The address for Morgan Costa led Amanda and Trent to a two-story townhouse in Dumfries. The clock on the dash announced it was close to five. She might be a little late getting home to have dinner with Zoe, but hopefully she’d be able to salvage the evening. Then again, that was dependent on their visit with Morgan Costa and whether she had insights to help the case. Obviously if she did, Amanda would be further delayed in getting home.
“I never even got one sip of my coffee,” Trent griped from beside her.
“It wasn’t anything special.” She wouldn’t tell him it was close to as good as the stuff from Hannah’s Diner.
“I’m not sad that we had to leave that guy though.”
“Makes two of us.” She knocked on Morgan’s door, and it cracked open a few seconds later.
“Hello?” A woman’s nose and eye appeared in the slit.
“Morgan Costa?” Amanda asked, holding up her badge.
“That’s me.” Morgan stepped back and opened the door, allowing Amanda and Trent a view inside the home.
“We’re Detectives Steele and Stenson. We’re here to talk about Jill and Charlotte Archer. Could we come in?”
“Ah, sure.” Morgan stopped in the entry and turned to them.
“Somewhere to sit would be better for this conversation,” Amanda said.
Morgan stiffened but took them to a living room where she sat on the couch. Amanda and Trent dropped into chairs.
“What about Jill and Charlotte?” Morgan nudged out her chin, and her eyes were full of tears.
Morgan hadn’t made any claims to having the “gift” Galen had. There was no talk of mind-reading or visions—though it was early yet. But she wouldn’t need to be psychic to sense something was wrong. Two detectives were at her door, and presumably she hadn’t seen Jill and Charlotte for a couple of weeks. Both would have been a tip-off. “Sorry to inform you of this, Ms. Costa, but Jill and Charlotte were found dead on Tuesday morning.”
“No. No, this can’t be.” Tears fell. “In Prince Park? I read in the news that bodies were found there.”
“I’m afraid so,” Amanda said.
“I’d really hoped that Jill had finally taken Charlotte and left town.”
“We spoke with Father Walsh, and he told us he asked you to watch over Jill.”
“As if she were assigned to me like a job? No. Not like that. Jill and Charlotte weren’t an assignment. I loved them.” She walked across the room and took a framed photograph from a table. She handed it to Amanda. “Taken this summer at a church barbecue.”
Amanda held the picture for Trent to see. Jill, Charlotte, and Morgan were bunched together—all of them with bright smiles. There was no evidence of the timidity described by Charlotte’s teacher. Both she and her mother looked extremely comfortable with Morgan. Even at home with her. “How long did you know them?”
“Most of a year.”
“Since they moved into town then?” Amanda asked.
“Sounds right.”
“So you two were close,” Amanda started. “Did you see each other outside of church?”
Morgan nodded. “We usually met up once a week, just to talk and hang out. She was supposed to come here last Wednesday.”
Amanda thought back to the call logs. “There was no record you tried reaching her to see where she was.”
“No, of course not. You probably know this by now, but Roy isn’t a good man. He never would have tolerated Jill having friends. I was to be kept a secret. She was allowed to go to church, the grocery store, bank, doctor’s. Oh, and to drop Charlotte off at school. Other than that, she was to be straight home.”
“She also took Charlotte to Prince Park,” Trent inserted.
“Yes, that’s right.” Morgan flailed a hand. “How could I forget?”
Amanda figured the shock of the news she’d just received had something to do with it.
“But, yeah, she took Charlotte every Sunday before church to let the girl burn off some energy before she’d be asked to sit for two hours. Jill would bring along a change of clothes for her.”
“Smart,” Amanda admitted.
A small smile. “Jill was smart, and she deserved far better than Roy. But she wouldn’t divorce him, couldn’t even seem to leave him. Said God frowned on marriage that ended in divorce.”
Amanda kept her mouth shut. So people were supposed to stay imprisoned in unhappy wedlock until death? How outdated and ridiculous. Humans took the liberty of saying too much on God’s behalf—talk about an act of reading minds. “Did you ever go to the park with them?”
“Not me. I’m not an early riser. I’m doing good to make it to mass for nine.”
It had been too much to hope that Morgan saw someone at the park who stood out to her.
