Annalisa called Zimmer from St. Thecla’s, and Zimmer had no choice but to call the chief of police, and he, of course, called in the FBI. She had no idea who’d alerted Don Harrigan, but he, too, showed up outside the church. The normally quiet street looked like a club scene with all the flashing blue and red lights casting frantic shadows against the high stone walls. Colin stood with the Grave Diggers, all of them guarded by uniformed officers, while the forensic techs went to work on the church. Annalisa knew they were all going to be questioned thoroughly before the night was over, just as she already knew that none of their answers would prove satisfactory. The Lovelorn killer had orchestrated this show well in advance, and if he was watching at all, it would be from a safe distance.
She strolled over to Colin, trying to look casual, and touched his arm. “Some welcome home party, huh?”
“I have dreams that look like this,” he said as he surveyed the controlled chaos. “Our house roped off with yellow tape, cop cars all over the street.”
“I’m sorry.” She gave him a sympathetic squeeze. “After they interview you, you’ll be free to take off again for Budapest or wherever.…”
He turned to her with horror. “And leave you here alone? With this?”
“It’s my job, Colin. I can handle it.” Zimmer motioned to her, and she touched Colin’s arm again, this time in apology. “I’ll be back.”
She stood facing Zimmer, which gave her a prime view of St. Thecla’s. The techs had turned the lights on inside the sanctuary, illuminating the stained glass windows from within. Their glow was muted, nothing like the view she remembered from the pews, when the strong sun poured in through the red, yellow, and blue glass, casting beams of color through the enormous hall. Even as an adult, whenever Annalisa tried to picture God, this was the image she saw in her mind: the saints lit like fire in the Sunday sun.
“You’ve positively identified the music box as belonging to Grace Harper?” Zimmer was asking, and Annalisa jerked her attention back to her boss.
“Her friend Molly Lipinski has identified it, yes.”
“And the frog is definitely yours.”
“My grandmother made it. There isn’t a second one in the world, as far as I know.”
“Then that’s it. Lovelorn has to be the guy who’s calling you.” Zimmer sounded grim, not excited, by this lead.
“I recorded the conversation.”
Zimmer turned dark eyes to Colin and the Grave Diggers. “What about the rest of them? Who are they?”
“The guy on the end is Colin Duffy, Katherine’s son. The others are members of the same amateur sleuth group that Grace Harper belonged to.” Annalisa recapped their story about the email, and Zimmer’s frown deepened.
“So, he wanted all of you out here to witness this? To find the music box?”
Annalisa regarded the church again as a Bible verse from her childhood came back to her. “And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We’re his disciples, the ones who help him spread fear. He dragged us out here to make sure we got his latest message. The Grave Diggers were necessary to authenticate Grace’s music box. I’m here to herald in all of this.” She waved her arm at the cars, the lights, and the line of people trooping in and out of the church.
“Yeah, well, he’s not getting his headlines this time. The FBI wants to play this as a false alarm, a bomb scare that turned out to be nothing. The idea is that it may prompt this guy to make contact again.”
“Terrific,” Annalisa muttered. “I so enjoy our chats.”
“Yeah.” Zimmer chuffed a humorless laugh. “We’ll be parking an undercover unit in front of your house just in case he decides to discuss matters in person. Although it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world if you decided to stay with a friend or family member for a few days.”
“No,” Annalisa replied immediately. No way would she make a target out of someone else. “He doesn’t want to kill me. He wants to rub it in that we can’t catch him. I can’t be impressed with him if I’m dead.”
“All the same, we’ll be discussing your new security detail before you go home tonight.”
As the hours stretched on toward morning, the party moved back to headquarters, where Annalisa lost sight of the others as she took turns explaining the phone calls and the events of the evening to various people higher up in the food chain than she was. “I don’t understand,” one gray-haired suit said to her in a peeved tone. “Why did he decide to call you?”
They’re all jealous, she realized as they surrounded her and hurled repeated questions until she was emotionally and physically exhausted. They played and replayed the recorded conversation, nitpicking her every response. “Why didn’t you press him more? Ask him about the case?”
