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just starting to go into rigor,” Micah said. “That means Simpleton can’t be too far away.”
    Lenora glanced around the bathroom in search of signs of Simpleton. Women’s toiletries. Cheap perfume. Fake eyelashes. Peroxide for her hair.
    Or was it for Simpleton’s? He could have dyed it white.
    Another scan of the small bathroom and she noticed wrappers from a kit, moustache and sideburns. He’d obviously donned a disguise.
    What did he look like now?
    Micah pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call. “Yes, Lieutenant, this is Hardin. I’m at Cissy Cornwell’s apartment. She’s dead.” A hesitation. “Yes, it was him. He slashed her throat.”
    Although he’d stabbed his other victims in the heart. Why hadn’t he done so with Cissy?
    Lenora’s eyes were drawn to the bloody X on the woman’s chest, and she started to shake uncontrollably. The bloody X was just like the one he’d carved on all his victims, including her.
    After the crime scene photographs had been taken at the hole where she’d been kept and then again at the hospital, the nurse had washed away the bloody X. Except Simpleton had carved it deep enough to leave a scar. A plastic surgeon had taken care of it soon afterwards.
    But in her mind, it would always be there.
    A permanent reminder of what he’d done to her.
    In the early stages after her release, when she’d suffered severe panic attacks and nightmares, she’d wake up screaming that she had to get rid of that damned X. She’d scrubbed her skin raw trying to erase it. The doctor assured her it wasn’t visible.
    But she saw it every time she looked in the mirror.
    “Send a crime unit,” Micah said. “And see if you can find out what kind of car she drove. Maybe Simpleton’s in it now.”
    Lenora’s heart raced. Could it be that simple? They’d locate the make and model, issue an APB and the police would catch him.
    A shiver tore through her. No. Robert Simpleton was a cunning planner. He hadn’t escaped on a whim. He’d carefully orchestrated his escape just as he had his abductions.
    Which meant he probably already had a list of his next victims. She was top on that list. But who else would he take?
    A random woman or someone connected to her?
     

     
    Micah wished to hell that Lenora wasn’t with him. He hated that she’d seen Cissy’s dead body and knew that the bloody X on the woman’s chest triggered painful memories.
    “Lenora, once the crime unit arrives, I’ll take you home.”
    Her eyes flared with determination. “No, do what you need to do to find him.” She pointed to the trash and the wrappers. “It looks like he may have altered his appearance.”
    Micah nodded. “In prison, they cut his hair. Our computer team can run his picture through our program to show how he might look in different disguises, with different hair and facial hair. Then we’ll show it on the news.”
    Lenora wiped perspiration from her forehead. “Did he leave the knife he used to kill her?”
    Micah scanned the small bathroom. “I don’t see it anywhere. He probably took it with him.”
    “To use again,” Lenora said through clenched teeth.
    Micah couldn’t argue with that point. He used his phone to capture several photographs of Cissy’s body, focusing on details of the way she was lying, the blood pools, and her clothing which was strewn across the bathroom.
    He looked in the trash and saw Simpleton’s prison jumpsuit and photographed it as well. “He didn’t even try to cover his tracks.”
    Lenora grimaced. “He wants me to know he’s coming.”
    Micah gripped her arms. “Look at me, Lenora. He may come after you, but I won’t let him hurt you again. I promise.”
    Lenora’s lower lip quivered. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Micah.”
    She was right. But he had to make her feel safe.
    “I will keep this one,” he said softly.
    Her gaze met his, emotions darkening her eyes. She wanted to trust him; that was obvious. But she also