“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Could be boobytrapped somehow,” Grace muttered.
“Could you let us in the building?” Holt asked. “We’re looking for any information your husband may have had on Rabor. Most specifically, a location idea.”
“It has a padlock on it and I don’t have the key.”
“I have bolt cutters.”
She hesitated. “You’re absolutely sure it’s him? That he’s really dead?”
“That’s what the DNA shows, so I’m comfortable saying it couldn’t be anyone else.”
Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I guess it doesn’t matter now then, does it?”
Holt reached for his phone. “I’ll get a K-9 team out here and we’ll have them sniff around for any explosives before we enter.”
“Good idea.” Grace stood.
While Holt made the call, Sally stepped in front of Penny. “I did catch a brief snippet of the news this morning and I just recognized your face. You’re the one they’re saying is responsible for Joel’s death.”
“I . . . well . . . I guess. He had Holt on the ground and was about to stab him. I had to slam into Joel to knock him off of Holt. He . . . stumbled and fell onto his knife.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. Thank you.” She turned away. “I’m going to check on my children.”
Well, okay then. Penny’s guilt was fading fast.
Fifteen minutes later, a K-9 cruiser pulled to a stop behind Holt’s vehicle. Kyra Knight climbed from the driver’s seat and Penny waved. Kyra raised a brow as if to ask why Penny was there. They’d found themselves at several scenes over the past two years and had become friends. She’d probably text her later if they didn’t get a chance to talk here.
From her spot next to Holt’s Bucar, Penny watched Kyra and Happy do their thing. It didn’t take long to cover the small buildings. “All clear,” Kyra called. She played a quick game of tug-of-war with Happy, praising him for a job well done, before jogging over to Penny. “Surprised to see you here.”
“Long story.”
“I look forward to hearing it.” She turned to Holt. “There aren’t any explosives in there, but Happy was acting kinda weird.”
“Weird how?”
“Like he smelled something he didn’t like.”
“But nothing that’s going to blow us up.”
“Nope. Nothing like that.”
He nodded. “All right, then. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Holt clutched the bolt cutters and approached the door. Two large rings, one on the door below the knob and one on the side of the building, were used to hold the heavy-duty lock. He was almost afraid the cutter wouldn’t be strong enough.
He had a bad feeling he knew what Happy had been acting skittish about. Unfortunately. Then again, just because his mind went straight to a dead body didn’t necessarily mean that was the case. Maybe his line of work had jaded him.
He could only hope. He looked back to find Grace and Sally watching him. Penny leaned against his Bucar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Holt turned to Sally. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“As long as you’re sure he’s dead.”
“I’m sure.”
“Then have at it.”
It took all of Holt’s strength to cut through the lock, but he managed it. The metal fell to the small concrete porch and he kicked it aside. Grace stepped up beside him, her hand on her weapon.
With a nod to her, he stood opposite her, twisted the knob, and pushed the door open. Freezer-cold air hit him in the face and he paused to focus on the room. It was set up like an old-fashioned parlor with a table and chairs and tea service placed in the middle of the table. A woman sat at the table, her left hand curled around a teacup.
“Hello? Ma’am?”
She didn’t move.
Holt pulled his weapon. “Ma’am?”
No response.
He looked closer and lowered his gun as realization hit him.
“Holt?” Grace’s voice came from behind him to his right and her flashlight hit the body in the chair. “Is she—”
“Yeah. She’s dead. Looks like she’s frozen solid too.”
The flashlight swept the room. “And so is she,” Grace said, her voice soft. “And her.”
“All frozen in time,” Holt said, his heart aching for the victims and their families who’d soon be receiving the tragic news. He pulled his phone from his pocket, then paused. “Wait a minute,” he said. “I know her.”
“Who?” Grace asked.
“The one at the table. She was snatched from Virginia. Agents tracked her to a gas station in Raleigh, North Carolina, then lost track of her after that.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, picturing her face on the FBI’s missing persons website. “I’ll call this in and get the local officers involved along with the crime scene unit. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“Yeah. I’ll start taping it off.”
Holt made the call, then walked over to Penny, who stood with her arms wrapped around her waist. “Where’s Sally?”
“She went to check on the kids.”
“Stay right here, okay?” Now that he knew what was in the building, he didn’t want to let the woman out of his sight. More officers were on the way, but until then . . .
“Grace just swept past me with crime scene tape. What’d you find?”
“I’ll explain in a few. Don’t go anywhere.”
“All right.” She frowned but leaned back against the Bucar and crossed her arms again. Holt jogged up the back steps and into the kitchen. He found Sally sitting at the table, her son in her arms and Mary in the chair beside her, reading her book.
“I saw the agent get the crime scene tape from the car,” Sally said. “What did you find?”
“It’s . . . there are . . . we found . . .” He didn’t want to tell her.
She glanced at Mary, then back to him and mouthed, “A dead body?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything about the body actually being plural. There were three that he saw. “You knew?”
