“Mr. Michaels,” Laura said. “Can I ask you where you’ve been for the past three days?”

“Here.” Keegan shrugged, the answer coming easily. “I don’t go out much anymore. I’ve just been sitting here.”

“On your own?”

He nodded confirmation.

Not much of an alibi.

“Do you have anything that would prove you were here?” Laura asked.

“Nope,” Keegan said. He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he was clearly being asked for an alibi and had nothing to give. Perhaps because of what he’d said earlier—he was so confident that anyone would be able to see there was no chance he’d be able to really do any harm. “Oh, there might be. I ordered some takeout this week on my app. I always get the same driver. I don’t tip him, so he probably remembers me pretty well.”

“You don’t tip him?” Agent Moore gasped, interjecting once again despite her promise that she wouldn’t. “That’s really bad!”

Keegan nodded. “I know,” he said. “But he’s bringing me my drinks. And if I tip him, I won’t be able to buy as many. You see?”

“Alright,” Laura said, wanting to stop this part of the conversation in its tracks before they got off on a tangent that nobody needed. “So, this guy who stole your wife. What’s his name?”

“John something. I don’t know. I just stalk their Instagram posts. They went out for a nice romantic meal last night. Made me want to get unconscious—which I did.”

“Bluton? Gregory?”

Keegan blinked. “No, I don’t think so.”

Laura sighed. She wasn’t annoyed with Keegan Michaels, exactly, but she was starting to think that he wasn’t related to their case at all. Her whole theory meant nothing if the other man wasn’t connected to at least one of the other victims. And since the other man and Keegan’s ex-wife hadn’t come to any harm since the event, it was more and more obvious that she’d been wrong.

“Alright,” Laura said. She turned her body back toward the door. “I think that’s everything we need to know for now. We’ll be in touch if there’s more.”

“Wait,” Keegan said. “Janae’s killer. Do you know who it is yet? I mean, you have any ideas?”

“We’re not able to comment on any leads we might be following until the investigation is complete,” Laura said quickly, wanting to cut off any chance of Agent Moore blurting out an answer.

“So, you have leads,” Keegan said, brightening a little. “That’s great. At least you’ll be able to stop him, make sure Janae gets some justice. She was a great girl, you know?”

“I’m sure,” Laura said, with a polite, tight smile, and walked out of Keegan Michaels’s home and back to the car.

Inside, a voice in her head was taunting her with the truth of it all: you don’t have a single useful lead or any idea where to go next.

Which meant the chances of Janae’s killer getting away with it were rising by the hour—and so was the chance of him being able to strike again.


Tags: Blake Pierce Thriller