by Hood, D. K.
When the young woman shook her head, he nodded and moved on to the next vehicle. Underfoot the blacktop was treacherous and his feet slipped with each step. After checking each of the people involved, he slipped and slid his way back to Jenna. “No injuries this time. The sudden drop in temperature has covered this end of Main with black ice. The other end of Main should be clear, the sun is already on that part of town. Here the blacktop is in the shade.”
“Brine spreaders are on their way.” Jenna moved out into the middle of the road and directed traffic toward Ronan Road. “We’ll need to keep the traffic flowing so the brine spreader can get through.” She glanced at him. “You’re as pale as a ghost. Headache?”
Kane winced. She could read him like a book. “Yeah, I’ll take some pills, as soon as we get to the ME’s office.”
“No, you won’t.” She frowned at him. “You’ll take them now. Rowley is picking up Deputy Walters and he can handle the traffic. Rowley will file the accident reports. You can wait in the truck.” She turned away and walked down the center line, the yellow sheriff’s logo splashed across the front and back of her winter uniform giving the oncoming traffic no doubt as to who was in charge.
Twenty
“Feeling better?” Jenna turned to Kane as he pulled into the ME’s parking lot.
“Yeah, thanks.” Kane pulled his cap down over his ears and his hand went to the door handle.
Jenna rolled her eyes. She had a macho, ex-special forces deputy, who she believed resented her telling him how to care for his injury, but he often pushed himself way beyond the call of duty. As his superior and friend, it was her responsibility to make sure he took care of himself. “Wait up.”
“We’re late.” Kane flicked her a glance, his hand hovering over the door release.
She gave him a direct stare. “I’m not going to apologize for insisting you take your meds.” She took in his narrowed gaze and swallowed. “You should know better than to go out in this weather without a cap.”
“I was in kind of a hurry this morning.” Kane slid out the truck then reappeared at the rear door and unclipped Duke’s harness. “You see, I have this demanding boss who has me working before sunup. I removed my hat when I dashed in for a shower before making her breakfast and forgot to replace it before I left home. It was my bad.” He flashed her a smile and his eyes danced with amusement. “I do appreciate your concern, Jenna. It means a lot to me.”
She jumped down from the truck and met him at the front door. “Demanding? Moi?” She pushed open the glass doors and went inside. “Never.”
Jenna didn’t wait for Kane to secure Duke in Wolfe’s office and headed straight to the morgue. She removed her coat and hung it on one of the pegs in a row beside the door, grabbed a mask and gloves, flashed her card on the scanner, and moved inside. The smell of decayed flesh hit her as she glanced around the room. Monitors held X-rays and crime scene photographs in an array of horror. She stared at them, unable to recognize the location of a few of them. When Wolfe looked up and halted the recording device, she nodded to him. “Sorry we’re late. We had to attend a couple of accidents on Main. There’s a patch of black ice there. What have we got, and where is that crime scene? I don’t recognize it.”
“It’s not one of ours, but the Stanton Forest murders have a similarity to a case in Butte. Emily did a search last night to see if we could find a pattern. I have a gut feeling these cases are linked.” Wolfe glanced toward the door as Kane entered. “Two men gunned down and left to rot at the side of the road.”
Intrigued, Jenna studied the unfamiliar crime scene photographs. “Both shot in the back and then head.”
“You’d imagine the shooter dropped them and then came in to finish them at close range, but this isn’t the case.” Wolfe looked at Kane. “I believe this shooter has left his signature behind.”
“Are you referring to the feathers we found at both scenes?” Kane moved closer to peer at the body on the examination table.
“Nope. There wasn’t any mention of a feather. Maybe they missed it.” Wolfe used a remote control to zoom in on an autopsy image of another victim. “The angle of the shots isn’t consistent with that theory. These injuries are the same as Parker Louis and Tim Addams. What do you see, Kane?”
