***The next morning***
Jonathan and Jennifer were at the boutique by 8. Jennifer had Natalie call all the employees and tell them to come in for a meeting.
Everyone was assembled by 8:30, and they began the meeting.
"Jonathan and I got a phone call last night, that Sloane was murdered outside her apartment. We don't know whether or not the target is specifically our boutique, but we cannot rule it out. So, this morning we are hiring security, to stand guard outside the shop. When you leave, they will walk you to your car. When you get home, I want you to call me at my home, and check in. We aren't taking any chances. Now, did anyone know where Sloane was going last night after she left here?"
Whitney spoke up.
"She told me she was going to the pharmacy to get her birth control refilled, and to get some bubble bath. I asked her if she wanted to get dinner with me after we closed and she said she was going to order a pizza and eat it in the bathtub".
"Lindley, did Kelsey mention going to the pharmacy or ordering a pizza?"
"No, she didn't. But I know she was on birth control, because she had me put the patch on her back the night we moved in together".
"I can't imagine that birth control would be the link here, but I guess we can't rule it out. Seriously girls, I want you to know that whatever you do, trust your instincts. If you have to call me at home 100 times a day, do it. I just want you to be safe, and I want you to know that we value your safety. We would never make you do anything that wasn't safe".
They all nodded.
Jonathan called and hired a security firm.
"Darling, I am going to call the owner of the strip and see if we can get cameras installed in the parking lot as well as in the bay right outside the door".
"Great idea. And if he says no, tell him we will pay for them ourselves. And, do you know a store that sells mace? I want to get mace for all the girls".
"On it, babe".
He went to the phone and called Kelly, and instructed her to go pick some up, and bring them to Crazy Harts. He was on the phone with the owner for quite a while, and couldn't convince him to agree to cameras.
He hung up the phone mad, and came over to where Jennifer was.
"Are you going to be alright here? I can stay if you want me to".
"No, I'll be fine. I promise. What did he say about the cameras?"
"He said no, but I'm not giving up just yet. I have another few tricks up my sleeve".
"Well, thanks for trying".
"Of course. Call me when you leave?"
She nodded.
He kissed her a few times and then left.
He drove around to the back of the building, and then back around to the front, and then came back in.
"I have an idea. What if everyone parked in the back? The security company can have one guy there and one guy at this entrance, and when you close, you can walk out the back, and you will be closer to your car? I will call an electrician and have him put more lights out back as soon as possible, and we can put another alarm panel by the back door?"
"That's a great idea. Ok, girls, go move your cars to the back, and I will let everyone in".
Jonathan went and called the alarm company and talked them into coming out today, and then he called an electrician and told them he would pay triple their asking price if they could come today.
Jennifer propped the door open, and was waiting there by the back door with Jonathan.
She wrapped her arms around him.
"You think of the best ideas".
She leaned up and kissed him.
After everyone was inside, he left again, and told her to call him when the technician and the electrician came.
It was business as usual till the afternoon, when Lt. Gray stopped by.
He and Jennifer walked and talked some, and then when they got back to her office, he told her that another girl from the store at the other end of the strip had been murdered as well.
"I think that the link is this strip, not the stores itself, but this strip. I could be wrong, but I don't have anything else to go on".
She nodded.
"I will keep you updated. Watch yourself, and tell your girls to watch themselves too".
"Thanks, Lt."
She called Jonathan at the office and filled him in, and then told him she was heading home.
"Have the security guard check your car before you get in, darling. And call me when you get home".
"Ok, I love you".
"Love you too".
She had the girls promise to use their mace if they needed to, promise to call her if they needed her, and told them she was going home.
She got in the car after having the security guy check it thoroughly, and called Jonathan.
"I'm headed home, darling".
"Ok, be careful. Call me when you get there. Everything else go ok?"
"Yes, the rest of the day was fine".
"Glad to hear it. I will be home soon. I love you".
"I love you too".
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer came inside and locked the door behind her, and headed upstairs. She drew herself a bath, and took a long, hot soak.
Normally, in the bath, she would close her eyes and relax. However, this time, she decided to think out everything she knew about Kelsey's and Sloane's murders. They both left the shop after working the night shift, and closing up, and they were both murdered before they could get home. Kelsey wasn't discovered till the next morning, but Sloane was discovered right after.
'That's not a big deal, Sloane lived in an apartment. Someone she lived next to found her'.
She kept thinking.
They both ran errands before they went home. They knew that Sloane went to the pharmacy before she left, because she was heard talking about it and the pharmacy bag was found on her person.
