Speak No Evil Read Online Free Page B

locate Angie’s friends, “We’ll play nice until we can build a case.”
    “Think he’s the one?” Will asked.
    “Don’t know, but she was obviously scared of him. And what’s a thirty-nine-year-old man doing following eighteen-year-old girls?”
    “Don’t look at me!” Will exclaimed. “I like my women past the chewing-gum stage.”
    Carina smiled. “I wasn’t making a moral judgment on your sex life, Hooper. It’s just creepy, you know?” A quick run in the system showed that Thomas had no known occupation, though he received a pension from the U.S. Army. The desk sergeant was trying to dig a little deeper into the guy’s military records to see if there was anything else worth knowing. And just because he didn’t have a job on record didn’t mean he wasn’t working somewhere.
    The college administration gave them only a few minutes of frustration before handing over Abby Ivers’s schedule and a copy of her photo ID. Will asked about Steve Thomas, confirmed that he was also a student, and sweet-talked the secretary into peeking at his schedule. Carina didn’t like to play loose with the rules—evidence could later be thrown out in court if they screwed up in the field—but if Thomas was on campus they could track him down.
    It would be nearly noon, when Abby’s English lit class would end, so Will and Carina grabbed hot dogs at the student union and munched while watching the doors of the building.
    “So Angie Vance was last seen Friday morning,” Will said.
    “But her mother heard her come in late Friday night.”
    “Though she didn’t actually see her.”
    “Steve Thomas comes by the station to file a missing persons report on Saturday morning. Why would he do that?”
    “To throw suspicion off himself?”
    “That’s stupid.”
    “Who said killers were smart?”
    Carina frowned. “The murder was sadistic.”
    “Maybe he raped her and she suffocated and he panicked, dumped her body.”
    “Hmmm.” It was a thought. But why the elaborate setup? The glue? The garbage bags? The public beach? “What do you think about calling Dillon for an informal opinion?”
    “Couldn’t hurt, if your brother has the time.”
    “He always makes time for me. What’s family for if we can’t bug each other at all hours of the day and night?” She took another bite out of her hot dog, swallowed, and said, “I’d like to hear what Doctor Chen says. Friday night to Monday morning? That’s a long time. If we believe that she was home on Friday night, that’s a full forty-eight hours before she died. Where did he keep her in the meantime?”
    “If it’s Steve Thomas, not in his apartment. The walls in complexes like that are paper-thin,” Will said.
    “Maybe he glued her mouth shut to keep her from screaming.” The case was giving her the creeps. She much preferred a clear-cut domestic violence or gang shooting. Angie’s murder didn’t fit into anything she’d seen before, so she hoped Dillon had some insight. Her brother was a forensic psychiatrist, and this case would give his psychiatry degree a workout. She’d call him as soon as they were done here.
    Carina watched students start pouring from the building. She hadn’t particularly liked college; she was too active, too antsy, and she ended up dropping out with only a year to go and joining the police academy.
    But there were other reasons for that decision.
    “Over there.” Will hit Carina on the arm, tossing the last third of his hot dog in the trash. Carina followed suit. “That looks like Abby.”
    Abby Ivers was a cute, perky blonde in a tight T-shirt and low-waist jeans. Deep dimples sliced her cheeks, and her eye makeup was heavily applied.
    “Abby?” She introduced herself and Will and flashed her badge. “Do you have a minute?” Carina motioned for her to follow them back to the bench where they’d been sitting.
    “Sure,” she said, hugging her books to her chest and frowning. “I guess.”
    When they were seated,