“I let him lead the conversation to keep him talking as long as possible. The longer he talks, the more material we have to work with.” She slumped in her chair. They’d been cooped in the windowless room for three hours, and the men had their shirtsleeves rolled up like they were ready to go another round. She’d drained the one water bottle they’d given her and then peeled off the label. It lay curled up on the table in front of her, and she found herself wishing she could do the same.
“He mentioned a service at St. Thecla’s and you took that as a cue to go over there. Why?”
“There was no other point to bringing up the church unless he wanted me to check it out.”
“Why didn’t you alert the task force?”
“Because at the time, I had no proof it was actually him.”
A sharp rap on the door made the men turn their heads, and Zimmer poked into the room. “Let’s give it a rest now, gentleman. She’s not skipping town on bail. You’ll get to talk to her tomorrow.”
The FBI guy in charge, Agent Grayson, stepped between Zimmer and Annalisa. “With all due respect, ma’am, there’s a human predator on the loose. We can all sleep when he’s caught.”
Zimmer made a show of checking her watch. “You Washington boys have been on this case for twenty years now. You’re telling me you haven’t had so much as forty winks in that time span?” She leaned around him and beckoned to Annalisa. “Detective Vega answers to me, not to you.”
“And you’ll answer to the chief.”
“Great, have him call my office. I’ll be at home, sleeping. That’s no doubt where your killer is right now, and we have to be fresh enough to face him for another round.”
Annalisa followed Zimmer out, and they strode down the hall while the men sputtered behind them. “Thanks, Commander,” she said under her breath.
“Don’t thank me. You should have called me the moment he phoned you.” She halted and pinned Annalisa in place with a piercing look. “I can’t protect you if you keep me in the dark.”
“Yes, of course. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be smart.” She pointed at her own head. “Think. When a serial murderer says he’s got a gift for you, you don’t go running down there by yourself to find out what it is.”
“I took Carelli with me.”
“Yes, I’ve heard his narrative, and I don’t find it reassuring. By the time he arrived, you could have been dead at the scene.”
“Sorry,” Annalisa said, more petulantly this time as fatigue took over. “I don’t usually get calls from a serial killer. I’m unfamiliar with the protocol.”
Zimmer wasn’t amused. “Protocol is that you go home and stay there until you hear from me. If he so much as sends you a smoke signal, you let me know immediately. The FBI has set up a trace on the number. If he turns the phone on, we can locate it and finally nail this bastard. The best thing you can do is stay home, and if he calls, try to keep the line open as long as possible.”
“Stay home,” Annalisa echoed. “I can’t just stay home and wait for his call. I’m still working this case.”
“Not if I say you aren’t.”
It isn’t up to you, Annalisa almost blurted out. All of a sudden, she understood why the men in the room had been so frustrated with her: on this case, the killer outranked them all, and for some reason, he’d picked Annalisa for a lieutenant. “Fine,” she told Zimmer with a sigh, holding up her hands in defeat. “I’ll go home.”
“I’ll drive her.” Carelli had materialized from nowhere to appear behind her.
“Good.” Zimmer nodded her approval. “The UC unit is already in place. Be careful out there.”
Nick jerked a nod in Annalisa’s direction. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t have the energy to argue with him. The bags under her eyes had bags of their own. She checked her personal phone on the way out and found a text from Colin. Went to my hotel to crash. I’ll call tomorrow about picking up my bag from your place. Xx She tucked the phone back in her pocket, too exhausted to parse what the sign-off might mean. Back in the early days of their courtship, she had hung on every word he said or wrote, sifting through them as if panning for gold. He said he’d love to date a girl like me. Does that mean he wants me or just someone similar?
At her place, Nick parked the car and unbuckled his belt. She blinked tired eyes at him. “You’re coming in?”
“Hell, yes, I’m coming in. I’m doing a complete sweep of the place before you set foot in there.”
