Wednesday, August 20th – 7:05 am
As Luys combed back his damp hair from a recent shower, a knock at the front door resounded through his place and into the bathroom.
Avery. Maybe something had happened? He’d called last night, like every night since she had left the hospital. When she hadn’t answered on his second try, he had shown up at her door and found her well but tired. Reassured she wouldn’t pass out on him and she would be fine until the next day, he had left.
What in the name of God did he continue to worry about her? He should not be concerned about Avery. He should have let her get a taxi or had someone else drive her back home. And he should have left the hospital the moment he drove her there yesterday. She was not his business.
Don’t get involved...
His jaw tightened. Hadn’t he learned that years before?
Barefoot and in dark gray slacks, he grabbed a shirt from the closet and quickly shrugged into it as he strode to the front door. With his shirt unbuttoned, he opened the door, not thinking of checking who it was first. He sucked in a breath. God’s teeth. He forced his features into a bland expression and hoped his shock didn’t show.
A man with short, salt-and-pepper hair, large brow, navy pants, and a white shirt stood at the entrance. Luys glanced at the badge the man shoved in front of him. Detective Hatcher.
“Do you have a few minutes?”
“I—” He didn’t want to talk to anyone, never mind someone related to the law. “I’m in a hurry. I have to leave for work soon.”
It was the truth.
The detective didn’t move from his spot in front of his door. “It’s either now or later. When do you expect to be back from work?”
“No, now’s fine.” He might as well get it over with. “Is there a problem?”
“A neighbor of yours was attacked here in the complex. My understanding is you were the one who drove the victim to the hospital.”
“I—” His hand tightened on the door’s edge. The heat from the sun shining for the last several hours against the metal burned his palm, but he only tightened his grip on the door, hoping the pain would sharpen his mind and keep him from reacting instead of responding. “Avery? She was assaulted?”
“Yes, she didn’t tell you that?” The surprise in the other man’s hazel eyes was unmistakable.
“No. I was outside when she was trying to get to her car. She was planning on driving herself to the hospital. She looked far too sick, and I thought it only natural to offer to drive her.”
“And you didn’t call an ambulance?”
“She wanted nothing to do with one. She was worried about the added expense.”
“And your name?”
Luys almost lied but realized the detective could easily learn the truth through the leasing office. He didn’t dare create trouble. He couldn’t afford it.
“Luys Martinez.” He opened the door wider and stepped to the side. “Come in.”
“No need. Right now, I’m getting preliminary information.” He looked behind Luys’ shoulder to the living room, his expression inscrutable.
“And your place of employment?”
“That will be Horizon Center.”
The detective’s eyes narrowed.
“Is that a hospital?”
“No. Not really. I work for a research facility connected to the Horizon Community Hospital. We—”
“So, you’re a doctor?”
“Yes.”
Luys sensed a complete shift from the detective even though nothing changed visibly in Hatcher’s expression or the way he held his body.
“Do you work on weekends?”
Tension cut a swath across Luys’ shoulders. He did not like all these questions. Something was not right. “Not usually.”
“This last weekend?”
“No.”
“Where were you Friday night?”
“Home.”
“And did you have company at all, or were you alone?”
“Alone.”
God’s teeth. He did not have an alibi. “I don’t know the woman.”
“Yet, you’re neighbors.” The detective shifted impatiently on his feet.
Luys’ phone started ringing from the living room. He glanced over his shoulder, and when he turned back around, Hatcher lifted one thick gray brow. “Did you want to answer that?”
“No.” He wanted to get this Hatcher to leave, to stop him from asking questions. But Luys feared it was too late. Soon, Hatcher would be back once he searched the police database.
“I haven’t had time to get to know her or anyone else in the neighborhood,” Luys explained.
“So how did you know she was your neighbor?”
Now the man was acting like an ass. “Because she lives next door to me. Also, we’ve crossed paths at the complex’s mail center.”
“I’m sure you couldn’t help but notice her. She’s a looker. I bet you’d like to get a little something there.” Hatcher's gaze narrowed. “Did she say no? Did that get you angry?”
