Page 14 of Let Her Live

"We don't know for sure," Jake said, "But we need your cooperation."

Hennessy sighed heavily but then nodded. "Okay, what do you need to know?"

"A man was last seen at this bar, three weeks ago. He was from Orlando, and he's been missing since then. We have reason to believe he was the first victim of a serial killer."

"Well, you'd have to tell me what he looks like," Hennessy said.

Fiona swallowed hard. When she thought of Derek, the first thing she thought of was his heavily decomposed body, feasted on by insects in an Everglades swamp. She thought of performing his autopsy, of testing his DNA.But there were photos of him in life. She took out her phone and pulled up his file, showing his ID photo. Hennessy stared at it long and hard. Then he said, "I remember him, sure enough. Can’t forget a guy like that—he was making the waitresses real uncomfortable, I guess. Tall guy, dark hair, wore glasses. He was here alone, sat at the bar, had a couple of beers and some food. Wasn't here for very long."

"Do you have any security footage of him?" Fiona asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

Hennessy tilted his head to the side, considering. "I can check, but I wouldn't count on it. Our security system is pretty basic, and we don't retain footage for very long," he said.

Fiona felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"But I do remember something else," Hennessy said, his eyes alight with sudden interest. "There was a guy who was here too, also alone. I remember the waitresses complaining about how he'd come in and asked for water, said he was meeting someone, but then never paid for anything. I saw an old camper vehicle outside. When the guy you're asking about left, I noticed our water guy had left too, and that camper was gone after that too. It could've been someone else's vehicle, I suppose, or maybe it belonged to the guy you're looking for."

"It didn't," Fiona cut in. "Derek travelled via busses and trains, mostly. He didn't own a vehicle of his own."

But if what Hennessy was saying was true, then this camper could have belonged to someone else. The man who asked for water and never got anything. Who was sitting there?

Maybe he was watching Derek, waiting for his chance to strike.

"We need to see that security footage," Jake said, clearly thinking the same thing as Fiona. "Especially if you have any cameras facing your parking lot. We need to know the license plate of that camper."

Hennessy nodded, standing up from his desk. "I'll check our cameras and do what I can to help you," he said. He walked towards the door and opened it. "Just give me a moment."

Fiona and Jake waited patiently in the office, the tension in the air palpable. They both knew that every minute that passed could mean another victim. Finally, Hennessy returned. He was holding a USB stick.

"I managed to find footage from the day you're asking about," he said, handing Jake the USB. "It's not great quality, but hopefully it helps."

Jake took the USB stick with a nod, his eyes eager. "Thank you, Mr. Hennessy. This could be the lead we need to catch this killer."

Hennessy nodded gravely. "I hope it is. I don't want to think that something like this could happen in my establishment."

Fiona and Jake left the office, their minds racing as they made their way back to their car. Once inside, Jake plugged the USB into his laptop and pulled up the security footage. It was grainy and blurred, the quality not great, but they could see the bar area, the parking lot, and the entrance.

They watched as Derek came in, sat at the bar and ordered a drink and some food. They saw him leave, but then there was movement in the parking lot. A camper, just like Hennessy had said, pulled out of its spot and drove away.

"Can you enhance the plate?" Fiona asked, leaning forward.

Jake did as she asked, zooming in on the blurry image of the license plate. It was hard to read, but they could make out a few letters and numbers.

"We have something," Jake said, his eyes alight with excitement. "I'll run this through our database and see if we can find a match."

Fiona held her breath as she watched Jake type in the license plate number. They finally had a lead, something concrete to work with. She couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had been following her since they first got assigned to this case. But maybe, just maybe, they could catch this killer before he claimed any more victims.

"There's a hit," Jake said.

Fiona's eyes snapped to the screen as Jake pulled up a file.

The identification photo of a man with long, straggly brown hair appeared. His eyes bore into the camera, and he held his head back in a way that exuded an uncaring attitude. He had patchy facial hair and looked no older than thirty in the photo.

"Patrick Yates," Jake said, reading it over. "Thirty-one. The camper's his."

Fiona's breath caught.

This could be him.

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