Page 134 of Make or Break

“I might know how you think…some of the time,” Ryan said.

I gave him a closed lip smile. “Are you kissing up so I’ll suggest you be a manager alongside me?”

“Hell, no. If I have to kiss up for a job, that’s a sign I need to look for a different job.”

The moment I swung my feet to the side, Tundra stood and helped ease me off the couch.

I looked up at him. “Thanks, honey.” Then I moved over toward Ryan and he stood.

“Be gentle, but give me a hug.”

Ryan wrapped me in his arms, putting his lips near my ear. “I really am sorry, Mick.”

I gave him a gentle squeeze. “I am, too, Ry.”

He loosened his hold.

“Let’s not do that again,” I said.

“Agreed,” he said and kissed my cheek.

My energy drained fast even if Tundra didn’t let me lift a finger. I went to bed much earlier than normal, and slept until almost eight the next morning.

Tundra wanted to serve me breakfast in bed, but the doctor had told me to move around the house as much as I could.

It was good I got out of bed because the doorbell rang at eight-fifty. One of the officers who interviewed me at the hospital followed Tundra into the living room.

“I’m sorry to drop by so early, but there’s some information that’s come to light you should know, as well as some things Mr. Jacobs disclosed during questioning.”

I felt my eyebrows draw together. “Is it normal for you to share this sort of thing?”

The officer didn’t answer my question.

“You told us you thought he was the pub crawl serial killer, but he wasn’t.”

“How do you know that?” Tundra asked.

“Mr. Jacobs admitted to overhearing two other bar employees discussing the podcast about the killer. He said he found it fascinating, and later listened to the podcast.”

“He said that?” I asked.

The officer nodded. “He claims the tipping point was meeting Ms. Needler who confided her troubles to him.”

I couldn’t help but choke on laughter and aim a wide-eyed look at Tundra when I heard Sarah’s last name. He shook his head at me.

“How can you be sure he isn’t the Pub-crawler?” Tundra asked.

The officer nodded at Tundra. “He was a copycat, and not a very good one. He didn’t know the cleaning schedule. The Pub-crawler did his homework. For that matter the real killer took victims to their homes - not a remote camper.”

“Maybe he changed the way he—”

The officer shook his head. “The Pub-crawler was apprehended three days ago in Wyoming. It hasn’t been covered on local stations, and even the national newscasts haven’t made a big deal of it, which might be why you weren’t aware.”

I locked eyes with the officer. “All it took for him to snap was Sarah talking to him about Tundra?”

He shook his head. “She never gave the name of her ex-boyfriend. During her questioning, she said she’d told Mr. Jacobs you might not be involved with her ex. Mr. Jacobs managed to exchange numbers with her before she left the bar that night. In the text thread she showed us, he pressured her into sharing a photo of her ex-boyfriend.”

The way Tundra sighed, I knew he was trying not to curse.