Page 71 of Counter Attack

The two men shook hands, and Nathan asked, “You playing next year?”

“Planning on it.”

One of the officers jogged toward them. “What do you have?” the commander asked.

“A chess piece.”

A stabbing pain hit Alex’s stomach, and she swallowed hard. Another taunt from the killer. She turned slowly, making a 360-degree circle, scanning the area. Was he here now, watching the chaos he’d caused?

What if she wasn’t up to catching the killer?

No! She clenched her jaw. This killerwouldmake a mistake, and Alex would be there to catch it. It was time to go on the offensive. She stepped forward and held out her hand for the pawn. “Is there a note with it?”

“Didn’t see one.”

“Would you make sure?” Alex asked.

“I’ll check it out and let you know,” the commander said.

“He’s laughing at us,” she said to Nathan once they were alone.

“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand. “Don’t let him get to you.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“Do you know if Ethan Kennedy and the other two boys were booked for possession of drugs? If they were, I thought I’d see if they would talk to me, then—”

“They’re home,” Alex said. “Jonathan Kennedy posted bail for them.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not surprised. I’m going to my office to comb through the Phillip Denton file again.”

Her phone chimed with a text. Marge reminding her about the press conference. The time had come and gone while they were dealing with the fake bomb, but the reporters had hung around. She called her secretary. “Tell the reporters I’ll meet with them in front of the CJC in five minutes.”

Alex hung up and turned to Nathan. “You heard?”

“I was hoping they would leave.”

“They didn’t, and you wouldn’t have either with two murders and a bomb threat. Hang around and back me up, please.”

“Always.”

In exactly five minutes they walked to the front steps of the jail complex, and first Nathan made a statement about how the city and county were working together to solve the cases, then Alex basically repeated what he’d said. Then she looked into the camera held by one of the Chattanooga reporters. “This is for the Queen’s Gambit Killer. You’re not as smart as you think. I’m coming after you.” Then she turned to the reporters. “Make sure you include this numeric value in your story—0-0. Thank you.”

They ignored questions shouted at them as they ducked back inside the building.

Nathan looked over his shoulder. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Not much worse than a root canal.”

He grunted. “I want to go into Chattanooga tomorrow to check out Phillip Denton’s neighbors. Madden may have missed something.”

“I’ll go with you. Eight?”

“That’s good. Don’t let this get to you.”

“I’m not.”

When he left, she texted Harvey and Mark, requesting their presence in her office in half an hour. This was one thing she could take care of today.

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