Page 25 of Just Now

He strode to the car.

“Did she have ID on her?” Cami asked.

“Yes, in her purse, just like the others. Her name’s Priscilla Jackson. She’s thirty-eight years old. I see her address is a few miles from here. She lives out of town, probably in an area of small farms.”

Priscilla Jackson? She was older than the other victims and she hadn’t lived anywhere near them. How was he finding them? How exactly was this killer targeting his victims?

Cami felt anxiety flare inside her. Was Priscilla, too, on a dating site? What would happen if they couldn’t find a common thread between these women? How many more would go missing and end up struggling for their lives, getting defensive wounds, being dressed in shabby men’s clothing before being dumped as if they were trash?

At least they had a phone, and this phone needed to tell her something. As she returned to the car, leaving the officers to comb the scene, Cami felt determined that she was going to get something more this time.

The drive to the police station was silent. Cami sat in the passenger seat, her eyes fixed on the passing scenery, lost in thought. She couldn’t shake off the image of Priscilla Jackson’s struggle, the defensive wounds, the shabby clothing.

When they arrived at the station, Connor led the way to the evidence room. It was becoming a familiar place to Cami. She sat and waited, opening the other two phones again so that they were ready.

A tap on the door, and the officer brought in Priscilla’s phone.

Feeling intent on her job now, knowing Connor’s eyes were on her and that every second now counted, Cami plugged it straight into her computer, waiting for what felt like an interminable time for her program to access the phone’s security.

This might take hours. Impatience surged inside her and she tried to control it, knowing from experience that yes, devices did seem to have an uncanny sixth sense when it came to this urgency.

She’d always gotten better results at accessing a phone when she had the attitude that she didn’t care and had all the time in the world. Now, Cami tried to force herself into that mindset as she stared down at the screen.

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” she murmured, as Connor looked at her, surprised. “All the time in the world.”

And then, with a ping, she was in. She’d bypassed the security. Grabbing the device, she set to work, seeing what was open and what had been recently accessed.

“Well, this is interesting,” she said, surprised.

“What is?” Connor asked.

“Priscilla had her location tracking turned on and accessed her maps frequently in the past few days. I think she needed to know her way going somewhere.” Cami looked up at him, seeing his eyes light up as he realized what this meant.

“So we can track her?” he asked, sounding excited. “Can we see where the kidnapper took her?”

“No, unfortunately. Her phone was turned off at that time. But we can see where she was and trace her route for the few days before that. I’m wondering if the killer might have met her along the way. If we can retrace her steps and compare them to where the other two victims were, then we might be able to tell where it happened.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Had this killer been able to hack into Priscilla’s device and get her information during the course of her travels? Cami began working frantically on the phone, trying to piece together the movements that the dead woman had made during the last few days of her life.

With a few different apps open and the emails accessed, the record was telling a story.

“I’m taking a look at her emails, and I’m picking up some information from them,” Cami said.

“What are you getting?” Connor asked.

“She lived alone, just like the others,” she told Connor. “I think she’d recently gotten divorced, about two months back, and she had started a new job just over a week ago, from what I can figure out here.”

“A week ago?” Connor’s voice was sharp and eager, and Cami could see why. A week’s worth of traveling around town with her maps and GPS activated meant that if the killer had followed her from one of her destinations, they should be able to pick it up.

“What did the job involve?” he asked.

“She was going around to business parks and offices, promoting special offers and subscriptions to a local fashion store. That’s what it seems like from her emails and messages. The store sells high-end imported clothing, and this was a way to get more business. I guess it was why she was using the maps so much, because the town was unfamiliar to her.”

“I think those locations sound like first prize,” Connor said.

“Yes. But there’s a wrench in the works here,” Cami said, frowning.

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