Free Violence of the Father (A Trinity of Death Romantic Suspense Series Book 2) by Charlotte Raine Page B

his apartment building, he doesn’t look at me at all, so I can’t read him. When we get to the bottom of the stairs, he finally turns to face me.
    “I’m scared,” he admits. “This killer isn’t messing around and he truly believes what he’s doing is for the good of society.”
    I take his hand. “It’s okay. We’re here together and we’ll find him.”
    “I missed you,” he says.
    I nod. I know I should repeat the phrase back to him—isn’t that what relationships are about? Everything being reflected back, so that we’re in constant equilibrium?—but I can’t because if I say the words, I’ll continue to get too attached and I know I need to cut ties in order to get the future with children that I want.
    I take his hand anyway because his love is the one thing that keeps me from falling apart. I don’t know how I’ll deal with breaking up with him, but I have to do it.
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    “ O kay , we were running on the assumption that this killer’s victims were random—except for the fact that they had broken commandments—just like Mary’s victims were random,” I say, writing down the names of our two new victims on white board. “But Mary’s victims were not that random—she had Gavin Lively who was going to Pious Church, where she performed. There was Jackson Belamonte, who she said she didn’t kill, but he was still her ex-boyfriend and he was murdered. There was Sarah Lurie, who had been in the news since she had been a royal bitch after taking over her parent’s store. So, she knew one of the victims, she was in the same place as another victim, and she knew about Sarah Lurie through public information.”
    “What about her almost victim?” Tobias asks, chewing on licorice as he sits on his desk. “The one that would have fulfilled do not kill . He was a gang member and had killed people. Maybe one of his victim's family members told her about it or something. She had a lot of strangers confiding in her.”
    “See?” I say. “They were probably all connected to her somehow. It may not be the same as regular murders in terms of motive, but they all have to come into contact with our killer unless their murders were in the news.”
    “Well, Glenn Erwin’s murder was in the news.” He taps licorice against his lips. “Still not sure how the killer would have known about Philip Herdon. It’s either someone at the bank, his wife, someone at the adoption agency, someone at his job…or maybe even one of the bar’s patrons caught on to what he was doing.”
    I stare at the two names on the board. “Glenn Erwin’s murder was in the news but the killer knew he was in Detroit before anybody else. How did he know?”
    “Maybe he saw him in Detroit?” Tobias suggests.
    “We didn’t even know he was a killer until someone from Indianapolis identified him,” I say. “There has to be more to that story. What do Glenn and Philip have in common?”
    I draw a Venn diagram around the two names.
    “You really think we’re going to stumble on something they have in common? It’s not like we would have stumbled on Jackson and Gavin’s connection to Mary if we hadn’t thought she was kidnapped.”
    “You need to be more positive.”
    “This is me being positive,” he says. “If I was being negative, I would be telling you that we should just wait until we find the killer crucifying a body like we did with Mary.”
    I shake my head at him and begin jotting down notes on the whiteboard. “Okay. They had different jobs, one was married, one wasn’t, they lived in different parts of the city…could they have had similar hobbies?”
    “Glenn worked during the day and you said his ex-girlfriend said he was always working. Philip worked during the night as a bartender. Even if they did have a similar hobby, I don’t see how they could have spent much time together. Maybe at the bar, but they both had a kid too—it’s not like that leaves a lot of extra time on their