He knew that was why he got ticked off when Diana had brought Will along like she’d done out at Seven Mile. It was like he’d flunked a class and the tutor had to come in to bring him back up to speed. It wasn’t what Diana was doing; it just felt that way. His reaction had been childish and he owed her an apology. Probably Will too.
Now, when Will was doing everything he could to help him, Paul had to let go of his feelings of inadequacy. That’s not what any of this was about. He could do it too, even if he wasn’t quite ready to go so far as to apologize.
Even so, when he had to cut Will off so he could leave to meet Diana at the cemetery, the timing couldn’t have been better. He was ready to give it a break. Besides, over the last couple of days, he hadn’t seen or heard from Brenda. Maybe the worst was over and he didn’t need to waste Will or Maddie’s time. Maybe it was the light of the very dark tunnel.
Police presence was in full force by the time he pulled up at the cemetery. Diana’s car was there and he could see Brian talking with Circe. Frankly, he was surprised to see her here. Diana hadn’t mentioned they’d called in the K9 team. Then he noticed what she was wearing: running tights, running shoes, and a black and yellow hydration belt. She certainly hadn’t come out to search in that get-up. So, what the hell had happened here?
“Brian, Circe,” he said when he walked up to them. “What have we got?”
Circe didn’t answer and instead deferred to Brian. “We have murder…again.”
The techs were already at work uncovering what appeared to be a tarp. Diana was standing behind the techs watching intently as they worked. He had a very real sense of déjà vu. Didn’t they just uncover another scene like this less than half a mile away? Only this time someone had a really warped sense of humor by burying the body on the fringe of a popular cemetery. That was fucked up.
Circe looked tired even though it was barely nine. “We were out for a run when we found this.” She waved her hand toward the makeshift grave. “What a way to mess up a perfectly good morning.”
“I’m sorry,” he said as put a hand on her shoulder. He noticed that Zelda eyed him as he touched her but apparently decided he was no risk.
“Circe?”
He whirled at the sound of Lisa’s voice. She came hurrying toward them with a patrol officer at her heels. “She said you were waiting for her?” the officer said in a rush as he tried to keep up. His cheeks were red and he was breathing hard.
“Thanks, Steve,” Brian said to the young man. “We got her.”
Relief washed across the policeman’s face. “You sure?”
Brian. “Yeah, it’s all good.
The young uniformed man pivoted and returned to his post on the tape line.
“Thanks for coming,” Circe said. “I appreciate you taking Zelda home.”
Lisa gave her a tentative smile and put an arm around her shoulders. “You know it’s no problem. I’m happy to help. I’m just sorry this happened to you. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you?”
Circe shook her head. “No. I’ll be out of here before too long. I just didn’t want to keep Zelda here if I didn’t have to.” She handed Lisa Zelda’s lead.
Paul couldn’t believe how excited and happy he was to see Lisa, even though they were at a very unexpected crime scene. Something was wrong with him.
“I’ll walk you back to your car,” he offered when Lisa turned to leave.
“You don’t have to.” She was holding Zelda’s lead and biting her bottom lip. This obviously wasn’t the kind of scene she was comfortable in. Not many people were.
So yeah, he did have to walk her to the car. “I know. I want to. I’ll keep the looky-lous away from you. Trust me, the second they realize you were allowed beyond the tape, they’ll hit you hard to try and find out anything they can. They can be relentless too. With me by your side, they’ll leave you alone.”
She nodded and relief softened the lines in her face. “Thanks.”
He put a hand on her lower back as he guided her through the mass of officers, tech staff, and on-lookers. His hand felt natural there. A couple of the loitering press started their way, but he cut them off with a look and they had the good sense to back off. Too bad that look didn’t have the same effect on Brenda.
Her car was parked at the end of a line of patrol cars, and Zelda jumped into the back when Lisa opened the door. She circled once and lay down, obviously very comfortable. He held open the driver’s door for Lisa. She got in and buckled her seat belt.
With an arm on the roof, he leaned in through the open door. “Will you be okay?”
She looked pale and shaken. Though she lived with a team that routinely went out on human-remains detection searches, her body language showed her discomfort with this type of situation. If she could be anywhere else, she would be.
Lisa nodded and gave him a small smile. “I’ll be fine once we’re away from here. This,” she waved a hand in the direction of where Brian, Diana, and Circe stood talking, “is a little much for me.”
It would be a lot for anyone to take. The fact she didn’t hesitate and came for her friend said a great deal about the kind of person she was. Her selflessness spoke to him and drew him closer. He wanted to know so much more about her. He wanted to know everything about her.
“Can I call you?” he said before his mind had a chance to engage. The second the words were out of his mouth, he inwardly cringed. Only an ass would ask something like that at a time like this. Yeah, he was some kind of ass all right, and truthfully, he wasn’t sorry. She was a special woman and he had to spend more time with her.
Without hesitating she held out her hand, her expression serious and her eyes bright. “Give me your phone.”