The hand at his side fisted as he forced himself not to react. Something Luys suspected the detective would relish. He wanted to wipe that bland expression from the detective’s face, but, of course, he didn’t, not because he considered himself civilized, but because he did not want to be hauled off to jail for assault. Getting violent would only make him a probable suspect in Avery’s attack.
“Are we done?” Luys asked between gritted teeth.
“For now.” Hatcher’s lips peeled back into a smile.
Luys shut the door with deliberate calm. After taking a slow breath, he twisted his neck back and forth, sending his vertebrae cracking as he pivoted and walked into the living room.
He picked up his phone from the coffee table. Gabriel’s telephone number appeared on the screen after a swipe. He quickly returned the call.
Gabriel answered on the first ring and immediately asked, “How are you? Are you okay?”
“Why?”
“It hit the national news. The victim was some type of social media star.”
Luys frowned. “What are you talking about? The police were just at my door asking questions. Why would an assault hit any news feed?”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m talking about Mayor,” Gabriel murmured. “She’s turned up.”
“What? Are you sure? I had hoped she’d disappeared if not for good, at least for several years—”
“I had hoped the same, but no such luck.”
“Has there been a murder?”
“Yes. Haven’t you read about it? We both know it’s only a matter of time before people end up dead around her. Ever since she disappeared from Spirit Lake, I’ve searched the Internet for any keyword that might be remotely tied to Mayor.”
“Where was the murder?” Luys whispered.
“In Phoenix. About five miles from you. I would have thought you must have known.”
“I’ve been distracted.”
“The papers are saying a stabbing, possibly the boyfriend as the killer, but my sources through the police department are saying something different. The murder was far more brutal than what’s been reported. I’m sure the police don’t want the public to panic.”
“It could be someone other than Mayor. Someone equally sick and twisted.”
“True. But the killer ripped open the chest cavity.”
Luys sank down hard on the edge of the sofa. This wasn’t looking good. “A woman? Do you have the name of the victim? Mayor has always gone after men.”
“Jennifer Stewart. I might find out more about her given time—”
“Time? We might not have much of it until the next attack. Once Mayor starts…” Luys whispered.
After a couple more minutes of talking, Gabriel urged, “Keep me posted. And if it’s an experiment gone wrong, I thought Mayor knew better. No one has ever lived long after one of Mayor’s experiments. Think of Hector.”
Luys winced. Gabriel had been the one who had tried to stop the horror of that day. “I remember. I would like to forget. The poor bastard did not deserve that end. No one does.”
“Maybe you can talk some sense into Mayor.”
“That’s impossible. Mayor won’t listen.”
“It might happen with you.”
Luys sighed. “First, I have to find Mayor.”
“All you have to do is wait. Mayor will come to you. It is only a matter of time.”
“But in the meantime, while I wait? You know there will be carnage, innocents dead. I need to find Mayor before it goes further. I can't live with the guilt if I stay silent and blind.”
“Holy Mother,” Gabriel whispered. His voice strengthened, but the sadness and regret in each word were unmistakable. “I was lucky to come out of it alive this last time, and it could have been much worse. Amanda could have died along with her daughter.”
Luys was at a loss for words. They had all suffered. Too many years, to the point, he did not know what it meant to live, to believe in the possibility of happiness or hope.
He needed to remain calm and find the strength to vanquish his demons.
He needed to stop Mayor.
After Luys hung up with his brother and finished dressing, he called into work to let Baxter know he’d be in later in the day and ran a couple of errands. One of them included checking on Avery one last time. And if she was on her way to being completely healed, he’d make a point of avoiding her after today.
He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. He paused. The air stirred around him. The back of his neck prickled with unease. Something was off. He eased further into the room, peered into the kitchen, and then backtracked to the second bedroom. It felt like someone had been in his place. But how? The door was locked.
His lips firmed. The need to check on Avery escalated. He rolled his shoulders and stepped outside, walked the short distance to Avery’s front door, knocked, and waited for her to answer.
The door opened to Avery’s condo, and Luys froze. His thoughts scattered into fragments, and it took him a moment to get his bearings. The last person he thought to see stood at Avery’s front door.