Nail on the Head (Detective Kate Rosetti Mystery Book 5)

by Gina LaManna

  “Russo,” Jimmy said. “Good to see you. Flight was okay?”

  “Smooth sailing,” Jack said. “It’s good to see you again, Detective Jones.”

  Asha clapped Jack on the back as her greeting. Chloe sort of stood around looking uncomfortable until I stepped in.

  “Chloe, this is Agent Jack Russo of the FBI.” I waved between them. “Jack, meet Officer Chloe Marks, the newest member of the team.”

  Chloe practically glowed at the introduction. She pumped Jack’s hand enthusiastically. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so many good things about you. Not to mention, after I heard yesterday that the FBI was sending you and Agent Brody, I read up on a few of your case files, as well as Agent Brody’s file in relation to Clint Flystone. It’s an honor to meet you.”

  I gave a tiny shake of my head at Chloe.

  “Too much?” She winced, then turned to Jack. “Sorry. I’ve been told before that I come on too strong. I’m just very thrilled to be working with such talented agents and detectives.”

  Russo was smiling. “Thank you, Officer Marks. It’s nice to meet you too.”

  The door opened again, and this time the person joining us was a new face to me. He was tall and very handsome, in a polished, well-manicured way. It looked like Central Casting had sent us their best attempt at a good-looking guy to play the lead in a police procedural network series.

  “Agent Maxwell Brody,” Jack said, “meet the gang.”

  Agent Brody glanced around the room and gave a smile with perfectly white teeth. His hair was a shiny brown, his eyes an even deeper brown. He wasn’t quite as tall as Russo, but he was built like a cop—lithe and in shape. He wore a suit that looked like it wasn’t covered under any sort of FBI salary.

  “Detective Kate Rosetti,” I said, standing to shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for coming to help us.”

  The rest of the room added their introductions. The chief thanked him as well. The only person who couldn’t seem to utter a word was Chloe. It seemed like her jaw had permanently become affixed to the floor.

  “And this is Officer Marks,” I said, giving her an elbow. “She’s new here. Just started this week.”

  “Then I guess you won’t be showing me around,” Agent Brody joked as he shook Chloe’s hand. “We can learn the ropes together.”

  Chloe limply shook his hand but either didn’t get the joke or was too shy to respond. I nudged her into the chair next to me. Thankfully, we all took seats shortly thereafter and started the impromptu meeting that’d gotten scheduled early this morning.

  “Thank you all for joining,” Chief Sturgeon said. “I thought it would be good to touch base seeing as we’ve asked the FBI to assist on the case.”

  Melinda brushed into the meeting a few minutes late. She nodded around to the room and gave a wave at Jack and Agent Brody, but she didn’t interrupt.

  “I assume we’ve all read the latest briefs sent around?” The chief didn’t wait for a response. “Good. Then we won’t go over the information we already know, in the interest of saving time. However, I’d like to quickly hear Agent Brody’s take on the situation as he knows Clint Flystone better than anyone.”

  Agent Brody cleared his throat and flashed another smile. “Thanks for having me. I’ll preface by saying that I don’t want to impose on your investigation. I just want to add whatever insights I can to help.”

  The room was silent as we all listened to Agent Brody.

  “The thing you have to understand about Clint Flystone is that he’s one of the most complex criminals I’ve ever dealt with,” Brody continued. “He’s a psychopath of the highest order, certainly. He shows no remorse for what he’s done. He almost cheerfully confessed to his crimes once we had him in custody.”

  “And you’re sure his confession was genuine?” Chief Sturgeon asked. “Do you have any lingering doubts about its authenticity? Could he have been covering for someone?”

  “There was never any evidence he worked with a partner of any sort.” Brody briefly looked down at his hands. “I have wondered if there was someone else involved in the past, but I just couldn’t link anything. As for the confession, I do believe it. He shared more than enough information that only the killer—or someone incredibly close to the killer—would know. While I can’t be completely certain, I am absolutely positive that he was involved in the killings somehow. He deserves to be in jail.”

