In a Heartbeat

by Rita Herron

  The mangy mutt that hung around the lake stood near the woods, his skittish gaze connecting with Brad’s. The poor dog looked more like a lone wolf in the shadows, his gray coat matted and nasty. He had obviously been abused and would hardly come near Brad, which was fine with him. He didn’t want or need anyone depending on him.

  Still, from time to time he left food and water on the porch so the damn dog wouldn’t starve.

  He’d forgotten tonight. The dog hadn’t.

  Of course, the animal looked as if he’d expected it would come to this. That Brad would let him down.

  Grumbling beneath his breath, Brad went to the kitchen, retrieved the dog food, then brought it to the back porch, filled the bowl and put clean cold water in another. His cell phone trilled, and he tensed, his hand hesitating before he shoved the dog food bag inside and grabbed the phone off the end table. Just as he feared, Ethan’s number appeared. He clicked in. “Yeah?”

  “He has another victim,” his partner said, deadpan. “That reporter, Nettleton, called it in.”

  Brad shut the French doors, yanking on his jeans and a shirt. “I’m sure Nettleton’s eating up the story just like the first GD case.”

  “Yeah, and Booker, you’re not going to like it.”

  He was reaching for his gun, but froze, clenching the phone with a white-knuckled grip. “Lisa Langley?”

  “No, Mindy Faulkner.”

  God, no. Brad staggered backward, a sick feeling in his stomach. He’d met Mindy when he’d questioned her at the hospital after White had died. She was an E.R. nurse, but she hadn’t been on duty that night. He’d dated Mindy a few times after White’s trial. Had thought by sating himself with another female he’d forget this insane lust toward Lisa.

  It hadn’t worked.

  But Jesus, he didn’t want Mindy dead or suffering, either.

  His gut clenched as he jammed his gun in his holster and rushed to his car, the reality of his job returning, reminding him of another reason he didn’t get involved with women. Being close to him put them in danger.

  Was the killer someone he knew? What if he’d chosen Mindy because of him?

  * * *

  HER SHRILL CRIES shattered the peace he craved, the screeching sound echoing off the concrete walls and boomeranging through the ventilation.

  She had been crying all night.

  Scratching at the walls. Beating on the floor. Howling like an animal.

  As if she thought someone might hear.

  A deep laugh rumbled in his chest. If she only knew that her attempts were wasted. Futile. That she was so far away from another house that no one would ever know she was here. Not unless he wanted them to….

  A sharp pain splintered through his head, and he gripped his temple, doubling over, rocking back and forth to stem the mind-numbing intensity.

  What was wrong with him?

  He’d been sick before, had his share of medical problems and doctors, but he’d never had headaches before. Never felt this excruciating agony.

  Yet he was emboldened by the pain. Empowered just knowing that life and death were both only a heartbeat away.

  The air in his lungs grew tight, and he wailed in anguish, the blinding fury that drove him erupting as he tore down the steps. He stumbled. Hit the edge. Grabbed the rail for security.

  Another shrill scream pierced the air, reverberating through his head, slicing into his skull as if knives were carving into his brain matter, digging through the frontal lobe and picking at his cerebrum.

  He cursed, bile rising in his throat as another scream rent the air. She wouldn’t shut up.

  Not unless he made her.

  The pain in his head intensified, throbbing relentlessly. He grabbed his skull, sweat pouring off his body as a dizzy spell nearly overtook him. It was so damn hot he needed a drink of water. It was almost as if the heat had sucked the life from him, clouded his brain, dried out all his senses.

  A litany of curse words flew from his tongue, vile and loathing comments on mankind in general, especially women. He hated his weakness.

  Didn’t she know that he couldn’t take it? That he needed rest. Quiet. Time for the medication to settle.

  That without it, she wouldn’t live another minute. That it was all her fault he’d been sick.

  A cool darkness bathed the interior downstairs. Shadowy streaks of cobwebs dangled in the black corner. Rage seared through him as he spotted her lying on the floor, begging. Her blond hair spilled around her bare shoulders, her breasts lay waiting, supple and distended, her legs curled toward her belly to conceal her secrets.

