I hoped to hell I was wrong with where my mind was wandering.
I grabbed the ladder resting against the wall across the room and opened it near the sculpture. Climbing up, I carefully removed the sheet.
The sculptured clay woman wasn’t perfect, far from it. Her hands were cut off at the wrist.
Stella rubbed her wrist as if she could feel the dissection. Her brows were pulled together in a frown.
“We found these in the bedroom.” Another cop walked into the room with pictures and handed them to Morrison.
Morrison flipped through them and handed them to me. I recognized the faces immediately. There were the missing women from the files I’d been reviewing.
“Who are they?” Stella crossed the room and glanced at the pictures. She moved back to the secret inspiration board of photos and pointed to each of the women. “They are his models. They’re all on the wall.”
“Looks like you found the kidnapper’s connection.”
“It appears we did,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ll send another unit to sit outside Stella’s brownstone, and I’m going to put out an APB and check the local hospitals for this Marcus guy. I’ll call you when we find him.”
12
Stella
“He didn’t do it.” She was sure of it. Marcus didn’t have a mean bone in his body unless he was talking about art. Art brought out a different kind of man in him. Even so, there was no way that he’d hurt Gretchen. Stella wasn’t buying it.
“His studio. His pictures. Something obviously happened. Maybe he and the victim got into a fight, one thing led to another, and he killed her. He probably got hurt in the process. It would explain why there wasn’t a lot of blood found in his supply room. It’s not looking good for the guy.”
“Nope. Not him.” She shook her head vehemently. Marcus was no killer. The only thing he killed was the dreams of those with no talent. That wasn’t Gretchen. Gretchen hadthelook. Gretchen was his model. He treated his models like teacups he was afraid to break.
“They’ll find him soon enough, I’m sure.” Ashton’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“You’re angry?”
“You’re so sure he’s innocent, but he had pictures of the kidnapped women. There’s a connection there. Now whether Marcus is responsible or it’s someone else is left to be seen.”
“It’s not him,” she reiterated.
“You sound like you know him well,” Ashton said, glancing her way.
“I should. Marcus and I were engaged.”
The car swerved before Ashton righted it. “You were engaged? When did that happen?”
“While you were out living your life.” She rolled her eyes. “What? Did my brother forget to tell you?”
“Grant knew?” Ashton’s tone deepened.
“It was fleeting. We’re both flawed, and it didn’t take us long to realize that our art got in the way.” She lulled her head in Ashton’s direction. “Now you know why I’m so sure he isn’t a killer.” Her stomach picked that exact moment to growl.
“We’ll see when they find him. You hungry?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I’m sure a restaurant is out of the question.”
“You’d be right,” he said with a smile. “Too crowded of an area to keep you safe.”
“How about we pick up some takeout and we’ll eat at the art gallery?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve heard airplane food has gotten tasty. How about we get you on a plane and you can eat on the flight back to your brother’s house?” he countered.
“We had a deal. The art exhibit and then you can whisk me away like a knight in shining armor.”