  “Jack—” I stopped talking almost as soon as I’d started. “Er, Agent Russo mentioned that one of the sticking points of the case was the victims and how they were selected. There were six murders before Flystone was caught?”

  Agent Brody nodded. “I’ve tossed and turned many nights wondering how his victims were linked. Flystone is too cautious and careful to choose people at random.”

  I raised a finger to interrupt and explained the theory I’d suggested to Russo the night before. That Flystone had selected his victims randomly but also intentionally. Careful enough to create the illusion of it being a calculated list. Careful chaos.

  “That’s eventually what I’ve had to settle on in a way,” Brody admitted. “I can’t find any links between all six of the victims. I’ve tried to link them individually to Flystone. I’ve tried to link them all to one another. I’ve even tried to link them to his daily life. Once we identified Flystone as a person of interest in the case, I followed him around for days. I watched which coffee shops he frequented, which grocery stores he went to. The routes he took to get home. Everything. And I came up empty handed.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Because even if they were random, Flystone would’ve had to have found them somehow.”

  “Exactly,” Brody said. “It’s one of the reasons I’m so skeptical of the case and how it ended. It looked like a nice, gift-wrapped box for the judge. But it didn’t sit right with me. It was too neat. All these years later, and Flystone’s never uttered a word more about the case. Once he gave us his confession, he never spoke about it again to my knowledge.”

  “That is strange, even for a serial killer.”

  Brody nodded. “I got a message from Dr. Brooks yesterday. We chatted on the phone and agreed that while there were definitely differences between your case and Flystone’s, there were also enough similarities to warrant a bit deeper investigation. If nothing else, to satisfy my curiosity.” He paused, spread his hands, and glanced around the room. “I’m sure you all know how it goes. Some cases just get under your skin. This one is mine.”

  Chief Sturgeon tapped his fingers against the table. “Right. Dr. Brooks, anything from you?”

  “We’re waiting on lab results still,” Melinda said. “I’ve passed everything that I’ve found, from the autopsy on, to the rest of the team at this point.”

  “Agents Russo and Brody will be accompanying me on a trip down to Illinois today,” I said. “We’ll be leaving directly after the meeting. We believe it’s prudent to pay an in-person visit to Clint Flystone. We can try to rattle his cage, and see if it shakes anything loose.”

  “You’ll be back today?” the chief asked.

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “We’re driving straight down and back after the interview.”

  “Meanwhile,” Asha said, “Chloe and I are going to continue to work on locating the victim’s brother. The guy’s name is Holden Newton, and Detective Rosetti confirmed yesterday that he ditched his apartment this week.”

  “You think he’s on the run?” the chief asked.

  “Either that or he’s clueless,” Chloe muttered. When heads swiveled to face her, she turned pink at the cheeks. “I just mean the timing is awfully coincidental. Compare that to the fact that nobody has seen or heard from him since the brother’s murder. Not to mention he hasn’t used any credit cards or social media accounts either.”

  “He couldn’t be dead, could he?” Agent Brody wondered aloud. He shrugged his shoulders. “Just thinking that could explain the radio silence.”

  �
��It’s a possibility,” I said. “Granted, we haven’t really explored it yet. We were looking at him as a person of interest, but I suppose if the brothers were involved in something unsavory together, there’s a chance they were both killed because of it.”

  Chief Sturgeon stood up. “It sounds like everyone’s got something productive to do. I’d like to see progress reports in my inbox from each of you, or at least each group of you, by the end of every day. Any prudent information should be copied to everyone else in this room. Got it?”

  Another round of nods, then the chief left the room. Melinda followed shortly thereafter, ducking her head in conversation with Asha. The two women disappeared down the hall. Jack and Agent Brody each reached for doughnuts, presumably to fuel up for the trip ahead. I headed for my desk, and Jimmy followed close behind. It wasn’t long after I’d taken a seat in my chair that I felt a presence behind me.

