Sauk Valley Killer

by KJ Kalis

  13

  By his white knuckles on the steering wheel, Kat knew Van was angry. Their trip to the police station hadn’t gone the way Kat had expected. The remainder of the drive home, Van was silent. She knew better than to interrupt his thoughts. He needed time to decompress, time to process how they had been treated. Kat knew that Dawson had hit a nerve with Van. It was bad enough if someone disrespected Van, but disrespecting Kat was a whole different thing.

  As soon as they walked in the door, Tyrant ran over to them, whining. She ran halfway down the hallway and back toward them. “I’m coming, girl. Give me a second.” Ever since they got the puppy, Tyrant had become maternal, letting Kat know whenever Dillon needed something.

  Kat left Van to finish thinking through what had happened, while she dealt with the dogs. By the time she came back again, a few minutes later, he was on the phone, pacing the length of the kitchen. “Yeah. That’s the one that I need. What’s her name?”

  By the way he was talking, Kat guessed he was speaking to Stephanie. What he was planning, she didn’t know. As soon as he hung up the phone, Kat looked at him. “What was that about?”

  “I just updated Stephanie on the lack of progress we experienced this morning. I’m having a hard time understanding how Dawson still has a badge.”

  Kat noticed Van’s hands were balled into white-knuckled fists. “Are you going to call the Chief?”

  Van furrowed his brows and shook his head. “No, not yet. I have another idea.”

  “What’s that?” Kat said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

  “The officer that called Stephanie, her name is Cheryl. She might be more helpful.”

  “Anything is better than Dawson… He’s going to get more people killed.”

  14

  After Wesley Dawson left the conference room, he headed straight for his office, closing the door. He didn’t want to be disturbed. Not by anyone. He sat down at his desk and fumbled with the mouse for his computer, waking it up. He opened his email, scanning it, but not reading anything in front of him. There was a slew of new messages that had come in, everything from daily reports to upcoming shift schedules for the officers on the road.

  After a moment, he shoved the mouse away from him, the plastic clattering on his desk. Who were those people to think they could come in and take over his investigation? The Chief was trying to undermine him, he thought.

  The Chief was a younger guy who had made it through the ranks faster than anyone should. Most of the guys who’d been on the job longer than about fifteen years felt the same way. That was probably why the Chief had called those two journalists to come in and “help.” He didn’t need any help. He had it under control.

  He glanced at the manila folders stacked on the corner of his desk. All of the details of the cases – what they had, at least – were documented there. Flipping the first folder open, his eyes caught on an image of Chelsea Atkinson. His stomach turned. Those two kids must’ve been so afraid, he realized.

  He slapped the front of the manila folders closed. There was no way he could concentrate. Good thing he wasn’t at the doctor right now, he thought. His blood pressure was probably through the roof. He stood up, pacing behind his desk. You couldn’t have two journalists working on the case, especially when one of the victims was the niece of the guy’s assistant. That didn’t make any sense. What if evidence was contaminated? The Chief might not know it, but Dawson knew he was doing the department a favor by blocking them. He picked up the keys from the corner of his desk. There was no use staying in the office. He needed to interview the landlord of the nurse that had been taken and then head over to the hospital and get some more statements. He knew he only had a couple of hours before the Chief would be breathing down his neck about getting results. Walking out of the office, he headed toward the sedan that had been assigned to him, a feeling of dread crawling up his spine. It wasn’t just the Chief he was worried about. He had two missing people with no explanation where they were. They could be running out of time…

  15

  “We gotta go,” Van said.

  Kat blinked. He had just gotten off the phone with Stephanie, but had walked in the other room. Kat hadn’t heard the end of their conversation. “Okay, where are we going?”

  “We’re gonna meet Steph at the coffee shop. See if we can get this investigation off the ground.”

  Kat nodded. There was no point in arguing with Van even if she didn’t think it was a good idea, which she did. She knew that look on his face, the look that told her his mind was already made up and there was no discussion if she wanted to come along. Luckily, she was okay with it. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  Van and Stephanie had chosen a coffee shop that was halfway between Stephanie’s house and where Kat and Van lived. It was perched on the end of a three-story brick building that had a keystone in the center of the top floor dated 1912. California was funny that way. There were so many modern structures, but at the same time, people forgot that the gold rush drove the initial development of the territory, before it ever was a state. There was history in California if you looked for it, especially outside of the larger cities.

  Van pulled the door open, holding it for Kat as they walked inside. The smell of coffee beans roasting and a fresh load of morning bakery hit Kat’s nostrils. She hadn’t taken the time to have breakfast, so her stomach rumbled. “Do you want anything?” Van said.

  Kat nodded. “Please. A tall coffee and a blueberry muffin if they have one.”

  As Van walked away, Kat found a booth nearby. She sat down, taking a minute to look around. The interior walls of the coffee shop were exposed brick, just like the exterior. A long, glass bakery case ran along the right side of the narrow shop, with the checkout counter close to the door. She could hear the gurgling and bubbling of the espresso machine as it made steamed milk for someone’s coffee. Two people were working behind the counter, buzzing between customers like bees near a hive, both wearing matching aprons. Kat spread her hands out on the table in front of her, trying to stretch her shoulders. All the upset over the last couple of days was taking a toll on her, making her feel achy and tired. She needed a run. She needed to clear her head. But she knew that wasn’t coming anytime soon. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, hoping to scrape up some energy for the rest of the day.

