While Steve was away, summer descended on D.C., the heat and humidity grabbing the city by its throat and blowing its fetid breath into its lungs. The long, miserable days match his mood, and for a week, he’s done nothing but work, sleep, and obsess over Dr. Richard Raynes.
Dick no longer works at Pentco, and Steve’s efforts to discover why have been blocked at the highest level. He’s more than a little curious. Dick isn’t wealthy, and he has an ex-wife and two kids to support. Yet, he is not collecting unemployment and hasn’t updated his LinkedIn profile, which makes Steve think he isn’t actively looking for a job.
He’s committed two murders in three months, and no one, other than Steve, suspects a thing. As much as Steve hates to admit it, Dick is almost the perfect criminal—ordinary as paste on the outside but with an extraordinary brain and an exceptional knowledge of chemistry. He had no association with his second victim, and there is no way to predict who he will target next.
Steve has never faced this before, certain of his suspect and that they are going to strike again, yet entirely at a loss for how to stop them. The forensic report on Hamilton’s respirator mask confirmed something had dried on the frame, but they weren’t able to identify it. Whatever it was had evaporated, and the thin powdery residue that remained was not in their database of known substances.
Steve closes the file, pulls out his phone, and leaves another message for Denise. His messages vacillate between desperation, anger, and apologies for his previous outbursts. This one is a combination. He tells her he loves her and that he misses her, then tells her how sorry he is for the way things ended between them. He knows she wants him to apologize for accusing her brother of what he did, and he knows it’s the reason she hasn’t returned his calls, but he can’t do that. He doesn’t believe in lying to the people you love.
He hangs up, then reaches into the back of his top desk drawer to pull out the dark blue velour box he put there the day Denise and Jesse flew home. The round diamond catches the light through the window. Only two weeks ago, he was so certain of his future, a new life with the woman he loves and a stepson he adores.
Now, he can’t move forward, and he can’t go back. One way or another, this thing with Dick needs to end.