  I swiveled to find Chloe sitting at her desk. She was staring at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You’re so lucky,” she said, fanning herself. “He’s freaking hot.”

  “Who?”

  “Agent Brody. I mean, I don’t know, both of them, I guess, but I wasn’t really looking at Agent Russo. Obviously he’s spoken for since the two of you are an item. Now you get to be trapped in a car for six hours with two gorgeous federal agents? It’s like you’re the star of some Hollywood flick.”

  “It’s really not that exciting,” I said, thinking of my conversation with Russo earlier this morning. “We’re going to pay a visit to a sociopath.”

  “I’m telling you,” Chloe said, swiveling back to her desk, “the screenplay is writing itself.”

  “I told you,” Jimmy called from one desk over, “Sandra Bullock.”

  “Totally.” Chloe nodded. “Sandra Bullock would totally play her.”

  I left my two associates dreaming about the silver screen and went to find Asha at her desk. Melinda had already vanished to her basement labs to work on an autopsy for a different case that’d come in overnight.

  “Are you sure you’re okay watching Chloe another day?” I asked. “I hate to foist her off on you again, but I don’t think taking her along is a good idea.”

  Asha grinned. “I saw the way she was eyeing up Russo’s friend. If you left them together in a car, they might just disappear to some cheap motel on the side of the road if you weren’t careful.”

  I bit back a smile. “You really don’t mind entertaining Chloe another day?”

  “Honestly, Kate, she’s great,” Asha said, and she seemed like she meant it. “If you don’t want her as an intern, I might just have to steal her. She trains up fast, and she’s good with tech. She found some messages from Holden that would have taken me at least another hour to find.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I hadn’t thought to check TikTok,” Asha said with a roll of her eyes. “I can’t keep up with the kids these days. Anyway, go on your road trip. Have fun. I’ll call you if anything turns up, but it seems like Holden is either holed up or dead. I don’t know that I’d hold my breath for breaking news today.”

  “What about Tammy?” I asked. “Are you keeping eyes on the fiancée?”

  Asha nodded. “She’s had no activity except an Uber Eats delivery last night and an overdue Netflix bill pinging through this morning.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I turned to go find the two agents who’d be joining me on the road trip. “Wish me luck.”

  Chapter 14

  THE DRIVE DOWN TO ILLINOIS went surprisingly quick. Agent Brody was obviously smart and driven in his work, judging by the way he spoke about his cases. Fortunately, he was also easy to hold a conversation with. Plus, he had good taste in music.

  Most of the conversation was buoyed by Russo and Brody catching up on people they both knew, and frankly, I didn’t mind sitting in the back and watching the scenery flick past the window. It was obvious the two were good friends, and it was interesting to see Russo interacting with someone from his own life instead of mine.

  Russo had adapted well to my family and friends, but Minnesota wasn’t his territory. The people here were my people, and though he got along with them well, it was different between him and Brody. I liked seeing him relaxed and smiling with a friend he obviously trusted. It made me wonder what other sides of Russo I hadn’t seen solely because of the distance keeping us apart.

  For a moment, I could almost pretend the three of us were going out to dinner on a Friday night, a quick, friendly bite to eat after work. Something Russo and I might do if we lived together and had a normal life—the sort of thing people did when they were in a normal, non-long-distance relationship.

  But we weren’t going out for a leisurely coffee or dinner among friends. We were trying to untangle the motives behind a twisted serial killer to see if he might be connected to a brand-new murder.

  After two quick bathroom breaks on the way down and Brody’s speedy driving, we arrived outside of a maximum-security prison just across the border of Illinois.

  I got out of the car, stretched my legs, and waited as the two guys did the same. Russo sidled over to me, resting a hand on my arm and gently guiding me a few steps away from Agent Brody.

  “We’re going to let him take the lead on this part, all right?” Though Russo’s voice was soft, he clearly wasn’t asking me a question. He eyed me carefully.

  “I’d still like to be in there,” I said. “It is my case after all.”

  “Please, Kate. Let him take the lead. You have to give him that much.”

