by DJ Erfert
“Okay, this is Jane Doe number three,” Bauer said, advancing to the next screen.
Next to a photocopy of a report was a picture of a young woman lying at the end of a hallway, with long blond hair and bangs, wearing a skirt and a blood-soaked t-shirt. A close up shot of her face accompanied the crime scene photo.
Junie gasped loudly. “That’s her!” She shot a look at Lucy. “She could be your twin.”
Lucy leaned forward, setting her face in her hands. It was real, and not just a nightmare. The brutal pictures proved her mother’s murder happened, but the lack of identification was pulling Lucy down into a quagmire of unanswered questions she never had the courage to ask. How was she found? How soon after her mother lay dying did her father show up? Could he have stopped it? Did he kill her? Lucy could hear Junie asking her a frantic question, but it was as if she had cotton stuffed in her ears.
~*~
“She’s coming around—”
Lucy opened her eyes and stared up into Sunny’s frowning face, with Junie looking over her shoulder. The stethoscope in her doctor’s ears could only mean one thing. “Oh, cripes! Did I faint?”
“Shush, I’m taking your blood pressure.”
Lucy dropped her gaze down to her arm and saw the blue band wrapped around her bicep. “Where am I?”
Junie sighed. “Officer Banks carried you into the break room next door to Detective Bauer’s office.”
“How long have I been out?”
Sunny ripped off the BP cuff and raised her voice. “You shouldn’t have passed out to begin with. You spent two days lost in the Arizona desert, where you got dangerously dehydrated and exposed to medical radioactive isotopes, and then you stopped a loaded runaway school bus with only an SUV, and were injured. You should be at home resting and not hunting down a serial killer—” A woman clearing her voice stopped Sunny from saying anything else.
Kate was standing just inside the doorway of the break room, and behind her were Bauer and Banks. Sunny slapped a hand over her mouth as Lucy moaned softly.
“ID up, ladies,” Lucy said as she slid her hand into her pants pocket and took out her thin wallet. She sat up and nudged Sunny off the couch and then flipped opened her identification. “I’m Special Agent Lucy James—” Banks elbowed Bauer with a miniscule grin on his face. Sunny took out her ID and opened it for them to see also. So did Kate. Lucy was very surprised to see Junie hold out a current ID, too. “What you heard here a moment ago is classified top secret. You cannot discuss it—with anyone. Understand?”
“I understand,” Banks said, nodding his head once.
“I do, too,” Bauer said. He stepped around Kate and walked over to sit beside Lucy. “We should stop for today. I think you need to take your doctor’s advice and rest.”
Lucy felt the heat fill her face, not from embarrassment, but from anger. “I’m not a child, detective. I will not be sent to my room.”
“Well … we found something else out,” Kate said. She stepped closer. “While Sunny took care of you, I wanted to follow up on something that we talked about earlier. I had Steve look for your birth certificate, and he couldn’t find one for you.”
Lucy shrugged her shoulder. “I was born in Phoenix on November 12th, 1987.”
“Yes, I know,” Kate said. “And that’s the date we looked for. Then I had him go back a year, and we didn’t find anything. I also had him go forward a year with no results. Lucy, the state of Arizona doesn’t have a birth certificate on file for Lucille Spencer James, in any year.”
“But I have the original document. I—I let you make a copy of it before I was hired, remember?”
Bauer spoke up. “It could have been a forgery.”
“A forgery?” Lucy swallowed hard. “Why would my father …” She sucked in a fast breath. “Is he my father?” Clutching the couch cushions Lucy rocked and tried to think about her next step.
“Lucy,” Kate said. “This will work itself out.”
“Yes,” Junie said. “There’s an explanation here.”
“Tell me what it is, then.” Lucy went from face to face looking for someone showing a little confidence, but she was met with uncertainty—and eyes that wouldn’t catch hers. She stood up. “I think I need to go see my dad and ask him some questions.”
