Page 44 of Counter Attack

“No.” Alex stared at her plate. “I just can’t get out of my mind why someone would want to kill these victims. And how does George Smith figure into it? Was it a coincidence that Smith attacked me? Or was he planning a copycat murder with me as the victim?”

“I think he was a copycat,” Gramps said.

Alex turned to him. “Why?”

He pointed with his fork. “When you were in the hospital, one of your colleagues came by, and we talked about it. Just seemed strange that he picked you that particular night.”

“Maybe because Alexis was hanging out at the Lemon Tree—”

“And if it was a copycat, he would have wanted to stay as close to the facts that he knew.” She turned to Nathan. “Do you think George Smith is his real name?”

“I didn’t see a background report in the files that Chattanooga PD sent over.”

Alex pushed away from the table. “It’s been almost a month. I’m going to make a call, if you will excuse me.”

She took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts as she walked to the living room. When she came to the homicide detective in charge of the Chattanooga investigation, she pressed call. It was a little after eight, and Todd Madden would probably not want to talk to her after being in court all day,but she needed an answer tonight. He picked up on the second ring.

“Madden.”

“Todd, do you have a minute to talk about George Smith?”

“Not really, but I will. What do you need?”

Todd Madden’s usual “I’m superior to you” tone grated on her nerves, and she clenched her jaw to keep from spitting out a retort.Think of still waters. A lake...

“I read the report on him,” she said calmly. “And since I know how thorough you are, I wondered if you hadn’t gotten around to adding in the background report on him.”

“Hold on a sec.” There was dead silence on the other end, then she heard papers being shuffled.

She watched the second hand on her grandmother’s clock sweep around. Ninety seconds later, he came on the line.

“Here it is.” Todd didn’t sound quite so arrogant. “Except for a few DUIs in the past, George Smith has a clean record. His prints don’t return any criminal hits like burglary or robbery. Haven’t found any next of kin yet, but we’re still looking.”

“I appreciate you sharing the information you have. If we learn anything, I’ll return the favor.”

“Who have you made mad?” Madden asked.

“What?”

“Part of the profile we received from the FBI indicated the killer had a fixation on a woman who resembled his victims—five-sixish, reddish hair, blue eyes, slim build, midtwenties to midthirties—it all fits you.”

“And?” She already knew this—it was the reason she was picked to go undercover.

“As far as I’m concerned, the killer moving to your area and killing someone on the very day you’re sworn in as Russell County’s chief deputy—congratulations, by the way—confirms my conviction you’re connected to the killings.”

Madden was making her feel worse than she already did. Had she brought the killer to Russell County? “Anything else?”

“We’re still looking at all your cases.”

“My cases?”

“Yeah. We pulled them after the second victim—the one you were mentoring. I thought I might find a connection, especially with the Denton shooting.”

“What did you come up with?”

“Not a lot other than the shooting wasn’t your fault.”

“Internal Affairs cleared me of any wrongdoing.”

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