I glanced over my shoulder at Kristof, and saw his mouth tighten as he read the same line.

“Guess I should move her to the top of my short list,” I said.

“Definitely. I’ve found one or two other possibilities over here.”

We finished the last few cases. When we were done, I had a list of six possibilities plus three very good candidates.

“I think I’ll get Medea out of the way first,” I said. “All three are in jail, and I have transportation codes for those cities. So it’s just a matter of getting to the prisons from there.”

“Do you want me to come along?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Then why don’t you get Jaime to help you locate the first one, and while you’re gone, I’ll dig up directions for the other two.”

“Thanks.”

We agreed to meet up back at my house, and I left in search of Jaime.

Chapter 14

14

I MET JAIME IN THE LOBBY AS SHE WAS RETURNING from her show. The business lounge was open around the clock, so she found directions for the prison easily. I took them and left.

To get to Amanda Sullivan’s prison, I had to walk fifteen miles beyond the city drop-off point. Most of the way, I jogged. I needed to stretch my muscles and shuck the faint sense of claustrophobia that settles in me after spending too long in any one place. After reading those articles, inactivity wasn’t the only thing that got my legs moving. The Fates said the Nix struck every few years, and that left the illusion that I had plenty of time. Maybe they’d done that intentionally, so I wouldn’t feel pressured into rushing, but those articles had made me painfully aware that just because the Nix struck on average every two years didn’t mean she wasn’t out there right now, lining up her next partner.

By the time I reached the prison, it was morning. I entered through the visitors’ door. Got to skip the security check, though. Good thing, too, because there was quite a lineup.

I slid through the metal detector, past the two women at the front of the line. Both were older than me, one maybe in her late forties, the other fiftyish. Mothers of inmates; I could tell that by looking at them.