Evil Never Dies

But did Mrs. Be

Were diamonds and pearls worth living with a disgusting, manipulative excuse of a man?

Lizzy counted to ten and reined in her anger. She’d never met the woman. She shouldn’t judge. She wanted to throw up. Every thought of late, every bit of focus, was on taking Be

Lizzy sipped water from her reusable bottle, and then rubbed her stomach. She felt bloated and uncomfortable. She unfastened the top button of her jeans and was rewarded with instantaneous relief. It was six o’clock already, and she began to wonder if Kobi had the date and time wrong. Maybe tonight wasn’t the night, after all. And that’s when the iron gates to the monster’s lair slid open.

It was him. Time to take care of business.

The video camera hooked to her dashboard was ready to go. She turned it on, waited until he was far enough ahead, and then followed him down the street. She’d been doing surveillance long enough to know she needed to stay a safe distance away.

Tammy Walters had confirmed that Be

As she followed him, making sure not to miss a traffic light before merging onto the highway, it angered her anew that he used his position in life to take advantage of these young women. He was rich and handsome. A reputable man like Wayne Be

Fifteen minutes later, she followed him off the highway and through a maze of smaller side streets, bringing them to La Riviera. Many of the houses on this particular road had weeds for lawns and broken windows. Most of the mailboxes had been dented in or were missing altogether. Kids vented, got their frustrations out by damaging other people’s property. And then they went on to become gang members, druggies, rapists, whatever. Nobody gave a shit.

Two blocks away, parked at the curb, Lizzy watched a young girl leave her apartment, turn back, and wave at whoever stood at the door before she climbed into the black sedan awaiting her arrival.

It boggled the mind to see the man at work. Not a care in the world. Right there out in the open for everyone to see. He wasn’t afraid of anyone. He was king of the world, powerful and in control. The hatred she felt for the man continued to grow in intensity. He used his success to manipulate people and make them do things to satisfy his revolting desires. Wayne Be

She followed the black sedan. The red light on the video assured her it was still recording. Her phone rang, lighting up the screen on her dashboard. It was Hayley.

No need to turn video off since it would not record sound. “Answer call.”

“Lizzy. It’s Hayley. Are you there?”

“I’m here. What do you need?”

“I thought we were going to have a meeting tonight?”

“We’ll have to move it to tomorrow night.”

“You’re not following Wayne Be

“Why do you want to know?”

“The man is dangerous.”

“He’s no different than the others on our list.”

“Since the disappearance of Miriam Walters, we agreed that Wayne Be

“Gotta go.”

She disco

What the hell was going on? She’d been expecting Be

After walking up the block for the street number, she returned to her car and called the police. She reported suspicious activity at the address, then dialed Kitally’s number. She didn’t want to knock on the door and give herself up too early. What if Be

“What’s up?” Kitally asked.

“I need you to use the Realtor database and look up an address for me. I need to know who a certain house belongs to at 552 Indian Drive in West Sac.”

After Lizzy was put on hold, she rolled down her window to get a better look at the neighborhood. A dog barked in the distance. The row of houses on both sides of the street across from her looked the same, mostly one-story homes with small yards. Despite the zip-up hoodie she wore, shivers coursed up her arms. Thoughts of Jared drifted over her just as Kitally came back on the line, saving her from feeling the wave of darkness that came over her every time memories surfaced.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Kitally said. “Most of the houses in that area belong to the JR Mille

“Interesting,” Lizzy said. “If you could find out how many homes he owns in the Sacramento area, that would be appreciated. Just give me the information when I see you next, OK?”

“Not a problem. Be careful.”

Lizzy disco

The lights were on. No cries for help. Nothing unusual. The police were notoriously slow. Nothing new there, either. More than anything, she wanted to knock down the door and catch him in the act. She considered doing a search around the perimeter of the house. In the end, if she really wanted to get this guy, she needed to be patient. She needed to do things by the book.

At least for now.

At last she was relieved to see the lights of a police cruiser headed her way. The cruiser turned down the street and pulled into the driveway of the address she’d given the dispatcher. Two cops exited the vehicle, went to the door, and knocked.

It was a long while before the door opened.

One of the officers tried to peek inside, but his partner put a hand in front of his chest to stop him. They were talking to whoever had answered the door. Even smiling.

What were they doing? “Go inside,” she muttered under her breath.

From the looks of it, they weren’t going to do anything at all.

She’d had enough. She turned off the video.

Fuck doing things the right way—staying low and keeping out of sight—all bullshit. She got out of her car, slammed the door shut, and marched down the middle of the street toward the house.

She joined the officers at the door.

Be

“Ma’am,” one of the officers said, “I’m going to have to ask you to back off.”

“Not until you enter the house and talk to the young woman inside. She’s underage, and I believe she was brought here under false pretenses.” Lizzy made a show of reading both men’s badges, setting name and numbers to memory.

The officer on her right looked uncomfortable. His partner, not so much.