Page 112 of Aftermath
I’d dropped the rest of the team off at the small airport nearby hosting the jet. It was only another thirty minute drive to my own airport, where I would drop off the rental car. The drive and flight alone gave me the space to clear my head.
It was only five minutes into the drive when my phone rang. Afraid Grey had forgotten something, I answered through the car’s Bluetooth.
Mags’ voice came through the speakers.“The lab results came back on the package left at your doorstep.”
“Does it confirm Ethan left it?” I asked, barely phased.
“No, the fingerprints were inconclusive,” she answered. “But there was something interesting. The letter inside was not written in paint like you originally suspected. The components came back consistent with lip gloss.” ‘
Lip gloss?
That didn’t make sense, nor did it fit Ethan’s profile. He hated women, despised every part of them. Mimicking their behavior, and using a common makeup product wouldn’t fit his profile at all.
My chest tightened, and the nagging feeling hit again, the one where I’d left Len still exposed to danger in Briarport. What if we didn’t arrest the right person?
There was so much to point to Ethan being the Coastal Killer, but the more I thought back on it, there was a chance he didn’t act alone. What if he had been helping someone else? Someone who had been pulling the strings the whole time?
I needed to get back to Len, fast.
“Mags, tell Grey to meet me back in Briarport,” I said.
“What? Why?” she asked.
“I don’t think this is over,” I said.
“It will take them well over an hour to make it back.”.
“I’m closer,” I answered. “I can turn around and be back in under an hour. Tell him to meet me there. You have my location tracked, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered hesitantly. “But you should wait for Grey before doing anything.”
“I can’t,” I answered. “Not when it comes to her.”
I hung up and quickly dialed Len’s number. Over and over, it went to voicemail.
“Come on, Len. Pick up the phone,” I prayed.
Still nothing. Her voicemail message played each time I called, and my stomach started to sink further every time I heard it.
The car wasn’t moving fast enough.
I needed to get back to Lenny. I tried not to let myself think about what her not answering meant. The killer had to have made a move the moment we left town, but that didn’t mean Len was harmed.
I played every piece of evidence in my head.
The killer was obsessed with Len. Everything they’d done was to hold her attention. Someone saw a piece of themselves in her and spared her.
A sinking feeling grew inside me, a new unsub coming to mind.
The very first day I’d met her, she was applying the same red lip gloss I was willing to guess was used on the note.
I called Mags back, knowing Len wouldn’t answer.
“I managed to get through to the team before they took off,” Mags said. “But it will be at least twenty minutes before they get a car and can meet you. I sent the closest deputy to get them.”
“What can you find about Len’s landlord, Mallory?” I asked.
I heard Mags typing at the computer, and her voice came through the speaker again in seconds.
