Matt shut off the siren a couple of blocks prior to arrival in order to lessen the amount of attention drawn to the site. The park was small by big city standards. Six picnic tables were scattered under large oak trees. Under normal circumstances, there’d be shade covering the area, but this summer had been anything but normal. The sun had burned off the majority of the leaves and the swings and slides were too hot to play on by the time school was out. Wood chips had been replaced with plastic pebbles to prevent fires.
A whoosh of air left his lungs when he had to drive to the rear of the park. At least Annie wasn’t on the street front. Matt parked and Rey joined them. His crisp uniform shirt and boyish face was quite a contrast to his granite and emotionless expression.
Ash muttered something unintelligible, clipped his badge to his belt, and bailed out of Matt’s cruiser. He met and passed Rey with a curt nod.
As Matt walked to the back of Rey’s cruiser, dread increased with each step. Rey’s rigid posture and cold expression warned Matt, braced him against the horror and indignation Annie had suffered. Naked, arms hanging at her sides, her head slumped to the side. Annie sat, propped against the base of an oak tree, its bare roots ran along the surface of the dry, hard ground, and cradled her body like giant arthritic arms. Her hair was pulled back, her face powered a ghastly white, and lips were as bright red as the bow tied around her neck. Her vacant green eyes stared out, not caring how exposed her killer had left her.
“Jesus H. Christ.” Ash scrubbed his hands over his eyes. “You fucking never get used it.” He moved with Matt to the edge of an unmarked perimeter, one they wouldn’t cross for fear of disturbing evidence. Ash flipped open his notepad and wrote furiously.
“Same bastard.” Matt squatted to his usual position. “Her eyes are too wide open. I’m betting the pervert glued them open.”
“Just like Julia Drummond’s.” Ash’s gaze narrowed while he stepped carefully around the perimeter and studied the area. “She favors the other woman. Hair color is different, but the pictures at your office will prove me right.” He spoke into a small recorder, his voice cold, and monotone.
Matt marveled at Ash’s ability to distance himself from the crime. It was as if he moved to another plane. He locked out all exterior sounds and motions. Matt understood it was his friend’s analytical mind at work. The victim held a place in Ash’s soul. Their wound was his, and he’d nurse it until he found justice.
Rey didn’t speak until Matt stood and addressed him by name. “Who found her?”
“Clyde Beacon and his boy Charlie make the trash run through here three times a week. Charlie ran over to grab the barrel and spotted her. Called it in to dispatch right away. I had him park and wait, haven’t had time to take their statements.”
“Jake’s here now. He can have someone else handle that for you.” Matt moved Rey and Jake to the side and divided up responsibilities.
Jake instructed the fire department where to set up a portable fence to protect the crime scene from being trampled. Matt stationed his officers at strategic points to ward off sightseers and dispatched a couple to canvas all of the homes in the area, maybe somebody noticed a vehicle. Then he escorted the ambulance close to Rey’s car. The body would be removed as soon as possible. Confident the integrity of the area would be preserved, he sought out Rey. A flurry of activity was about to explode, and people at the school would soon start noticing.
“Ben Travers?”
Rey shook his head. “Haven’t seen him.”
“Good. I had him pulled into the principal’s office. He knows we need to speak to him, nothing else. I’ll go talk to him.”
Rey’s gaze rose toward the tops of the trees. “Shit. I should’ve thought about him.”
“You’ve had your hands full.” Matt rested his hand on Rey’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t have done a thing differently.”
Matt’s deputies were tired and edgy. They’d spent days searching and interviewing. Now they’d backtrack and do it all again. Frustration and anger dug grooves around their mouths and between their eyes. Matt sensed Jake’s presence beside him without looking. Steady and strong, Jake would be at Matt’s side after everyone else gave up. He turned to face his deputy chief. His pallor matched the rest of the men working this case.
“I’ll tell Ben, if you want.” Jake’s jaw was rigid, but his eyes harbored great pain.
“Not necessary. Comes with my pay grade. How’d your visit with Will go yesterday?”
