So everyone from every direction had told her. She was getting tired of the dire warnings.
“Is it your game, Rudy?”
“Mine? What the hell! Go fuck yourself! I was just trying to warn you. Anna was the third victim. The police haven’t learned squat about this killer. But every time I see you–”
“What?”
“I figure his juices are already going. He’s salivating, already getting ideas.”
That’s exactly what she was counting on. Not that she would say it. She did ask, “Why do you care?”
“I may not be the world’s most caring citizen, but I’m not a ghoul. I don’t want to see any more dead girls.” He shook his head. “Never mind. Forget I said anything. Leave my booth, and go play at your game and see where looking like that gets you.”
He turned away from her and starting typing something into his computer.
Knowing she was dismissed, Lilith left the booth wondering if Barnes was really trying to warn her, or if he was playing with her.
More head games.
Again, she wondered if he was on Pucinski’s radar.
Maybe Gabe would tell her.
She found him at the bar, downing a shot, looking like he’d been kicked in the gut, and indicating he wanted another drink. Luckily it was early enough that the place was practically empty. They could have some privacy, not have to worry about who might overhear them. She slid onto the stool next to Gabe, but he acted like she was invisible.
“Problems on the job?” she asked.
“Not the job. My frickin’ ex.” Gabe stared down into his glass rather than look at her. “She’s threatening to keep my kids from seeing me.”
So that’s what the argument had been about. “Does she have good cause?”
He swigged down another shot and popped the glass back on the bar. “Joe, another round.” Finally, he faced her. “Not so’s I’m concerned. A father’s got a right to bond with his boys.”
“Bond how?”
“I’m a cop, okay? I want to teach them about guns.”
Lilith hated guns but tried not to show it. “Like your father taught you?”
“Yeah. Took me hunting a few times. Best dad ever. I want my boys to think I’m the greatest.” He signaled the bartender for another drink. “My ex divorced me because she couldn’t stand my being a cop. It’s not just what I do. It’s what I am. Jennifer never got that. I’m proud to be a cop, and I want my sons to be proud of what I am.”
Like her own dad. Only he’d passed away too soon, and Mama had replaced him with a man who was pure evil.
“I think you should bond with them. I think it’s important for them. And for you. Maybe it doesn’t have to be with guns.”
“Screw that! She don’t give me orders!”
They sat in tense silence for a moment, then Lilith said, “I know your personal problems are eating you up, but I hope that’s not going to interfere with your investigation–”
“You telling me what to do, too?” Gabe glared at her. “ Why is it women always think they can lead a man around by the short hairs?”
“Okay, look, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to interfere with your family. I’m just really worried sick about mine. You’ve got to believe that. I don’t know how much longer the killer will hang on to my sister before leaving her body in some forest preserve.” She pulled the torn photo out of her pocket and showed it to him, then flipped it over so he could see the message. “Assuming the killer actually left this for me. Or was it you who did it, Gabe?”
He started as if shocked by the accusation. “Me? Why the hell would you think I would do something like that?”
“You don’t like me.”
“I think you’re reckless.”
“And I bested you.”
“Don’t fool yourself.”
“Maybe you wanted to shake me so I would quit. Did you leave this in my locker, Gabe?”
“Yeah, great. Not only do I have to deal with an ex-wife who spits on the job, now you are, and here I am, trying to find your sister and make sure you don’t end up like her.”
Lilith backed down. “Okay.” Terrific. She really might have to get on that stage. She reached to pick up the photo.
Gabe snatched it up by the edge, picked up a napkin from the bar and folded the photo into it. “I’ll take this to the station, see if we can get prints. Other than yours.” He put it in his pocket. “Is that it?”
“Not exactly.” She pulled the chain from her pocket and set it before him. “The killer is definitely trying to shake me. I just found this in my makeup case.”
Gabe eyed the chain but didn’t pick it up. “What would make you think the killer left that?”
“Because it belonged to Hannah.”
“It’s a chain. It could have belonged to anyone.”
“No. See this little safety pin holding it together.” She tapped the pin to point it out. “Hannah broke the chain and I used that pin to fix it for her.”
Joe set down another shot in front of Gabe and turned to Lilith. “Anything for you?”
“Sparkling water with a squeeze of lime. Thanks.”
Gabe waited until the bartender moved away to get her drink. “So your sister just wore a chain with nothing hanging from it?”
“There was a heart-half. She wore it here at the club. Caresse saw it on her.” And had thought she was wearing Hannah’s necklace. “I saw it on Hannah the day before she was taken. If we could find the heart-half–”
“You think you’ll nail the killer.”
“Something like that.”
“So where are you going to start, Detective Mitchell?”
She shrugged. “That’s why I came to you. I thought you might have some idea of where to look.”
“Start with your boyfriend. Wyndham.”
He looked over his shoulder, and Lilith followed his gaze. Michael was sitting alone at a table, but rather than looking at the dancer on stage, he was staring at her. He didn’t look too happy seeing her with Gabe.
In a low voice, she said, “Michael is not your man.”
The bartender set down the sparkling water in front of her.
“Thanks, Joe.” She drank half the glass, then asked Gabe, “Any other thoughts?”
“Don’t dismiss the fact that Wyndham has shown special interest in you. Why do you think that is?”
“I would like to think it’s not because he’s guilty.” But because he was truly attracted to her and felt the same connection she had.
“I’m warning you; he’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous how exactly?” Lilith asked, remembering her disagreement with Michael because he’d pressured her to quit this place, worrying about it being too dangerous. That didn’t sound like a man who wanted her dead. She regretted that she’d gotten her back up. “That’s all very vague, Gabe. Anything specific?”
“His father is connected. I mean his real father. Wyndham’s adopted. I told you Pucinski has a file on him. I did some of the research myself. His father’s connection to The Outfit goes way back to before Wyndham was born. His mother’s no angel, either. Worked in a strip bar all her life. By the way, she’s tall, with long dark hair. Sound familiar?”
“A lot of dancers are tall with long dark hair.” Though she knew he was referring to the victims. Michael had told her about his mother himself, if not about his father. Maybe he didn’t even know who the man was. “What’s your point?”
“In case you’ve forgotten, your sister is the third woman who fits that description that this guy has taken. Killers don’t always victimize the people they want to punish. Sometimes they pick a substitute.”
“So you think he’s punishing the mother who abandoned him over and over through other women?”