“From the trajectory of the bullet, I’d say shoulder shot, and as they fell a follow-up to the head, so he fired rapid shots at the same distance.” Kane moved his gaze to Jenna. “One victim might be a coincidence, but two identical ones that tie up to victims in another town is a signature method of killing to me. He could’ve easily taken them down with a headshot. It would’ve been a clean kill, and if he is a hitman, one shot and get the hell out of dodge is usual. This indicates to me he wanted to inflict maximum pain.” He pointed to the X-rays of the Stanton Forest victims. “To smash the clavicle like that takes precision. That injury is excruciatingly painful.”
Fascinated, Jenna examined the X-rays. “With the headshots coming so fast, the pain wouldn’t have lasted very long, seconds at best. It hardly seems satisfying enough for a psychopath.” She turned to Kane. “We’ve seen many who torture their victims, and a slow death feeds the thrill. What kind of crazy are we dealing with this time?”
“I’d like to hunt down any other matches to this case and maybe speak to the profilers involved before I make a decision. You see, these crimes cover both ends of the spectrum.” Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “We have what looks like a definite hit, likely paid. So, say we consider that’s the reason the killer is in town. The Robinson murder was almost clinical, but then we have these two.” He waved a hand toward the victims. “These aren’t hits. I figure it was their unlucky day. They pissed off a psychopath.”
“Hmm.” Jenna turned to Emily. “How far did you extend the search?”
“Montana. I used the newspaper archives and followed up with a call to Butte to obtain the files.” Emily shot a haughty look at Wolfe. “I don’t have clearance to search the other databases.”
Jenna smiled behind her mask. “Don’t worry, it’s our job to hunt down similar crimes.” She turned back to Kane. “So how far would a hitman travel?”
“That would depend on several factors: is he a freelancer or does he work for a boss?” Kane raised both eyebrows. “He could be a cartel heavy, but unless Mr. Robinson was into drugs, gambling, or people-smuggling, which I doubt, or has been subpoenaed to testify against someone, I’d say he’s a freelancer.”
The enormity of the problem rested heavily on Jenna’s shoulders. “If we find similar murders, we’ll need to liaise with other law enforcement departments and speak to the officers on those cases.”
She could think of nothing worse. Dealing with different filing systems was one thing, but people had their own way of investigating crimes; sure, they followed procedure, but only a few could match her team, and sometimes it was the small things that people missed in an investigation that could solve the case.
“Any other questions or shall I continue?” Wolfe’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts.
Jenna shook her head. “No, what else did you discover?”
“I’ll send you a full report once the toxicology results are available, but as far as I can determine, both Louis and Addams were healthy men for their age. Cause of death in both was a gunshot wound to the head. Again, by the small entry wound, the permanent cavity exit wound, and brain matter spatter at the scene, we can safely say hollow-points, and from the damage sustained, I’d say the weapon was a rifle.”
Jenna peered at the body of Tim Addams. “Why do the shoulder exit wounds differ from the headshots? Would this indicate two shooters?”
“No.” Wolfe cleared his throat as if to get Emily’s and Webber’s attention. “We’re talking about kinetic energy, or the size of a bullet and how fast it travels before it hits the target. The damage inflicted depends on the type of tissue it hits. Soft tissue absorbs less energy from the projectile so allows it to pass through, causing less damage.
Hard areas, like skulls or bones, often absorb most of the energy and result in the bullet causing massive damage.”
“But all we found were fragments at the scene. Is there nothing we can use to do a ballistics test?” Jenna glanced at Kane, worried they’d missed vital evidence. “Surely if the bullets went through soft tissue, as you say, we’d have found at least one of the bullets inside the victim.”
“I’m afraid not. The bullet hit bone before exiting. Soft tissue absorbs the kinetic energy and slows down the bullet, so they often remain inside the body. If a hollow point hits bone, it increases the kinetic energy, which mushrooms the bullet, spreading the damage and causing a permanent cavity exit wound. I have fragments from the Robinson case and what we found at the Stanton Forest crime scene. Wolfe looked at her. “I’ll examine them to see if they’re from the same weapon, but I doubt it. The shooter wouldn’t have used a rifle for the Robinson murder, and from the damage to the two in the forest, he used a rifle to make the distance at that velocity. Find me the killer’s weapons, and I’ll conduct a test and see if we have a match.”
