He just needed a place to start.
“Come on, think, Luke, think,” he muttered aloud.
The problem was he didn’t know a single thing about hunting a killer. He wasn't Nick, he didn’t make his living from finding and arresting criminals. He was a real estate agent. He sold houses. Selling houses and finding murderers couldn’t have less to do with each other.
He just didn’t know where to start.
Step number one, no more driving aimlessly around the city.
He had spent the first few hours doing that, hoping for inspiration of some sort to strike and give him an idea of where to head.
When that didn’t work, he had driven out to a park just outside the city. Partly because he was worried that if he kept driving around, he would get pulled over and dragged back to the police station. He knew the cops knew he was missing, and he had taken his brother’s car, so he knew they would be looking for him. Detective Dawson might have some doubts about his guilt, but he was still a wanted man. And partly because subconsciously he knew that the further from the city he got, the closer he got to Summer.
Step number two was to start thinking about this logically.
He might not be able to find Chance by just trying to figure out places he would go, but maybe he could find him if he thought like a killer.
If you were a killer and slaughtered people in horrendous ways you would want a quiet place to perform your murders undisturbed. That ruled out anything in the city but still leftwaytoo many places for him to check on his own. Way too many for theentirepolice department to check.
Summer could be dead long before they found her.
Panic bubbled up inside him at the thought, but he ruthlessly shoved it down. Holding it together was the only way to save her.
There had to be a way to narrow down where Chance might have gone. He didn’t have the resources the police had to look into every aspect of Chance’s life. He couldn’t find out where Chance had lived as a child or properties he owned, where his grandparents had lived, or where the family had vacationed, but surely he could come up with something.
What was important to Chance?
What had the cops asked him about?
That he’d met Zoe, and Megan and Timmy was a coincidence. Chance had come into contact with them too, but how and where and why Luke had no idea. But the cops had asked him about other things too, snakes and spiders.
Snakes and spiders.
Snakes.
There was a reptile park around here someplace he was sure of it. It was closed over the winter, he knew because he’d gone to it, thinking it could be a fun activity and a way to fill in his time between jobs.
Maybe Chance also knew that it was closed over the winter.
Maybe that’s where he was hiding.
It was as good a place as any.
Luke started the engine. The park was only about ten minutes from where he was right now. When he got there, he found the gate was locked, so he left his car in the driveway and decided to search on foot. If he found anything he would call Nick and let him know. Then if the cops came and arrested him so be it, at least Summer would be safe.
He jumped the fence and started his search. The place was big. There were playgrounds, picnic areas and barbeques, and walking trails. Leaving the main area, he headed into the woods. If Chance was here, he wouldn’t be this close to where the reptile park’s workers might see or hear him when they came to tend to the animals.
An hour later, Luke was ready to give up.
It had been stupid to think that he could find Summer when the cops hadn’t.
He may as well go back to the station.
He pulled out Nick’s phone, which was still in his pocket and turned it on. It immediately lit up with a dozen missed calls and messages. He didn’t bother listening to or reading any, he already knew what they would say, pleas from his brother to turn himself in, and he was ready to do just that.
“Luke, you have to come back,” Nick said as soon as he answered the phone.
“I am,” he assured his brother. “If Detective Dawson and Detective Bennett want to arrest me and throw me into prison, so be it.”