She shook her head back and forth, denying what her mouth was already saying. “Marshall. It sounded exactly like Marshall. He said . . . he said he left that rat, he killed my mother. He called it poetic justice, he—” Her voice was shaking so badly she could barely speak. Zach pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. “He said he needed to see me one more time,” she choked. “He’s coming for me.”
“Shh,” he murmured against her hair. “I’m here. You’re safe. You’re okay. Josie.”
“I think about you, Josie. I’ll n-need to see you once more. You h-have to know that, right? Just once m-more. You and me.” No, she wasn’t okay. It can’t be. He’s dead. But it was him. It was Marshall.
Zach pulled her even closer, his hand making slow circles on her back. For a moment, Josie stiffened, unused to physical affection, hesitant about touch in general. But he felt so solid, so warm against her, and she sagged into him, letting him hold her for a moment before he pulled back, looking into her eyes. “You’re safe,” he repeated. “Take a deep breath and tell me exactly what he said.” She had taken solace in the strength of him against her—even for a brief moment—and she took solace in his words as well. She was safe. He was there with her. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. She took in a big breath, allowing it to infuse her body with momentary strength. She told him exactly what the man had said, how he’d stuttered exactly as Marshall Landish had, how the tone of his voice was the same, though there was competing background noise, something she couldn’t identify.
Zach nodded, retrieving her phone from the floor, and looked up the number that had just called. He removed his own phone from his pocket and hit a button. A second later, Josie heard Jimmy’s barked hello, which further served to soothe her frazzled nerves and racing heart. Jimmy. Solid Jimmy.
“I need you to trace a number,” he said. “Someone just called Josie pretending to be Landish.”
They exchanged a few more words and then Zach hung up, leading her to a kitchen chair. She sank down into it, her limbs like jelly. “It sounded so much like him,” she whispered. “It . . . I thought it was him.”
Zach squatted down in front of her, taking her hands in his and looking up at her. “It couldn’t be. It was some sicko trying to scare you. Marshall Landish is dead. There’s no chance it was him.”
She nodded. She knew he was dead. The police didn’t make mistakes like that. The coroner. Whoever was charged with identifying a body after death. She knew it couldn’t be him. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d come back from the dead somehow.
Just once m-more. You and me. Finally. It’s been hard to stay away.
Oh God.
**********
Zach leaned against the railing, his back to the house, his eyes scanning the road and the surrounding areas as he waited for Sergeant Woods to pick up the line.
“Copeland,” he greeted. “Jimmy’s here in my office with me. We got the information back on that trace. Burner phone. Dead end.”
Zach exhaled a breath. He’d figured as much. “It’s gotta be this copycat. And the copycat has to be someone who knew Landish. Josie said there was some background noise, but she was convinced it was him at first. Whoever impersonated him, did a damn good job. It scared the hell out of her.”
The sergeant swore softly. “I don’t have a good feeling about this. This guy is gearing up to do something, Cope. Every cop instinct I have tells me so.”
Zach didn’t disagree. His stomach twisted at the very real possibility that Josie was in danger. Guarding her had been a precaution at first. Now it was a necessity. A necessity that, if not handled well, could result in her being hurt. Or killed.
“Vaughn Merrick has lawyered up. We’ve put in a request to get a voluntary DNA sample and a list of women he’s been involved with over the years, as far back as he can remember. The guy is hemming and hawing, saying there were only a few, and he can’t remember their names offhand. He’ll have to go back through his class rosters, etcetera. Slimy motherfucker. But once we get those names, we’ll probably be putting details on them as well. We already have one dispatched to Reagan Hutchison’s house.”
Shit. That was a lot of manpower. Manpower they didn’t necessarily have. Putting a tail on Reagan Hutchison might be overkill, but Zach understood the scale of the investigation, knew how vital it was that they not leave one stone unturned. Maybe they could request a few officers from surrounding townships.
As though the sergeant had read his mind, he said, “As far as Josie Stratton’s protection, the Oxford PD can’t spare us any officers right now. They’re understaffed, some flu going around. I could send a couple of our officers, but I’m not going to do that because we need everybody we have working this case right now, in addition to extra officers patrolling the UC campus and surrounding areas. We’re stretched paper thin.”
Zach stilled. No way was the sergeant about to suggest that Josie not be given any further protection. “Sergeant, with all due respect, you yourself just said you had a feeling this guy was gearing up to do something—”
“I do. That’s why I want you to get her out of here, temporarily.”
“What do you mean, get her out of here?” Zach glanced back to the house. Josie moved in front of the window, shifting the curtain aside and looking out. Their eyes met.
“I know Jimmy told you about the name he pulled from the old report dating back five years—the woman Ms. Merrick mentioned who showed up at their house causing a disturbance?”
“Yeah. She moved to Tennessee? In with her parents apparently? Jimmy hasn’t been able to reach her.”
“No, but listen, we have a safehouse very near there. I want you to interview the parents in person, see if they can tell you where to find their daughter. Take Josie with you and stay at the safehouse. She’ll be able to get outside, not feel like a prisoner again, and we won’t have to worry about her safety for a few days at least. Just get her out of h
ere.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“What do you mean, you have to get me out of here?” Josie asked, her eyes wide.
“I mean, this guy is getting bolder. He’s made contact with you, threatened you. My sergeant feels strongly he’s going to escalate things and I agree. We have a lead in Tennessee, which is only a four-hour drive away, and he suggested you come with me.” Zach ran a hand over his hair. “Listen, Josie, the department simply doesn’t have the manpower to give you the protection you need while also working this case to the best of its ability. In addition to putting a security detail on Reagan, something is likely to get dropped, and it could cost someone’s life.”