“No, Lucy, you can’t do that,” Sunny said in a rush. “You don’t know he didn’t do it!”
“I know that,” Lucy yelled. She shoved her wallet back into her pocket. “But how can I stay here and think the worst without—” Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill down her face. “I don’t have a choice.”
Bauer stood up beside her. “If you’ve made your decision, then can I at least get you some help while you’re in Phoenix? I have contacts with the Phoenix PD.”
“She’s not going alone,” Kate said. “I’m going with her.”
“I am, too,” Junie said, lifting her chin higher.
“I’ll call Angel and have her cover for me,” Sunny said, taking out her phone. “And Dusty will understand.”
“Oh, no,” Lucy moaned. “Johnny.”
“How are you going to explain this to him?” Junie asked.
“How are you going to explain it to Jim?”
A knock at the door stopped any further discussion. Banks opened the door to the last person Lucy ever wanted to talk to. The loose-lipped little twit walked into the break room along with two men dressed in dark blue jackets with FBI initials emblazoned in gold near the shoulder.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Agent Bridget Monroe,” Lucy said with a grimace on her lips.
“Agent Lucy James,” Monroe said with a grin.
“What are you doing here?” Lucy asked. She watched the woman’s smug stare land on Junie and then her eyes narrowed before returning to her.
“I thought you might be here.”
“How?” Lucy shot a look over to Bauer.
“It wasn’t me.”
“A Detective Steve Bauer accessed the FBI’s ViCAP program, which alerted my office in Phoenix, and they called me when your name was run through the Arizona Vital Statistic department within the next few minutes. They knew I had questions for you on another case, so I took a chance that you were here.” Monroe looked at Junie. “Who are you?”
Junie still had her wallet in her hand, and she seemed to take some pleasure in handing it to her. When Monroe read Junie’s last name along with her credentials, her mouth dropped open. “Are you related to Assistant Director Brockway?”
“He’s my husband.”
Lucy bit her lips to keep from smiling at her friend’s superior tone.
Junie retrieved her wallet. “What do you want here?”
Her gaze bounced off Junie before landing on Lucy. “I’m here to find out your connection with the ’88 serial stabbing cases.”
Lucy lifted her shoulders. “I couldn’t tell you.”
Monroe glanced around at the others. “Why were you accessing the ViCAP program?”
“Excuse me, Agent Monroe,” Bauer said, stepping closer to Lucy. “That program is available to all law enforcement agencies around the country. I didn’t think we needed an excuse or permission to use it. Has something changed?”
“No, of course not. But I’ve been actively working on several cases that are very similar to those from back in 1988.”
“Similar?” Lucy asked as her heart did a flip. She just couldn’t show the other agent she was really interested in what she had to say. “How?”
Monroe opened the handbag she kept hanging over her shoulder and took out a small spiral notebook. “About nine months ago, a woman’s body was found in a Las Vegas alley. She had twenty-two puncture wounds in her chest. Almost a month later another woman was found, again in a Las Vegas alley, and again with the same puncture wounds, mostly in her chest, but she had a few defensive wounds to the hands.” Monroe turned a page.
“Three weeks later, the Barstow PD called us when they had two women killed. The
y each were found in an alley or secluded area with puncture wounds in their chest and no leads.” She lifted her stare to Lucy and said, “There have been the same type of murders in Victorville, San Bernadino, and San Dimas. After I began my investigation, I discovered three similar murders in Phoenix from almost a year ago. It wasn’t until I received the call from my office that I remembered the photograph, and I thought of you.”
Lucy felt dizzy again. “What photograph?”
Monroe took out her phone, touched a few buttons, and held it out for her to see. “Is this woman related to you, Agent James?” It was the close-up picture of her mother on the coroner’s table, and she felt a hand press against her back. Sunny wanted to keep her from fainting again.