He didn’t pause to consider whether it was a good idea. Instead, he quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it in her palm. With her head down, she nimbly punched in her number and then handed it back to him.
“Call me anytime.” She flashed him a quick smile. Her face was still pale, but that tiny smile sent warmth coursing through him.
Again, without giving himself enough time to think about it, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Count on it,” he whispered into her ear. Then he closed the car door and motioned for the officers manning the barricades to let her through.
*
Seriously? They’d found her? How in the bloody hell did that happen? No way should she have been discovered, yet there they all were with their yellow tape, crime-scene techs, and big brass who thought it would give them good press if they were to be seen here. One big damn sideshow.
Jesus, it pissed him off. He didn’t like his work disturbed, and he didn’t like local law enforcement getting too geared up. That was bad. Too much scrutiny, which made it more difficult to tidy things up after a night of hard work.
He was close to having everything he needed, particularly after the beautiful gift from Eve. The thoughtfulness she’d displayed in preparing that for him put him way ahead. The way he calculated it, give him a week, two, tops, and he’d be ready. Between the spell and the potions created from the sacrifices of the women who came to his special room, he would be free for the first time in his life.
That is if everything else stayed in line. The cops had to stop finding his women. In the big picture, he didn’t worry about their being dug up. He didn’t like it much and would prefer they stay where he put them. No, it was more about the spotlight issue and that he needed to be unobtrusive. Once he was done, for all he cared they could dig up each and every one. New and old. Of course, he doubted they would find any of the first ones, and even if they did, they’d play hell connecting them to him.
She was his other problem. Lately she was more moody than usual, and when she got this way, she could be a giant pain in his ass. If he could get rid of her, he would. It wasn’t that simple and never had been, and so he was stuck with trying to soothe her ruffled feathers in an attempt to keep her content. When she was happy, everyon
e was happy. As soon as he completed his task and put the magic in the book to good use, he could cut her loose and be by himself once and for all. He could hardly wait for the day.
In the meantime, he would just have to be patient and stay the course. He could keep an eye on things and then simply be extra careful. No harm, no foul.
The tall officer he’d seen in Peaceful Valley days before was walking a pretty woman and the dog, the damn dog, to a sedan parked at the back of a line of police cars. Why it bothered him the man was walking so close to the woman, he couldn’t imagine. Yet it did. An uncomfortable feeling washed over him as he saw the man kiss the woman. Everything in him screamed danger. Didn’t make sense and yet the feeling refused to be pushed aside.
Shifting from foot to foot, he swept his gaze across the group of people surrounding him. It was easy to stand here and blend in with the crowd of onlookers. No one paid any particular attention to him. He should just stay here and not draw any unwanted attention to himself.
He couldn’t. Trouble whispered in the light breeze that blew through the trees. The scent of something rotten was wafting through the air. Unease turned to fear. Trying not to be conspicuous he meandered away from the crowd and toward his own car parked at the church up the road from where the crowd gathered. Once out of sight of law enforcement, he ran and jumped into his car. He spied the little sedan as it sped by the church and had it in his view a minute later. Pressing the accelerator, he smiled. A few minutes ago everything felt wrong, and now everything felt right.
Chapter Twelve
Circe’s heart ached for the young woman whose body they pulled from the shallow grave. Wrapped in a tarp, she was buried about four feet down. Someone had done a respectable job of concealing her location, especially considering how close to the road they had placed her. The grass had been replaced so carefully, a casual observer would have never noticed the spot for the grave it really was.
The beautiful wrought-iron fence probably made the difference. The ivy crawling up the six-foot fence would have hidden someone from the glancing view of a passing vehicle. And, if the culprit had timed it right, there would be little to no traffic on the road at all. Plenty of time to do the deed and be gone before the daylight made an appearance. Someone had thought this through with an eye toward every detail. Sad, really, that a person would spend such time and energy on an endeavor so evil.
Like the three from Peaceful Valley, this woman was pretty yet carried an aura of sadness that made Circe wish she could do more than simply take her home. She longed to give her peace as well and knew she was powerless to do that.
The sun had moved across the sky and was now high overhead. It warmed her face, and she wished it could warm the ice in her heart. The police no longer needed her to stay. All their questions had been asked and answered. She could have left hours ago and chose not to. Instead, she made her way to the basalt-rock wishing well just inside the cemetery entrance. It was large and beautiful, with a three-foot ledge surrounding the water and flowers blooming all around. Sitting on the ledge, she watched and waited.
It was well past lunchtime when Diana came over and sat down next to her. “I’m so sorry this had to happen to you.”
So was she, although she suspected they were thinking of two different things. Circe just wanted to be able to go for an innocent eight-mile run and experience nothing more than tight muscles and heavy breathing. What Diana didn’t realize was that every time she went for a run, or anywhere else for that matter, she always ran the risk of locating the dead. They were always there waiting for her, often in places she believed were safe. That was really a misguided belief because of one thing she’d learned: there was no safe place when it came to seeing the dead.
