Page 70 of Girl, Unknown

But what did that suggest? That he drowned the victims he kidnapped? That he perhaps owned a swimming pool?

No, Logan had remained undetected for at least three decades. It wouldn’t be that obvious, it would be something much more discreet, a method of killing or storage of which water would be a byproduct.

She looked at her pile of notes, then back at her glass. Even though her windows were closed and curtains were drawn, the summer heat had penetrated her fortress regardless. The humidity gradually increased every hour that went by, and now the water in her glass was an inch higher than it was an hour ago.

And there it was.

The single keyword that united all the details frantically spinning in her mind. She overlay the term on top of everything she knew, and found that suddenly, everything lined up like a military parade. The pieces arranged themselves in an order so perfect she could barely believe it.

Ella pulled her laptop from the other side of the table. Fired it up, tapping her hands and legs impatiently. A fire began to burn in her stomach, spreading upward and outward until it consumed her entire being. Her hands were shaking so badly that she could barely perform the search she needed to.

One search.

One result.

A place of business. The only one of its kind in the city.

And the perfect place for a contract killer to hide out.

“Time to find out who you really are,” she said.

She navigated to the US Business Directory. One more search, and now she was staring at a list of names and dates.

Three names. Three employees. Three dates.

And only one of them fit.

She dug into the name, searched it online, searched for any mention of it anywhere.

Nothing. No pictures of this man, no details, no phone, or address records. Just a name and a very short employment history.

Suspicion told her that this man kept himself off public record for a reason.

Ella felt the finish line coming closer, felt like she’d finally broke through Logan Nash’s impenetrable veil of anonymity. Clarissa was right. He wasn’t one person, he was multiple people – just in a single body.

All she needed now was confirmation.

She couldn’t head to this place, not yet, because she couldn’t risk being wrong. Logan Nash might have got off on making threats, but history proved that he tended to make good on them. Besides, she still didn’t know what he looked like.

But she knew what he sounded like.

Ella grabbed her phone, made an anonymous call to the number on the screen.

It rang once, twice, thrice, four times.

“Answer me, you bastard.”

Logan Nash had a place to store his victims.

He was able to disguise the time of death.

Many of his victims’ bodies possessed water marks or water retention.

Then a voice said, “Hello, D.C. Freezer Hire, can I help you?”

And he was an everyman, hiding in plain sight, working a normal job.

This wasn’t water.

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