She picked up the black athletic pants. “Our shooter changed out of these clothes, shot Justin Yoder who had been hiding in this part of the bathroom—already wearing the same outfit—and ran out, posing as a victim, and left Justin to accept the blame. He strolled right out of the mall—after stopping to talk to me and Misty—and no one blinked.”

“We’ll have him on camera,” said Zander. “And you’ve seen his face! You could recognize him.”

Ava caught her breath, thinking hard. “I can’t remember him that well—I couldn’t see the color of his eyes under the brim of his cap. I had so much adrenaline pumping through me. I was mainly worried for Misty.”

“We need to check the restrooms of the other shootings.”

“Has he done this before?” Ava could barely breathe as implications flooded her brain.

“We’ll find out.”

21

He’d been following her for forty-eight hours and knew her name was Ava.

The woman had first appeared on his radar as the police swarmed around Justin Yoder’s car in the quiet subdivision close to the mall. He’d been surprised it’d taken them that long to find it. He’d thought the neighbors in that senior living neighborhood would quickly report a strange vehicle. Maybe people were more tolerant than he. A few times he’d left the spot from where he’d watched the car to make food and coffee runs, expecting to return and have missed the show. But the police had finally turned up. He’d watched as the patrol unit pulled up behind the car parked on the street. One officer had stayed in the car, running the plates he assumed, while the other peered in the windows.

He’d seen the cops’ body language change as they realized what they’d found. Movements were faster, chins jerked up, and a sense of urgency appeared in their actions in stark contrast to the measured caution of their arrival. More units had arrived within minutes.

But it’d been the investigators out of uniform who had caught his attention. When they’d arrived, the other police had deferred to them immediately. Two men and a woman. The two men had explored the car, careful of what they’d touched. As she should, the woman had stayed back a bit, almost trying to appear inconspicuous, but he’d noticed that both men kept speaking to her and pointing out aspects of the car. She clearly carried some authority and the thought made his skin crawl.

He’d watched her every move—something about her seeming very familiar.

She had a tendency to tuck her hair behind her ear and crack her knuckles, and it’d driven him crazy that he couldn’t see her eye color at this distance.

After they’d all looked in the trunk of Justin’s car, she’d turned, giving him a direct view of her face through his binoculars.

He did know her.

Ava had been at the Rivertown Mall. He’d offered to help her with the bleeding girl.

Her eyes had been dark blue.

Relief had swept through him as he realized she was with the police because she was a witness. The men were simply being polite in their deference to her; she wasn’t in law enforcement.

But something compelled him to follow her, and his misconception had lasted less than a day. Witnesses didn’t continually go in and out of the police command center. After he’d seen her enter and leave many times, he started to wonder. She didn’t carry a gun or wear a badge, but she moved and conversed like someone in charge. An inappropriate role for her. He’d called a friend to check the plates on her car and discovered it belonged to the federal government.

“Can you be more specific?” he’d asked his friend as a loud buzz started in his brain at the phrase federal government.

“I’d guess the car belongs to the Justice Department or the FBI,” his friend had answered.

“How do you know?” he whispered.

His friend had paused. “Experience.”

He’d offered to help a federal agent that day at the mall? A female federal agent?

Anger shot through him, cranking up the static in his head. She’d refused him. At the moment he hadn’t cared, he’d wanted to put as much distance as possible between him and the crime. But when he’d seen the two women on the ground, he’d known it’d look odd to anyone later viewing the video if he didn’t offer to help.

Did she think she was so powerful that she didn’t need help from a man?

Arrogant bitch.

Through his surveillance he’d learned Ava lived with a man, clearly one of the investigators on the case. He appeared to be a strong alpha type. How does he put up with her pretentiousness?

The woman was attractive and probably a good fuck if she left her badge out of the bed. He figured she probably knew where to toe the line if her relationship with the man was successful. But he hadn’t seen wedding rings. The relationship was probably new. How long before she destroys it? Or he gets tired of her true nature?

Women shouldn’t carry a badge. Any sort of badge. Common sense. Females weren’t meant to order men around; it went against nature. Everyone knew women were made to nurture and serve.

He’d followed her to the Rivertown Mall earlier this morning and seen her pause as she stared at the ground where the young female had lain bleeding. Then her head had gone up, and she’d marched in an arrogant manner toward the men’s room, the other investigator trailing in her wake.

She needed to be taken down a notch.

They’d come out of the men’s room and ordered it closed to the public. A security guard had been stationed outside after they’d left and had directed all users to another restroom. He’d gone close enough to hear the guard tell a shopper the police were still recovering evidence in the restroom.