She ran her hands through her hair and looked off over the acres of manicured grass. All was quiet, at least for now. Her work, for the moment, was done. “Better me than someone without the proper training.” More training than Diana could ever imagine.
Diana nodded. “You have a very valid point. Still, it sucks to have a beautiful morning ruined by death. You were probably looking forward to a nice, peaceful run, not hours filled with this.” She waved a hand toward the spot where a few officers still remained. The young woman’s body was gone, as were most of the techs. Workers from the cemetery were there with their own equipment, putting the patch of land back to its former grassy expanse. It didn’t take away any of the sadness the discovery filled her with.
How many of her beautiful mornings had been ruined by death over the years? More than she could count, and a lot more than she was ever able to tell anyone. Somewhere, sometime, she was going to find that special person she could share her secret with. Beyond Vickie, that is. Vickie was her best friend, bar none, and without her Circe would have been committed years ago.
Even with that kind of friendship, she longed for more. No one she’d met so far had been able to fill the place in her heart that always felt empty, and maybe it was because so far she hadn’t met anyone she trusted enough to share her secret. It wasn’t that love completely eluded her.
On the contrary, she’d fallen in love a time or two, and she took full responsibility for the demise of those relationships. Loving passionately was one thing. Loving unconditionally was another. The fault was hers. She hadn’t found the courage to step across that line…yet. It would be nice to be able to look across a pillow at someone and share the truth.
She took one of Diana’s hands. “I love my Sunday runs and was looking forward to tackling the Bloomsday course this morning. Finding the body of a young woman was the last thing on my mind. It is sad, but you know it would be even sadder if she was left there without anyone ever knowing what happened. She needed to be found, and Zelda and I were the ones who needed to find her. Funny how the universe works sometimes.”
Diana’s fingers curled around hers and squeezed. “I love the way you take a worst-case scenario and turn it positive. Not very many people can do that.”
Circe shrugged. “I’ve had a fair amount of experience.”
“I think you’re more than just your experiences.” Diana turned Circe’s hand over in hers and stroked her palm with her thumb. Her head was down as she spoke. “Circe, this going to sound odd given where we are and most likely really inappropriate…”
Circe’s heart sang a little at the stumbling words. She sensed where this was going, and it shoved away the gloom of the morning’s discovery. “I like you too.”
Diana’s head snapped up and her eyes met Circe’s. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Diana’s eyes reflected everything she’d been feeling, which made her heart sing.
Maybe she’d underestimated this day. Maybe it was going to turn into a really good one after all.
*
One thing about this Sunday, it went by fast. Paul was so focused after Lisa left, everything flew by with incredible speed. Diana seemed to be in the same mode, and they worked side by side for hours, exchanging only a few words. Another one of the reasons their partnership worked so well.
Everyone believed the same person had killed all the women they’d discovered recently. The medical examiner and the forensics would have to confirm that theory, but a room full of cops all with the same gut instinct said a lot. Four victims discovered in less than a week. As much as Paul hated to admit it, from all appearances, they had another serial killer in the area.
That thought made him sad. The city had never fully recovered from the reign of Robert Yates and would never be quite the same. So many lives were lost and trust in law enforcement shaken at its very foundation. If this got out of hand…he didn’t want to consider the ramifications. This was a great city, in a great state, and it didn’t deserve to be plagued by the kind of evil that created killers this heinous.
Rather than focusing on the negative, he opted to focus on solving this string of murders. They would stop this bastard before anyone else lost their life. He refused to allow another serial killer to m
ake Spokane his playground. When he came into law enforcement he took an oath to serve and protect, and by God, that’s exactly what he planned to do. It was important to him that his family, friends, and neighbors trust in him and in those he worked with. Stopping this killer quickly would go a long way toward earning that trust.
Diana was the first one to call it a night. She stood, stretched her arms over her head, and sighed. “Time to quit for the day,” she said to him. “My brain’s fried. The body’s willing but the brain isn’t.”
Paul pushed back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. As he rolled his head from side to side he was dismayed by the snaps that testified to how long he’d had his head bent toward the computer. “With you on that one, D. I’m pretty sure my eyes are bleeding from staring at this screen for so long.”
She took a drink from the coffee mug she picked up off her desk and made a face. Putting it back down, she said, “We need fully firing synapses for this.”
“You know they’ll create a task force.” He could see the handwriting on the wall. Oh, they’d be part of the multi-jurisdictional task force, of course. But they would most certainly not be leading it. The job would go to someone with much higher political aspirations than either he or Diana possessed. It was the American way.
Her tired eyes looked even more tired. “I give them twenty-four hours.”
“Sucker’s bet.”
“Come on.” She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair. “Let’s get the hell out of here. At this point, we’re not doing anything helpful.”
She was right. At some point fatigue takes a toll on the body and the work. A few hours of shut-eye would do wonders. As much as he’d loved to stay here and power through, his body was screaming for him to rest. “Meet you back here first thing in the morning.”
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