Lucy took a good look around at all the faces studying her. With the exception of the three FBI agents, they all knew her mother’s story. She had to weigh what the repercussions might be if she cooperated with Monroe before she had a chance to talk to her dad, if he was her dad. Lucy had to confirm he was the killer, or clear him. Until then, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. If she was wrong, she’d take him down personally for killing her mother and for being the cause of such horrific nightmares for so many years.
“I have to admit, Agent Monroe, that woman does look a lot like me.” Lucy slowly ran the fingers of one hand through her long straight hair, all the way down to the ends, subtly comparing the length with that of the victims. “But then, those other girls looked like me, too. Didn’t they?” Lucy picked up her jacket from the arm of the couch, and said, “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
~*~
“Are we really meeting her at their headquarters?” Junie asked after the three agents walked out the break room door.
Lucy put her index finger to her lips to shush her friend and caught Kate’s attention. She had it instantly. Lucy motioned toward her eyes and then tapped her ear in hopes the experienced agent would understand she wanted her to help look for a planted listening device. Kate nodded and began searching near the table, and Lucy started at the door. Thankfully everyone else stayed quiet too—probably engrossed in watching Kate crawling on her knees looking under the break table. While Monroe did all the talking, her partners stood like statues. Lucy had to admit she never paid them any attention. She didn’t know if anyone in the room did.
Within a few seconds, Kate dislodged a small, silver device—a hearing aide battery, by appearances—stuck under the edge of the table and held it up for Lucy to see. Nodding, Lucy pointed toward the restroom, while she kept looking. She found one more clinging low on the doorframe, where the other male agent had stood. Lucy plucked it off and headed to the restroom. After she flushed it down the toilet, she told Kate, “Look over the area again, just to make sure they didn’t drop one on the floor. We need to sweep the detective’s office before we leave.”
Kate looked at the swirling water. “Nice people.”
“Oh, come on. Like we don’t do the same thing?”
Kate grinned, turning to the break room again, but found Bauer standing in the doorway.
“They bugged my office?”
Lucy let out a slow breath. “Agent Monroe probably heard me yelling when she was looking for you, and since the office was empty, the first thing they think of is to put a surveillance on it in case they don’t get the answers they want the first time.”
“Don’t worry, Steve,” Kate whispered. “We’ll take care if it.”
~*~
“Drive to Junie’s house. It’s the closest.” Lucy tilted back her seat and relaxed, letting the motion of the luxury car lull her.
“So we’re not going to the FBI headquarters like you told Agent Monroe? I thought you needed to go through some profile pictures for that other case she’s working on?” Sunny asked as she shifted into drive.
“No, we’re going, but I just let her assume we’d come to the office in LA.”
“Where are we going then?” Junie asked from the backseat.
“To the Phoenix office. I need to talk to my dad, so this will be a good excuse.”
“What mug shots is she wanting you to look at?” Junie asked.
“It’s from my last mission to Mexico.”
“Can we talk about this?” Sunny asked.
Lucy lifted her head and asked, “Who hasn’t read my report?” When the two other women stayed quiet, she muttered, “Thought so.”
“Why is Agent Monroe so insistent that you identify the man from the cantina, Lucy?” Junie asked. “I thought all of the men the bandits didn’t get a chance to shoot would be willing to cooperate for a chance to stay in the US.”
“It’s not the coyote that she’s wanting to identity.”
“Then who?”
“I bet it was the man in the suit.” Sunny gave Lucy a quick glance. “Am I right?”
“You are correct, Agent Doctor Rhodes.”
“Do you have any idea who he is?” Junie asked.
Lucy shook her head. “Not even a slight one.” She looked over the seat at her friend. “But I remember his face, and if I see it again—I’ll know it.”
“But still—” Sunny went on to say, “the men in the cantina saw him, and they can look at pictures.”
“So why aren’t they being asked to at least try?” Junie finished the question.
