“If Aaron’s cell phone went silent Sunday morning, and we use that to mark his abduction time, that means our unsub held both men captive and alive at the same time,” Ava said as she placed a finger on the timeline whiteboard while Ray added a notation of both victims’ last cell phone transmissions. “The ME put Carson Scott’s death on Sunday between noon and four P.M. I wonder if the two men saw each other.”

Mason stared at the time during which both men were missing but neither had been killed. “Why snatch another victim before you’ve killed the other? Typical serial killers need downtime, right?”

Zander nodded. “And who says he only took two guys? Maybe he’s holding a few, doling out the deaths one at a time.”

Ava sighed. “Thanks, Zander.”

“Have we come up with any connections between the two men?” Ben Duncan asked. “Give me something good here.”

“Both used Bank of America but opened their accounts at different branches,” said one of the agents. “Both had Chevron gas cards. According to their bank and credit card statements, they haven’t eaten at the same restaurant or been at the same theater at the same time. We’re still digging.”

“Keep at it. I want to know why this guy killed a congressman and a divorced Universe of Tires employee. We need that connection,” finished Duncan.

Everyone nodded.

“Tomorrow we’ve got a press conference and a meeting with Special Agent Euzent. Attending the press conference is optional; the meeting is not.”

More nods.

“Go home and get some sleep,” said Duncan. “Hopefully I won’t be seeing any of you on a bridge in the morning.”

Mason walked back with Ava to the conference room to get their things. He waved good-bye to Ray, who looked intent on getting home to his wife. “Now can you tell me what happened this evening?”

Ava shoved her laptop in her bag, her gaze on her task. “I went looking for Jayne.”

Mason was silent. They’d had a few discussions over the last two months about whether Ava should reach out to her sister. They’d always agreed at the end of the talk that Ava was better off staying away from Jayne.

“How come?” Mason asked.

“I wanted to know if she was the one who broke into your home. And I was worried,” she added softly. She finally looked Mason in the eye. “I should have told you what I was doing.”

“So I could talk you out of it?”

Her lips curved up. “Yes.”

“Maybe I’ve pushed too hard for you to stay away. She is your sister, and I’ve always tried to let you be the guide in our discussions. I wanted to support your decision, not talk you out of something. What did you find?”

She was silent for a few moments as they walked down the quiet hallway of the center. “I went to her last apartment and talked to her landlady. She skipped out on two months’ rent.”

Mason didn’t say anything. No surprises there.

“Then I went to a bar where she used to hang out a lot.”

“Nice place?” he asked.

She snorted. “What do you think? They told me she’d been in once recently, and they got the impression she was living in downtown Portland. Possibly in a shelter.”

“What?” Images of overcrowded, dirty shelters popped into his head. “Seriously?”

“Well, the bartender wasn’t sure. He did say she might just be living with a group of people.”

“That might not be much better.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m not certain I want to keep looking. I’m scared of what I might find.”

Mason sighed. He’d been holding back the contents of an email he’d received earlier that afternoon, wanting to talk about it to Ava in person. It was time.

They stepped out of the building, and Ava pulled up her hood. Mason put on his hat. He stopped her before they stepped out from under the overhang into the light rain. “Portland police ran the prints they pulled off the break-in at our place.”

“Already?” Ava’s gaze told him she knew what he was about to say.

“I told them to compare them to your sister’s. They had hers on file.”

“Yes, she’s been arrested a number of times. Oh, no. Do I want to hear this?”

“One set of prints was hers. The other set belongs to a dirtbag named Derrick Snyder. His arrest record could fill a library.”

Ava held his gaze, her face blank. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“Say something,” he said.

“God damn it. I knew it!” Despair filled her features and she spun away, pressing her fingers against her temples. “Ohhh, I’m going to strangle her. But first I’m going to make her tell me what she did with my mother’s ring.” She stopped and met his gaze, anguish in her eyes. “Oh, Mason. I’m so sorry I brought her into your life. I can’t believe she’s done this to you.”

“It’s just a TV.”

She laughed without humor. “It’s not the TV. We both know that. It’s the violation of your home. Aargh!” She looked up at the wet, dark sky, fists clenched at her sides. “What am I going to do with her? You don’t know how angry this makes me!”

“Yes, I do!” He grabbed her arms and held her still, making her look at him. “I get it. She’s more than one person should ever have to deal with. She’s a hurricane, an earthquake, and a tropical disease rolled into a female form. Whatever she touches suffers and breaks. But do you know what is the worst for me? Seeing how she tears you to pieces. I don’t care that she broke into my home. I should have had an alarm system and better locks, and now I’ll get off my lazy butt and do what I should have done a decade ago.”