“Oh, shit. I forgot to tell you. He’d already put together a group to redo our canvassing.” Jake expelled a breath of disgust. “We’ll have to watch him close. He’ll likely go nuts.”
“Find out who he recruited. Take over here. Ash’s with Annie. Tell him I’ll be back.”
“Thanks. Annie’s mom and dad will be as hard.”
“Ben can decide who tells them.”
Matt nodded his recognition of Dave Foster and Hector Ruiz when they arrived at the park in the medical examiner’s van. A small SUV pulled in right behind. At least Reinhardt had sent a full complement of investigators.
No doubt the autopsy would be alike except for one glaring difference. Julia’s hands and ankles had been taped. Her abrasions had been fresh and raw. But Annie only had one angry, red circle on her left ankle, about three inches wide. She’d struggled to free herself. Fought in desperation for eight days.
His system churned while he drove to the school. The pain behind his left eye was sudden and sharp. He blinked rapidly. He pushed against his temple for fear his head might explode and splatter brain matter across the driver’s side window. Parked in front of the school, he dry swallowed a couple of ibuprofen and breathed deeply. God, he’d like to catch and kill the murdering sonofabitch with his bare hands.
He wasted no time getting inside the school and to the principal’s office. Matt wanted to get Ben behind closed doors to break the news, but he spotted Matt coming down the hall. The door was thrown open, and Ben bolted toward him. Screaming. Screaming. And screaming.
Chapter Fifteen
Friday, August 25th, 11:30 a.m.
Matt pulled in at the outer edge of the park and studied the scene in front of him. Christ, he’d been at the school an hour and at least twenty cars now lined the road. The ambulance was gone, and the tension released between his shoulders. Annie’s body wouldn’t be on display for the horror mongers any longer.
Her husband on the other hand had emptied the classrooms with his grief. Matt’s plan of quietly breaking the news to Ben Travers had failed. Children of all ages filled the hallway in fear at the sound of Ben’s gut-wrenching wail. The one thing Matt tried to avoid, happened anyway. The students had a front seat to one of their teachers breaking down into hysteria. The staff had their hands full when Matt drove away.
Many a quiet night in his youth Matt had listened as a coyote bayed in search for one of their own. The sound could rip your heart out. Ben Travers had lost his mate, and his grief was the same tortured sound.
Matt squeezed the bridge of his nose. His ex-partner Elena’s funeral flashed through his mind like a slide show. Her husband’s weeping still resonated in his nightmares. Matt pulled his phone from his hip and called the one person whose voice could lighten his mood.
“Where are you?” Catherine’s soft tone eased his tension. The news had spread to the funeral home.
“Coming back from telling Ben Travers his wife’s dead.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” He was distinctly better hearing the sound of concern in her voice. Matt slowed his pace and allowed himself a few more minutes of peace. Interesting, he thought of her when his mind was crowded with death and misery. Hearing her voice, knowing she cared...and she did care...hell, it kind of scared him. Nevertheless, she was who he needed to talk to.
“How’d you know?” he asked, wanting only to hear her speak.
“Somebody called Susan. I’m sorry, Matt.”
“Me, too.” Silence hung betw
een them for a minute. “Ash is here. I wanted you to meet him, but now...”
“I understand. Call me when you can.”
His respect for Catherine just kept growing. Her tone of voice carried no disappointment. She offered an open invitation, and he appreciated her understanding.
“It might be a couple of days.” Damn, her stalker worried him. He wanted to put her in his pocket, keep her close and safe. “Please be careful. Don’t turn your back on anybody. Trust no one, regardless of whom.”
“I will. I promise. Now go catch this bastard.”
And he would. For her. For Julia. For Annie.
He disconnected and walked the curved sidewalk back to the crime scene. Jake sat at one of the picnic tables with the two men who’d found Annie. Neither would ever be able to erase the memory, Matt knew. He’d tried. He’d failed.
“How’d it go?” Ash stopped writing and moved with Matt out of the footpath of the forensic team but close enough to see and hear.
