Her throat tightened and she squeezed her eyes shut. This was going to be more difficult than she foresaw, the constant reminder that her best friend and confidante of twenty-five years, ever since first grade, was gone.
“Partly, yes. Mostly I want to dig deep and find out who’s really in charge of these things, why they still have categories like evening gown and talent competition. I mean, it’s the twenty-first century. What gives, you know?”
“Save the flip tone for your readers. I’m your brother and I’m telling you, this is a bad idea. You’ve heard about the other two pageants in other Arizona counties, right?” He took the slow way to the high school, through the back part of Mustang Valley that cut through pastures and gave the best views of the mountains in whose shadows they’d grown up.
“I have heard. But the murders are unrelated. One was poison and the other a gunshot. Probably disgruntled boyfriends or overzealous competitors.”
“They haven’t found the killer in either instance. You need to be very, very careful, Bella.”
“There’s a security guard employed by the pageant. He’ll keep it safe. According to the EMTs who took care of me, he’s the one who called it in.”
She wondered if he’d found her on the floor, unconscious, or if he’d gone after her attacker—or both. As fit and strong as the mysterious guard appeared, bottom line was that he was a civilian, nothing more. He hadn’t prevented her attack.
“There is, and he’s got a superb résumé from what Chief tells me, but it’s not good enough for me at this point. Since you won’t carry your own protection, Bella, you need to consider dropping out of the competition. Can’t you get the information you need by interviewing the contestants?”
“No. Not the same. Look, I don’t tell you how to police. I appreciate your input, but don’t tell me how to do investigative reporting. I promise I’ll let you know the minute anything fishy turns up. But I have to be able to do my job, Spencer.”
“I hear you’re in financial trouble.”
“What? From the interview the board did?” Anger spun in her stomach like a heavy rug in her dryer. “Is nothing confidential in this tiny town?”
Spencer laughed and she wondered what amused her brother. Of course, he’d been a lot happier lately, and smiled more than she’d ever remembered. “Not a whole lot, I’ll give you that.” He pulled into the high school parking lot and up to her car. “Just do me a favor and be extra careful.”
“I will. I promise.” She said goodbye and got into her vehicle. There was no chance of Spencer departing before she pulled out, and he’d no doubt follow her for a bit to make sure she not only drove capably but got home safe and sound.
Sometimes having a big brother put a big, wet damper on her investigative reporting.
* * *
Holden carefully followed the K-9 SUV through Mustang Valley back roads, promising himself he’d take a bike ride out here when the case wrapped up. Not if, but when, because he had to catch the Pageant Killer before anyone else got hurt.
He’d pulled up Bella’s bio, then her blog, then had his colleague back at the Phoenix field office do a background search on Bella. She was smart about her security protocol, but his agency had ways of ferreting information. Holden already knew that Spencer was a highly decorated police officer, but he hadn’t heard that Spencer had recntly saved his fiancée from certain death with the help of his K-9, a chocolate lab named Boris. Boris, along with the other MVPD K-9s, had his own Facebook fan page. As an FBI agent Holden stayed off social media, but he knew it was an important way that the local LEA could communicate with their community.
Holden suspected that Spencer had no idea that his sister had entered the pageant. Finding her in the staff room after she’d made it look like she’d left the building raised all kinds of red flags.
As the car dipped around a
bend, he realized they were heading back to the school. As he’d predicted, Spencer was taking Bella to get her vehicle. Was he really going to allow his sister to drive after such a traumatic event?
Not that it was his problem. Keeping Bella safe from the killer was all he was tasked to do. Besides finding and arresting the murderer.
Holden continued to follow Spencer but couldn’t help the flashback images that he associated with the words traumatic event. He’d worked a case in which a serial killer that the agency had tracked for nearly a year had taken him hostage. In what he’d expected to be his first successful apprehension, he’d miscalculated and the killer had trapped him in an abandoned silver mine in southeastern Arizona, not far from Mustang Valley. He’d still caught the killer, but it had taken its toll. The experience had been harrowing and life changing. Instead of deterring his desire to do investigative work, fortified it.
Spencer signaled a left turn into the school drive and Holden quickly turned right, down a side street where he wouldn’t be detected by either Colton. He’d taken the time to change out of his security-guard uniform and into plain street clothes—cargo shorts, dark T-shirt, running shoes and ball cap—as soon as Bella had been taken away by the EMTs. He hated not being completely open with Spencer about this, but he had to figure out what Bella Colton was about.
He’d also had to accept that the attacker had gotten away. For now. If indeed Bella’s attacker was the killer.
Holden knew that since he traded his security uniform for street clothes right after he left MVHS, he wouldn’t be readily recognizable by most people he’d worked with earlier today. He didn’t want to have to explain why the pageant security guard was hanging out around the school after hours.
He parked his car on a quiet street and got out, hoping to appear as much a part of the scenery as possible. Lucky for him there was a walking path that ran past the subdivision, the school and out to the desert beyond. Mustang Valley gave every appearance of being a beautiful place to live, to settle, to raise a family.
Except for the possible serial killer who stalked the pageant.
Holden walked until he was close enough to make out Spencer’s SUV cruiser, which was parked next to the most beat-up, ugly station wagon he’d ever seen.
Bella Colton must not have been telling a total lie when she’d informed the pageant committee about her dire financial situation. No one with a decent paycheck would drive such a jalopy. He wondered how it passed inspection, then remembered her brother was a cop. His handler in Phoenix had filled him in on Bella sporadically over the last couple of hours. The psychological profile he was steadily building of her didn’t fit a person who’d cheat on her auto inspection, though.
Bella had a decent blogging career in hand, but much of her freelance work reflected the expertise of someone with a lot more talent than just writing for the local, small-town blog. Holden’s colleague was female and apparently Bella’s articles were receiving a lot of play on social media and had even found their way into print here and there.