“Okay,” Beau relented and opened the door for them.
The townhouse was small, just one open room. A couch was by the door facing a TV, a kitchen was at the far end, and a four-seater dining table sat between the sitting area and the kitchen. A young boy sat at the table, a plate with a piece of toast sat in front of him but he wasn't touching it, he was watching them with big scared green eyes. While Emmy took after her father, nine-year-old Mac took after his mother, he had Mila—and Rylla’s—curly red hair, freckles, and green eyes.
“Is it true that a serial killer took Mom?” Emmy asked, her pale face serious but composed.
Seeing no reason to lie, Matthew nodded. “At the moment that is what we believe.”
“Did you guys know your mom was dating someone?” Allina asked.
The children exchanged glances then looked to their father. It was clear they were uncomfortable discussing their mother’s love life when their parents were in the middle of a divorce.
“It was someone she met online,” Emmy finally said.
“Do you know his name?” Matthew asked.
The girl shook her head. “It was something weird.”
That the children didn't know was no big deal, they would look through Mila’s computer and find the name the killer had used for his persona with her.
“Mom talked to you about her boyfriend?” Beau looked angry at the prospect.
Both kids shook their heads. “We saw stuff on Mom’s computer,” Mac said quietly.
“Do you know where your mom met him?” Matthew wanted to keep the children focused on him and his questions and not on their dad and his feelings.
“A chat room I think, one of those dating ones,” Emmy replied.
“Do you remember anything he told your mom about himself?”
“Not really,” Emmy said slowly. “I didn't really pay much attention. When I used Mom’s computer it was usually for school stuff.”
Sensing she had picked up the odd thing about her mom’s online boyfriend, Matthew pushed her. “Anything at all that you remember could be really helpful, Emmy.”
“I did see a couple of things,” the girl said cautiously.
“Tell them, honey,” Beau prompted, looking interested for the first time. Perhaps he wanted to know what kind of man his wife had been dating so quickly after they separated.
“He said he was from Europe, but that he came here as a kid. Then moved back there when he got married, but his wife had recently divorced him, so he’d come back here again. I didn't mean to be nosy, I was just curious.” She eyed them all imploringly.
“It’s okay, honey,” Beau said, his tone seemed false and patronizingly placating.
The story Emmy had told them fitted in with the rest of the victims. The Europe connection again, and he had tailored his story to fit with what Mila was currently going through. “Did your mom talk about him at all?”
“No,” Mac said.
“She didn't even know we knew about him until yesterday when she asked us if we would spend the night at Dad’s,” Emmy added.
Maybe Mila had chosen yesterday to mention her new boyfriend to her kids because he had asked her to meet in person. He had moved up his schedule with her because he had expected to keep Georgia for a lot longer. Obviously, on some level, he never expected to find the woman of his dreams because if he did there would be no need to have a whole lot of women lined up, cultivated, and ready to go.
“Has anything unusual happened lately?” Jonathon asked the kids.
Again, they exchanged glances. “There was something,” Emmy said.
“A man in our house about a week ago,” Mac added.
That sounded promising. “A man?”
“We came home early. We were at a friend’s house, swimming in their pool, but their grandmother got rushed to the hospital. It was only a couple of hours till Mom would be home from work, so she said it was okay for us to go home and hang out there. When we got home a man was inside, he said he was an electrician that Mom had called to do some work. He said he was done, and he left,” Emmy trailed off nervously.