Page 59 of Hunting Justice

“You’re still thinking two different killers, aren’t you?” Alana asked.

Matt stopped the tapping. “The ritual sounds similar, but I find it hard to believe the cold-case killer up and switched his methods.”

“What if he couldn’t tattoo his victims anymore? Would he change his technique?” Jonah had his opinion but wanted the professionals to weigh in.

Noelle shook her head. “I don’t think he’d change.”

“Run with that thought.” Matt flipped his pen end to end through his fingers. If the man didn’t stop with the pen, Jonah might throw the writing instrument across the room.

“The way he used the ink gun…” Noelle’s forehead crinkled. “It had a professional feel to it.”

Decia’s finger tapped her lower lip. “I agree. If he was an artist, there’s no way he’d switch to branding. It’s too much a part of who he was. I suppose the change is possible, but I’m with Noelle on this. Let’s not forget, the causes of death are different. According to the documentation, the causes of death were strangulation, overdose, among other things. Not exsanguination like the cold cases.”

“So we’re in agreement. Two sets of cases. Two different killers.” Juliette’s gaze swept the conference table.

“If that’s true, then how does the current guy know so much about my serial killer?” Noelle’s jaw twitched.

Matt threw his hands in the air and pushed a puff of air through his lips. “Great. Why can’t it be simple? Two bad guys. And as for the cold cases, we’re chasing a ghost.”

“Exaggerate much?” Jonah shook his head. “Where do we go from here?”

“We break it into two different investigations.” Decia leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “Then we find the thread that links them together.”

The room grew silent.

Decia had voiced his internal question. The killers had a connection, but what? And where did his and Noelle’s safety fall within the new madman’s plan?

* * *

Noelle wiped her sweaty palms on her pant legs. The eyes of the others around the conference room table zeroed in on her, waiting for her reaction. Well, they’d have to wait, because she wasn’t sure what to think. The memories hadn’t overwhelmed her while digging into the cold cases. She’d kept a certain detachment. Photos and words on paper from the past were one thing. New victims in the present…something else. The terror she’d experienced as a teen hovered above, waiting for the perfect moment to envelop her and drown her.

Jonah’s hand squeezed hers. The warmth of his touch grounded her in the moment. She willed her racing pulse to slow. “What do you need from me?”

“If you’re okay with it, let’s start with your abduction and move to our current cases.” The sympathy in Decia’s eyes gripped Noelle’s heart and twisted.

She knew her marred skin would never hold the same smooth, unblemished perfection her mother had preached to her, but pity from her friends only enhanced her parents’ reaction to her now-healed wounds.

The tightness of Jonah’s grasp shoved the hurt into the background. “Ask your questions.”

Jonah spoke first. “Tell us where you hung out as a teen and what you did for fun.”

Matt’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure you aren’t a detective?”

“Stuff it.” Jonah gave his friend a playful scowl.

The mood in the room lightened. Her best friend had thrown her a soft ball, allowing her to ease into the past. She took a moment to consider his request before responding. “I tended to hang out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights. With practice for whichever sport I participated in at the time on the weekdays, I had no time to just relax. So, on the weekends, a group of us would go to the mall. We’d get ice cream at the food court and talk. Other times we’d walk around and window shop. None of us had the money to do more than that.”

“Did anyone not like your group?” Juliette asked. “You know, the whole teenage drama thing.”

“Not that I can remember.” She searched her memory for even the slightest clue. “There was one kid. I always felt uneasy around him. He was a year younger than me. His father owned the convenience store where he worked. Our group would go there to grab snacks and drinks after school or after practice, depending on the day.”

“What was it about him?” Alana leaned forward, her gaze pinned on Noelle as if she held a national secret.

“It was the way his gaze traveled up and down my body, like I was a prime rib dinner. But the weird thing—he’d scowl at me the whole time. I think his father noticed, because he’d yell at the kid to get to work.” She’d forgotten all about the guy—and the creepy feelings.

“Name?” Matt’s firm tone startled her.

She tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. What was his name? “The store was called Henderson’s Market.” She snapped her head forward. “Yancy Henderson.”

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