“First of all, I’m sorry you all have to be here.” Mason looked around at the room of gawking faces. Some were riddled with fear, others with admiration. He tried not to let it get to him. “I didn’t want or expect the Lullaby Killer to come back, much less to start threatening any of us. Until this is over, I’d appreciate it if you’ll bear that in mind.”
Plenty of nods across the room. That was something.
“Rather than tripping over our own toes,” he continued, “I thought it might be best if we started to formulate some kind of plan. It’s the only way to get a step ahead of him.”
“You can start with the family thing,” Bill mumbled.
“Okay, so Diane and Christine.” They both perked up, awaiting their orders. “You’re on protection detail. Try to stay as close to each other as possible for as much of the day as possible. The killer likes to pick you off when you’re alone and vulnerable, so don’t let that happen.”
“Will that help you do your job?” Christine asked.
“More than you’d think,” Mason said. “As cold as it sounds, I have to keep running home to check up on Diane and MJ. Remove that from the equation, and we might stand a chance at finding this guy.”
“It makes sense,” Diane said to her, recognizing the upset on her face. “It’s to keep us safe, after all. You can stay at our house if you like. Or if you have the room…”
“Figure it out among yourselves,” Mason said. “Evie?”
“Yep?” A small head with glasses perked up from the back of the room.
“Is Amelia up to speed?”
“She knows enough.”
“Good. Then I’m going to have to ask you to stay out of this.”
Evie laughed. “What makes you think I want to chase a killer with you?”
“Biology. Past experience. Observation.”
“All right, all right.”
“Just take care of your girl.”
A nod of agreement from each of the girls.
“What about us?” Bill asked.
“Like I said, we need to tackle this head-on, follow the pattern, and figure out where to go next. If memory serves—and assuming he’s actually going to stick to the pattern—he’ll be looking for some twins next.”
Bill raised a hand like he was in school. “Kylie is safe for now.”
“So that’s one less thing. But who will the twins be?”
“We gotta wait on a lead.”
Mason had thought as much but didn’t want to say it. It sounded negative. Defeatist. Through this whole mess of an investigation, all he’d wanted to do was stay ahead of the curve. But with the archaic nature of the killer’s pattern, anything was possible.
“I don’t think we have a choice but to wait for his next move,” Mason finally admitted.
“You’re actually right,” Diane agreed. “So let’s carry on as normal with that plan in place. As soon as you find another lead, Christine and I can start lying low.”
“That works.” Mason nodded, looking around the room. “Everyone okay with that?”
The office was a sea of mumbled agreement and nodding heads. Mason wrung his hands together, a familiar anxiety sucking at his enthusiasm. He’d been after this killer for years, and this was the second time he’d come back to mess with him. The timing seemed deliberately awful.
“What about me?” Amelia asked. “I can help you.”
Evie tried to shush her, but she failed.
“I’d love to involve you, but your mom just found you. Don’t let her lose you already.”
“But I’m a smart cookie, and I can run faster than a speeding bullet.”
“You’d have to if this psycho catches you,” Bill said.
Mason ignored it. “We’ll get to spend some time together eventually, Amelia. I want to get to know my niece. But this isn’t the way. For now, just keep your head down and stay safe, okay? I can’t afford to lose anyone el—” Else, he refrained from adding. It looked as though everyone in the room knew where he’d been going with that, too. Instead, Mason folded his arms and looked around the room, making sure everyone looked comfortable. Not a single one of them did, but at least they had a plan.
Sort of.