  “Please let me go,” she whimpered.

  He staggered and flattened his hands on the wall, then watched her through the bars of her prison. Her face was milky-white, void of color, her eyes two red-rimmed, swollen cages holding small, listless green orbs. Perspiration coated her entire body.

  “Lisa?”

  “No… Please let me go.”

  Tiny black-and-white lights flashed intermittently like shadowy dots, frozen in front of his eyes. Remnants of memories exploded into his consciousness. Memories that seemed foreign. Memories of another woman coming toward him. Beating him nearly to death. The cries of a terrorized child following. The pain in his chest.

  A small dark room, so small he could barely move. Blood seeping down his arms. The smell of urine. A man’s voice echoed loud and threatening. “You don’t deserve to live.”

  Then he was someplace else. In the dirt, dying. No, a hospital.

  A nurse’s face rose above him from the grave.

  Angelic. Making promises. She was there to save him.

  The smile faded.

  Then she was gone. The pain returned. The lights dulling. The sound of the woman’s voice crying.

  “Please, please let me go. I’m not Lisa.”

  He reached out and unlocked the door, the key jangling against the metal as she shrank into the corner like a child. Simpering. Feeble. Weak. A coward.

  She’d done nothing but beg and try to bargain with him.

  No, she wasn’t Lisa. Lisa was innocent. Sweet. Caring. Even during the trial, she’d been perfect.

  Exactly the kind of woman he wanted.

  And in good time he would have her.

  For now, though, he’d have to satisfy himself with this woman. Mindy.

  “Come here, sweetheart.” He lowered his voice. Turned on the charm. “I won’t hurt you. Let me make it all better.”

  She whimpered, the sound clanging through the chamber of endless dark walls. Silky hair streamed around her shoulders in a tangled puddle as she lifted her head. Her eyes resembled two black pools of terror. Her naked body protested as his gaze raked over it. Nipples jutted out. Flesh quivered. Goose bumps skated up her veiny, overheated skin. Lithe long legs curled tighter to her chest to hide her treasure.

  His laugh tore through the putrid air. Then he curled his fingers around her bony arm and dragged her toward him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  HE WAS CHOKING HER. Dragging her across the floor. Embedding his hands in her hair, yanking it from the scalp.

  “You shouldn’t have told, Lisa. You should have kept quiet.”

  She gritted her teeth, refusing to beg for freedom. How could she have been such a fool? Four women had died because she’d worn blinders.

  Maybe it was her turn.

  He tossed her body against the cold concrete, and she spotted a wooden box. Dear God.

  A coffin. Just her size. He had planned this out. Had built it just for her.

  A protest died on her lips as his hand connected with her cheek. She flew backward, her head striking the cement wall. Stars danced and twirled in front of her eyes. The scent of blood assaulted her. Other fetid odors followed.

  Then she passed out.

  When she awakened, she was lying inside the box. Her limbs ached, felt heavy, as if they’d been weighted down. Heat clawed at her skin, robbing her of air. She looked into his eyes, begging, pleadi
ng for mercy. But he had the eyes of a devil, as if the fiery heat had eaten away his soul.

  Then he dropped the lid on top of her, shutting out the light. She sucked in air, felt sweat stream down her face into her hair.

  The hammer slammed against the wood. He was nailing it shut.

  She tried to scream, but her throat was so raw and dry that her voice died.

  A sob welled inside her. He couldn’t do this. She was only twenty-five. She had so much to live for.

  A job. Maybe another man and a child.

  She tried to turn, but the wooden walls scraped her sides.

  Then the song began. His grating voice whispered its eerie drone, “Just a rose will do….”

  * * *

  LISA CRIED OUT, her heart pounding. The room spun as she jerked upright.

  Perspiration trickled down her forehead. She gripped the sheets with clammy hands, searching the darkness. The curtain fluttered in the sultry breeze from the window. The scent of honeysuckle drifted through the opening. The smell of grass followed, and heat lightning flashed across the sky.