Why not, indeed? The man with the dark brown eyes also wore a short beard. Lucy noticed that he deliberately avoided looking at any of the women, almost like he wished they didn’t exist. That gave her a chance to study him—his body type, his height, and his weight. She had to wonder what kind of persuasion he exerted over the men to get them to become mules in the first place. “Maybe they already tried. I’d assume Agent Monroe would use all avenues to solve her cases, otherwise why would she track me down over an inquiry into a data base?”
“Do you think you might have ticked her off at the agency earlier today?” Junie asked. “Clearly she knows I wasn’t one of your suspects and that you could have stopped for a couple of minutes to talk with her.”
“What?” Sunny swung her head far enough to catch Junie’s gaze. “Did Lucy use you as a shield?”
“Big time, and then she dimed off Agent Monroe about not checking her gun in with Sergeant Rodriguez. Could be why she brought backup with her to the police station,” Junie said with a short laugh.
“Na,” Lucy said. “The FBI likes to travel in small packs. They feel more important that way.”
“What are we doing?” Sunny tapped Lucy’s knee.
“We’re more like a—a …” Lucy floundered for the right word.
“A posse?” Junie suggested.
Lucy laughed. “Yes, we’re a posse.”
“Just curious, Lucy—did Johnny try to talk you out of going to Phoenix?” Sunny asked.
“No, but he asked for me to wait until tomorrow so he could go with me.” Lucy folded her arms together. “He gets off at eight in the morning and then he has the next three days off.”
“Yeah, so does Dusty. He wanted to come along, too.”
Lucy shook her head. “It’s not like we’re going to be there very long. I mean, I just want to get a few answers from my dad. How long can that take?”
Junie leaned forward and touched Lucy’s shoulder. “I guess it depends on the first answer, doesn’t it?”
“Where does your dad work?” Sunny asked.
“He owns his own construction business called Jackson James General Construction. He does all aspects of residential building, including remodeling, specializing in kitchens and baths. He formed JJG Construction when I was little so he could stay home with me when he needed to.”
“How could he stay home if he owned a business, Lucy?” Junie asked. “It takes a lot of hard work to make any business a success.”
“I remember him being on the phone checking up on his guys during the days I had off, at least until I was old enough to stay alone.” She looked over her shoulder at Junie. “What were they going to do? Fire
him?” Settling back in her seat, Lucy said, “For Christmas one year Santa gave me my own tool bag. It was pink leather and all the hand tools were smaller than my dad’s.” A smile pulled at her lips. “They didn’t quite fit my little hands, but I finally grew into them. I bet they’re still in my bedroom. I could use them now.” Lucy looked at the clock on the car’s dashboard. “I guess we should get a hotel when we get to Phoenix. It’ll be closer to midnight before we get in.”
“Not if we fly,” Sunny said.
“Why can’t we drive?” Junie asked.
“It’s a six hour trip by car from here,” Sunny said.
“I’ll help with the driving.”
“I will too,” Lucy said.
“Not a chance,” Sunny told her. “You’re on the injured list until I take you off it. Besides, I saw what you did with the last car you drove.”
“Killjoy.”
“So,” Sunny said, “we’ll take Junie to get her bag, then to your house, and then I’ll pack a bag and we’ll head out?” She glanced at Lucy. “Does this sound good?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lucy said slowly, closing her eyes, and leaned against the headrest.
“When are we going to give Kate a chance to pack?” Junie asked.
“Rats, I forgot about her coming,” Sunny said. “Do you think we could talk her into meeting us over at my house in an hour?”
Lucy said quietly, “Not likely.”
“Hmm … we’ll have to work something out,” Sunny said.
“Can we work something out while we eat dinner?” Lucy asked.
“Are you hungry again?” Sunny reached for her handbag sitting next to her hip and nudged it closer to Lucy. “Here. I have some granola bars. Help yourself.”
Lucy set the bag on the floor at her feet. “I’m not on a mission, and I don’t want gerbil food.”
Junie giggled. “I’ll fix dinner when we get to my house.”
“Can’t we grab something while we’re driving?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t want our car to smell like fast food. It’s barely two months old. It still has that new car smell.”