Easier said than done. Jenna turned to Emily. “Can you send me the Butte casefiles? We’ll head back to the office and see what else we can hunt down.”
“I’ll do it now.” Emily moved to the computer and tapped away at the keyboard. “Done.”
“Okay.” Wolfe turned to Webber. “You can close up Mr. Louis for me. Emily, I’ll leave Mr. Addams to you. When you’re done, take the tissue samples to the lab.” He pulled off his gloves and headed for the door. “I need to speak to Dave and Jenna in my office.”
Jenna followed him into the hallway with Kane on her heels. “Is something wrong?”
“I have a very bad feeling about this killer.” Wolfe waved a hand toward the morgue door. “I’ve seen this MO before and read about similar cases in other states.” He led the way toward his office. “I have a contact in the FBI who worked on cases in Baltimore involving the killer leaving a black feather, and I think you should talk to her. With these last two and the ones I uncovered, there has to be more. We’re talking about an extremely dangerous and active serial killer moving from state to state. If this is the same person, we’ll need all the help we can get.”
Twenty-One
Snakeskin Gully, Montana
Exhausted, Jo Blake dropped into her office chair and pushed both hands through her hair. What am I doing here? The truth slapped her in the face and she pushed it to one side, unable to cope with any more stress. As if moving homes with her seven-year-old daughter and setting up an FBI field office in a remote, backwoods town in Montana wasn’t enough to deal with, now her phone was ringing. “Special Agent Jo Blake.”
“Jo, it’s Shane Wolfe.”
Jo brightened, stood, and walked into the main office. “Now there’s a voice from the past. Last I heard, you’d given up the good life and gone into forensic science. Where are you living now?”
“I’m out of Black Rock Falls, Montana, aka Serial Killer Central. I’m the medical examiner for here and the neighboring counties.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “We have a fine profiler here, but if you have time, could I pick your brains on a case that’s come our way?”
“Montana? Small world that’s where I am too. I’m out of Snakeskin Gully.” Jo’s voice echoed in the massive, almost empty room. “Yeah, I’ll be glad to help as soon as I get settled. Give me a couple of days. I don’t have any staff and haven’t located the agent assigned to me. I’ll put you on speaker but don’t worry, this place is like Fort Knox. They used the old firehouse, so it’s a huge building and has a helipad on the roof. I even have my own bird but no one to fly it.”
“What? Why did you leave DC?”
The sinking feeling in Jo’s stomach lurched again and she swallowed hard to prevent the anger and remorse from welling up inside her. “Long story, but after a messy divorce, the boss sent me to here to set up a field office. I’m here with Jaime, and you’ll remember Clara, her nanny?” She sighed. “But enough about me. I was so sorry to hear about your wife’s passing. Are the girls coping okay?”
“Thanks, and yes they’re fine.”
Jo’s mind filled with memories of a happy family and amazing barbecues. “Okay, what do you need?”
“Do you recall the string of unsolved murders in and around Baltimore?” Wolfe paused a beat. “The kills had similarities, in particular a black feather left on scene, and you thought they’d been committed by the same person?”
Jo thought for a moment and nodded to herself. The brutal murders and their strange twists had her mind working overtime. “Yes, I remember. The Chameleon Killer. I found similarities in murder cases in other states as well. Some of the murders resembled hits and the others more personal. He’s had me baffled a few times because we’re either looking at three or more killers or a person with a variety of violent personality disorders. He may be suffering from dissociative identity disorder. He’s still out there, we never caught him.”
“I think he might be here.”
A cold chill seeped through her as if warning her to stay away. Images too horrific for her mind to comprehend blindsided her for a moment before she pulled herself together. “Send me the file. I’ll see if it matches anything I have on file. If this is the same killer, I’ll need a team to assist your sheriff; right now, it’s just me.”
