Page 42 of Zen's Crash

“Even if it’s a trap, we’ve got to take a chance,” Siege says. “This is the only actionable lead we have on this case. I’ll get some backup in place in case things go sideways.”

Rigs adds, “I agree. We need to get this show on the road on the off chance that he’s still in the area. I want to get my hands on this asshole so bad I can taste it.”

“I’m fairly certain we can take him by surprise if we leave right away.”

Siege calls in ten of our club brothers to surround the business and wait for further orders. He, Rigs, and I gear up and head out almost immediately. The work email address suggests the sender works at an apartment complex in the heart of Las Salinas. There’s no website to check out the employees and we don’t have time, so the best bet is for us to be eyes on and get our asses down there now. I don’t particularly like breaking into buildings in densely populated parts of the city. There are too many eyes and ears around, making it damned inconvenient when it comes to beating information out of people—which is something I have every intention of doing today. How dare some asshole think he could get away with trying to hack into our club’s network? I take that shit very seriously.

As the three of us ride out, I have a strange gut feeling about this situation. Finding this person was too easy, And I still think it could be a trap. I try my best to shake the feeling, telling myself that it probably isn’t even related to the case we’re working on for Lexi. Maybe it’s just some pimple-faced kid looking to make a name for himself. That sounds about right.

When we pull up to the Windlands Luxury Apartment complex, it’s anything but luxurious. Maybe it was luxurious when it was first built back in the eighties, but now it’s a rundown slum—a shadow of its former self.

When we get off our bikes, I’m aware of multiple club brothers hiding in the shadows, just like our club president ordered. I’m glad to know backup is close at hand if we need it.

I warn Siege and Rigs, “Be careful. Watch your backs. I feel like there’s something we’re missing about this situation.”

The other two immediately reach into their cuts and rest their hands on the grips of their guns. We proceed cautiously. The last thing we need is for this to go bad on us.

“Where is this computer we’re looking for?”

“It could be anywhere, but if the email address is real then it belongs to the security guard. It’ll be in one of two locations. Either the security room in the basement or the apartment right above it where he lives.”

“Let’s check the security office first,” Rigs suggests.

“I pulled up a schematic of the building. The security office is located right across from the laundry room,” I tell them.

We enter through the back and go through the laundry room to get to the security office. Rigs manages to jimmy the lock, which gets us in without breaking it. Siege flips on the light, and we all go silent. Looking around the room, I almost don’t believe what I’m seeing.

Siege gasps, “What the fuck is this?”

“It’s all related,” Rigs whispers.

I step out into the center of the room and turn around in a complete circle, taking it all in. There are wall-to-wall pictures of Lexi, my Lexi. “It’s like someone set up a huge collage and then lured us here to see it,” I say, feeling my emotions rise hard and fast when I see that in some of the pictures her eyes have been scratched out.

“I don’t understand why some of the pictures have the eyes cut out,” I tell them.

Rigs takes out his cell phone and starts taking pictures. “It’s symbolic. He doesn’t want her to see him coming.”

My blood runs cold at the implication of whatever this crazy fucker was thinking when he made this message for us to see. “It could be him saying she won’t see him coming.”

Siege points out, “It could be nothing to do with seeing him coming. Maybe it’s his way of saying he doesn’t want her to see what he’s going to do to her—like he feels compelled to hurt her but at the same time he likes her and doesn’t want her to know it’s him.”

I swallow thickly when I realize some pictures have her eyes crossed out, like when a cartoon character dies. “He’s also crossed her eyes out in some pictures. It could be his way of saying he’s gonna kill her.”

“There’s no way any of us can know what a serial killer is thinking,” Rigs points out sagely. “What we do know, is that he wants us to know he’s aware that we’re investigating her case and protecting her. He wants us to see this.”

I realize that Siege is on the phone with his police contact. “Yeah, it looks like a setup, and it’s creepy as fuck.”

When his call ends, Siege turns to me. “What do you think this means, besides the possible motivations we discussed?”

I gesture around the room. “Look at all these pictures. They’re all of Lexi growing up. I’m beginning to think this man might have been watching her for years. Instead of him coming for her father, noticing her family picture, and trying to getto her, what if he came for Lexi because she was all grown up? Maybe he’d been keeping his eye on her all this time and decided to finally make his move. Her father made the fatal mistake of glancing at his security camera—which was his only link to Lexi. The killer realized she was in the house and when the father wouldn’t give her location away, the killer tried to get her to trade herself for her father, knowing she was watching. When that didn’t work, he killed her father in a blind rage, but before he could tear the place apart looking for her, the cops arrived and he fled.”

Siege glances around suspiciously. “That all sounds plausible. What we need is proof.”

Rigs has been standing still this whole time in front of a table with some framed photographs on it. I walk over and ask, “What did you find?”

He picks up one of the pictures and holds it out in his gloved hands. “It’s a picture of Lexi on the beach with her father when she was a teen. It doesn’t look like a family photograph taken by her mom. This was taken with a zoom lens. You’re right. This fucker has been stalking her for a long time—maybe waiting for her to come of age.”

I stand there staring at the image for a long, hard moment. “I’m betting he’s been in her orbit for a while, trying to worm his way into her life. Only, she’s too reclusive. She said there’s been a lot of weird one-off situations that didn’t make any sense. She even said a food delivery guy tried to get into her house during a delivery.”

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