Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
I pull up Landry’s office address and text it to Kit. He climbs back inside the vehicle and shuts the door. “I got the address,” he confirms and sets us in motion.
So much for light traffic.
Oh, how quickly it changes in New York City.
When traffic is too backed up for my timeline, I reach for the door. “I’m taking the subway. Jay can go with me if he can catch up. We’ll meet you at the pizza joint across from the ME’s office.”
“No, Lilah,” Kit growls, but it’s too late.
I’m out of the car in a blink, pulling my Burberry trench coat around me, and pushing for space between me and the SUV at a rapid pace. So much so, that Jay doesn’t catch up with me for a block and right as I’m headed down into the tunnel.
I point up at him. “I got an extra éclair today because I know you love them and you know it, so no bitching. I’m doing my job. You do yours, which is to help me catch killers.”
“It’s to protect you.”
I smile at him as if to say, “Really?” and he just grunts.
Ten minutes later, which would have been an hour in traffic, we’re at the building where Landry offices his medical practice. After a short elevator ride, we’re at the door that is locked with the lights out inside. The times and hours on the door show they should be open until two pm. I walk to the neighbor’s office, some insurance broker it appears to be from the signage on the door.
I enter the lobby and find the front desk occupied. “I had a doctor’s appointment next door. Any idea where they are?”
The blonde female I’m addressing eyes me with distinct irritation, ruddy skin, and a top that’s a size too small, doing nothing to improve her first impression. “No idea. It’s Saturday and I’m not supposed to be here. Maybe they aren’t either. And I don’t know why everyone thinks I will. Call his office, how about it?”
I don’t reply but rather turn and leave the office without a word.
I don’t like stupid. I appreciate it when others don’t either.
She’s right. She can’t be expected to keep tabs on the neighbors.
Despite this encounter, I continue on this path, going door to door to ask everyone the same question with no success, as no one else is to be found.
“Now what?” Jay asks as we exit the building. “The ME’s office?”
I start walking toward the subway and he falls into step as I say, “Not yet.”
A good twenty minutes later, we’re inside the fancy high-rise building Landry Williams lives in. The kind of glitzy, expensive building a plastic surgeon to the rich and famous lives in, not a GP. I flash my badge at the skinny twenty-something security guard in thick-rimmed glasses cowering behind a big, black desk. “I need to see Landry Williams.”
“Mr. Williams left the country.”
“And went where?” I ask.
“I heard Europe but I can’t be sure.”
“What about his medical practice?”
He holds up his hands. “I know nothing.”
“Who does?” I counter.
“Maybe his neighbor, Sue. I think they have a thing.”
Sue, it is then, I think. “Is she here?”
“No, she goes to yoga on Saturdays and then a family dinner.”
He sure knows a lot about this woman. Someone has a crush. “Call her and give her my number,” I order, sliding my card onto the table.
“Yes, Agent,” he says, and grabs his phone with a trembling hand. Some people quake when they see my badge because they’re criminals. Some quake because they’re intimidated. He’s intimidated but he’s also doing what I want.
“No answer,” he says a moment later, still holding the phone. “Should I leave a message?”
“A detailed one,” I confirm.
I listen as he does as I’ve ordered and when he slides the receiver into place, I ask, “Anything strange about Dr. Williams?”
“Nothing. I barely know any of these people.”
“Says the guy who knows Sue goes to yoga and then a family dinner. Ask the guard who takes over for you what he knows. Tell him to call me if he has any details I need to know.”
He bobs his head. “I will. Absolutely.”
I stare him down and make sure his knees quake before I turn and walk away.
I’m not sure Landry Williams is the freak in a mask, but I do know he’s got something to hide.
I am almost at the door when my phone buzzes with a text message. I glance down to find a message from Jack: Check-in time. Remember the Scream killer will show up when you least expect him and have a knife ready to kill you. No one in a Scream mask has killed you yet, right?
No one in a Scream mask has killed me yet, I think, but Landry Williams is a doctor who knows how to use a knife. He’s also missing. I exit the building and damn you, Jack, I scan for a Scream mask.