  Had she left the window open?

  She normally locked everything securely at night.

  Panicked, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and listened for an intruder.

  The wind whistled. A tree limb scraped the glass pane. Shadows hung outside like bony hands, clawing at her in the pre-dawn light.

  She flipped on the light, but it flickered and went off. Her breath rattled out, tense in the night. Had she lost power, or had someone disconnected the electricity?

  She searched for the baseball bat she kept under the bed. Wished she’d gotten up enough nerve to buy a gun.

  A squeaking sound splintered the quiet, and her breath rushed out. She clenched the wooden bat and tiptoed toward the bedroom door. From the doorway, she could see the small bath, den and galley-style kitchen. She’d purposely chosen the open plan because there was no place for an intruder to hide. She hesitated at the door, peered through the black emptiness. The light she kept burning in the den had been extinguished, too.

  A shadow floated across the window.

  Someone was outside.

  * * *

  BY 8:00 A.M., Brad stood in the midst of the stifling hot task force room the FBI had designated for the Grave Digger #2 case, and drew a line across the whiteboard to indicate the time the second victim, Mindy Faulkner, had been reported missing. So far, the task force consisted of himself and Ethan, two local Atlanta detectives, Anderson and Bentley, Captain Rosberg, and two Buford cops, Officers Gunther and Surges, who’d been on the scene when they’d found the first victim. They were expecting a profiler from Quantico at some point, but she hadn’t yet arrived.

  Outside, horns honked from the heavy morning traffic, sirens wailed as the ambulances rushed to Crawford Long and Grady Hospitals and a construction crew from a neighboring building cluttered the background with noise. Rush hour was in full swing, the commuters slogging through the downtown maze from the interstates, while locals hit Atlanta’s subway system, MARTA, and Georgia Tech and Georgia State students dragged themselves from coffee houses to their first class.

  The temperature was already soaring in the high nineties. Warnings to parents not to leave their children or pets in a car alone, along with talk of heatstroke among the elderly, filled the news, the drought another reminder that Mindy wouldn’t last long if they didn’t find her soon.

  Brad gestured toward a roll-away map and pierced it with different colored push pins indicating where the first victim, thirty-one-year-old Joann Worthy, had disappeared, then where her body had been found.

  “Okay, what do we have so far?” he asked.

  Officer Gunther raised a thumb, the sweat stains beneath his armpits growing. The city air-conditioning must be on overload because the system in the building wasn’t working, and they were all melting in the sweltering temperatures, suit jackets tossed aside and sleeves rolled up for relief, although none seemed forthcoming. “We canvassed the lake area, interviewed the neighbors within a five-mile radius of where the body was found. No one saw or heard anything suspicious.”

  Brad grimaced. Just like the first time. “Do we have the M.E.’s report or word from forensics yet?”

  “Nothing definite from forensics,” Ethan said. “Preliminary autopsy shows multiple contusions to the body, lacerations on hands, wrists, blunt force trauma to the head, signs that the perp attempted to sexually assault the woman, although he didn’t rape her.”

  “He’s varying from White then,” Brad said. “But if he failed at rape, he may be impotent, as White was.”

  “It probably adds to his agitation,” Ethan added.

  A chorus of mumblings rushed out in agreement.

  “We looked for a connection between Worthy and White, but so far, we haven’t found one,” Brad said. “Mindy worked at the hospital where White died, but she wasn’t on duty the night he was admitted.”

  Ethan spoke up next. “I’ll interview White’s old cell mate, Curtis Thigs. He was released on parole a few days ago. Then maybe I’ll talk to some of the other inmates.”

  “Good luck,” Detective Bentley said with a chuckle.

  Brad shot them a menacing look. Nothing about this case was funny. “We need to cross-check for other parolees recently released, mental patients as well.”

  “I’m on it,” Captain Rosberg said.

  “Any leads on the lumber for the coffin?” Brad asked.

  “We’re still checking it out,” Detective Anderson said. “It may take awhile. Construction crews in and around Atlanta are too many to count.”

  “Make it a priority.” Brad gestured toward his partner. “How about the first vic—a boyfriend in the picture?”

  Ethan shook his head. “According to her roommate, she hasn’t been seriously involved with anyone for some time.”

  “He’s choosing them at random?” Captain Rosberg asked.

  “Maybe.” Brad still didn’t know what to think. White had chosen all coeds. Joann Worthy had been a computer consultant. “Where was the Worthy woman last seen?”

  “A sushi bar around the corner from her apartment.” Ethan consulted his notes. “No, wait, after that, she went into a dance club called Johnny Q’s on Marietta Street.”

  “And no one saw a man with her?” Brad asked.

  “Two guys hit on her, but she brushed them off,” Ethan added. “Got a description. We’re following up. Last the bartender saw, she stepped outside for a cab.”

  “The cab companies?”

  “We’ve shown her picture. No one remembers picking her up.”

  Shit. A dead end.

  Ethan rapped his knuckles on the wooden table. “We’ll keep looking into her activities and friendships, though, see what we can find.”

  “How about our latest missing woman…Mindy Faulkner?” He nearly choked on the name.

  “Thirty, slender, dirty-blond hair, five-four, one hundred and ten pounds, blue eyes,” Captain Rosberg stated.

  “He varied again. Joann Worthy was a brunette,” Brad said. “Mindy’s a blonde.”

  Everyone nodded and made a note of the detail.

  “According to a nurse at First Peachtree Hospital where she works as an R.N., she left the hospital yesterday afternoon around three,” Rosberg continued. “None of her coworkers have seen her since. And her landlord says she didn’t show up at her apartment after work or last night.”

  “So, we’ve got several hours unaccounted for,” Detective Bentley said. “He could have picked her up anywhere.”

  Brad nodded. “Let’s get busy. The first GD kept each victim seven days and nights. This copycat held his first victim for only three. The clock is ticking.”

  The group dispersed, each officer heading out to his assigned part of the investigation.

  Ethan’s boots hit the floor. “You think there’s a significance to the time period he’s holding them?”

  Brad twisted his mouth in though
t. “Yeah. White said God made the world in seven days and nights. This guy leaves a cross, keeps his vics three days. If he’s following White’s twisted logic, maybe the resurrection of the Grave Digger is symbolic of Jesus coming back to life.”

  Ethan cursed. “On the third day, he rose from the dead.”

  Brad nodded. “And Mindy’s paying for it.”

  Ethan gave him an odd look, almost sympathetic, although neither man did sympathetic. “I know you’re beating yourself up over this, Booker.”

  Of course his partner would see through him. Hadn’t Ethan’s own family been killed two years ago? It had turned him into a hard-ass, one who took too many risks sometimes.

  Brad cursed. “Mindy might die because she knew me. And the first body was dumped near my house. He’s taunting me, shoving the blasted case in my face.”

  “We’ll find her,” Ethan said, although Brad knew the words were lip service. There were no guarantees. And so far, no concrete leads.

  “I’ve made a list of all the men I’ve crossed in the past five years,” Brad said. “I’m running their names to see if anyone might be on parole or have connections nearby.”

  “Good plan.” Ethan shrugged into his jacket. “Have you thought about talking to Lisa Langley?”

  “Hell yeah, I’ve considered it.” Brad threw down his pen and scrubbed his hands over the back of his neck. “But I can’t put her in jeopardy again.”

  Ethan jammed a cigarette into his mouth, but didn’t light it. He’d been trying to quit smoking for months, but kept falling back on the habit in times of stress. Not that their job wasn’t always stressful. “I know you don’t like it, and neither do I, but we have to do everything we can to save this girl.”

  As if Brad didn’t know that.

  But bringing Lisa out of hiding to do so didn’t seem like the smartest idea. Besides, he wasn’t sure she could help.

  Or maybe he was losing his edge again. His perspective.

  Because Brad Booker, man with no mercy, had found a heart when he’d heard Lisa’s tale of horrors. And when he’d pulled her from that grave and held her, he’d felt a personal connection.