"Agent Lyons!" she exclaimed. "I've been waiting to hear from you. I heard about the warehouse. It's so awful."
"I know, Grace," Nicky said. Across from her, Ken watched curiously, listening, so Nicky put the phone on speaker. "We can talk about it later. I need you to help me dig up dirt on the warehouse. Did they try to sell it when the company went bankrupt? As in, was there ever a realtor attached to it?"
"One second," Grace said. On the other end, Nicky heard a keyboard clacking. A moment later, Grace came back on the line. "I have the name of the realtor. His name is Jordan Katz."
Nicky's heart skipped a beat. "Katz," she said. "What's his story?"
Grace let out a whistle. "Not super pretty. He's been accused of sexually assaulting more than a few girls. Nothing ever made it through court, but we both know that doesn't mean it never happened."
Nicky gritted her teeth. This could be their guy. But the assault accusations alone weren't enough to prove he was a serial killer.
"I need to know more," Nicky said. "I need you to give me every bit of dirt on this guy."
"Okay, I'm looking now. Stay on the line. Let's see what else Jordan Katz has in his closet..."
With bated breath, Nicky waited for Grace to tell her more.
With a hard look in her eyes, she stared at the pile of files in front of her.
"Here we go," Grace said. "Okay, I've got a few things. Jordan Katz is thirty-seven-years-old now. He grew up in a pretty poor family. He was always kind of a leech and had his first assault accusation back in high school. But he was smart, and he managed to get a full-ride to a prestigious university, and then went to law school where he was accused of assaulting more girls. They dropped charges, but he blew his career out of the water on that one. So, he ended up as a real estate agent. And a successful one at that."
"Sounds like a great guy," Nicky muttered.
"He's also into dating apps. Like, serially."
Nicky squared her shoulders, looked Ken in the eyes, who was still watching and listening intently.
"How serially are we talking?" Nicky asked.
On the other side of the phone, Nicky heard more typing. "I'm into his personal bubble now. He's been accused of catfishing girls. Mostly in Frankstown and surrounding areas. Even some in Hollywood, Florida."
"Catfishing how?" Nicky asked.
"Well, for one, his dating profile, according to this database, lists him as thirty-three. And that picture does not look like his mugshot, I'll tell you that. And wait, hold on..."
"What is it?" Nicky's heart was in her throat.
"Holy moly," Grace said. "Lyons, you're not going to believe this, but it looks like Katz actually matched on a dating app with Meghan Salinger."
The ball had dropped. Nicky and Ken looked at each other in panic.
"Are you sure?" Nicky asked.
"Positive. I'm on a social media thread right now. Some girls are publicly talking about getting played and catfished by Katz. And Meghan commented. It's her profile, and it happened before she went missing."
Nicky didn't know how a brain like Grace's worked to pick up on all this stuff so fast, but she was impressed, to say the least.
"Got it, Grace. You're amazing. I just need one more thing." Nicky paused. "Text me both his personal and work addresses."
"Can do," Grace said. "Be careful. Both of you."
"We will."
With that, Nicky hung up, immediately rising to her feet. Within seconds, her phone buzzed--the text from Grace. Perfect.
Now, Nicky knew exactly where to find this son of a bitch and bring him down.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN