Page 130 of Coordinates of Death

“You staged your own kidnapping? Why?”

She held her hands out, palms up. “For fun, perhaps?”

“You’re sick.”

“Not really. Just getting back at all the women in my life who bullied me.”

The handwriting seeping onto the pages of the journal came into Aurora’s mind. “You left that journal at the institution for me to find, didn’t you?”

“Of course. He didn’t know I’d snuck it into his secret room.”

Who was she referring to? Something else dawned on her. “You were institutionalized there, weren’t you?”

Jade bit her lip, her eyes darkening. “Yes.”

“And they experimented on you.” Aurora almost felt sorry for the woman.

Almost.

“You wouldn’t believe what they did. It would make your hair curl.” She cursed. “My sweet stepmother sent me after she finagled my father into marrying her. Said my mental state needed rebooting.” She finished with air quotes. “But she got her penance.”

“You killed her?”

“Nope. He did.”

“He who?”

“The Shadow Box Killer. It was his first-ever kill.”

“Explain the initials J.F.K.B.”

“My full real name—Jade Fiona Kramer Bryant. I hid my identity from the world because I wanted to erase the past. Start over.”

Aurora inched forward.

Jade held out a taser. “Step back. I know how to use this.”

She held her hands in the air. “Calm down. Tell me more about SBK.”

Her eyes softened. “He’s the love of my life.”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Pfft. No, silly. My twin brother.”

Aurora drew in a sharp breath. They were dealing with twin killers? How had she and the team missed that important piece of the puzzle? “Let me guess. You created all the boxes?”

“Of course. I spent hours honing my skills while I was stuck in that dreaded place as a teenager.” She snickered. “It was also where I learned to be manipulative. I beat the system and finally convinced my stepmother that I was cured. She let me come home.”

“And you somehow convinced your brother to kill her.”

“Now you’re catching on. I have him wrapped around my pinky. He just doesn’t realize it.” She gestured toward the door. “This is where he kept the girls until it was time to eliminate them. You see, I steered my brother toward each of the women who mistreated me. I crafted boxes for him and left them in his room.”

Aurora analyzed the woman’s face. Sure, she didn’t kill the women, but evidently she was the brains behind the Shadow Box Killer. “How did these women hurt you? How did Jennifer hurt you? She was a sweetheart.”

Her eyes narrowed. “To you maybe, but she questioned everything I did at the station. Made me do things over that were done right the first time!”

“What about the other women?”