Page 70 of Be Very Quiet

“Of course.”

“Will do.”

“Be careful,” Liliana called out as he turned to leave. He gave her a reassuring smile, hating to leave her, but he wanted to end this ordeal so she wouldn’t be in danger any longer.

As they made their way through the throng of police cars and personnel to Reneau’s vehicle, Luca’s gaze passed by their SUV parked at the curb and snapped back. There was another envelope, this time slid inside the door handle.

“What is it?” Reese asked when he stopped walking.

“The Mortician was here.”

“What?”

Luca pulled on a glove and removed the legal-sized envelope. Inside was a pink silicone breast cancer awareness bracelet. Elise Snyder, Rader’s sixth victim, had worn one to support her mother. The other item was a simple silver chain with a peace symbol.

“I assume this means we’re about to learn of another murder,” Luca said.

Reese spoke into his phone, and less than a minute later, a man in a charcoal suit arrived with an evidence bag. Luca dropped it in, and the agent disappeared to have it analyzed. Then he and Reese asked around to see if anyone had witnessed who left the envelope. Unsurprisingly, no one had.

It couldn’t have been Speke, so that meant either he wasn’t the perp, as Liliana believed, or he had an accomplice. As soon as they were in Reese’s car headed to Rex Raines’s office, Reese asked, “You think Speke and Georgia Perkins are in it together?”

Luca nodded. “I think it’s an excellent possibility. There was so much activity, she could’ve snuck in and left the envelope while everyone was distracted.” The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. “It’s likely they met at Liliana’s studio. Georgia works out there and could’ve run into Speke, maybe even took one of his classes. Plus, her ex-husband thought she was having an affair. Although, there wasn’t anything that suggested a woman was staying in the house with Speke.”

“Maybe she just visited but returned to her place,” Reese suggested.

Possible. Luca took out his phone and dialed Robert Eckerd, the private eye who’d been tailing Georgia, and put the call on speaker.

“Eckerd.”

“Are you still tailing Georgia Perkins?”

“Who is this?”

“The FBI,” Reese informed him.

“Oh. Well, no. I’d only had the job for a short while before I was warned away by two extremely rude assholes who threatened to have me arrested if I returned. I was simply minding my own business and doing my job. On public property, I might add. I’m assuming I’m talking to one of them?”

“You are,” Luca confirmed. “During the time you watched her, did she ever visit a house on . . .” Luca checked the address and read it to Eckerd.

“Nope.”

“Did you witness her meet with anyone?” Reese asked. “Maybe for dinner or drinks?”

“The only time I saw her interact with anyone was when she left work. Again, I was a short-timer.”

“Is the ex still paying you?”

“Nope. I gave him what little I had, and he decided to end the contract.”

“That’s all the questions we have. Thanks, Eckerd,” Luca said.

“Yeah, whatever.” He disconnected.

Luca’s lips quirked. “Can’t blame him. Christian and I were pretty discourteous to him.”

Reese chuckled as he turned into the parking lot and found a space near Rex Raines’s office. A bell chimed when they entered.

“Welcome to Raines Realty,” an older woman with curly white hair greeted them. The nameplate in front of her revealed her name to be Pearl. “How may I help you, gentlemen?”

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