Chapter 8 - The Decoy
The trace on the burner phone led the police to a cheap motel off the highway.
SWAT teams surrounded the building just before dawn.
Marcus and I waited at the hospital, praying this nightmare was finally over.
We listened to the police scanner on Detective Harris's radio.
They breached the door of room 114 with a battering ram.
"Clear!" a voice crackled over the radio.
Our hearts sank simultaneously.
Arthur wasn't there.
Instead, the police found the burner phone taped to a small digital timer.
He had set it to automatically dial my number at a specific time.
It was a deliberate decoy, designed to waste police resources and taunt us.
"He's playing a game," Marcus said, rubbing his temples in frustration.
"He always treated life like a chess match."
Arthur wanted us to know he was always one step ahead.
He was highly intelligent and completely devoid of empathy.
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The realization that he was toying with us made me feel physically ill.
We were dealing with a true psychopath.
