Page 38 of The Killer You Know

He scratches the back of his head. “There is someone I know who seems to collect all the facts—mostly by proxy from the girls who haunted his back seat.”

I know exactly who he’s thinking.

25

Special Agent Fallon Baxter

Soon, we’ve got Mitch Decker on the speaker. Jack filled him in and he’s laughing to himself just thinking about it.

“Yeah, I had more than a few girls who were talkers. And unlike Jack, I actually listened. Gossip, let’s see…” He pauses a moment. “Okay, so remember Alicia, right?”

I glance at Jack. “The one we spoke to this afternoon?”

“That’s right.” Jack leans toward his phone, his brows furrowing. “Class president.”

“Yup, that’s the one,” Mitch says. “She had a thing going with the chemistry teacher.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Jack winces. “We found out right after graduation. Everyone kept saying they must have had great chemistry.”

“That they did. Hot and heavy apparently right through senior year,” Mitch confirms. “I heard a rumor she had his kid and put it up for adoption.”

“Wow,” I say. “If Alicia was a victim, I would have wondered if it was the kid doing all this.”

Nikki averts her eyes. “What would the kid care about a bunch of girls who went to school with their mother?”

“You’re right.” I think about it for a moment. “What about the chemistry teacher?”

“Dead,” Mitch says, “He passed a few years back. I processed his body myself. That was a mind-bender. If any of you should kick the bucket any time soon, I’ll gladly take care of you for a steeply discounted rate.”

“He’s a good one.” I wink over at Nikki.

“She already tapped that well,” Jack says.

My mouth rounds out and I practically mouth, “Did you sleep with him?”

Nikki slashes her finger across her neck and mouths back, “We’ll talk.”

Mitch is a looker and seems to be an all-around good guy, save for his dicey past with women. Although, one could argue that Jack was rubbing off on him.

“I guess that’s all the gossip I’ve got,” Mitch concludes. “The only other things that I ever heard about was who was cheating on who. Nothing short of your average high school drama and trauma. If I can think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good.” Jack crumples a piece of paper and shoots it in the air.

“But hey, there was one girl who knew all the dirt,” Mitch starts up again. “Her name was Carrie Bigelow.”

“Carrie Bigs,” Jack howls with the memory, prompting both Nikki and me to glare at him. “What? That was her last name.”

We thank Mitch and he lets us know he’s looking forward to seeing us there Saturday night before he hangs up.

“Slut,” I say under my breath as I glance back at the screen. “Is that a man’s mindset or a woman’s?”

“Both,” Hale says. “But that knife thrust into the chest. It took some power to execute on both of those women. You’d need to be strong.”

“Or angry,” I add.

“Any footprints found at the scene?” Jack asks.

“CSI sent these over,” Hale says as he scans through several pictures of dusty prints that are smeared out in every direction.

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