“Poor guy wanted to come down here and see for himself. Couldn’t believe there hadn’t been a mistake. I convinced him to wait, the ME worked wonders with Julia’s eyes. He’ll do the same for Annie. The principal called a family friend to drive Ben out to his in-laws. Ben can’t talk coherently. One look at him and her mama and daddy will know.”
“I don’t deal well with the bereaved.” Ash propped his foot on a picnic bench and brushed at the layer of dust on his shoe. “I’d rather have all four wisdom teeth removed by my ex-wife.”
Ash shrugged one shoulder in his “what are you gonna do” way. No doubt to a stranger he came across as dispassionate and unconcerned. They’d be dead wrong.
“Learn anything while I was gone?”
“Jake finished taking pictures, and we talked to the ME’s team for a minute. Based on their estimates, she died last night somewhere around midnight. The sick fuck took the time to clean her up before he set her out like yesterday’s trash.”
“Not like the trash,” Matt disagreed. “He leaves her on display where she can be found right away.”
“Then he’s remorseful or he’s taunting you.”
“Julia Drummond’s autopsy report stated the killer used gloves, at least for the final stages. Assaulted her repeatedly, but used a condom. He’s not sorry. He’s careful. I have to head back to the office. I’ll have press, politicos, and Annie’s family to deal with for the rest of the day.”
Ash moved away like Matt had a communicable disease. “Leave me here. I’ll hitch a ride with Jake or Rey. I’ve got some questions for the experts.” The last word in his sentence spewed enough sarcasm to curdle cream. Ash had already formed a negative opinion of Reinhardt’s team.
“Get as much information as you can.” Comfortable the crime scene was in good hands, Matt made his way through the park, touched base with all his deputies and lastly with Jake.
“How’s Ben?” Jake removed his hat and wiped sweat from his brow. “Forget that. He’s never gonna get over this. How could he?”
“The school nurse wanted to call his doctor, get a Valium or something. But Ben wanted to keep his wits in order to tell Will and Anita.”
“We’ll hear from Will pretty soon. He’s bound to take this hard.”
“I expect you’re right. When you’re finished here, bring Ash and Rey to the office. We’ll gather everything and review what we have. We have enough to ask the FBI for a profile. At any rate, I want Sue to get all the notes centralized. We have to read out of the same book.”
“You think they’ll send someone from the BAU?”
“I doubt it. But they’ll give us insight on what makes this bastard tick.”
“Amen.” Jake handed Matt the camera. “Ask Sue to print these. We’ll be along soon.”
“Find out from Ruiz when the autopsy’s scheduled. And don’t forget Ash. I’ll never hear the last of it if you do.”
Matt made his way back to the street where Sylvia Horning had her microphone stuffed in one of his youngest and greenest deputy’s face.
“Deputy Thornton, can you confirm the body found was Annie Travers?”
God bless him, Gary Thornton merely smiled and said no comment.
“Damn,” Matt muttered. The local TV station blonde bombshell was exactly what he didn’t need. Her cardinal red suit reminded Matt of the bow around Julia and Annie’s necks.
“May I quote you?” Sylvia’s gaze locked on his. She quickly moved around beside him, putting them both in front of the cameraman.
“No comment.” Matt nodded at Thornton, indicating he’d done a good job. The anger in Sylvia’s eyes set Matt back a step. She was a professional and should’ve known she wouldn’t get much at this stage of an investigation.
“Kill the camera.” She barked the order to the poor schmuck holding the heavy equipment as if she expected him to heel. But when she turned back to Matt she was smiling. Her perfect white teeth reminded Matt of a shark about to angle in for the kill. “Now, Sheriff, my audience would prefer hearing facts from you rather than speculation from me. Rumor has it that the body found was Annie Travers. Is that a true statement?”
“Ms. Horning, a body has been transported to the county morgue in San Antonio pending official identification and notification of the next of kin.” Not a bad statement, short, to the point, revealing nothing. Her clenched jaw hinted at her displeasure. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the office.”
“Tell the truth, Sheriff. Do we have a serial killer on the loose?”