“No, of course not.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Just a guess. Now that I know about Joel’s fascination with that serial killer, and his super secretive actions . . .” She shrugged. “It just seemed like that’s the way this story was going to go.” A pause. “Why didn’t I . . . smell it?”
Holt ran a hand over his head. “He turned that whole building into a freezer. The temps in there are probably in the mid teens to low twenties.”
She let out a low breath and shuddered. “How did I not see his evil? Or at least sense it? How could he do this and I not even—?” Her chin quivered and a tear rolled down her cheek. Then her dark eyes met his. “How?” The agony behind her words carried the weight of the world in them, and Holt’s heart hurt for her.
“Mommy, are you okay?” Mary asked.
Sally nodded and patted the little girl’s hand. “Yes, why don’t you take JoJo into your room. He can play with his cars while you read.”
“But—”
“Now, Mary.” A hint of steel threaded her words and Mary obeyed without another word. She and JoJo left the kitchen and headed toward the back of the house.
“You can’t blame yourself,” Grace said, stepping into the room.
Holt flinched. He hadn’t heard her come in. “She’s right,” he said. “This isn’t on you.”
“But I . . . I . . . should have . . .” Her eyes pleaded with them. “I should have noticed . . . something.”
Grace shook her head. “You’re a mother with two small children. Your husband was having surgery to change his appearance without giving you a good reason for his desire to do so, while draining your financial resources. Your marriage was deteriorating. Just one of those situations is stressful, but all three? And maybe more that you haven’t shared? I can’t imagine the load of stress that would be. You were coping. Making it through one day, then the next, putting o
ne foot in front of the other and just hanging on. Am I right?”
The shell-shocked expression on Sally’s face confirmed Grace’s words. Holt motioned he was going to head outside and Grace gave him a minuscule nod. She’d take care of Sally while he checked out the other building and talked to the crime scene unit, who’d just arrived on the scene.
Back outside, he glanced at the Bucar and scowled when he didn’t see Penny. He let his gaze sweep the area and found her on the porch of the homemade freezer. She was staring at the interior. Far enough outside so she wouldn’t contaminate the scene, but close enough to have a good view of exactly what was on the inside. “Penny?” She didn’t move. He wasn’t even sure she was breathing. He hurried to her and placed a hand on her upper arm. “Aw, Penny, I didn’t want you to see that.”
“He set it all up. Like he was having a tea party.”
“Yes.”
“It’s . . . horrible.”
“Agreed. Come on, let’s go wait in the car.” He tried to pull her away, but she resisted.
“How did they die?”
“I don’t know. Lexie’s on the way. We need to get out of the way and let the crime scene people do what they can before she gets here. And I need to take a look at the other building.”
She pulled in a deep breath and shuddered. “Right.”
He led her back to the Bucar. “I’m probably going to be here a while. Do you want to call someone to come get you?”
“No, not yet.” A frown flickered and she had a faraway look in her eyes.
“What is it, Penny?”
“I know what the song was.”
That stopped him. “What was it?”
“‘Tea for Two.’”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Penny hummed the tune while bile rose in the back of her throat. She stopped and swallowed. “He changed the words, though.”
“Okay, do you remember any of them?”
“Yeah. They’ve been playing in the back of my subconscious, and I don’t know if they’re exactly right, but it was something like, ‘Picture you at my table. A date for me and death for you . . .’” She paused. “I don’t really remember any more. My grandmother liked the song and used to sing it—along with a bunch of other songs we call oldies. But that’s why it was familiar, and yet I couldn’t place it. When I saw the tea service . . .” She shrugged.
Holt scrubbed a hand down his cheek. “Well, at least we know what he was singing now.”
“But why?”
Holt shrugged. “He was crazy?”
“Or it was part of his ritual?”
“Okay, yeah, but I wasn’t going to say that.”
She shot him a scowl. “I’m not stupid, Holt.”
“Hey, I never thought you were.”
“And I’m not some fragile, delicate little thing you have to protect from . . . whatever. I can handle hearing that kind of stuff. Mostly because I think of it anyway.”
He studied her for a moment, then nodded. “All right.”
“Thank you. I have another thought too.”
“Sure.”
“If that was the copycat’s MO, does this mean that everything in that . . . that”—she waved a hand at the building—“room is also Rabor’s MO?”
He stilled. “That is an excellent question.”
“Of course it is,” she muttered.
“In my dealings with Rabor, yes, those killings are very similar, but with a few differences.”
“Such as?”
“Rabor never froze his victims.”
“I see. So Joel Allen learned from Rabor and then added his own touch to things? So to speak.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“So, what now?”
“The crime scene unit gathers all of the evidence and we wait to see what they come up with. I’m going to go check out the other building and be back shortly.”
“Fine. I’ll wait and make some phone calls.”
He headed for one of the crime scene investigators and Penny pulled her phone from her pocket. She dialed Raina’s number and waited.
No answer.
She tried Holly.
No answer.
Great. They were probably out on a call. A call she’d be out on if she hadn’t been recovering from fighting off a serial killer. Not that there was much more recovering to do. Except figure out how to deal with the nightmares. Past and present.
