Page 81 of Be Very Quiet

“I had the office trace her phone,” Christian informed them. “It’s at her apartment.”

Liliana’s eyes welled with tears. “Why isn’t she picking up?”

Luca was afraid of the answer.

Detective Torres walked over and announced, “We’ve got the shooter’s vehicle on tape. Generic brown sedan with tinted windows, no license plate.”

“In other words, impossible to trace,” Luca translated.

“Affirmative.”

Yet another in a long line of dead ends.

“What about information from the delivery service?”

“They didn’t have any record of a stop here tonight. It turns out they had a uniform swiped from one of their trucks a couple of days ago. The guy wasn’t one of theirs.”

“The vic’s name is Nelson Weber.” Audria looked up from her phone. “He has a record.”

“You know this how?” Torres asked.

“I might’ve scanned a fingerprint.”

“Audria,” Reese chastised.

“What? I didn’t touch him or contaminate the scene at all.”

Before Reese could respond, his cell buzzed, and he moved away to take the call. Luca gave Audria a nod to let him know he approved of her methods.

“He’s changed again if he took Shonda and not a prostitute,” Detective Torres noted. “Georgia Perkins wasn’t a fluke. Something made him switch things up on his last two kills.”

“He took Shonda to impart maximum suffering to Liliana.” Luca was sure of it. Shonda was her closest friend, as Erin had been in college.

Reese ended his call and said, “That was the profiler. I ran the last two murders by her. She agreed that something triggered his actions. Whether it was that Georgia Perkins discovered who he was or another underlying factor, she was somehow a threat to him. Though he deviated from his routine, he could continue it with the modification. She agreed that Shonda is a personal vendetta.”

Against Liliana.

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Liliana wasn’t sure how she was holding it together. First, Luca had been shot and could’ve been killed. Thankfully, the vest had caught the slugs, or he might be lying on the floor next to the deliveryman. Luca didn’t think she’d seen him, but she had.

She glanced over at Christian and felt a pang of regret. He probably hated her now. It made her ill that he might get in trouble because of her. His phone had been sitting on the table, and she happened to read the text from Audria when it popped up. It felt as if she had taken the bullet when she read that Luca had been shot. Getting to him as fast as possible had been her only thought.

Liliana knew Christian wouldn’t let her go to Luca, so she’d tricked him, telling him she needed his help to get something off the shelf in the pantry. It wasn’t her plan to use physical force, but when she started to lock him in, he’d caught on to her intent. Sweeping his legs out from under him had been instinctual, as was shoving him backward and slamming the door. She’d even pulled a decorative sideboard the staging company had placed against the wall across the entry to slow him down. Then she’d gone to Luca.

Frankly, Liliana was surprised Christian had been able to get free so quickly. She’d barely beat him down the stairs, and she had jumped several at a time.

Usually, when she felt off-kilter, she’d call Shonda, and her friend would calm her down. Agony engulfed her, and her chest squeezed painfully. If The Mortician had her, she was suffering, and it was all Liliana’s fault. Why hadn’t she insisted Shonda go away on a trip or stay with her? Luca, Christian, and Audria would’ve protected her.

Because she never thought The Mortician would go after her.

Reese was talking on his phone, his expression grim. He disconnected and walked over to Luca. Liliana jumped up and rushed over to hear.

“The agents arrived at Shonda’s apartment. There was no answer to the knock, but one looked inside a window and noted signs of a struggle. They announced themselves and kicked in the door. Shonda was not there, but her phone and purse were inside.”

“Liliana, honey, breathe.”

“He’s got her, Luca. You know he does.”

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