Page 52 of Patrick’s Seduction

He noticed the old man relax a little, though he still kept his shotgun pointed at them.

Banks tipped his chin toward him.

“Alright. So what do you want to know?”

“You made a statement to the sheriff’s department, but the file we saw was incomplete, and didn’t tell us what you actually saw.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Banks grunted. “They didn’t like what I had to say, so they just kept it out of the report. Corrupt bastards!”

“You’re talking about the sheriff?”

“Yeah, him and everybody else.” He scoffed. “I told them what I saw, and they didn’t like it.”

“What did you see?”

“Hmm.” Another grunt, then he continued, “The day that hiker was found dead, I was up early, and I saw Cameron Gallagher, the oldest son, run past my fence.” He pointed toward the area where his property bordered on the Gallaghers’. “He was stark-naked, and I swear he had blood all over himself.”

Patrick’s heart beat faster. Finally, they were getting somewhere. They had an eyewitness who had identified Cameron close to the crime scene.

“But when I reported it, Gallagher… you know, the old man… his father, claimed I must have been drunk. Fucking asshole. I wasn’t drunk. I saw what I saw.”

“And what did the sheriff’s department say when you gave your statement?” Patrick asked.

“They believed Gallagher. And a couple of days later, they dismissed the whole inquiry, ‘cause suddenly Cameron had a car accident. It was a huge explosion. But just because he died, doesn’t mean that I didn’t see what I saw.”

“We believe you, Mr. Banks. You’ve been a huge help. May I ask you one more thing?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“I’d like to show you a picture of Cameron Gallagher so we know we’re talking about the same person.”

Banks nodded slowly, but remained on his porch, holding the shotgun in a more relaxed way now.

Patrick pulled his cell phone from his pocket, navigated to Cameron’s picture, and walked closer to Banks to show it to him. A few feet away, he held the phone out to him.

Banks looked at it, then nodded. “That’s Cameron. That’s who I saw.”

“Thank you, Mr. Banks. One more thing: have you seen Cameron since the car accident?”

He furrowed his brow and stared at him, looking perplexed. “‘Course not. He died in the accident.”

“Of course.” Though Patrick now knew with certainty that Cameron had faked his death, because now he knew the reason why: so he wouldn’t be arrested for the murder of a hiker in Marin County. Had his family helped him stage the accident?

Back in the car, Nicholas turned to him. “We’ve got him.”

“Yes and no. We know he’s good for all three murders, the two in Marin, and the one in the Presidio, but we don’t know where he is right now.”

“Guess then we’d better start looking for him,” Nicholas mused.

Before Patrick could answer, his cell phone rang. The caller ID identified Lydia.

“What’s up?”

“Fallon has locked herself in the bathroom. Something is wrong.”

Instantly worried, he replied, “I’m on my way.”

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