Jennifer made a mental note to ask Lt. Gray to tell her about how Kelsey was found and what was found on her and all that. Her gut was telling her that someone followed both of them from the time they left either Crazy Harts or one of their errands.
Parking in the back was going to help, and so would having cameras. Jennifer was going to have to make Jonathan pressure the landlord into getting them.
She thought about the other shops in the strip. There was a bookstore, a shoe store, and an insurance office and a nail salon. She made a mental note to ask Lt. Gray if there were any similarities between the boutique girls who were murdered and the one at the other end of the strip.
She got out of the bath shortly after, and put on some yoga pants and a tank top.
She was downstairs in the kitchen when Jonathan got home.
"Hi darling". He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her a few times.
"Hi yourself. You have the best timing. Dinner is almost ready".
"Oh? What are we having?"
"Chicken enchiladas and Spanish rice".
"Sounds yummy".
She went and made them cocktails and they sat on the couch while they waited for the timer to go off.
"Darling, I made a list of things I think we should go over with Lt. Gray. And, I know that you already talked to him, but I think we need to talk to the landlord again, and really convince him to let us have cameras".
"Jennifer-"
"Darling, we need cameras. It's a matter of safety, and we owe it to the girls to keep them safe".
"Jennifer-"
"Just please promise me you will ask him?"
She leaned forward and gave him a light peck.
"Ok. I promise".
He kissed her again.
"And I just asked him".
He kissed her again.
"And….he says yes, absolutely".
He kissed her again.
"What are you talking about?"
"Darling….I asked him twice today. Once at the store, and once from Hart Industries. He said no both times, so I bought the entire property from him. We take possession in 15 days, and I will install cameras as soon as we do".
She threw her arms around his neck.
"You are amazing!"
She kissed him a few times.
"I drew up some sketches at the office today. We are going to totally renovate the back part of the lot, and make it an employee parking lot only, and put security and cameras out there. We are going to take the empty bay at the end and make that the security office, and there will be someone watching cameras at all times. We are going to have cameras outside the fronts of the stores, and a security guard that patrols the storefronts. And I am going to meet with the store owners next week, tell them I am taking over and ask for their input as well".
"You always have the best ideas".
She leaned forward and kissed him.
"Now, darling, what did you want to talk to Lt. Gray about?"
"Well, it occurred to me that maybe both girls ran the same errand after they left work, and that could be the key. Also, he told me that a girl that worked at a store on the other end had been murdered as well, and I want to know if there were any similarities? Do they have any leads in either of the girl's cases? And-"
"Ok, darling. Take a breath. It's ok. It's going to be ok. We are going to figure this out, believe me".
She nodded and bit her lip to hold back tears.
"It's just…they are our girls… and-"
"I know. We feel responsible for them, I get it."
She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her.
The timer on the oven went off, and she jumped up and headed to the kitchen.
After it was all ready and on the table, she called and told him dinner was ready.
They had a nice dinner, and he promised to call Lt. Gray and ask him Jennifer's questions.
She was doing the dishes after dinner when she suddenly had an idea.
"Darling…what if I worked the night shift every night this week? I mean, I own the place, so I can do that, right? I could go in at 1, and get off at 7. They could stay safe while I am there, and you and I can have late dinners, which would mean you could go in a little later to stay a little later…"
"Jennifer- this isn't because you weren't there. That's not why they were followed and murdered."
"But would they have been if I had been there?"
"Yes, in all likelihood, yes. And do you want to know why?"
"Why?"
She was speaking to him very sternly, as he was to her as well.
"Because, they weren't killed at the store. They were killed at home. So, let's review. They left the store and went to run their errands, and then went home. Unless you are planning on holding the hands of the girls as they leave the store, and following their every move for the rest of the night, it isn't going to be a deterrent for you to work late with them".
"Fine!".
He reached out and caught her before she could leave the room.
"Jennifer-I am not trying to make you feel bad. Honest. But honey, you are over analyzing this, and we aren't getting anywhere".
She let out a long sigh and moved past him and went upstairs.
He finished the dishes and then came upstairs and joined her.
She was laying on her side in bed, with her back towards his side of the bed, watching TV.
He changed into his pajamas, and then joined her in bed.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.
"This isn't your fault. This didn't happen because you weren't there, or because they worked for you".
He kissed the top of her head.
She didn't say anything else. He could tell she was still worried about it, but at least they weren't arguing about it.
***Across town***
The man slipped into his second room and took a seat. He sat back and admired all of the pictures he had taken and had developed.
He wrote out the notes that he had taken on a white board, and finally decided who his next victim was going to be. He walked over to the picture, and took a red marker and wrote "Unchaste" across her face.
