Page 32 of So Silent

“I’m not lying. I promise.”

"Okay. Then, in that case, I wish you luck."

The three agents stepped outside. Wanda greeted them with a grin. “I never thought I’d say this about a fed, but you are genius, Prince. We just got a confession for grand theft and transporting stolen goods across state lines.”

“Technically, you didn’t,” Michael said. “She was manipulated into believing that the police wouldn’t hear what she just said. You’ll have to get that information another way.”

Wanda flipped her hand. “Now that we know where to look, finding proof should be a piece of cake. Crooks are never as smart as they think they are. Time for round three. Maybe now that she knows she’s not being threatened with murder in the first, she’ll be more willing to talk to me. If the theft is the right dollar amount, I might be able to get a plea deal and get a real confession by the end of the day.”

She headed to the interrogation room, and Michael frowned at her. "God, I hate cops like that. Never mind that three people are dead, and we're still looking for a killer. She gets her collar, and it’s all sunshine and roses.”

Faith pursed her lips. “I don’t know how I feel about what just happened in there.”

“It sucks. There’s no two ways about it. We’ll call the hotels, but we both know they’re going to confirm Elena’s alibi.”

“I don’t mean that. I mean that little stunt you pulled turning the camera off but not mentioning that the cops were watching. That’s… I mean, I know I’m not one to talk about bending rules, but that felt icky.”

“You’re not one to talk about bending rules,” Michael agreed, “and that was icky. But it was a lot less icky then three women with their carotid arteries severed and a psychopath out there looking for a fourth. Would you rather we had waited for the fourth to pop up while we waited a week for an arraignment and another for an indictment then six months for a trial?”

Faith frowned. “No.”

"Me either. So let's let the locals sweat the small stuff, and let's go find the big fish." He softened his voice. "I'm not proud of it, but it's the lesser of two evils."

The three agents left the precinct and headed back to their hotel. On the way, Faith verified Elena’s alibi and confirmed that she wasn’t their killer. Michael’s small evil had put away a slightly larger evil, but they were still hunting the great evil that prowled the streets looking for another victim. Michael was right that they had saved time by avoiding the lawyer and clearing Elena as a suspect, but it was hard to see today as a victory.

Once more, they were back to square one, and their killer was still on the loose.

Chapter Fifteen

The killer kept his distance from Jessica. The apparatus hadn’t worked this time. When the killer approached Jessica, she frowned and looked toward the killer. The killer had to walk into a shoe store and spend five minutes pretending to want new sneakers. Jessica had nearly gotten away.

Damn it, why didn’t it work on her? It worked so well on Maria, Rebecca and Emily.

She was more powerful than the others. That was the only answer. The government was onto the killer, and they had increased Jessica’s abilities. She could hear the killer’s thoughts even through the device.

The killer would have to delay this attack. Jessica’s abilities were too much of a risk to take head on. The device would have to be improved.

But how could the killer improve on it more? Already, the device was causing headaches. Could the killer handle any more voltage?

Maybe a different design. An exterior shield rather than an interior one. The only problem with that was fitting it under the baseball cap. If only the killer lived in Texas or Arizona or Montana, somewhere it was acceptable to wear cowboy hats.

Jessica stopped and rubbed her temples. The killer froze and watched with bated breath. Surely she couldn’t detect the killer from this far away! There was no way she could sense the killer’s thoughts from all the way over here.

If she could, then the killer might have to consider changing his approach. If the device couldn’t be reworked to shield the killer’s thoughts, or if no new design worked, then the killer might not have a choice.

The killer hated guns. Not on principle. They were fine, but they were loud. They attracted attention. The killer’s success depended on not being seen. If the killer had to start shooting these people instead of stabbing them, then the government would find out who the killer was quickly, and the killer would have to go into hiding.

Maybe it was time to go into hiding. Maybe Jessica was too powerful.

The killer’s blood boiled. No! The killer wasn’t ready. The next phase of the plan would require him to go into hiding, but it wasn’t time for that yet. He still had more targets.

The killer wouldn’t be intimidated. Jessica was more powerful than the others, so the killer would become more powerful. The government couldn’t win just because they had more resources. The killer had to show that little people could resist.

The killer reluctantly turned around and headed away. Jessica worked nearby. The killer could find her again. It was only a delay of a day or two to build a better shield. Nothing to get worked up over.

The plan would still work. They hadn’t won yet.

You’ll never win, the killer thought when Jessica was far enough away, there was no chance of reading the killer's thoughts. You’re going to die, Jessica Peters.

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