She honestly didn't know if she wanted to find the guy or not. She wanted to save Kimberly and the other missing women, and she relished the idea of sending 150,000 volts into the body of the son of a bitch who'd taken them. She didn't relish the idea of being bound and gagged in the trunk of a car. She didn't relish the idea of him stroking her hair as he whispered the wicked things he was going to do to her. She didn't relish the idea of him taking his time with the knife, because there was nobody around to hear her scream.

But she couldn't sit at home and do nothing. The cops hadn't caught this guy. They didn't even have any leads, as far as she knew. She didn't genuinely believe that she'd be the one to bring him to justice, but it helped her sleep at night to know she was at least trying.

Her phone buzzed. She texted back OK to Charlene and tucked the phone away again.

She didn't feel that much safer, but it was nice to know that somebody was with her on this weird scheme, even if Charlene thought she was mentally ill.

Gertie checked in every five minutes. Nothing happened to make her delay by even a few seconds. In fact, she was hardly seeing anybody out tonight. A couple of joggers. A lady walking her dog. An old man who informed her that she shouldn't be out alone at night—there was a madman on the loose.

She'd been out for almost an hour. Maybe she should quit for the night. She felt bad that Charlene was just sitting in a car, waiting for updates. This was a pretty damn big favor from somebody she'd just met. And technically, Charlene wasn't in her debt, she was in Charlene's debt for the lasagna vengeance.

She wasn't going to catch anybody tonight.

She knew that.

She should just go home. Or out for sushi. Though the alcoholic milkshakes had been expensive and she couldn't really afford sushi until payday. So she should just go home.

Maybe in another ten minutes.

Less than ten minutes later, she saw a man walking toward her. He was holding the hand of a little boy, maybe six years old. The boy had a teddy bear and a couple of balloons.

Why was a kid this young out after midnight?

The man avoided eye contact as Gertie walked past them. And he looked kind of nervous.

The kid didn't seem scared, though.

Still, the teddy bear looked brand new. And why would the kid have balloons? A child's birthday party wouldn't end this late.

It was probably completely innocent, but it didn't seem right. Gertie took out her phone and called Charlene.

"What's up?" Charlene asked.