For a moment her heart soared with relief. “You have him?”
“Maybe. It’s Jaden Kite, but we don’t know for sure it’s him.”
“He hadn’t admitted anything?”
“No. And I don’t see a confession in his near future.”
“But you have him in custody?”
“For domestic violence. But if we don’t find something to prove he’s the Fairytale Killer then he’ll make bail and be back on the streets.”
“Are you sure it’s him?”
“No, we have another suspect we’re interviewing this afternoon.”
“Do youthinkit’s Jaden?”
Matthew paused and considered this. “I'm more sure than not.”
“If you have him in custody then Mila’s all alone. What if it is him and he won't tell you where he has her? What will happen to her? If she’s all alone and there’s no one to bring her food and water, she could die.”
Even if Jaden Kite was the Fairytale Killer, and they had him in custody, that still didn't mean that her sister would make it out of this alive.
* * * * *
2:12 P.M.
“Hendrick Mint?”
The man straightened from the pile of leaves he had been raking and turned in their direction. It was apparent that he immediately pegged them as cops. He hesitated for barely a second before he flung the rake on the ground and bolted.
Matthew sighed.
He wasnotin the mood to go chasing after their second suspect in the fairytale murders.
“I’ll go around the back, you take the front,” Jonathon said, already taking off at a sprint after the man.
Annoyed, Matthew also took off in a sprint after the man, heading in the other direction so he could circle around to the front of the house. As he rounded the corner, he saw Hendrick Mint darting across the street. He was in good shape, and he quickly caught up with the man, tackling him to the ground.
He was just snapping on handcuffs when Jonathon came running up to join them. “You got him.”
“He’s not very fast.”
Matthew rolled Hendrick onto his back. The man was panting, his face beaded in sweat, his eyes darting nervously around as though he thought someone might suddenly come and snatch him away from this mess he had found himself in. Hendrick was surprisingly good looking, with a tall, lean body, he shouldn’t have had any trouble attracting women, and yet he had resorted to harassing single mothers at the school.
“Why did you run, Hendrick?” Matthew asked, dragging the man to his feet.
“Rick,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“No one calls me Hendrick, my name is Rick,” the man muttered again.
“Why did you run, Rick,” Matthew repeated.
Rick shrugged.
“You don’t run from the cops if you haven't done anything wrong,” Jonathon said.