“Stop it,” she whispered.
Lexie finally arrived. She waved at Penny but didn’t stop to chat. Penny watched her speak to several people before homing in on Holt. She said something and he nodded to the door they’d shut to keep the room at the correct temperature.
So the bodies wouldn’t thaw out before Lexie was ready.
Penny grimaced and texted Raina.
Call me when you get a chance.
When Holt was finished going through the other building and talking to Lexie, he made his way back to Penny. “I’ve done all I can do here. Want me to take you home?”
She nodded to the smaller of the two outbuildings. “What was in there?”
“Looks like Sally was right. That’s where Joel was staying when he didn’t come home at night, and it appears he was staying there up until he helped Rabor escape. There’s food in the refrigerator, along with some canned goods, several gallons of water, and more. He has a nice fifty-six-inch television on the wall, and with the windows facing the house blacked out, no one would see any lights. It’s a very comfortable setup.”
Penny frowned. “How could she not know?”
“Easy. He approached from the back, along the fence line, slipped through the gate and into the back of the building. He could come and go and no one would know. Even if she stood at the window looking at the place, she’d never see him approaching, with all of the trees.”
“That’s alarming.” Truly creepy.
“Yeah. So, while I’m feeling fairly certain she had no clue what her husband was up to, we’ll still look into her.”
“If she knew what Allen was up to, she deserves a part in one of my mother’s movies.” She followed him around the side of the house and came to an abrupt halt. “Are you kidding me?” A channel 7 news van sat at the curb. A man with a camera on his shoulder aimed the lens in their direction.
“How’d they know to come here?” Holt muttered.
Penny eyed the individual leaning against the van. “There’s that snoopy reporter, Frankie Olander.”
“The one who threatened you?”
“It wasn’t really a threat, as in he was going to do me bodily harm, but yeah.”
“Close enough.”
As soon as they came into sight, the reporters rushed forward. “Penny, can you tell us why you’re here and what’s going on?” The woman shoved the microphone at her, and Penny sighed, kept her head down, and aimed herself for Holt’s car.
“Penny? You’re spending an awful lot of time with the FBI. Are you helping them in some way?”
“Penny, what does your mother think about your latest adventures?”
For a brief moment, her eyes made contact with Frankie, and he gave her a small shrug as though to say if she talked to him, this could all be over. She kept her expression blank and continued her trek to the vehicle, doing her best to project that he was invisible to her.
Once she was in the passenger seat and buckled up, she pressed her fingers to her eyes, thinking. When she looked up, they were heading out of the subdivision. “Olander’s following me.”
Holt’s jaw visibly tightened. “It’s definitely a possibility.”
“But how? I haven’t seen anyone hanging around watching or anything.”
“And we’re in my vehicle.”
“So, he’s following you because he knows I’m with you?”
“He might have been watching the hospital and saw us leave together and simply trailed along. Or . . .” He scowled. “Your phone.”
“You think he pl
anted some kind of software on it?”
“We’ll need to find out.”
“Great.”
“And just in case it’s not your phone, I’ll be more alert to watching behind us from now on.”
They fell silent, with Penny thinking hard about the scene she’d just been privy to. “There are some sick people in this world,” she whispered.
“True.”
“I guess take me home. I’m trying to get permission to do the rest of my shift, but Dr. Kirkpatrick hasn’t gotten back to me, and Raina and Holly aren’t answering their phones either. They must be out on a pretty serious call if they haven’t had a chance to check in.”
He shot her a brief glance. “Why do you want to finish your shift?”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“Work on your house?”
“Yeah, well, that can wait.” It left her with far too much time to think. The exact opposite of what she was trying to do. Plus, she wanted to be around people she trusted.
“What’s going on? You afraid of the nightmares?”
She closed her eyes and the images of Allen straddling Holt with the knife hovering over his face surfaced. He’d been . . . gleeful . . . about the fact that he was getting ready to take a life. Gloating. Her stomach lurched and she popped her eyes open. “That’s part of it, I guess, but if I’m working, I’ll be able to focus on that and think about other things less.”
He reached over to squeeze her hand. “I’ll stay with you if that’ll help.”
She sighed. “I can’t ask you to do that. You have enough on your plate without worrying about me.”
“I can handle my plate and you too. You’ve actually been very helpful.”
“How so?”
“You mean other than the part where you saved my life a few times?” He shrugged. “The song is important, we just need to figure out how.”
Darius Rabor wanted to laugh, but laughing hurt, so he settled for a chuckle. And a grimace. He pressed a hand to his side and leaned back against the tree while he listened to the noises on the other side of the fence. He just needed a few more days to heal and then he could get back to his mission. He’d already tried to do too much, too soon. He just needed to be patient.
He’d heard Joel had died on the mountain, and while that was inconvenient for his long-range plans, because everyone thought it was him, it had benefited him in the short run. Being dead certainly had its advantages. With a knit cap on his head and a scarf over the lower portion of his face, no one had looked at him twice.
Life Flight Page 14
