Avery hugged her, holding her close. And for once, Jordan relaxed into the embrace.

“We’ll be okay,” Avery said.

Jordan wanted to believe that. But until she had surveillance on the house and the police proved Rawlings had indeed shot himself, she would not let her guard down.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Saturday, April 24

8:00 a.m.

Dr. McIntyre had several questions for Spencer when he called her about Rawlings’s body. Was there a note? Prolific killers often had an agenda known only to them, and if they did opt for suicide, they often shared their motives in a note or video message. Had Rawlings fired a practice shot in the ceiling? Suicides by handgun were not as easy as most thought. If the bullet was not properly angled, it did a good job of maiming the individual but did not kill them. And the practice shot into the ceiling allowed them to judge the gun’s recoil and sound.

Spencer noted her questions and replied negative to both. When he hung up, he stood in the hallway outside Rawlings’s apartment. When the medical examiner’s office arrived and removed the body, he followed it down to the street.

Lucas approached Spencer. “I’ll call if I find anything. No sense in you hanging around.”

“Right.” None of this felt right. None of it.

Spencer went home, closed and locked the door behind him. He unfastened his gun belt and locked his weapon in a secured box before he sat and pulled off his boots. Needing to wash the crime scene smells and memories away, he undressed and turned on the shower. Stepping under the hot spray, he leaned against the tile wall, savoring the hot water as it pummeled his back.

According to Rawlings’s neighbors and associates, he had operated his store for twenty years at this location. He always took a week off in the spring to go fishing. He never took his phone with him, telling everyone he needed time off the grid to decompress. He was friendly and kept his store and the sidewalk in front of it clean, and he regularly donated food to the local shelter and food bank. It all fit Jordan’s assessment of Rawlings, who appeared to all to be a hardworking man. Serial killers could hide in plain sight, but in retrospect there was always something that someone thought was off. It was still very early in the investigation, but something about this didn’t sit right with him.

He turned and faced the spray, letting it bead on his face. He had promised Jordan an update, and in all honesty, he wanted to see her.