  “You okay?” Van said, sliding a small paper plate with an enormous, mushroom-shaped blueberry muffin in front of her and a tall cup of coffee, the lid already on.

  Kat nodded. “Yep. Just tired.”

  A smirk passed over Van’s face, “Dawson can drain you quick.”

  Before Kat had an opportunity to answer, the front door opened again. Steph walked in, her halo of curls jutting out from the top of her head. Van waved her over. “You want anything?”

  “No, I’m fine, she said, as Van walked away.

  To Kat, Stephanie looked anything but fine. Her mane of curly hair was piled up on top of her head, held in place by a white scrunchie. She didn’t have any makeup on, and her skin looked sallow and tired. There were black smudges of circles underneath her eyes and her lips were pale like she wasn’t getting enough circulation. Kat slid out of the booth and stood up, hugging her. When they let go, Kat looked straight at her, searching Stephanie’s eyes. “How are you?”

  “Exhausted. Frustrated. Sad. You name it… I’m feeling it.”

  Kat smiled. If nothing else, Stephanie was honest. That was one of the things Kat loved about her. You never had to guess where you were with Stephanie. Good or bad, she would let you know.

  Van walked back to the table, carrying two bagels and two cups, steam curling above the lid. “I know you said you didn’t want anything, but just in case.”

  Stephanie nodded and offered a weak smile. She tugged at the soft center of the bagel, avoiding the exterior. Kat watched her. It was painful to see her normally jubliant friend looking so drained.

  Kat’s gaze drifted over to Van. He t
ook a sip of coffee, his bagel left untouched on the table. “So, Steph, we’ve hit some brick walls with the investigation.”

  “What do you mean?” she said, furrowing her brows.

  “Well, while the police chief wants our help, the detective leading the case doesn’t. He’s a stubborn, stodgy old coot. We got into a yelling match with him this morning.” Van glanced at Kat, “Well, actually, I did.”

  A half-smile passed over Stephanie’s face, “I know how much you love incompetence.”

  “It’s worse than that. He just won’t listen.”

  “What’s going on? Have you found out anything about Chelsea?”

  Van shook his head and took another sip of his coffee. “Not much. We have about the same amount of information as you have. What we did find out this morning is that there are now two more people missing.”

  Stephanie’s eyes grew wide, “What? Two more people?”

  Kat joined the conversation. “Yes, Detective Dawson let it slip that they not only have a man missing from Grand Ridge College but a nurse from the hospital. We already knew about the man from the college but didn’t have any information about the nurse until just a little while ago.”

  “So, what are you saying? Are you saying the same person that killed Chelsea and Daniel has taken two more people?”

  A cold shiver ran up and down Kat’s spine. She glanced at her lap and realized she was gripping her hands together, her knuckles white. Is that what they were saying? Was it possible that the same person who had taken Chelsea and Daniel had now taken the janitor and the nurse? Kat turned away for a minute, looking back at the counter where the two coffee shop workers in matching aprons were serving a short line of people that had arrived. Their life was normal. They were at work, making coffee, toasting bagels, and putting muffins on paper plates. She realized at that moment that if the same person who had taken Chelsea and Daniel had now taken two more people, they might be suffering as Kat sipped her coffee. Closing her eyes for a minute, she tried to regain her bearings until she felt Van’s warm hand on her back. “You okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes, it’s just…”

  Stephanie looked at her, biting her lip. “It’s just, what?”

  Kat let out a slow breath hoping the words she was about to say wouldn’t be true. “It’s just that if the same person has now taken four people, Sauk Valley has a serial killer on the loose.”

  The words settled over the table like a dark fog. Kat hadn’t said anything that Van or Stephanie didn’t already know. She was sure that it had already occurred to Van. Stephanie might have been busy dealing with her family, but she was smart. Kat knew that much. It wouldn’t take a lot for her to connect the dots.

  “A serial killer?” Stephanie said, the words coming out of her mouth slowly, every syllable arriving on its own.

  Van nodded. “If this perp has now taken four people, that’s exactly what we are dealing with. The problem we have is that the police chief wants us to help, but Detective Dawson isn’t of the mindset to let us in.”

  As Stephanie tore off another piece of the soft middle of the bagel, she said, “Can’t you just call the police chief and let them know that Detective Dawson is being a jerk?”

  Van took a sip of his coffee. “I thought about that, but the problem is that even if the Chief tells him to cooperate, I don’t think he will. You didn’t see him this morning. Completely unprofessional.”

  “Van’s right. We’ve got to do this on our own,” Kat said, pushing what was left of the blueberry muffin away from her.

  “Are you sure? What about the Chief?” Stephanie said.

  “We’ll update him as soon as we have anything. The other problem with Dawson is that he might send us on a wild goose chase.”

