Page 45 of The Killer You Know

“This, for starters,” I say, holding up a small aerosol can. “Luminol.”

“And what are you going to do with that?”

“See if I can’t scratch an itch.” I glance past him to make sure there’s not a soul around. “The other day when we were here, the paint she was mixing, she said it was red for the flowers. But I thought it looked brown. In fact, I thought it looked a lot like dried blood.”

Jack closes his eyes. “Okay. I thought it looked closer to brown, too. And so, what’s happening here? You think she took the blood of her victims in an effort to turn it into a work of art?”

“She did say we had no idea how much blood, sweat, and tears went into this. And that gave me the shivers.” I close the trunk and speed in the direction of that mural. “After I gave her my sister’s card, Nessa mentioned that her mother had other properties nearby that she needed help with, too.”

“That means she has a place to hold Brittney hostage if she’s still alive.”

“Exactly that,” I pant as we come close to running. “Something we haven’t discovered yet with Derek. She has a motive, and according to Carrie, she’s got a backbone of steel that has people thinking twice about messing with her now.”

“All right,” he says as he takes me by the hand and flies us to the outdoor hall just outside the English building. “There it is,” he says as we slow down to a stop.

I shake the can in my hand. Luminol is a common chemical used in forensics that reacts with the iron content in blood. Once it hits hemoglobin, the protein in blood that carries oxygen, it lights up with a blue glow. The process is swift, but the area needs to be dark. And as dark as it is out here, it’s still not dark enough.

Jack takes off his jacket as if reading my mind. “Pick a poppy,” he says, nodding to the clustered flowers painted onto the wall. “And you’re right. They look far too dark for my liking. You’d think as an art teacher she’d want to emulate the look a little more realistically.”

“I think she’s bringing reality into this, all right. Reality—and if we’re right, revenge.”

I lead us to the cluster of poppies as the two of us lean close to the wall. Jack quickly encapsulates us with his jacket and pins it to the mural, enshrining us in darkness, and I spray the area down.

Like magic, each one of those poppies glows a violent shade of blue.

30

Special Agent Jack Stone

The gym is filled to capacity as Fallon and I push through the crowd.

The music is so loud it thumps through my chest, bodies are gyrating every which way, and every few seconds earth-shattering laughter threatens to blow out an eardrum.

“I don’t see her,” Fallon says as we slow down just this side of the buffet.

“I don’t either,” I mutter, mostly to myself. I don’t feel like shouting. I feel dejected just knowing one of my classmates was capable of something so horrific. I knew Nessa way back when, and yet I was blind to the fact she was hurting.

The faint smell of something unpleasant whiffs by and I pull Fallon along deeper into the gym rather than stand by and subject ourselves to it. Someone out there is taking the term cutting loose a little too literally.

“There’s Nikki.” Fallon points straight ahead and we speed that way.

I don’t hesitate to pull Nikki in close and streamline everything we’ve just gleaned right into her ear.

Nikki’s eyes widen a notch as Fallon nods her way.

“We need to find out where those other properties are located,” she tells her.

“I’m on it,” Nikki says, pulling out her phone and huddling up next to the wall.

The crowd begins to murmur and the bodies on the dance floor begin to slow. A few dozen people begin to cough and Fallon and I exchange a glance.

“I smell it.” She holds a hand to her nose.

“It’s gas,” I say, looking around. “And judging by how strong it’s coming at us, I say we’ve got one hell of a leak.” I take a few steps into the crowd. “Everyone out of the building, now,” I bellow.

The crowd disperses from the center of the room to the two main exits and yet no one seems to be going anywhere. The crowd simply bottlenecks at the doorway.

“What’s going on?” I shout as I head that way and Fallon and Nikki are right by my side. Fallon and I just came in that way and now the doors are sealed shut.

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