Emily Kenyon 01 - A Cold Dark Place

made inquiries about the Martins. I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I’d bet my detective’s shield that Nick was an Angel’s Nest baby.”
    “And you think this is going to shed some light on our triple homicide?” He sounded gentler now, but still skeptical.
    She ignored him. “Gloria told me that you have the Feds en route?”
    “They should be in Spokane about now. Coming on a flight from the Seattle Field Office. Two of them” He paused. “How about Jenna?”
    “I have a feeling Jenna and Nick are at David’s. I’ll call you when all this gets settled. In the meantime, can you get Jason to do something for me?”
    “What’s that? Feed your cat?”
    Soft as butter. Kip couldn’t stay mad.
    “That’s an idea, but not what I had in mind. I need someone to tell me if Dylan Walker’s in Monroe or Walla Walla.”
    “I can answer that,” Kip said, an air of satisfaction permeating each syllable. “Neither.”
    Emily acted dumbfounded. “Really?”
    “You just don’t keep up on your golden oldie serial killers. He was shipped out to a prison in Jersey a dozen years ago or so. He’d been too much of a distraction for our local systems. I’ll call my buddy in corrections and find out where he’s at “
    Emily thanked him and hung up. As she made her way to the shower she had thought of visiting Dylan Walker, maybe out of curiosity as much as anything. But that wasn’t going to happen now. New Jersey was out. She’d focus on finding Jenna and Nick, and Bonnie Jeffries. She turned on the hotel shower. Steam poured into the room and she stepped inside. As the water rushed over her, she imagined all her troubles going down the drain.
    Jenna, how I love you. I let you down.
    Sunday, 8:50 A.M.
    “Why are you ignoring me?”
    In the crystal-chandeliered lobby of the Westerfield Hotel, Emily Kenyon, making her way to the coffee shop for a quick breakfast, turned around to the sound of a familiar voice. It was not the voice of someone she wanted to see. Then or maybe ever. But there he was. The blood had pumped Cary McConnell’s face into mass of red and blue veins. Even his eyes seemed rosy, instead of blue. If he’d ever been handsome in his life, it would have been impossible to say for sure just then. He looked like a pinstripe-suited monster, puffed up and in a fury. His red tie was a blood-hued spike that hung from his neck.
    “Are you stalking me? I said it was over,” she said.
    Emily Kenyon stood face to face with her former lover and she felt nothing but revulsion. He’d never been what she thought he was-the knight in shining armor who was going to save her from her fractured marriage, the whirlpool, sucking her down. Drowning her. As he stood there in the hotel lobby, the concierge, a thin, fey man with wing-shaped side burns looking on, Cary McConnell was nothing that she thought he was.
    “You sleep with a woman, you think she cares to know you,” he said. His words were angry and possessive but his expression was one of worry.
    “I don’t know why you’re here.” Emily hurried toward the elevators and McConnell followed. “I have enough on my mind. There’s no room for you”
    He touched her shoulder and she spun around.
    “Emily, I’m here to tell you I’m sorry. And to tell you something you need to know.”
    She stopped and turned toward him. His anger had ebbed slightly. “What is it?”
    “It’s about Dylan Walker.”
    Emily had never mentioned the name to Cary. He’d had no clue that she was searching for Walker. “What about him?”
    “He’s my client.”
    “The serial killer is your client?”
    “Look, I’m not sure he’s a serial killer. But even if he is, he’s entitled to legal representation. I can’t disclose why he contacted me. I’m in murky ethical waters just telling you he’s my client.”
    “You’re unbelievable,” she said. “What did you do for him?”
    “I’m not playing games here. I’m telling you … more than I should. I care about you, Emily. I do. You know that. I wanted to warn you”
    “Warn me? About what?”
    “About Walker. Look, I can’t be any more blunt than this. He asked about you. About Jenna”
    By now Emily was furious. “What did he want to know?”
    Cary took a step back. His face was flushed now. He appeared embarrassed, like a kid caught doing something wrong and lying about it. He muttered something ineffectual, but Emily couldn’t quite grasp it.
    “What are you saying?”
    He looked at