Page 72 of Girl, Sought

‘So, what now? Pray forensics find something?’

Ella pressed her palms against her eyes until colors burst behind her lids.Think, damn it. There had to be something they'd missed.

‘What about other collectors who aren’t in the system? Thesepurecollectors might not get their items appraised at all, right?’

‘But if they didn’t get them appraised, the killer wouldn’t know they exist. Our guyhasto be finding his victims through the Curated Value Group.’

She pulled herself close to the desk and pressed her head against the wood, the same position she'd slept in for five or six hours. The strain in her neck returned, and she was quickly reminded of her dream of being caged in Austin Creed's basement.

Austin Creed. The most famous serial killer in the world right now.

Why did he keep coming to mind?

She thought of his victims, his sneer, his hybrid taxidermy creatures she’d seen in his underground den. Owls with deer antlers. Dog heads with marbles for eyes. Rats tied together by their tails.

Oh hell.

Then it hit her like a bullet train. Just yesterday, she'd seen that that menagerie of oddities and abominations. And smack in the center, presiding over it all with its nails for a crown.

'The squirrel.' She breathed it like a prayer and a curse, all tangled up together. 'Hawkins. Vanessa Blackburn's squirrel.'

Luca looked at her like she’d finally gone insane. ‘You’re going to have to unpack that one for me.’

Ella smacked her palm on the desk, sudden urgency electrifying her nerves. ‘In Vanessa's office. She had one of Creed’s taxidermy things. You saw it.’

‘Yeah, so?’

‘Vanessa said she was a collector herself. Her office was full of crap. What if she’s one of our pure collectors?’

Luca scratched his stubble. ‘Then wouldn’t her name be in these files?’

‘Her name is all over these files! I’ve read it twenty times.’

‘I suppose… I mean, if our unsub has connections to Vanessa’s company, then surely he knows Vanessa’s personally. He wouldn’t need to learn about her through these files.’

‘Yes!’ Ella was already typing her name into FALCON. ‘Now, we just need to see if Vanessa really is pure, because if she is, she wouldn’t have donated any of her collection anywhere.’

Luca rushed around to Ella’s side of the desk. ‘Come on, come on.’

She punched the details in, scrolled through several Vanessa Blackburns in Virginia, then found one based in Chesapeake. Ella’s gut knotted when she found one tax return filed under Vanessa’s name.

‘Ugh. She’s on the database. That means she’s made a sizable donation somewhere.’ Ella pushed away from her laptop. ‘Dammit, thought we had something there.’

‘Wait, wait.’ Luca leaned in and took the reins. He pointed to a black tick beside Vanessa’s name. ‘This isn’t Vanessa Blackburn’s tax return. This is last year’s tax return for the Curated Value Group. It just came up because Vanessa’s name is attached to it.’

The fire in Ella’s gut had tapered, but there was still some heat there. ‘Why are the Group’s tax records on here?’

‘Dunno. Let’s see.’

Luca worked his magic while Ella could just sit back and watch. In that moment, it hit her like a bullet to the chest - just how damn lucky she was to have him. Not just as a boyfriend, but as a confidant. Strange how someone could become so fundamental to your existence without you noticing. Like oxygen or gravity - you never thought about it until it wasn't there.

The past 24 hours crystallized in her mind: Luca breaking into Thorne's office, taking down their suspect at U-Stor, working through the night while she drowned in her own obsessions. She'd been so caught up in her jealousy, so desperate to prove she was still the top profiler, that she'd nearly missed what was right in front of her.

And that was a partner who matched her step for step and endured her eccentricities with reason. Yes, he made jokes at the worst times, but beneath that gallows humor beat a heart too big for his chest. He was the kind of partner who'd risk immolation to take down a suspect, then shrug it off like it was just another Tuesday.

If not for Luca Hawkins, she probably have missed the tax connection while she lost herself down another rabbit hole of criminal psychology. She struggled to admit it aloud, but watching Luca work reminded her why she'd fallen for him in the first place.

She owed him more than she could ever repay. But she'd spend a lifetime trying, if he'd let her.

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