Page 94 of Love Me Fierce

EVERETT

Inside my rig,Zach climbs into the passenger seat while I take a charging cord and connect it to the phone we found hidden in the dresser.

I knew at first glance it wasn’t the smartphone her parents bought her for her seventeenth birthday. The one we’ve been looking for. This phone was something she kept hidden. A secret.

I dial Special Agent Luke Ballard.

“Ho-ly fuck,” he says.

“I’ve got Zach here, too.” I put my phone on the dashboard.

“Where did you find the phone?” Ballard asks. From our quick text exchange in Marin’s bedroom fifteen minutes ago, I know he’s driving somewhere in eastern Oregon.

“In a hidden space beneath her dresser,” Zach says, grimacing. “I feel like shit for missing it the first time.”

Marin’s phone chirps, startling me, but the screen is still dark.

“Send it to our lab by courier as soon as you get back to the station,” Ballard says.

“Will do,” I say, willing the phone to juice up.

I check the time again. I’m going to need to reschedule my interview with Beverly Ovenell.

“There’s something else,” Zach says to Ballard, snapping me back to our conversation.

“I’m all ears,” Ballard replies.

Zach turns to me, but I shake my head. “You came up with it, not me,” I tell him.

He gives me a grave nod. “We had an idea that maybe our unsub is selecting his victims through a job offer. They’re all either recent college grads or graduate students. The one thing they have in common, even more than the science or health care field is they’re all broke. Marin was only just entering college, but she was at Bitterroot to save money.”

“We’ve been stuck on the science angle,” I add. “We believed maybe the killer worked in that field too, interacted with his victims in that capacity somehow. But what if the science and health care connection is secondary?”

“Maybe he advertises some kind of job offer through these colleges,” Zach says. “My wife Sofie ran a couple of psych experiments for her graduate degree at Western.”

Ballard gives an appreciative hum. “I like this idea.”

“Get this,” I say. “According to Marin’s father, she participated in a research study late in the winter quarter. Something that paid in cash. He remembers the flyer she brought home.”

“Did he still have it?” Ballard asks, his tone sharp.

“No,” Zach says with a grimace.

“Okay,” Ballard replies. “I can definitely check financial records again of the other vics. Though I don’t remember any big deposits.”

“What if he never actually pays them?” I say. “Or the day he pays is the day he kills, and after they’re dead, he takes the money back.”

“Fuck!” Zach says, slamming his head back against the seat. “I thought I hated this guy before.”

The phone chirps again., letting me know it’s unlocked. “Okay, we’re in business,” I say. “What am I looking for?”

“Check the call log,” he says.

I navigate to the right option.

Only one number shows up.

Because I’ve studied every detail of this case for sixteen months, I know exactly what number it is: the burner phone’s.

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