“I think we are on the same page,” Derek said.

“I need you to know, not to just think.”

“I can’t tell you that I am without my suspicions yet. There’s too many variables and coincidences to rule out anyone. Hell, I even wonder if I had somehow had something to do with these murders.”

“I guess that’s fair enough. I have to run. That call is coming in soon, and I have some other matters to attend to. I’ll call you if my resources come up with anything important. If you don’t hear from me, call me at 8:00 tonight. Agreed?”

“Agreed. Stay safe, Mr. O’Connell,” Derek added.

“Call me Ken, and you stay safe as well.”

It was no more than five minutes after his call with Ken ended that his cell phone rang again. This time, the caller ID told Derek the caller was from the Piseco Lake area.

“You left so damn fast that I didn’t even get your cell number. Had to do some research to find it,” Ralph Fox slurred.

Though Derek had left Ralph just a few minutes ago, it sounded like Ralph was at least an hour into a happy hour.

“Miss me already, Ralph?” Derek said.

“Not entirely, but I do think it wise that you and I maintain a certain level of ongoing communications regarding our shared case. And since I believe I made you a member of my team, I do believe the chain-of-command position that I have affords me the ability to expect an open line of information sharing with you.”

“I told Ken O’Connell that he was on speaker phone and that you and Smith heard everything he said,” Derek said.

“I figured you would,” Ralph said, his voice now sounding clear and solid “I noticed a change in your face when O’Connell said that he was in Chicago. Bet you no longer like him for these crimes?”

“I’m still not sure, but his reasons for not getting on that plane make sense to me. To me, he’s someone who had a horrible injustice happen to him and someone who wants to deliver his own type of justice to the doctors.”

“Honestly,” Ralph said, “I don’t blame him at all. Now since we are sharing like a couple of school girls here, I do feel compelled to let you know that Captain Smith is going to keep an eye on your movements. He ain’t got the resources he’d like to have you trailed, but part of the reason he took your cell phone was to allow his smart people to trace your whereabouts. Ain’t sure if he can tap your calls, but he is going to know where you are at, most of the time.”

“That’s good to know. Thanks Ralph.”

While he was still talking with Ralph, Derek heard the familiar “beep” of his cell phone, alerting him to an incoming call.

“Ralph, I have another call coming in. I’ll get back to you later.”

He ended the call with Ralph and answered the incoming call.

“Derek Cole,” he said.

“Derek, it’s Thomas. Did you speak with my father yet?” The sound of wind and rain could be heard in the background.

“I did. He’s fine. Just wants me to keep him informed. He told me that you are on a boat out on Lake Michigan. Seems like a pretty safe place to be.”

“Didn’t think you wanted to know where I was,” Thomas said through a soft chuckle. “And I have two of his goons around me at all times. My father tends to go overboard, pardon the boating pun.”

“He seems like a smart man. You just make sure you don’t fall overboard. That lake can get rough, and it sounds like it’s raining out your way.”

“Little summertime storm. We pulled in close to the marina, so were not a sitting target out in the middle of the lake. Listen, I called you because I was just given some more information that you probably need to know.”

“Shoot,” Derek said.

“My father’s goons are pretty well connected, as you might imagine. They have friends working in police departments all over the country. This isn’t confirmed yet, but there was a doctor murdered in the same hospital that Brian Lucietta works. Happened a few hours ago. Middle of the day. And before you ask, they don’t have anyone in custody.”

The likelihood that Alexander had at least one accomplice was now a certainty for Derek. The fact that six murders had occurred in three different parts of the country, each separated by at least six hours of driving, made the possibility of one person acting alone virtually impossible.

“Thanks for the update,” he said to Thomas.

“I don’t know what my father wants you to focus your efforts on, but I figured you’d be interested.”

“The more I know about all the players, the better.”

“That’s all I have. I’ll be heading back out beyond cell coverage as soon as this storm passes, so I will be out of range for a while,” Thomas said.

“Stay dry,” Derek said as he ended the call.

Derek slowed his car down to the reduced thirty-five speed limit as he approached the small Adirondack town of Speculator, New York. Feeling hungry, he started looking for a quiet place to eat, think, and to process the events of the day. Off to his right, he spotted a small pizzeria and deli that only had two cars parked in the lot in front.

Before he could shut off his car, his cell phone rang again.

“Derek Cole,” he said, amazed at how many times his normally quiet cell had rung in the last twenty minutes.

“Alexandria Bay. River’s Edge Resort,” the voice of Ken O’Connell said. “My resources tracked the Mixes down. They made reservations under the name ‘McClury,’ and checked in last night.”

The excitement was abundant in Ken’s voice.

“I’ll head up there now,” Derek said. “I found out that my cell phone location is being traced, so I will turn it off as soon as this call is done.”

“Fine. If you can’t contact me by 8:00, call me whenever you can, no matter the time. I just want you to identify Stanley and Michelle and confirm that they are in the resort. Understood?”

“Understood. I’m going to grab some lunch, pull up the directions, and head up to find them.”

“Don’t engage them. Just identify them, and contact me right away. If they leave, I need you to follow them. I’ll email you their pictures so that you can mark them.”

“Sounds good.” Derek pulled into the parking lot of the pizzeria, turned his car off and sighed deeply. While his suspicions about Ken O’Connell remained, he felt like he, Ken, and Thomas were all working together towards the same goal. Derek never wanted to become friends with his clients. He intentionally made decisions to prevent learning too much about his clients as well as letting them know too much about him. As he sat in the parking lot, listening to Ken’s altered instructions, he wondered, if things were different, if he and the O’Connells may have enough in common to become friends.