“It’s mind boggling,” Aria said. “I thought the feeling and the emotions I was feeling after we returned to Sacramento might go away, but they haven’t. If anything, the spark of hope inside me has grown.”
Sawyer wondered why Aria’s smile suddenly turned to a frown. “But?”
“But a part of me feels guilty that this newfound hope for a better life was triggered by their deaths. Doesn’t that make me as bad as them?” Aria angled her head. “Don’t you worry at times that Mom and Dad’s DNA runs through our blood?”
“No,” Sawyer blurted. “I don’t worry about that at all. Mom and Dad made horrible choices. Each bad choice built upon the next until they had nowhere left to go but straight to hell. As long as we do our best to try and make good choices, I think we’ll be fine.”
Aria didn’t look convinced.
Sawyer couldn’t stand it. “Don’t you dare spend one second feeling guilty about what happened to them. They were evil—Mom, Dad, Uncle Theo. They caused Harper, you, and me, and countless others, nothing but pain. In the end, they all got what they had coming to them. It’s over. They’re gone. Be happy.”
“Thanks,” Aria said. “I must not be feeling too guilty since I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with my share of the inheritance from the sale of Mom and Dad’s house and business.”
“What do you want to do?”
“There’s been talk about the owners of the shelter selling their property. I think it would be a perfect sanctuary for animals that have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. I would call it Forever Sunshine. The animals would be protected for the remainder of their lives.”
“Forever Sunshine,” Sawyer repeated. “I like it.”
When they were done eating, Sawyer went back to her seat on the couch in front of her laptop and said matter-of-factly, “I’m being followed.”
“What? Seriously? By who?”
“All I know is that he or she drives a mint-green Kia Soul. We pulled to the side of the road in the hope of getting the license plate—”
“We?”
Sawyer wrinkled her nose. “Don’t tell Harper, but the car was following Lennon and me when we were driving around Midtown earlier today. It was the third time I noticed the car, so we took chase.”
“With Lennon at the wheel?”
Sawyer nodded sheepishly. “He’s a natural.”
“You didn’t get a good look at the driver?” Aria asked. “How about a license plate number?”
“No and yes. I have the number on my phone.”
“And you haven’t bothered to look it up?”
“I’ve been busy. I’ll probably need to pay a PI to get the information for me.”
“Can’t you just call the DMV?”
“No. Not since the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act was passed.”
Sawyer booted up her computer again. Just as she thought, she was unable to find out who the Kia Soul belonged to, so she left a message with a PI she’d used before.
Aria pulled out her laptop. “Okay,” she said, “I’ve only got an hour before my coffee date with Corey Moran.”
“You’re meeting him today?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that it’s all happening so fast.”
Aria laughed. “It’s just coffee, Sawyer. We’re not getting married.”
“Okay. Okay. Got it. Let’s get to work.”
“I’m already on it,” Aria said.
Sawyer and Aria had talked about the different cases on their drive to see Nancy Lay, but she hadn’t explained her theory about there being two separate cases going on. The Black Wigs and the Copycat. “Since you don’t have a lot of time, let’s concentrate on the Copycat Killer.”
“Bruce Ward is a ghost on social media,” Aria said.
Sawyer nodded. “If not for Bruce’s neighbor, Trudy Carriger, his death would have been ruled a suicide.”
“She’s the witness who thought the person she saw was a man?”
“Yes,” Sawyer said. “But I don’t think her eyesight was very good.”
For the next few minutes, the only sound was their fingers clicking away on the keyboards. “Whoa!” Aria said.
Sawyer looked up. “What did you find?”
“Did you know that Valerie Purcell, the headmaster at the children’s home, was found dead inside her Fair Oaks home?”
Sawyer popped up and went to hover over Aria. The article was short. Apparently she’d fallen down a flight of stairs. Nothing about when she died or who found her. “She’s the third person with a connection to the children’s home who has been found dead,” Sawyer said. “All three within days of one another.”
“Crazy,” Aria said. “And creepy. Who’s next, I wonder?”
Sawyer was wondering the same thing as she made her way back to her notepad and computer. After a moment she said, “My gut tells me I should concentrate on locating Felix Iverson and Aston Newell.”
“And what will you do if you find them?”
“I guess I would warn them, tell them what’s happened and let them know there could very well be a target on their backs.”
“But there are other members of the gang too.” Aria anchored a strand of hair behind her ear. “Maybe Emily Stiller will remember their names.”
“Possibly,” Sawyer said.
“Speaking of Emily Stiller,” Aria said. “I hate to say it, but if all these bullies are being killed, wouldn’t the likely killer be Emily, Jimmy, or Stanley?”
“It’s possible. But there were a lot of kids who lived at the home. The fire, unfortunately, wiped out any chance of finding a list of names of children who once lived there.”
“Bummer,” Aria said.
“Yes. It’s really going to be a process of elimination at this point, which is why I’ll be meeting with Emily Stiller tomorrow and hopefully get a feel for who she is and whether she might be capable of murder.”
“I don’t like it,” Aria said. “You’re already being followed. You really do need some protection. Maybe I should go get my gun from home.”
“No,” Sawyer said. “I’ll be fine.” Sawyer continued clicking away on the keys of her laptop, typing Felix Iverson’s name into one of her search databases. More than one Felix Iverson appeared, but only one with an address in the area. She typed the address into another database that revealed his age. “This has to be the same guy. He lives in Sacramento, off El Camino Avenue.”
Aria was also typing. She stopped and said, “Looks like Aston Newell works at an automotive shop in Midtown. That’s not too far from here. He works Monday through Friday.”
Sawyer wrote down Felix Iverson’s address and then made note of Aston Newell’s workplace. She then shut her laptop and got to her feet. “I can’t just sit here. I’m going to drive to Felix Iverson’s house right now.”
“Wait a minute.” More typing. “Did you look at Felix Iverson’s Facebook page?”