  “I don’t know Agent Brody. I’m sure he’s a great agent, but—”

  “You trust me, don’t you?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Well, I trust him. Let him handle this.”

  I got the sense this case went deeper than anything the two men had shared on the surface. I wasn’t sure if the case itself was personal for Brody, or if this was simply the one that had gotten away, but it was clear this mattered not only to Agent Brody but to Russo too. I relented with a grudging nod.

  A few minutes later, we were headed inside the prison, checked our weapons, and made it through security. A guard was waiting to take us to Flystone.

  We got set up outside of an interview room. Brody paced up and down the halls as Russo and I slipped into a second room with a monitor set up so that we’d be able to see and hear everything happening inside the room as Brody interrogated Clint.

  It wasn’t long before a forty-something male was led into the room. Clint Flystone’s hair was peppered gray and white. He had a small smile etched onto his face as if he was permanently amused by his surroundings. His eyes were a dark brown, his body quite normal. Thin, not too muscular—aside from the jumpsuit, it looked like he could be a normal guy shopping at the local Trader Joe’s. I wouldn’t have picked him out of a crowd as a murderer.

  Then again, the scariest killers weren’t the ones you could easily pick out of a lineup. They were the ones who blended in with society, who made you believe they were your friend, boyfriend, lover, colleague, confidant. Until suddenly they weren’t.

  Agent Brody entered the room shortly after. While Clint Flystone sat, his hands cuffed before him, Brody stood behind the chair on the opposite side of the table. He gripped the back of the seat, obvious tension in his knuckles.

  “Long time no see, Agent Brody.” Clint Flystone’s smile grew wider. “You made a long trip out to visit me. What’s the special occasion?”

  “I just missed you, Clint.”

  The prisoner gave a laugh. “I’m an easy guy to miss. Apparently I’m also a hard guy to forget. How many years has it been? Still pining over me?”

  “I wouldn’t say pining.” Agent Brody pulled his chair out and sat down. He folded his hands on the table. “Can you tell me why I’m here when I could be at home with my family instead?”

  “You don’t have a family.”

  Agent Brody cleared his throat and looked
annoyed. I turned to Russo.

  “He’s getting rattled,” I said. “I need to go in there. Something about this case is too personal for him.”

  Russo just put a hand on my arm. “Give him some time.”

  “How do you know I don’t have a family?” Brody shrugged. Like you said, it’s been years. I could’ve gotten married since I last saw you, had a couple of kids, and you’d never know.”

  “Yes, I would,” Clint said simply. “I know important things.”

  “Why am I still important to you?”

  “You’re not, but you could be. I like to have a few facts stashed in my pocket in case our deal ever goes south.”

  “Deal?” I turned to Russo. “Is he talking about the death penalty?”

  Russo nodded. “As far as I can tell, the only thing Clint Flystone is afraid of is dying in prison.”

  “But he’s going to die in prison. He’s sentenced to life.”

  “Yes, of natural causes,” Russo said. “For some reason, the guy’s paranoid his ticket’s gonna get punched early.”

  “Any reason you can figure why?”

  “Either he’s afraid of going out that way because of ego,” Russo mused, “or he’s holding out for some sort of early release.”

  “The latter’s not going to happen.” I glanced at Russo’s face. “You and Brody and Flystone all know it. Do you think Flystone’s holding out in hopes he’ll escape?”

  Russo gave a shrug without meeting my eyes. “Don’t they all?”

  “Our deal is in place,” Agent Brody said. “Though we might need to renegotiate if you can’t help me out with something.”

  “Renegotiate?” Flystone didn’t look worried. “My lawyer hasn’t said anything about that. You know my lawyer. She’s a good one. She won’t let you stick a needle in me.”

  “Tell me how you’re keeping tabs on me.”

  I turned to Russo. “That’s not relevant to the case. Brody’s making this too personal,” I insisted again. “Please, Jack, I’ve got to go in there.”

  Jack just gave a small shake of his head. “Brody could be digging to see if he has outside resources.”