“Someone slipped a note under my door that said stop looking. I can’t imagine what else it would mean. I had Mallory send me the footage that showed someone coming and leaving at that time. You can’t make out much, and they clearly knew what they were doing, but I did see one thing.”

I took a step closer to see her laptop screen as she pressed play. I watched the footage as someone dressed in all black avoided the camera’s sight best they could and entered the alley to her apartment.

So they knew what they were doing. The FBI always assumed that much in its profile.

There was a few minutes before the person returned, still avoiding the camera, their head down. My stomach sunk, realizing how close the killer could have been to Lenore, and it was my fault. I’d been careless and wrapped her up in the case for completely selfish reasons.

“There,” she said and paused the screen, pointing to a small red fleck on the page.

“I can’t make out what it says, but it looks like some sort of keychain tag. What if it’s something that can help us identify them?” Her eyes looked up wildly to me, and I saw the heavy bags under them, like this kept her up most of the night.

“So you walked here in the night and broke into the house to show me this?”

It was dark, but I could tell by the way her body shifted that her face had warmed at the question. “It didn’t feel like it could wait,” she muttered.

“You’re right. I’m glad you brought it right to me, and I’m glad you’re safe,” I admitted. “But maybe next time, you should knock first so I don’t hold you at gunpoint.”

“I did knock,” she grumbled. “And I didn’t walk, I drove,” she added, crossing her arms for good measure.

I turned and flicked on the light switch. Lenore stood in front of me in a fuzzy, pink bathrobe and slippers. I held back a chuckle of surprise. She frowned deeply and hugged her arms around herself tighter.

“It didn’t feel like it should wait, and my laptop can’t zoom in on it without it turning blurrier,” she reiterated. “I can email you the video, and I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

She closed the laptop and started to head for the door.

“You shouldn’t stay there,” I’ blurted out.

I got her into this mess; it was my responsibility to protect her. I thanked every entity out there for the fact that all the Coastal Killer left was a warning. It reaffirmed what I initially believed: Lenore was the key to this all.

“Stay here tonight, and we can figure out something else tomorrow,” I insisted.