His rose to his feet. “What—”
“You should have read the case files better,” she said, cutting over him. “One of the victims was last seen just over the Texas border. If we’ve got a multistate killer on our hands, which I believe we do, the case follows under our purview. We will keep investigating, with or without the Baton Rouge PD’s assistance.”
His cheeks couldn’t flush much darker. “I think this meeting is over.”
“Yes,” Lauren agreed, “so do I.” She’d already taken steps to have her office covered for the remainder of the week. Cases had been taken, schedules rearranged. She’d made sure the DA’s office was set so nothing would fall through the cracks.
She wasn’t giving up. Not now. Now when she was so close.
They left the office. Lauren’s steps were far too fast as she hurried down the stone steps outside of city hall.
“Lauren!”
She stopped at Cadence’s call. The other woman rushed after her. “I’m not giving up,” Cadence said.
“Neither am I,” Lauren vowed. She couldn’t believe Louis. He was more worried about PR, about Baton Rouge being killer central, than he was about the victims. About saving lives.
“I examined Walker’s body last night,” Cadence told her. Kyle wasn’t with her. Had he stayed to tell Louis just what he thought of him?
“What did you find?” Anthony demanded. His shoulder brushed against Lauren’s.
“Inside the grooves on the bottom of his hiking boots, I found dried seeds from a weeping willow.”
Lauren’s heart stopped.
“I know that doesn’t seem like much, but willows aren’t exactly thick on the ground in the swamp. And it did come from the swamp. I got a botanist from LSU to look at the seeds and based on the soil embedded in the seeds, he figured out an area where he thinks the willow could be located.” She gave a little nod. “The area is in a ten-mile radius around Walker’s cabin.”
She almost couldn’t breathe.
“Before he died,” Anthony said, his deep voice rumbling, “Walker mentioned a weeping willow tree. He wanted me to tell Lauren about it.”
Cadence’s eyes widened. “The tree holds significance for him. Sometimes”—Cadence’s voice was soft as she continued—“killers will mark a space that is special to them by planting certain flowers or using a marker to—”
“You think Walker and his partner planted the willow near Jenny.” It was what Lauren thought, too. It had to be Jenny. Why else would Walker try to send the message to her?
Cadence nodded. “Maybe one of the killers even felt remorse for the act.”
Remorse shown by a willow that would weep year after year. If they’d planted a tree for Jenny…could they have planted trees for other victims, too? Others we didn’t even know about yet?
“I’m heading for his cabin,” Anthony said.
Paul was coming down the steps.
“No.” Lauren shook her head. “We’re going.”
Anthony gave her a grim smile.
“Lauren…” Paul called out.
She hurried toward him. Hugged him. “Why aren’t you in the hospital?”
“Like someone else I could name, I’m not exactly a fan of those places.” His gaze darted over her. “I’m sorry. Louis is being a dick. I’ll keep working the case. You know I won’t let your sister just—”
“Thank you.” She stepped back from him.
Cadence had hurried away, moving to talk with the ME, and Anthony stood behind Lauren, steady, silent.
“Thank you for all you’ve done on this case, for Jenny. For me.” Over the years, he’d always been a good friend. They hadn’t made it as lovers, but that was because she couldn’t love anyone else, not when she longed for Anthony so much.
Paul was looking over her shoulder at Anthony then. “You saved my life in the swamp.”
“I did my job.”
“Yeah, that job involved saving my ass. If you hadn’t burst through those bushes, if you hadn’t distracted Walker, I’d have a knife in my heart, too.”
Paul offered his hand.
Anthony took it. The shake was brief, solid.
“We think we may know where he buried Jenny’s body,” Lauren said quietly.
Paul’s head turned toward her. “How?”
“Cadence. She found evidence in the autopsy that’s given us a search area in the swamp.”
“An area around Walker’s cabin,” Anthony added.
“Fuck, you mean…” Paul stepped back. “All along, she might have been right there?”
Lauren nodded.
“We’re going to search,” Anthony told him. “While we’ve still got daylight to use.”
“I’m coming with you,” Paul replied, before staggering back.
Anthony caught his arm. “I think you need to leave the swamp to us…for now.”
“Dammit, I want to help—”
“Then you dig up the case files. See if you can make any new connections between the victims.”
Sweat had appeared on Paul’s upper lip.
That hospital stay was looking better and better to Lauren. “Get rest,” she told Paul softly. “Then you can help us.”
Jaw locking, he nodded. “I’ll call Hawthorne. Tell him what’s happening. He can come out there, even send some of his men. The more bodies you have on the ground, the easier the hunt will be.”
The hunt.
That was exactly what they were doing. The killer wasn’t getting away scot-free. They were the ones hunting now, and they wouldn’t stop.
Not until he was found.
They hadn’t listened to the mayor. He’d had to talk in that bastard’s ear forever just to get Louis to call the meeting, and they were still going to keep looking for the killer.
They were heading for the swamp. Back to the old cabin. This was so f**king bad. If they found the body…
They can’t tie her to me. It’s been years. So much decomposition. There’s no way the evidence could still be used. It’s far too compromised.
He didn’t want them bringing Jenny out of the ground. Jenny was at peace. Jenny shouldn’t be disturbed.
Not Jenny.
If they found Jenny, they’d look for others. They’d keep going.
Jenny’s blood had soaked his hands. He’d felt her life flow away. The power, the rush, had been the most amazing thing he’d ever felt before.