Page 4 of Cat and Mouse

Harris gestures to the chair next to Jeremy. "Sit down, Kane. We have a problem."

I sit, my stomach knotting. "What's going on?"

Jeremy takes a deep breath. "A man stopped me last night. He tied me up, threw me in the back of his car."

I blink, processing. "Wait, what?"

"He had blue eyes, that's all I saw. He wore a mask. I couldn't see his face," Jeremy continues, voice shaky. "He kept me tied up all night. Early this morning, he hit me on the head and left me in a mall parking lot."

"Jesus," I mutter. "Do we have any security footage from the lot?"

Harris nods. "We're working on it. But here's the kicker, Kane. The man you were talking to at the scene, the one claiming to be the new coroner—"

"Lorenzo Moretti," I say, the name tasting bitter on my tongue.

Harris leans forward. "He's the kidnapper. He could even be the Phantom."

I stare at Harris, my mind racing. "You've got to be kidding me."

Beside me, Jeremy shakes his head. "I swear, Elizabeth. All I saw were his blue eyes. He tied me up, left me in his car."

I sit back, trying to piece it together. "This guy, Lorenzo, he was at the crime scene. He talked to me. We even had a conversation about the body."

Harris's expression is grim. "We need to ID the victim, go through your report bit by bit. If you were that close to the Phantom and let him slip, it could get you kicked off the case."

I nod, feeling the weight of it. "Alright. Let's start from the top. Jeremy, anything else you remember?"

Jeremy shakes his head again. "Just blue eyes and the mask. I couldn't get a good look at him."

Harris interjects. "Kane, what exactly did you and this Lorenzo talk about?"

I think back. "He examined the body, mentioned the slashes were precise, almost surgical. He was... flirty. Asked me if I liked tattooed bad boys. I thought he was just being an ass."

Harris groans. "Tattooed? Anything specific?"

I nod. "Yeah, I saw a tattoo peeking from his sleeve. Couldn't make out the details."

Jeremy speaks up. "He hit me on the head with something hard. I've got a nasty bump to prove it."

"We'll get you checked out," Harris says. "Kane, I need you to be honest. Did you check his ID?"

I swallow hard. "No. I assumed he was legit because he knew so much about the victim."

Harris rubs his temples. "Damn it, Kane. We can't afford these kinds of mistakes."

I clench my fists. "I know. I fucked up. But we need to move forward. Find out who this victim is and why the Phantom targeted her."

Harris nods. "Agreed. But first, let's get Jeremy to the hospital. Then, we comb through your report and the scene footage."

Jeremy stands, wobbling slightly. "Sorry, Elizabeth. I didn't see much, but I hope it helps."

"It will," I say, determined. "We'll catch this bastard."

Harris and I escort Jeremy to the door. "Get some rest, Jeremy. We'll handle it from here."

Once Jeremy's gone, Harris turns to me.

"Kane, this is serious. We need to be on top of this."

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