His throat worked. “He was found dead in lockup this morning. A few hours ago, actually. Fucking bizarre.”

All I could do was stare at him.

“The thing is, he choked himself with his shirt by tying it to the bar and letting his weight drop. Doable. But really unlikely considering who would do that to themselves, plus he wasn’t alone. Colton said there were eight other guys in lockup.”

I still hadn’t found any words.

He shook his head slowly as he stared over my shoulder. “He left a suicide message, supposedly.”

“Supposedly?” There. I could speak. Well, I could parrot Reece.

“He told one of the guys locked up with him where Shelly Winters’ body could be found, and then, according to the witnesses, he proceeded to hang himself. No one stopped him.” He paused, confounded just like me. “There’s a unit heading out there now, since the location is in our jurisdiction.”

All right, I was bowled over by surprise. “No one tried at all to stop him? They—­eight ­people—­just watched him choke himself to death by tying his shirt around his neck and to the bars?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “But here’s the thing.” He stepped closer to the bed. “News broke about him by Monday night, right? When we were in the hospital, it was on the evening news. Word got out fast that he was suspected of assaulting all the other women and that he was incarcerated.”

“Okay.”

“Colton tells me that about a day and a half ago, a guy was brought in for robbing a liquor store. Strange situation. The dude walked in, grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the shelf and then sat outside and drank it. Sat there until the cops showed up. He was arrested and has been in jail. Still is. City cops say the guy they brought in has a history, but guess who he’s also tied to.”

I shook my head. “Who?”

“Isaiah.”

My eyes widened. “Holy shit. Wasn’t it Isaiah’s cousin that was attacked?” When Reece nodded, it all started to come together. “Oh my God, do you guys think this guy was ordered by Isaiah to get arrested, then end up in the same jail to take out Kip?”

“Remember Mack? The guy who was threatening Calla over the money her mom owed? He ended up with a bullet in his head, and we all know Isaiah is capable of it, especially when someone has fucked with someone in his family. Even more convenient is the fact the camera on the cell went down during the early-­morning hours.”

Holy . . . “So one of the officers was in on it, too?”