Don't Let Him Get You

Chapter 23

As soon as she was home, Kiara had run upstairs and hidden away in her room. Ronan had tried to talk to her in the car, but she had only told him that Marissa had confronted her at lunch. Asking if the principal had done anything was unnecessary because Ronan remembered how useless their arguments had been with the cheating incident.

Ronan tried to distract himself by cooking, but his mind wandered to the details of the case in relation to the notes Kiara found. They had tentatively connected the old cases with the new, but the last public message, right before the first murder, was a big indicator that the cases were related and especially related to Kiara. Ronan focused his thoughts on the notes which were all found in the school, but the pictures were from all over town. How could someone go this unnoticed.

Suddenly, Ronan realized a very crucial detail. Even though the school was open to the public, parents and visitors had to sign in at the office. And, any random stranger wouldn't know Kiara's locker number and her combination; that information was kept by the homeroom teachers who gave it to the secretaries. The suspect pool was entirely limited to students and staff, and the students could be scratched off because they were too young. This left only the male teachers as suspects. Ronan immediately picked up his cell phone and called O'Connor.

"Detective O'Connor speaking."

"He's a teacher," Ronan rushed out.

"Lieutenant? What are you on about?"

"The suspect is a teacher at the school—or a janitor. It's the only thing that makes sense if you put all the clues together. We need to investigate each male staff member at that school."

O'Connor scratched his five o'clock shadow. "I'm not sure I follow how you got teacher out of all the clues from the cases."

Ronan suppressed a frustrated groan. "The notes could only be put into her locker by someone who knows which one it is and the combination. Students don't count because they're too young."

"What notes are you talking about? Ronan, you're not making any sense."

"Those fucking notes that were left in Kiara's locker since the beginning of school with pictures. That's how we found out she has a stalker. Captain knows about them. Just talk to her about it and my suggested suspect pool. We have to catch this guy before he acts on his threat. I am not losing another family member to this psycho." Ronan hung up before O'Connor could reply. He slammed the phone down on the counter in frustration.

"What did the phone do to you?" Lillian asked as she placed her bags onto a dining chair.

"It's just the case is getting to me." Ronan abandoned his cooking and looked at his wife.

Lillian circled her arms around his waist and looked up. "What's going on?"

Ronan hesitated. He didn't want to get her hopes up or make her worry more. Even though he was good at his job, it was still a hunch. "The guy just seems to be everywhere and yet no one has come forward saying they've noticed anything."

"Honey, people don't even know what to look for anymore. There are more bodies turning up, the FBI is here, and people are scared to leave their homes. I know it's terrifying, especially knowing that this is related to what happened twelve years ago, but you can't let it get to you like this."

Ronan sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I just want to keep everyone safe and I want to give Kiara closure, so she can live happily."

Lillian stood silent for a moment. "Sometimes, I think she should've stayed in Dryden, but then I think about how much fun she has with her new friends and how much I love having her here. We need to be strong for her. Did you tell her about the cases being related?"