CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ella stared down at her plate as she pushed a limp French fry through a congealing puddle of ketchup. Her stomach was in knots, twisted up tighter than a hangman"s noose. Between Mia"s disappearance, Martin"s twisted mind games, and this whole sordid mess with Toledo, her appetite had apparently decided to pack its bags and flee for greener pastures.

She sipped her Diet Coke, the fizz burning her throat on the way down. Across the booth, Luca was tucking into his plate with gusto as he attacked a veritable mountain of meat like it had personally insulted his mother. It was a heaping pile that made Ella"s arteries constrict just looking at it. Steak, chicken, sausages – was that gammon in there too? The whole barnyard, sizzling in an ocean of its own grease.

‘Jesus, Hawkins. That's quite the middle finger to vegetarians.'

Luca grinned around a mouthful of steak. He swallowed, then stabbed an emphatic fork at his plate. ‘Keto, baby. No carbs, all protein. Tricks your body into burning fat for fuel instead of sugar.'

She squinted at the carnivorous catastrophe masquerading as a meal. It was like a Greatest Hits of Old MacDonald"s farm.

‘No one's eaten that much meat since the Jurassic era.'

‘Just call me Lucasaurus.'

‘You're supposed to eat vegetables too. And fiber.'

‘Cows eat greens, I eat cows. The circle of life.'

Now that Ella thought about it, she couldn"t remember the last time she"d seen Luca chow down on fries or a bun or anything that wasn"t basically still mooing. And there was no denying the results spoke for themselves as the man was cut like a diamond. Hard planes and ridges that any male-appreciating specimen would quiver over.

Nope. She derailed that train of thought before it could barrel into Inappropriate Town. They were partners, friends, end of story. She wasn"t about to screw that up over some passing hormones and Luca"s irritatingly symmetrical face.

Luckily, Luca saved her from the gutter her mind was about to splash in as he pushed his plate aside. ‘So, I"ve been thinking. About the case.'

‘Do tell.'

He leaned forward, forearms braced on the sticky Formica. ‘Maybe we ought to put a behavioral profile of our unsub together. I know we might not be dealing with a serial killer, but it'll still help narrow down suspects. Then we get this profile out to cops in Bristol, Virginia State, a couple of towns on the border of here.'

She hummed in agreement. ‘True that. We start throwing darts at the board, we"re gonna look like the wall at a frat house on a Friday night.'

‘Exactly. Toledo wasn"t exactly Mr. Congeniality, so we need to narrow the suspect pool down as much as possible."

Ella gnawed her lip as she considered it. He had a point. Flying blind was getting them nowhere fast, just groping for clues in the dark. Time to shine a little light on the subject.

‘Alright then. Show me what you can do, Hawkins.'

Luca ticked off points on his fingers. ‘He"s organized, meticulous. Has to be to pull off a grab like this without leaving a trace. He's a modest, unassuming-looking guy. This isn't some wiry Tim Burton-looking creep with a pentagram on his forehead.'

Ella nodded. ‘He"s comfortable with close contact, getting right up in his victim"s face. He"s physically capable. Strong enough to wrestle a grown man, even a sloppy drunk one.'

‘And he"s got access to a vehicle, something big enough to transport a body.' Luca added. ‘Probably a local, someone who knows the area well enough to navigate back roads, avoid traffic cameras.'

‘Narrows it down.' Ella said wryly. ‘To just about every guy in a twenty-mile radius.'

Before her tirade could gain momentum, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out and found an unknown number calling.

She jabbed her finger at the screen. ‘Agent Dark,' she answered.

‘Ella, it's me.' Sheriff Tucker's voice. ‘Stop what you're doing and get here.'

Her stomach dropped like a stone. ‘Get where?'

‘Riverbed beside the old Millston farm, half a mile from where we found Toledo.'

‘I'll find it. What's there?' She met Luca"s gaze while dread and resignation chased each other across his face.

‘We've got another body.'

She swallowed hard and willed steel into her spine. ‘We"re on it, Chief. We"ll head over now.'

Ella hung up, jumped to her feet and grabbed her jacket. ‘Break time's over, Hawkins.'

Luca threw his cutlery down next to a half-eaten chicken breast and climbed out of his chair. ‘What? What do we have?'

‘Looks like our profile might come in useful after all. Because we've got ourselves a serial killer.'