It had all been for show. Joe realized that now. Stahl had never done the job the way he should have, but the rest of them had been too damned busy to notice. Who had time to police their fellow officers when the crime outside their building was more than enough to keep all their four thousand officers working nonstop to keep their city safe? He took his department’s responsibility to the District residents as seriously as he took anything, not to mention the millions of tourists who visited DC every year. It was Metro PD’s job to keep the public safe.

  They had failed at that mission because of one man.

  Stahl wasn’t the only one who’d disappointed Joe. There’d been others. More than he cared to admit. Overall, however, the good had far outweighed the bad.

  Until now.

  They’d had a serial killer in their midst and hadn’t had the first clue.

  No matter how his Public Affairs team tried to spin it, there’d be no escaping the dark cloud that Stahl had put over him and the department. Everyone who was anyone was calling for Joe’s head on a stick. He’d been so stressed that his wife, Marti, had insisted he see his cardiologist to make sure he wasn’t about to have a fatal incident.

  His heart had checked out fine, but not surprisingly, his blood pressure was higher than it should’ve been.

  Joe leaned forward and pressed the intercom that connected him with his faithful admin, Helen. “Can you please ask Jake to come in?”

  “Yes, sir, right away.”

  He’d repeatedly told her she didn’t have to call him sir, but she insisted on affording him the respect of his position.

  Even if he didn’t deserve it.

  Five minutes later, he was still staring at the far wall of his office, not seeing anything but the red haze of pure rage.

  A knock on the door forced him to blink as Jake came in.

  “Hey, you wanted to see me?”

  “I want to go to Jessup.” Stahl was serving his two life sentences at the state prison in Maryland.

  Jake stood with both hands on his hips. “Why?”

  “I want to look him in the eyes and ask him why.”

  “What will that solve?”

  “I don’t know, but I need it. Will you come with me?”

  Jake didn’t want to. That was as obvious as the nose on his face. Joe and Skip used to tease Jake about being the handsome one in their group. Women had loved Jake, but he’d never wanted anyone but Val. That seemed like a hundred years ago now. Life had a way of kicking the innocence out of you.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “It’s not an order.”

  “I know. When do you want to go?”

  “Now. Right now.”

  “Give me ten minutes to tie up some loose ends. I’ll meet you outside.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Sure.”

  In the past, Joe would’ve asked Skip to make a run like this with him, but Skip was gone, and Jake had tried his best to fill the massive void that Skip’s death had created for Joe. Jake and Skip had been close, too, but not like Joe and Skip had been from the day they first met.

  They’d been brothers to each other, and he’d give anything for Skip’s wisdom and sage advice right now. He’d always known what to do. Even after his devastating injury, Skip had been Joe’s go-to guy when he didn’t know what to do about something.

  Joe gathered his phone and keys, grabbed his jacket and headed out of the office. “I’m not sure if I’ll be back today,” he told Helen, “but I’ll check in after a bit.”

  “I’ll be here and will let you know if anything comes up.”

  As he started to walk away, he turned back to her. “Thank you, Helen, for a million and one things over the years and for your unwavering loyalty.”

  His comment seemed to catch her off guard, and for a moment, he feared she might cry. “Thank you, sir. It’s an honor to work with and for such a fine man.”

  “I’m not sure I deserve such praise.”

  “You absolutely do, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  Now it was his turn to swallow a lump in his throat. “Thank you, Helen. I needed that.”

  “Any time you need to be reminded, I’m right here.”

  He gave her a nod and a warm smile before he walked away, thankful for the people he could count on. That number seemed to get smaller with every year he spent as chief of police. In six months, he’d become the department’s longest-serving chief. If he made it six more months. With the way things were going lately, he’d be lucky to make it six more days.

  He exited through the morgue to avoid the media gathered outside the main door. They were coming for his jugular lately, not that he could blame them. His department had handed them enough juicy stories to keep them satisfied for years to come. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the impulse to blame the guy at the top. He got that. He really did. It was just amazing to him, he thought as he got into his department-issued SUV, that they didn’t get that he would’ve done anything to stop Stahl’s reign of horror.

  If only he’d known about it.

  If he had, there was nothing Joe wouldn’t have done to stop him.

  He’d said as much in multiple interviews as he expressed his anguish over the trail of heartache Stahl had left in his wake.

  The passenger door opened, and Jake got in, bringing a blast of early spring chill with him. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “I wasn’t waiting long. Let’s get this done.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The two men didn’t exchange another word until Joe had parked in a visitor spot outside the prison in Jessup.

  “What’s the plan?” Jake asked.

  “I’m going to ask to see him and then try to get him to confess to what he’s done so we can get answers for the families.”

  “What makes you think he’ll just tell you?”