  Kat cocked her head to the side. Van was going down a trail she hadn’t considered. Would Dawson be petty enough to give them bad information, she wondered? “You are saying that you think Dawson might deliberately mislead us?”

  Van raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you? Based on the way he behaved this morning, it seems like a good possibility to me.”

  Kat nodded. She knew Van was right. As much as she wanted to believe that everyone was basically good, she realized that just wasn’t true. After all, no one ever had to teach a toddler how to lie. Bad behavior seemed to come naturally, especially when people were threatened. For some reason, Detective Dawson was threatened by the idea of Kat and Van being involved in the investigation.

  “So, what’s next?” Stephanie asked.

  “We go it on our own,” Van said, folding his forearms across the table.

  For the next twenty minutes, Van and Kat told Stephanie everything they knew based on the information they had gathered to date, which wasn’t much. Stephanie knew about what happened to Chelsea. They still didn’t have much information about what had happened to Daniel, or about the other people that had been taken. Without Detective Dawson’s help, they would have to start from ground zero. The best they could hope for would be they could get some basic information from a source.

  “Steph, don’t you have a contact at the police department? Isn’t that how you got some of the initial information?” Kat asked.

  Stephanie nodded, chewing on what was left of the bagel. She wiped her hands on a napkin. “Yes, Cheryl Morris. She’s my main contact over there. I just figured she wouldn’t have any good information since she wasn’t part of the detective bureau.”

  Van scowled. “At this point, we don’t need good information, we need any information we can get. Can you give her a call and see what you can find out?”

  Stephanie nodded and started to scoot out of the booth where they were sitting. “Yep, give me a minute. I’ll run outside and call her right now.” As she stood up, she looked back, “Don’t eat the rest of my bagel. I’m going to finish it.”

  Kat smiled as Stephanie walked out of the coffee shop. She glanced at Van. “Talking about the investigation has seemed to perk her up – it’s either that or the bagel.”

  Van nodded. “Seems that way. Hopefully, she can get some good basic information for us to work on.” Van turned and looked at her. “Kat, this investigation is going to be hard and it may very well become dangerous if this is a serial killer in our backyard. Are you okay with this?”

  Kat paused for a moment, letting Van’s words sink in. She knew he was right. Her gut told her they were up against a big case, possibly one of the biggest of her career. They tended to get dangerous fast. Going up against a potential serial killer wasn’t something they’d done before. It wasn’t something she ever wanted to do, either. Her mind drifted to Jack. She picked up her phone and sent him a quick text. Normally, she and Van didn’t want him carrying his cell phone to class. It was a school policy anyway. But with people missing all over Sauk Valley, she didn’t care. At that moment, she desperately needed to know that Jack was safe, with his friends, and in class. The reply came back almost immediately, “I’m okay. In English,” he said.

  “Jack?” Van said.

  “Yep. He’s in English.” Kat shook her head slowly from left to right, “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

  “All I said is we need to be prepared that this is going to be a difficult investigation. Are you okay with that? I know you’re worried about Jack,” Van said.

  Just as Kat was about to answer, Stephanie walked back through the front door of the coffee shop, holding her phone in her hand. “I’ve got some information. Where do we go from here?”

  The three of them spent the next half hour going over the information that Stephanie had gotten from Cheryl Morris at the police department and their next steps. At one point, Van got up for a moment, returning with more coffee.

  “I asked Cheryl about that detective you mentioned. Dawson?” Stephanie said as Van eased himself back in the booth.

  “Yeah, he’s pretty difficult,” Van answered.

  “Cheryl said that he’s been putting off retirement for some reason. Not real popula
r in the department. Known to be stingy with information and not good with collaboration.”

  Van snorted, “Well, we knew that already. What else did she say?”

  “I told her that the Chief had called you, Van,” Stephanie said. “Cheryl said that if he called you, then she would be happy to give me the names of the two other people that are missing and their home addresses.” Cheryl opened a small notebook. “The other two people that are missing are Ben Boyd and Rebecca Blake. They don’t know a lot yet. Just putting together a profile as we speak. What Cheryl could tell me, in addition to their home addresses, is that Ben works for Grand Ridge College. He’s a janitor in the Statler building. Rebecca Blake is a pediatric RN at the hospital.”

  On the face of it, Kat couldn’t sense any connection between the two of them. One was a janitor and one a nurse… Why choose those two? “That seems strange to me,” she said. “What’s the connection? At least with Chelsea and Daniel, there was a relationship between the two of them.”

  “Yeah, on the face of it, I can’t see it either. Cheryl said they are still trying to piece it together.” Stephanie flipped the page in her notebook, “I have home addresses for both of them. Cheryl said to use the police chief’s name when we talk to them.”

  Van squinted for a minute. “Do you think she’s the type that will say something to the Chief about Dawson?”

  It was a good question, Kat thought. If Dawson found out they were going behind his back, he could try to make their life even more difficult, even though they had the blessing of the police chief. Why they couldn’t just deal directly with him, Kat wasn’t sure, but it seemed from the conversation Van had that the Chief wanted them to work with Detective Dawson, which at this point, was impossible.