kind of other dimensional demon or something, I don’t know. It gets fuzzy after that. But the point being...not everyone is as they seem.”

  “Are you saying that you think Rhia was sleeping with her own father?”

  “God, no. At least I hope not. But strange crap happens. The fact remains that she wasn’t as innocent as everyone thought. I think it’s safe to say that we have to open any door that might lead to her killer.”

  “Who is this ‘we?’” Johnna asked with concern. “What are you up to?”

  “I told you I was serious about breaking open this case. It’s my ticket out of here and I’m not going to waste it.”

  “Whoa, whoa. Hold on. How are you supposed to break this case? For goodness’ sake, Quinn...you’re a small-town reporter. Don’t you think you ought to let the professionals deal with this?”

  “I am a professional. And you know what? I’m the only one not afraid to peek into dark corners. No one wants to accept that Rhia wasn’t the perfect princess because it’ll shed light on the dirt people in this town have been sweeping under the rug for decades.”

  Johnna wasn’t convinced but Quinn wasn’t looking for validation.

  “Doesn’t it bother you that a killer is walking the streets of Port Orion?”

  “Of course it does. But there’s also the likely possibility that it was a drifter who is long gone by now.”

  “That’s the easy answer, but my gut says...the killer is someone we all know. And I want justice for Rhia.”

  “Do you really want justice or do you just want to use the situation to your advantage?”

  “Why can’t I want both?”

  Johnna sighed. “I don’t want to be a jerk but I’m kinda worried about your decision-making skills right now. I’ve never seen you so obsessed with something.”

  “I’m not obsessed—I’m focused on a goal. There’s a difference.”

  “Not from where I’m standing.”

  Quinn was getting nowhere with Johnna. Why was everyone so stuck in their small-town narrow-minded thought process? Didn’t anyone see what Quinn did?

  She didn’t want to be there. Her heart was elsewhere but she couldn’t bail on Johnna now even as she wanted to pay the tab and go home.

  Already moving on, Johnna was ready to hit the dance floor. In that moment she realized how much she and Johnna had changed in the last year. Whereas Quinn had been focused on building a good portfolio, Johnna had focused on a good time, wherever that may be.

  Johnna had simple goals in life. Meet a guy, settle down, have a few kids.

  Quinn couldn’t imagine falling into that pattern.

  She thought of Silas, how he was a top agent in the FBI and stoic as hell even in the face of terrible circumstances. Even if he hadn’t been a “hottie” as Johnna called him, Quinn would’ve been drawn to Silas’s shrewd intelligence. It was arousing to be around someone whose mind wasn’t caged by their environment.

  Maybe she ought to stop denying that she was attracted to him.

  It took too much energy to fight what was growing between them when they could be spending that precious energy on finding the killer.

  And if her instincts were correct, Silas was attracted to her, too.

  She sensed his interest, even if he was in denial.

  As if summoned by her inner demons, Silas walked into the bar. He was out of his austere FBI garb and dressed like a local—worn jeans, a flannel shirt over a T-shirt and he was looking like fresh meat to every sharp-eyed woman over the age of twenty-one.

  “Oh my God, is that him?” Johnna squealed, gripping Quinn’s arm painfully. “He is gorgeous.”

  “He’s off-limits,” Quinn said a little too sharply.

  Johnna caught the snip in Quinn’s tone and gave her a quizzical look. “Is there something between you two?”

  “No, of course not,” Quinn said, freshly irritated by the turn of events. “I just don’t want my best friend mucking with the one person in this town capable of helping me break this case.”

  Johnna pouted but agreed to keep her distance. “Oh, fine. Donnie is here anyway. He’s always available for a few drinks and a good time. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll probably head home early.”

  “Okay.” Johnna was disappointed but good ol’ Donnie was already front and center in Johnna’s sights and Quinn was glad. Likely those two would eventually marry but for the time being Johnna enjoyed stringing Donnie along, flitting from one good time to another.

  Quinn loved Johnna but they were on two separate paths and that had never been more apparent than tonight.

  Winding her way past the clot of people, she found Silas drinking a beer by himself, reading a report.

  “You bring your work to the bar.”

  Silas looked up and offered a small smile. “Helps me think. The silence of a hotel room is distracting.”

  She gestured to the seat next to him. “May I?”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “People might get the wrong impression. You know how small towns are.”

  “I don’t care what people think.”

  That seemed to impress him. Maybe the key to Silas wasn’t her usual schtick. Flirting and being charming had always opened doors for her. Silas was a different breed. She respected that about him.

  Silas scooted over and made room for her. Quinn waved over the waitress and ordered a beer, as well. “I like to work at the diner. The white noise of people is relaxing to me,” she shared.

  “You here with friends?”

  “My best friend, Johnna.” Quinn pointed discreetly toward Johnna slow-dancing with Donnie, all cuddled up and looking happy. “But I think she’s going to go home with her dance partner.”

  “Did you come together?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn answered but shrugged it off. “I can get a ride home. It’s not a big deal.”

  But Silas didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. “Need I remind you there’s a killer on the loose?”

  “I’m hardly his demographic,” Quinn returned drily. “Besides, I’m not worried. I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time Johnna has ditched me and left me to find a way home.”

  “She doesn’t sound like a very good friend.”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, she’s an awesome person but she knows I’m safe. She would never leave me someplace dangerous.” Quinn paused a minute then ventured, “Are you working the case?”

  “Brushing up on my brother’s case.”

  “Doesn’t that...hurt?”

  “It would if I didn’t shut off that part of my brain. I look at the case notes clinically. If I let emotion cloud my judgment I might miss something important.”

  “How do you do that? Just shut off your emotions like a robot?”

  “A defense mechanism, I suppose. If I didn’t shut off certain parts of my brain, I’d lose my mind with all the terrible things I see every day. The world is a dangerous pla
ce, filled with nut jobs.”

  “You ought to write travel brochures because that’s pretty catchy.”

  Quinn caught a rare smile, sending a flutter of butterfly wings to tickle her stomach.

  “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” she ventured, trying for a bit of honesty between them.

  “I would say the same for you.”

  This time she smiled. Maybe she’d been going about this situation all wrong with Silas. He didn’t respond to flattery or flirty behavior, which only made her respect him more. Silas was the kind of person who appreciated someone who worked as hard as him and didn’t mess around.

  And that was an incredible turn-on.

  Chapter 10

  Silas knew he should’ve packed up and left the moment he saw Quinn from across the bar.

  He’d seen her before she’d seen him.

  Wearing tight jeans and a light, form-fitting blouse with boots, she looked far different than he was used to seeing her.

  He’d like to say he was immune to the charms of a beautiful woman but Quinn was something else entirely.

  Beyond beautiful. Hell, that word seemed inadequate when used to describe the redhead.

  And he had no business looking twice.

  So when he remained where he was and allowed her to sit beside him, he knew he was screwing up.

  Big time.

  But that didn’t stop him.

  Quinn smelled like the outdoors after a hard rain—wild and untamed.

  Clean.

  He liked that she didn’t drown herself in perfumes that always made him sneeze.

  Silas also liked the fact that she wore very little makeup. A light application of mascara and a dab of lip gloss was all she needed.

  “So do you come here often?” he asked then chuckled when he realized how cheesy his comment had sounded.

  She laughed and took a swig of her beer. “Not so often. But it’s really the only place to come and blow off steam. The town doesn’t have much in the way of entertainment, as well you probably remember.”

  “I remember.”

  He remembered prowling the streets, pissed off at the world, too young to drink legally, and nowhere near mature enough to handle the grief and guilt that fueled him those days. His brothers had moved as soon as they graduated.