“I tried to get her to leave him, take Charlotte and run. Just separate. I would have welcomed them here for as long as they needed. She wasn’t having that. But I think she looked into Brighter Horizons at one point, just never made the leap.”
“Brighter Horizons?” Trent asked.
“It’s a woman’s shelter in Woodbridge.”
Trent looked over at Amanda and slightly widened his eyes. She got his message. They needed to sort out where the killer connected with or latched on to the women and children. A shelter was a strong possibility.
“Do you know of anywhere Jill liked to go besides the places you mentioned?” Amanda asked. “Her husband tracked her whereabouts through her phone but sometimes it blacked out.”
Morgan grinned. “That was one thing she did that showed gumption and made me proud.”
“So where would she go off the grid?” Amanda repeated.
“Well, she couldn’t be offline for long. Roy would have beat her unconscious.” With the admission, Morgan’s chin quivered, and she rubbed her arms. “Sometimes she’d treat Charlotte to ice cream. I’d give her some cash so Roy wouldn’t know her every second. That man really doesn’t deserve to draw breath. Did he do this to them?” Her gaze was cool, as was her tone.
“He’s been cleared.” Amanda’s mind drifted to the Riggs—no connection there or motive. But it left her and Trent, and Prince William County, with a more horrifying possibility: a serial killer. “You ever see a man watching Jill and/or Charlotte, possibly lingering around the church? Or were there any new male members of the congregation?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“We have been told about a man she was speaking with outside Dumfries Elementary. A good-looking man, brown hair and eyes.” Amanda wished she had something more descriptive to share. They needed to follow up on that video.
“I can tell you she wasn’t cheating on Roy, but no one would blame her if she did.”
“Did she have a male friend, even if it wasn’t an affair?” Trent asked.
“You must be kidding. If Roy ever found out…”
“Okay, thank you for your time.” Amanda got up and handed Morgan her business card. “And we’re very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Amanda’s steps were heavy as she returned to the department car. Based on that one photograph of the trio smiling, Jill had found a place she and her daughter belonged. Still, it hadn’t saved her. She did up the seat belt and turned to Trent. “I didn’t miss what you said to me in there, by the way.”
“What I said to you? I’m confused.”
“Not said exactly, but you made intentional eye contact. I read your mind.” She smiled, appreciating the irony in light of the priest.
“Huh. If you’re so smart, hit me.”
“It was to do with the women’s shelter. Brighter Horizons. You think it might lead to the killer.”
He held on to the steering wheel with his left hand and faced her. “Why not? Karl Riggs made a point of saying his wife had nowhere to run. I was wondering where she would have gone. A women’s shelter could make sense.”
“Why wouldn’t Connie Riggs have gone to one in Washington?”
“Too close to home? We just know that Jill Archer stopped by Brighter Horizons in Woodbridge. But it’s entirely possible that Connie and her daughter had too, or that they were even staying there. This could be the connection between the women and/or the killer we’ve been looking for.”
“I’d hope if they had been staying there, the place would have reported them missing.” A knot formed in her chest again. It felt like everyone had let these women and girls down. “Let’s check out this angle, but first thing tomorrow morning? Fresh start and fresh minds.”
He backed out of Morgan’s driveway. “That’s a smart move.”
Is it? As much as she looked forward to hugging Zoe, could she justify bowing out for the night? There were other families who didn’t have their daughters to tuck in tonight. And what if while she was home enjoying time with her daughter another mother and her child were suffering? Would she ever forgive herself? “You know what? Let’s go over there now. I’ll just have to call Libby.”
“Tomorrow should be fine. We can’t save everyone, and your daughter needs you too.”
“But what if…?”
“What if there are other victims out there right now?” he tossed back, reading her mind. “You can’t save everyone.”
“Never said I could.”
He angled his head. “You never had to. You think you can, and it’s what drives you. But spend time with Zoe. With a case like this one, she must be foremost on your mind.”
“That she is.”
“Besides, as you’ve told me before, sometimes a fresh start is exactly what a case needs.”
She took a deep breath. “I just hope I don’t live to regret it.” Or that people die because I took a break…
As Trent drove them to Central, she couldn’t shake this bad feeling that the killer had his next two victims. She only hoped if she was right, she and Trent wouldn’t be too late to save them. Was Brighter Horizons the connection and the lead they were looking for?