Page 48 of Long Past Deadly

Alanna froze. “Nothing but a bad fucking memory.”

Quaid leaned closer and put a hand on her elbow. “What?” That he was reading her disturbed. She pushed the unsettling feeling away. This was her partner.

“That is the alley where his first fight was with Whit.” She kept the rest of the info to herself.

Frank’s concern showed in his eyes. “You sure you want to go there?”

“Yes. Let’s move. We aren’t going to find him by searching alone. We have to figure out why he’s here. Is he still searching for Whit? Makes no sense. So what is he doing?”

“Hunting.” Mackey’s growl raised the hair on the back of her neck.

“Of course. They’re thirteen,” she whispered. “He may be focused on killing us, but the compulsion is still there and biting at him.”

Quaid signaled Remy and Frank. “Follow us.” He took Alanna’s arm and leaned closer to speak only to her. “Seems like you’ve drawn a few conclusions since we talked last.”

“Yeah. I’d forgotten. Mercer had a reputation on these streets. It wasn’t only Esme.”

Still, the question of why that alley stuck. It was such an obvious place because of their history. He had to know she would remember. But that was the point, wasn’t it? Add another victim in the same place and the same way – it was a poke at her, a trap for her. But which enemy was coming for her – the hands-on killer or the sniper?

&&&&&&&&&&

Quaid stayed close, uncertain what to do for her. Alanna tried to keep her face a neutral mask, but blank and pale didn’t say neutral. The area was more than vacant lots. The drab colors, garbage, rusted dumpsters, and graffitied aluminum siding from the wasting-away warehouse left a sour taste in his mouth. She had lived here, walked these streets, and the whole idea left him gnashing his teeth.

While he was growing up, he’d lived in luxurious surroundings with staff that saw to his every need. Lani sometimes, by her own admission, hadn’t had a decent pair of shoes. A part of him wanted to lavish her with everything she hadn’t had, but she’d built herself past this image with a tough level of smart. She wouldn’t appreciate those gifts because she would see them as pity. And that would leave them sparring again.

To be avoided at all costs.

He came to her side. “Anything triggering?”

“Nope. Pretty much what I expected. See those little flowers painted on the siding over there?”

He searched where she pointed and found them. Simple yellow daisies erupting from the side of the building, faded, yet still visible. “Yeah, I see them.”

“Esme painted those.”

That there was a ghost of the dead girl still in the alley stung, yet her art stirred hope. But Alanna’s eyes chilled his soul. Her blue irises flashed with jagged intensity, like the memory bled out into the quiet night.

“We’ve checked the rooftops. They’re clear. Searching street by street,” Mackey called to him.

Quaid waved to tell him he heard, but stayed next to her. Patina and Conners remained at the mouth of the alley, guarding their backs.

“It’s so quiet here. Was then, too. You can’t hear the street and the people on the street can’t hear you. I screamed and screamed while Mercer was attacking me, and nobody came.”

“Whit found you and stop it?”

“Well, he stopped it. But what happened isn’t clear. At this point, Mercer had left DNA all over this alley…” She turned wide eyes to him. “They never tested anything that I could find. It was entered into the database as a street fight. Not worth the time.”

“I disagree. Worth the time, but no resources. That was sixteen years ago. Debatable whether they would have found him. Look at the trouble we’re having. He trained himself and layered military techniques to his skill set. He was already hiding who he was.”

“Three days of this.” She sighed. “Why don’t we lay out Whit’s military record and find what we can that way.”

“Kerry has begun that search. We are assuming they served together.” Quaid glanced at her, not liking the dark circles under her eyes. That he had matching ones was a given.

They had dozens of people here and SDPD had an equal amount. The search was rapidly progressing, and they weren’t needed for door to door. Mackey could handle it, but Quaid’s gut said Mercer was gone. He was testing them again.

She needed a longer rest. “Let’s go to my house. You still have reports to write, and I need a shower, clothes, and a quiet minute.”

Her gaze jerked to his and traced his face.