Page 47 of Shattered Sanctuary

He gestured to a small round table with two chairs near the window. Kaely paid for the stamps she’d selected, and they walked over to the table and sat down. Erin gazed out the window while Kaely quickly filled out two cards. There had been more people walking down the boardwalks when they’d come into the post office. She wondered if the streets were beginning to clear because of the impending snowstorm. She was still amazed at how well she felt about being out, around people. Of course, being with Kaely helped a lot since she felt safe with her. But still, she saw this as a step in the right direction.

Although she and Kaely didn’t have far to go, Erin decided to speed things up some.

Kaely got up and took her cards back to the counter. Erin watched Olivia, who kept glancing at Allen. It didn’t take much insight to understand that Olivia had a crush on her boss. She found it surprising, since Olivia was lovely, and Allen had almost zero charm and treated all of them as if they were something that had to be dealt with as quickly and with as little effort as possible. He was nice looking, but his manner, the way he looked at everyone, and the unattractive glasses balanced on the edge of his nose made it hard to see anything appealing about him. He barely nodded when she gave him the postcards.

Kaely had turned around and was headed back toward her when Erin noticed Allen picking up the postcards Kaely had handed him and passing them to Olivia as if they were something that needed to be disinfected. He looked over atErin and she quickly looked away, but she was pretty sure he knew she’d been watching him.

“Thank you for coming,” Olivia called out in her high, sing-song voice.

“It was nice to meet you, Olivia,” Erin said, careful to leave Allen’s name out.

“Well, that was interesting,” Kaely said when they stepped out onto the sidewalk. It felt as if the temperature had dropped several degrees just while they were inside. Erin couldn’t wait to get back to the cabin where it was warm.

“I think our friend Allen has quite an ego,” she said.

“Actually, my guess is he feels very inadequate,” Kaely responded. “That’s why people like him have to look down on everyone else.”

Erin nodded as she pulled her jacket closer. “That makes a lot of sense. Do you profile everyone you meet?”

Kaely sighed. “Yes. Sorry. Bad habit. I just can’t seem to turn it off.”

They decided to head for Grady’s General Store and get their groceries, but before they could reach their destination, they stopped when they heard someone call out their names. They turned to see Adrian hurrying toward them. From the expression on his face, Erin was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say.

“There’s been another one,” he said. “Dale and Lonzine found her a few minutes ago. I’m on my way there now. Do you want to come with me?”

There was a part of Erin that wanted to tell him no, but she knew she couldn’t. She looked over at Kaely whose expression mirrored her own feelings. Was this ever going to end?

THIRTY-TWO

“We’ve been patrolling the area constantly,” Adrian said. “Of course, we can’t cover every square inch twenty-four seven.”

“It didn’t matter how many people you had out here,” Kaely said. “He would have found a way. I’m convinced he’s watching you.”

Adrian appreciated Kaely’s comments but still couldn’t help but wonder if he could have done something to prevent this. Maybe if he hadn’t been so bullheaded, he would have asked Knoxville for help. And if he’d done that, perhaps this poor girl would still be alive.

Once they reached the site, Adrian led them to the body. They all stared down at her. Curly black hair tied with a blue ribbon. The white dress. Black pumps. She looked like she was sleeping—except for the blood stain on the front of her dress. She was holding a white ceramic angel with a 2 painted on it with red paint. This angel had red tears, just like the other one.

“I don’t think she’s been dead long,” Dale said.

Adrian sighed. “Doc Gibson is on his way. I also called Tim.” He looked at Kaely and Erin. “What do you see?”

“Well, the most obvious thing is that this girl is African American,” Kaely said slowly. “Older than the others.” She shook her head. “I still can’t see what connects his victims. They’re all different.”

“But there has to be something, right?” Erin asked.

Kaely nodded. “There’s always a connection, but I have no idea what it is yet. She may have just been convenient.”

Erin knelt down, next to the body. She was being careful not to disturb anything. “Same kind of wound. From the bloodstain, I’d say she was stabbed just like Chloe. She was wearing something else and then her clothes were changed.” She looked down at the woman’s shoes. “My guess is that these are her shoes. Also, she’s wearing makeup, but not as much as Chloe.” She shook her head and looked up at Kaely. “You’re the expert here, but from what you’ve taught me and from my research, this just doesn’t make any sense. Do you see something different than I do?”

“Cheap nail polish, shoes that are supposed to look like Louis Vuitton Archlight pumps ... but are knockoffs,” Kaely said. “Also, her hands look a little dry, and I can see some calluses. This gal wanted to look classy, but she didn’t have a lot of money. My guess is she works around here somewhere. Maybe as something like a housekeeper? I’d check the hotels and resorts in the area. She wanted to look good for someone. Either it’s a boyfriend or someone she recently met. You need to find out who it is, Adrian.” She was quiet for a moment before saying. “No defensive wounds that I can see. She didn’t see it coming. Whoever this is, he’s getting close to them first—before he kills them.”

Adrian started to ask Kaely a question when his phone rang. It was Lisa. After speaking to her, he disconnected his phone.

“You said she could be a housekeeper?” he said.

“That’s just a guess,” Kaely said. “Her dry hands and her calluses make that a possibility. In an area where there are so many hotels and resorts, it made me wonder if that could be the case.”

“That was Lisa, from the station. The friend of a local girl who works as a housekeeper in the Brentwood Hotel, a few miles out of Sanctuary, is at the station. She reported her friend missing when she didn’t show up for work and wasn’t answering her phone. Her name is Hailey Duncan, and she fits the description of our victim.”

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