Page 89 of Lana

“This line is bad. Please send through the catalogue and I’ll get back to you,” Mitch said, hanging up.

He looked up the number for the Denver police. He knew that if they were wrong about this, they’d look like idiots, but Mitch didn’t care—he trusted his gut instincts and if there was a chance they could find any more victims, Mitch would do it.

“Hello, this is Sheriff Mitch Shaw from Redwater. May I please speak to the Chief of Police?” he asked.

“May I ask what this is in regard to?”

“Yes, we have arrested a serial killer who has links to Denver. We suspect he has another five victims in a cold-storage facility there.”

“One moment, sir.”

The call was transferred and Mitch almost smiled at the rate the call had been escalated, except that there was nothing funny about this situation.

“Sheriff, this is Chief Harris. I’ve been informed you have a serial-killer case?”

Mitch rattled off the details as quickly as he could, and then gave the Chief his cell phone number.

“I’ll send officers over there immediately, though we may have to get a search warrant if we’re not given voluntary access. I’ll keep you informed.”

“Thank you,” Mitch said, ending the call and sinking into his chair.

Now it was a waiting game.

Mitch looked to Zoe. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” she said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

He looked over the station. There was little they could do tonight, so Mitch sent everyone home except the officer on overnight duty.

“Call me if you need anything,” Mitch said.

The officer nodded. “Go home.”

Mitch helped Zoe into the car and then drove to her house. He pulled up at the front and entered first, making sure Gus didn’t jump on Zoe and hurt her.

“Good boy. Sit,” Mitch said, grabbing his collar as Zoe entered. She bent to pet his head and he nuzzled into her hand.

Mitch shook his head, but he was smiling.

He helped Zoe into bed and went to the kitchen for a glass of scotch. He sat on the couch with Gus, intending to give him some attention for a few minutes before he went to the spare room. Almost immediately, though, his eyes became heavy as Gus rested his head on Mitch’s lap.

Mitch suddenly woke to the sound of his phone ringing.

He sat up, blinking, disoriented. Then he grabbed his phone.

“Mitch speaking,” he answered with a groggy voice.

“Mitch, it’s Chief Harris from Denver. Your hunch was correct—we found five females in the basement in an old refrigeration unit that had apparently been in storage for some time. However there was another surprise. David Squire was found with them. His wife thought he’d left town for a conference, but she was surprised she hadn’t heard from him. She saw him last a week ago, but he texted her a few days ago saying he was very busy and would call her soon. She said it was very unusual behavior.”

Mitch tipped his head back, closing his eyes. Chances were David had discovered Peter’s secret, so Peter had presumably silenced him, then sent David’s wife the text from the man’s phone to buy some time.

“There was also a bag in the corner of the room. It belongs to a Lana Seacombe. There is a letter in it for a Zoe Seacombe. Does this mean anything to you?”

Mitch’s breath caught in his throat. “Yes, it does. Can you email me a copy of that letter as soon as possible?”

“Sure, I’ll have the officers do it now,” he said.

“Thank you, and if you could send the bag to the Redwater station, that would also be appreciated,” Mitch said.

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