She didn’t even care anymore. “Knock yourself out,” she said, holding up the keys for him. He exited the car, unlocked the door, and then withdrew his gun before entering her home. She watched the lights go on in the windows one by one until he reappeared and waved to her from the door.
“All clear.”
She smothered a yawn with her arm and followed him inside. Despite her exhaustion, she had to go look at the backyard. She flicked on the outside light, and sure enough, there was a circle of dirt where the frog had sat. The guy had been eight feet from her door, and she hadn’t known a thing. A shudder went through her and she jerked the door to check the lock.
Back in the living room, Nick stood amid the remains of her earlier evening—the wine glasses and candles and dented pillows on the couch. “I thought you said he wasn’t your date.”
“Don’t start with me.”
“Who’s starting?” He watched her begin to rinse the dishes. “I am getting the distinct feeling that I entered in the middle of the second act.”
She halted with a soapy plate in hand to gape at him. “Meaning what? That I dated someone before I met you? You’d bedded half the North Side.”
“How come you never told me about this guy?”
“I did tell you.”
“Right. You had a high school boyfriend who lived on the same block as you. Just your ordinary puppy love that didn’t work out once you went to different schools. You never mentioned that his mother was murdered by the Lovelorn Killer. You never told me…”
“Told you what?” she challenged.
His shoulders sagged, and he waved vaguely at the table where she’d eaten dinner with Colin. “Why did you break up?”
She went back to the dishes. “We didn’t. He just moved away after his dad died and then he never talked to me again.”
“Ah.” Nick nodded as if to himself.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She put the plates in the rack and dried her hands on her jeans. “You think you have some sudden insight now? You think you glimpse my high school boyfriend, see a couple of wine glasses, and now you understand me?”
“No. I would never think that.”
His words held no fight in them, so she felt the anger evaporate from her as well. “You can go now. I don’t think there’s anyone hiding in my closets.”
“If it’s okay, I’d like to stay on your couch.”
“Nick, there’s a car parked outside watching my front door.”
“Yeah, and I’d like to be watching you.” He regarded her soberly. “Look it, this is not a knock on you and how tough you are. This guy has eluded like seven different law enforcement agencies for almost a quarter century. Now he’s set his sights on you, and I just don’t want to take any chances.”
Her mouth twitched in a near smile. “Seven different agencies, but you’ll be my guard dog, huh?”
He did smile. “Grrr,” he replied, snapping at her for emphasis.
“Fine, for one night only. I’ll go get you a blanket and a pillow for the couch.”
“Just like the old days,” he quipped, and she shot him a dark look.
“Don’t push your luck, Carelli.”
She brought him the bedding and went to her room, where she closed the door and changed into her nightshirt. As she was brushing her teeth, she heard him getting a drink of water from the kitchen. It surprised her, how she recognized his footsteps so easily even after all these years. She took her toothbrush and went to the living room, where he had turned out the lights and taken to his bed on the sofa. “Nick?”
“Hmm?” He sat up and she could just make out his face in the shadows.
“Why did you ask me to marry you? I mean, we could’ve just had a fling like you did with all the other girls.”
He thought about his answer for a long time. “It seemed like that’s what you wanted,” he replied finally, and the words hit her like a punch to the gut. She had wanted to get married, all right. To Colin. No wonder she’d never mentioned him to Nick.
“But what about what you wanted?”
Again, he made her wait while he considered his reply. “I wanted to make you happy.”
She remembered their wedding day, the tiny, perfect ceremony in her parents’ backyard. The cherry tree had rained blossoms like a blessing from above, and she’d felt so safe inside his arms. She hadn’t known then that the vows meant nothing to him, that Nick Carelli would use whatever words he needed to make someone like him, even signing his future away in the process.
“Zimmer would love us right now,” she said. “Some instincts we’ve got, huh?” Cops were supposed to be good at reading people; somehow, they’d each married a stranger.
Nick hummed a non-reply and thumped his pillow with his fist. “What we’ve got,” he said finally, “is another chance.”