  “Maybe he’s proud of what he’s done. Since he’s serving two life sentences with no chance of parole, he might take perverse pleasure in spilling his guts.”

  “Are you prepared for him to tell us to go fuck ourselves?”

  “I am.” Joe waited to see if Jake had other questions before he reached for the door handle.

  “Wait.”

  Joe paused and looked over at his friend.

  “What if you’re giving him perverse pleasure just by coming here and trying to get him to talk?”

  “Then so be it. At least I’ll have tried.”

  They got out of the car and went inside, showing their badges to the security officers.

  “We’d like to see Leonard Stahl.”

  As they signed in, surrendered their weapons and walked through the metal detector, the young officer asked, “You worked with him?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Joe said.

  “He’s a piece of work. Always getting into it with someone around here.”

  “That sounds about right,” Jake said.

  “I heard the latest. I’m sorry you guys are dealing with that. My dad was MPD.”

  “Who was your dad?” Joe asked.

  “Keith Brady.”

  “I remember him. A fine officer. How is he?”

  “He passed two years ago. Cancer.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear it.” Joe withdrew his wallet and handed the young man a card. “If you have any interest in following in your dad’s footsteps, let me know.”

  “Oh wow. Really?”

  “Really. We’re always in need of high-quality individuals to join our ranks.”

  “I’ll definitely get in touch. My first name is Logan.”

  “I’ll look forward to hearing from you, Logan.”

  Another officer appeared to escort them into the prison.

  As they followed him, Jake glanced at Joe. “You’re a good man, Joe. Don’t let what anyone else has to say make you question that.”

  “Thanks. I try.”

  “You succeed more often than you fail.”

  They were shown to a room that had a glass wall down the middle of a row of tables with telephone connections to the other side.

  “If you’ll wait here,” the guard said, “I’ll get him for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  They waited for more than twenty minutes before Stahl was escorted in, wearing an orange jumpsuit that sagged off a frame that was much thinner than it used to be. He’d also lost most of what was left of his hair and had quit shaving. A large purple bruise took up most of his left cheek. The mean, beady eyes were the same as ever, though.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked with a smarmy grin after he picked up the phone. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me the two stooges had come a’calling.”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard about what’s going on at your house,” Joe said.

  “My sister is very unhappy with getting the boot, so yeah, I’ve heard. How’d you know to look there?”

  “A little birdy told us.”

  “Could be one of so many birdies.”

  “Why’d you do it?” Jake asked.

  “Because I could.”

  “You need to do better than that,” Joe said, forcing himself to stay calm when he wanted to smash through the glass and follow through on his neck-squeezing fantasy from earlier.

  “Why do I have to? What does it matter now?”

  “It matters to the families of the women you killed,” Joe said.

  With his free hand, Stahl pretended to wipe away tears. “The poor, poor families who let their daughters grow up to be drug addicts and hookers. They got what was coming to them.”

  “No one deserves to be murdered,” Joe said.

  “You would think that. You sit in your ivory tower and worship your God on Sundays and always do the right thing. What a boring way to live.”

  “You think your way is better?” Jake asked. “How’s prison life treating you?”

  Stahl shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”

  “We hear you’re making as many friends in here as you did on the outside,” Jake said.

  The beady eyes narrowed. “I did just fine out there, and I’m just fine in here.”

  Joe pointed to his cheek. “Getting that must’ve hurt.”

  “You oughta see the other guy. So you fellas came way up here to see little ol’ me, thinking I’d spill the tea on my dirty deeds simply because you asked me to?”

  “We hoped you might still have a shred of decency left in you,” Joe said through gritted teeth.

  “Nah, that’s been gone since long before you met me.”

  “What happened?” Jake asked.

  Stahl shrugged. “What didn’t happen? You guys were so chummy with each other, you never looked outside your own little circle to see what was going on with the rest of us. You never so much as once considered including me in anything.”

  “Because you acted like you hated our guts,” Joe said, “and that was long before any of us got promoted over you.”

  “It wasn’t an act. Do you think I haven’t met other guys like you and Skip and Conklin? A bunch of frat boys having the time of your lives together while everyone else was struggling to get by.”

  “We were all making the same money.”

  “But it wasn’t the same for the rest of us, was it?”

  “Are you trying to tell me that you felt left out of the boys club, so you decided to become a criminal while wearing the badge?”

  “It was so easy,” Stahl said with a nasty smirk. “Candy from a baby.”

  “You still haven’t said why,” Jake said.

  “Does it matter?”

  “It might,” Joe said, starting to lose patience.

  “Do you remember Luke Starling?”

  Joe sat up straighter. “What about him?”

