I wondered how long it would take Sloane to run through the two thousand nine hundred and sixteen possible combinations.
Lorelai.
What? The sound of my mothers name was like a bucket of ice water thrown directly into my face.
567-3524 is the telephone number that corresponds to the word Lorelai . It also spells lose-lag , lop-flag , and Jose-jag , but the only seven-letter, single-word possibility
Is Lorelai . I finished Sloanes sentence and translated the message with that meaning.
For a good time, call Lorelai. Guaranteed plus one. Kola and Thorn .
Plus one, Dean read over my shoulder. You think the UNSUB is trying to tell us that weve got another victim on our hands?
For a good time, call Lorelai .
Now I had ironclad proof that this case had something to do with my mothers. That was why the UNSUB had wanted me to come here. Hed left me this messagecomplete with a guaranteed plus one. Someone the UNSUB had already attacked? Someone he was planning on attacking?
I wasnt sure. All I knew was that if I didnt solve this, if we didnt solve this, someone else was going to die.
Genevieve Ridgerton. Plus one. How many people are you going to kill because of me? I asked silently.
There was no answer, just the realization that everything was playing out exactly as the UNSUB had intended. Every discovery Id made had been choreographed. I was playing a part.
Unable to stop myself, I turned my attention to
the last line of the message.
Kola and Thorn .
Symbolism? Dean asked me, following my thoughts exactly. Kola. Cola. Drinking. Thorn. Rose. Blood
An anagram? Sloane had that faraway look in her eye, the same one shed gotten the day I met her, kneeling over a pile of glass. Ankh onto lard. Hot nodal nark. Land rand hook. Oak land north.
North Oakland, Dean cut in. Thats in Arlington.
For a good time, call Lorelai. Guaranteed plus one. North Oakland .
We need a list of every building on North Oakland, I said, my body buzzing with a sudden rush of adrenaline.
What are we looking for? Briggs asked me.
I didnt have an answera warehouse, maybe, or an abandoned apartment. I tried to focus, but I couldnt quite rid my brain of the sound of my mothers name, and I realized suddenly that if this killer knew me half as well as he thought he did, there was another possibility.
For a good time, call Lorelai .
The dressing room. The blood. I swallowed. Im not sure, I said. But I think you might be looking for a theater.
CHAPTER 32
I didnt know whether to be relieved or upset. Somewhere, fifteen-year-old Genevieve might still be alive. But now we were dealing with body number eight.
Our UNSUBs plus one.
Starmans, Vance, Brooks: I want the three of you to take the kids back to the house. I want one of you posted at the front door, one at the back door, and one with Cassie at all times. Agent Briggs turned and started walking out of the club, a signal to the rest of us that he was so confident that we would follow his orders that he didnt even need to stay here to see them through.
I didnt need Lia or Michael here to tell me that his confidence was a lie.
Im going with you, I said, following him outside. The exact same logic that let you bring me here applies in Arlington. The UNSUB turned this into a little treasure hunt. He wants to see me follow it to the end.
I dont care what he wants, Briggs cut in. I want to keep you safe.
His tone was uncompromising and full of warning, but I couldnt stop myself from asking, Why? Because Im valuable ? Because Naturals work so well as a team, and youd hate to throw that off?
Agent Briggs closed the space between us and brought his face down level with mine. Do you really think that little of me? he asked quietly. Im ambitious. Im driven. Im single-minded, but do you really think that I would knowingly put any of you in danger?
I thought of the moment wed met. The pen without the cap. His preference for basketball over golf.
No, I said. But we both know that this case is killing you. Its killing Locke, and now theres a senators daughter involved. If it werent for me, you wouldnt have sent someone to check out that theater. We wouldnt have discovered the body for hours, maybe daysand who knows what our UNSUB would have done to Genevieve in the meantime?
If you dont want to use me as bait anymore, fine. But you need to take me with you. You need to take all three of us with you, because we might see something that you cant.
That was the whole reason Briggs had started the Naturals program. The whole reason that hed come to twelve-year-old Dean. No matter how long they did this job, or how much training they had, these agents would never have instincts as finely honed as ours.
Let her come. Locke placed a hand on Briggss arm, and for the first time, I wondered if there was anything between the two of them other than work. If Cassies old enough to play bait, shes old enough to learn from the experience. Locke glanced around the roomat Sloane and Dean. They all are.
To this tiny theaters only dressing room. I made it halfway down the hall before Agent Briggs stepped