“A little girl saw the Axeman get picked up on the street,” Axel explained, glancing at Katie. “He had a getaway driver.”

“She said a sleigh at first, a flashy red sleigh,” Katie said.

“You talked to her?” Dan asked Katie.

“Mabel clued me in,” Katie told him.

“But you—”

She smiled. “Axel was right behind me,” she assured him.

Thankfully, Axel didn’t correct her. He glanced back at them. “There’s one more thing.”

“And that is?” Dan asked.

“The scene investigators found a strange hair. It’s being analyzed. May be nothing. Maybe someone was petting a dog or a cat or...who knows? But it was out of place at the Dean residence. Lab techs have it. We’ll know soon.”

They reached the CBD. Andre parked on the street, and they all jumped out.

Dan looked at Katie, and she knew he was wondering if she would be in danger if he brought her in, or if it would be worse to leave her outside.

“Let’s go!” she told him.

They went into the office building. Katie and Dan took the elevator, while Axel and Andre dashed up the stairs. They arrived within seconds of each other at the suite where Carly Britton had her casting-agency office.

The door was ajar.

Dan stretched an arm back to keep Katie behind him, drawing his weapon as Axel and Andre did the same.

He pushed open the door.

Katie didn’t scream, but she did let out a gasp.

There was no missing the violence that had gone on. Blood spattered the walls and the desk and covered the woman who lay on the floor, limbs at oddly broken, slashed angles, her head nearly severed from her body.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The city was in a state of sheer panic.

Dan gave another press conference, and in it, he referred to the situation that had occurred in the French Quarter, and he reported he was happy to say some recent victims of an attack were alive. The cunning bravery of a young girl had caused the killer to flee. They believed two of the victims found had been part of the killer’s crew, and the mastermind behind numerous killings was now moving with desperation because they were close on his heels. Again, he asked for help from the community and thanked those who had come forward with bits of knowledge or suspicion.

One reporter asked if a forensic team had come up with anything.

Dan could only answer they were working diligently and wouldn’t stop.

He gave the citizens of the city and surrounding areas advice again: to make sure homes were locked, to not travel alone, and to avoid dark alleys, parking garages and other isolated spaces. Most importantly, to be careful in their own homes and report anything suspicious immediately.