“There’s no rush. We have an excellent team here. Jenna Alton has solved many murder cases, and she has an ex-military profiler for a deputy.” Wolfe sounded proud of the people he worked alongside. “I’ll talk to her. If this is the same man, you know him better than we do. I’ll send out to all agencies to contact me if any similar cases have happened in their state. This killer may be spreading himself wide.”
Jo googled Black Rock Falls on her computer and peered at the map. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve gone over the files and unpacked.” She blinked at the remote town, sitting snug in the mountain range. “I’ve found your location; it’s almost as remote as here. It must be at least three hours’ drive away. If it’s the same man, I can give you a few days, but I can’t be away from home too long. We’ve just arrived and Jaime starts at her new school in the morning. She’s taken the divorce pretty hard.” She stood and wandered to the window overlooking the local sheriff’s department.
“I can imagine. Anna went into herself for weeks after her mom died. Look, I don’t want to upset her. We can make a video call if necessary. The roads into Black Rock Falls aren’t safe for someone traveling alone, and the weather out here has been unpredictable.” Wolfe sounded exhausted. “It’s a beautiful town, lovely people, but for some reason a magnet for murder.”
Jo walked back into her office and sat down behind the desk. She turned the chipped mug on her desk with the words “World’s Best Mom” on the side and selected a pen from the stack inside. She added notes to the list of to-do items. “I don’t intend to drive there with the first snow forecast. It will depend on when I can get someone to pilot the chopper. I have an off-the-grid operative out in the woods, Carter. I have the task to go tell him he’s now back on active duty.”
“Don’t tell me they’ve assigned Ty Carter to work with you?” Wolfe sounded astonished.
Jo dropped her head into her hands. “Oh Lord, please don’t tell me he’s a problem.” She stared at her cellphone screen. “All his jacket tells me is he’s thirty-six, an ex-Navy Seal turned FBI. He’s a first responder and spent five years in the crime investigation division. Top in his field. Helicopter pilot and arms expert. On leave for PTSD after three innocent kids died during a raid and does not intend to return to work any time soon.”
“He’s good—one of the best crime investigators around.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “Well, he was before he went off the grid. He had a few family problems around that time too. It must have been substantial because his trail kinda ran cold around two years ago.” He paused a beat. “He was involved in cybercrime as well. Do you have an agent to c
over that end of things?”
“Allow me to explain.” Jo rolled her eyes. “Do you remember Alexis Davenport, the head of my department?”
“Oh, yeah. She comes with a warning.”
“John was having an affair with her and gave her some personal information on me that could ruin my career.” Jo gripped her hands so tight her knuckles ached. “Alexis wanted my signature on the divorce papers and me as far away from Washington, DC as possible. She gave me an ultimatum and I had to comply or end up penniless on the street. She gave me the mission from hell. I’m in the backwoods of the Wild West with orders to scratch up a team and set about creating an FBI Crime Scene Investigation go-to for the remote sheriff’s departments.” She forced her voice not to tremble. “She gave me a list of possible staff members—let me see, she supplied me with three. An office administrator, a local who didn’t show this morning, then we have Ty Carter. The third is our cyber superstar Black Hat Hacker from juvi turned White Hat with the tag ‘The Undertaker,’ who works at the local computer store.” She snorted. “So, my friend, life here is just peachy.”
“Oh, I see. You’ll need an ME. You can call on me if you don’t have anyone.”
Jo straightened in her chair. “I might steal you. We have a state-of-the-art facility here. One thing I did insist on was a building outfitted with everything we need. I must admit, Alexis did supply me with the best equipment. I guess she believed my husband was worth it.”
“And what do you think, Jo?” Wolfe’s voice soothed her shattered nerves.
Forcing down the need to laugh hysterically at the way her life had disintegrated, she stared at the phone. “To be honest, I believe they deserve each other. Enough about me. I’ll look over the files and call you back.”
“Thanks, Jo.” Wolfe disconnected.
Jo waited for the files to arrive and scanned them quickly. The familiarity of the crime scenes made her stare into space trying to make sense of it all. The Chameleon Killer had moved into Black Rock Falls. She shook her head in disbelief. “And so it begins.”