  “He was the first one to show me how there was a whole other world to be found for guys in uniform. People would pay for access, for favors, for just about anything they wanted or needed from us. And they remembered when you did them a solid. They were always happy to return the favor.”

  Joe felt sick. He’d liked Luke Starling. “Was he a killer, too?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know? He was also the one who told me how you guys talked about me when you thought no one was listening.”

  “So we talked about you,” Jake said. “That’s what turned you into a murdering scumbag?”

  “It made it easier not to care about the same things you do. And the killing thing? That didn’t start here.” Evil radiated off him in waves that Joe could almost feel, despite the thick glass between them. “Taking someone’s life… It’s the most natural high you can get, watching the existence seep out of them… I got addicted to the power the way your boy wonder Gonzales got addicted to drugs. After a while, you start to need it, to crave it. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Thank God that’s true,” Joe said.

  “Ah, you and your God… You’re too good to be true, Joe, and yet, all around you are flawed souls who can never live up to your pious expectations.”

  “My expectations have nothing to do with piety and everything to do with upholding the law—you know, the job we’re paid to do!”

  Jake’s hand on his back was a reminder to keep his cool.

  “Tell us where all the bodies are so we can bring some peace to the families,” Joe said.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

  Stahl threw his head back and laughed. “You’re gonna have to do better than that. Why should I help you? I’m already doing life with no chance of parole for trying to kill your darling little niece.”

  “With one phone call, I can arrange six months in solitary confinement so you can think about where you buried the bodies.”

  The threat stole some of Stahl’s cockiness. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment.”

  “So is kidnapping and murdering for the fun of it and then leaving families to wonder for years what became of their loved ones. So is pretending to work cases and not even doing the most basic investigations. So is collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck for doing nothing. Shall I go on?”

  “You always were such a killjoy, Joe. Do you ever loosen that tight sphincter of yours and have a little fun?”

  “What happened to your brother Michael?” Jake asked.

  Stahl hadn’t seen that question coming. His face lost all expression. “I have no idea.”

  “Really?” Joe asked. “So when we dig up your backyard, we won’t find his remains?”

  “No, you won’t. I had nothing to do with his disappearance.”

  “We don’t believe you,” Jake said. “We think you know exactly where he is.”

  “Well, I don’t, and I had nothing to do with any of that other stuff either.”

  “I’ll be making that phone call about solitary the minute I walk out of here. Let me know when you’re ready to talk.” Joe put the phone down and stood. “Let’s go.”

  When they were outside in the cool March air, Joe didn’t slow down until he got to the SUV, where he stood for a long time as he processed the last hour.

  “What’re you thinking?” Jake asked.

  “After I have him thrown into solitary, I want to rip his life apart from the second he was born until today. I want to know every single thing there is to know about him and every crime he’s ever committed.”

  “That would take months, even years, and a ton of resources.”

  “I don’t care what it takes. His victims deserve the truth. We deserve the truth, and I want you to handle it personally. Once we know everything there is to know about Leonard Stahl and his crimes? Then we’ll retire.”

  * * *

  Sam woke from a deep sleep to sun streaming through the window. She blinked several times before her eyes could cope with the glare, and then she took in the view of the dunes and the ocean in the distance. All her life, the ocean had called to her. From the first of many days she’d spent at Ocean City as a kid, to college weekends at Rehoboth and Dewey to Bora Bora to the recent beach trips with her own family, the sight of the ocean calmed and soothed her.

  Their lives were a tilt-a-whirl of nonstop drama, demands and stress, but this… This was heaven.

  She glanced over her shoulder to confirm she was alone in bed.

  Nick was probably at his morning briefing, so she burrowed under the covers, hoping for a few more minutes of peace before she let in the world and its many problems.

  How often did she get to lounge around in bed? Hardly ever, which made this sort of morning, the last one before their family arrived, feel that much more luxurious.

  She had dozed off again when she felt the mattress sag behind her.

  Nick snuggled up to her and put an arm around her, kissing her bare shoulder. “I thought something was wrong when I got back and you weren’t up yet.”

  “Hmm, just enjoying the quiet while I can before the madness starts.”

  “How do you feel about breakfast in bed?”

  “I feel very good about that.”

  “Coming right up.” He kissed her shoulder again before he got up.

  Nick returned a few minutes later with a mug of steaming coffee.

  Sam sat up, pulling the sheet up over her bare breasts, and took the mug from him. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure. My wife looks very well rested.”

  “Your wife loves it here.”

  “We should buy this place.”

  “No, we shouldn’t.”

  “Why not? We love it here, and it has room for everyone.”

  “Why bother with owning it when we can rent it any time we want?”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I’m the wife. I’m always right.”

  His smile was a thing of absolute beauty, the only view that could compete with the ocean for top billing. “I walked right into that trap.”