“It’s too soon to make such an assumption.”
Her lips vanished into a thin line. “This is my story. I will not be scooped.” She carefully enunciated words.
His patience with her was wearing thin. “I’ll have a press release with pertinent information from my office soon. Good afternoon.”
“You don’t want to shut me out.” Sylvia stepped between him and the other two men, speaking in a whisper. “This is hot news. And it’s mine.”
“What’s with the anger?” Matt said, keeping his voice low. Sylvia was wrong if she thought pressure would gain her inside information. “Your reaction is way over the top.”
She looked him right in the eyes. “You’ll regret blocking me. This story could run on national networks.”
Before he made a comment that would get him in a load of trouble, Matt excused himself. He patted Deputy Thornton on the back and made his way to his cruiser.
He drove away with Ms. Horning standing in front of the camera. No doubt she was about to tell the county how uncooperative their sheriff had been. She took a step forward, lost her footing, and landed butt first into the dried-out shrubbery lining the exterior of the park. He enjoyed her misfortune. But he’d made an enemy. He hoped brushing her off wouldn’t come back and bite him someday.
****
Friday, August 25th, 10:30 p.m.
Life couldn’t get any weirder. No, what was that word? Ironic. Yeah. Life was fuckin’ ironic. He smiled and listened to Vince Bradley shout over the noise of the Saddleback’s country band.
Yep, poor Ben Travers’ wife had been found dead. Yep, her daddy was Will Brooking. Yep, keep nodding politely. There was a nasty rumor she’d been raped. But Vince didn’t know the truth. She was a whiny, lying bitch.
Vince paused to catch his breath and resumed yelling. “If you’re interested, be at Will Brooking’s house Sunday afternoon at three. He’s putting together a group of men who give a shit about keeping our women safe.”
“Sounds good.” It sounded downright hilarious. “What’re they gonna do?”
“Don’t know, but I’m offering my help. I know what I’d do if some sonofabitch tried to kidnap my Jessie.”
“What’s that?” The answer was worth leaning forward to hear.
“Cut the bastard’s nuts off and feed ’em to him. That’s after I kicked his ass.” Vince drained his beer can, belched, and adjusted his shirt over his bulging gut.
“Really?” he asked, damn
near laughing at the idiot.
“Damn straight. Nobody fucks with my wife.”
Was that a challenge? He loved a good game. And sweet Jessie had given the go ahead with her eyes more than once. He could give her what she wanted.
He’d picked Catherine to be the new doll. But Vince was too fuckin’ cocky. Like he could protect his woman. Might be fun putting him to the test.
“Well?” Vince leaned over and got close.
“Well what?”
“You gonna meet me at Will’s or not?” Vince asked.
“Sure thing. I’ll do my part.”
“Drive past the house and park around back. Will keeps a fridge stocked with beer in the barn.” Vince crushed his beer can and dropped it onto the table.
His attention drifted to Catherine. Her walking straight at him kept him from laughing out loud at Vince. Wearing jeans and a yellow blouse, she was showing off her body and her bite-sized tits. Goddamn, she could make his cock hard by smiling at him. But he didn’t mind waiting for her. From what he could tell in these dim lights, her eyes were a dead-on match for the original doll. He might keep her alive for a long time.
“You guys ready for another beer?” she asked him and Vince.
“Hell yeah,” Vince shouted.
“How ’bout you? You ready?”
Fuckin’ A, he was ready. He was hard as a rock. But he smiled and said no thanks. She moved on, taking orders, and making her way through the maze of tables.
****
Friday, August 25th, 1:30 a.m.
For the third time tonight, Catherine shook off the uncomfortable feeling of being naked. She’d never get used to the men in the bar undressing her with their eyes. Tonight she’d need an extra long shower when she got home. Her grumbling to Marty always fell on deaf ears. Harmless drunks, she’d say and off she’d go, laughing and flirting while raking in the tips. A few more nights like this and Catherine would add working in a bar to the Never list.
The Green-Eyed Doll Page 16
