Page 71 of Fallen Creed

“I found him watching her from afar a couple more times,” Alonzo said.

“What did he end up buying?”

“That’s the thing. All he bought was a bottle of soda from the end cap frig.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. I tried to find him in the days before. Nothing.”

“Is he the only guy you found suspicious?”

“Well, wait a couple of minutes. I’m not finished with him.”

Maggie heard the agent slurp and reached for her can of Diet Pepsi to do the same. Her stomach had settled a bit, but she felt like she had a time-bomb ticking inside her chest, seconds running down with each click.

“Open the next file. I isolated some other views that the guy appears in. Forward to 05:37. This is from a camera with a front view of that aisle. It’s a little farther away, but it gives an interesting take.” He waited for Maggie to catch up before he started narrating.

“Okay,” she told him. “I see Darrow just walked away and headed to the right.”

She watched the young woman pass by three aisles before she turned and went up the fourth. The short man in the T-shirt peered around the end of his aisle, then glanced in the other direction. Maggie didn’t need Alonzo to narrate what she saw. The guy looked at another young woman walking toward him. A customer. She nodded at him, but stopped and waited as he turned to follow Darrow.

She had blond hair piled up on top of her head. She was tall and lean, showing off well-shaped arms in a tank top. A tattoo peeked out, but Maggie couldn’t make out the design. After she nodded at him, she returned to her shopping cart, where another young woman stood waiting. The other one was a bit shorter and wore blue jeans with a white, lightweight jacket.

“Are you able to determine if either of these two women is Libby Holmes?”

“We get a closer look at them when they’re checking out,” Alonzo said. “I ran facial recognition software. Neither is Holmes. But think about it. If Holmes is involved, she’s not going into the store with them. She was supposed to be working.”

“You’re right. It’d make sense that she stayed in the vehicle. She’s already told them to look for the woman with her name badge. What do they buy?”

“Pull up the third file. I’ll give you a minute to catch up before I start reading off the receipt.”

She found them in the checkout lane. The shorter woman with brown hair handed each item to the clerk to scan, while the blond pretended to be interested in the impulse items. At one point, her head pivoted to watch Darrow walk by. Then she dug out her cell phone and started tapping her thumbs.

“Ready for the list?” Alonzo asked.

“Go ahead,” Maggie told him as she watched the clerk scan the UPC code on a hacksaw.

“First off, they buy drop cloths and plastic sheets,” he said, “but no paint or stain. It’s like they don’t even bother pretending. The list reads like the ultimate dismemberment tool kit.”

She steeled herself as he continued.

“Assorted black cable ties. They chose the pack of 600 for seven dollars and ninety-nine cents.”

She wasn’t in the mood for his attempt at humor, but sometimes it was the only way to get through this stuff. Electrician cables were better known as zip-ties. But 600? Other than hands and feet, what else did they need to tie down?

“Three rolls of duct tape,” he continued. “One Gerber folding knife, three gallons of Clorox, a thirty-two ounce Pro-strength Drano, two utility knives with replacement blades, two boxes of black garbage bags, one—”

“That’s good,” she interrupted him. “I don’t need to hear the rest.” The nausea returned. “Are you able to see them get into a vehicle?”

“No. I watched them leave the store. The guy met them right before walking out. They’re smart enough to park away from the outside cameras. But the blond came back about an hour later.”

“I’m afraid to ask what they forgot.”

“She went directly to the end cap frig. Bought two Pepsis and get this—a Yoohoo.”

“Yoohoo?”

“It’s a delicious chocolate drink. I didn’t realize they carried them in hardware stores.”