Page 82 of Shattered Secrets

“All right, Otter Pop,” Matt said, standing to survey their work. “You and Xander walk Mr. Slothy through the obstacle course while I talk to your mom, okay?”

Daisy squealed in delight as she grabbed Mr. Slothy and rushed to the starting point. Matt gave Xander a chin lift, then claimed Scarlet’s hand and led her out of the room. Trepidation stirred in her gut when he closed the door to his office behind them. Something in his expression told her this wasn’t him sneaking her away for a good time.

“Bean has new info,” he said, pulling an additional chair behind his desk.

The trepidation transformed into full-fledged worry, and it sat like a rock in her gut. Yup. No good times here.

She took the seat next to Matt as he opened a couple of tabs on his computer. Bean’s grim face filled the monitor. Seconds later, the screen split. On the left were three boxes: Bean, Gavin, and her and Matt together. The other side looked like Bean’s laptop screen.

“Hey, guys. I’ll get right to it,” Bean said. “Unfortunately, the mystery man remains a mystery.”

“Morning,” Gavin said with an equally somber expression. “Quinn called this morning and let me know the guy didn’t make it. Lost too much blood. He was stabbed in the gut fourteen times.”

Bean sighed. “The man’s prints aren’t in the system, so we still have no ID. The car he drove onto Hudson was reported stolen five days ago. However...” Bean chewed her lip. “I do have footage from the ferry that shows the actual attack.”

A video began playing on the right side of the monitor, and Scarlet held her breath. There was no audio, but the security feed showed the mystery man walking to his car, which was parked on the ferry’s upper deck along the exterior row. He opened the driver’s door and settled inside.

Scarlet’s eyes widened as another figure quickly approached. The stocky man—at least, she assumed it was a man, considering his size—wore dark pants, a bulky jacket, and a dark ball cap pulled down low to shield his face. Before the guy in the car could close his door, the newcomer leaned into the driver’s side. His right arm was a blur of motion.

Her stomach lurched. The guy in the car was getting stabbed. Over and over and over again. He had been given no chance to defend himself, no time to even struggle.

The attacker straightened, tucked something in his jacket, closed the car door, and walked off. With his back to the camera.

Thirty seconds. That’s all it had taken to end a man’s life and get away scot-free.

Thirty. Damn. Seconds.

The video stopped, and Scarlet blinked. Matt’s hand squeezed her shoulder, and she glanced at him. But she had no words.

Bean cleared her throat. “In matching up the times, it looks like the mystery man—the one in the car—drove right off the ferry and went straight to the diner.”

Where he had tried to tell Scarlet something she still didn’t understand.

With shaking hands, she rubbed her face. “Now what?”

“Now I’m tracking that car’s plates, finding out where it’s been since it was stolen. Hopefully, that’ll give us some insight into what the mystery guy’s motives were. Also, Quinn sent me a photo of his face, so I set it up with my facial rec program. I’m running it against the different DMV databases. It may take some time to ID him, though.” Bean shrugged. “I’m sorry I don’t have better information for you.”

“The person who stabbed the guy. Any additional footage?” Matt asked.

“Negative,” Gavin said. “Quinn’s checking with the ferry and their waste management crew to see if any clothes or other evidence were dumped, but so far, nothing.”

Matt leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “He could be on the island.”

“Yeah,” Bean said. “But even if he left, he could be working with a larger group.”

“Ohmygod,” Scarlet whispered, closing her eyes. There were so many unanswered questions. So many unknowns.

“Next steps?” Matt asked, covering her clenched hands with his.

She held on tight.

“I’m still running the next of kin and known associates of the four deceased club members,” Bean said. “The preliminary reports show that the relatives that aren’t in jail or prison are still in the South Dakota area. After Steele was put away, there were nearly two dozen more trials involving the remaining club members and known associates over that next year. Almost all were found guilty and sent away.”

“Did they all end up in the same prison?” Gavin asked.

Bean pursed her lips. “Not all. Looks like five or six ended up in the same prison as Steele, but the majority did shorter sentences in jail. A number of them have been in and out of jail since.”

“For the ones that are out or about to be sprung, pull their mug shots and send them to Quinn,” Gavin said.

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