by Erin Wade
“This should make me popular,” Kat huffed dialing the phone number of the sergeant they had spoken with earlier.
Java listened as Kat’s sultry voice purred into the phone. “Yes, I appreciate that you will meet us at the crime scene,” she concluded her call.
“Sergeant Adams will personally manage the search team,” Kat reported.
“Um-hum and wants to meet you at the crime scene, right?” Java added.
Kat shrugged.
“Do you have any idea how tired I get of others hitting on my woman?” Java asked.
“Who’s your woman?” Kat teased.
“You!” Java growled.
“Yes, I am,” Kat giggled, “and you have nothing to worry about.” She caught Java’s hand and pulled in onto her lap. “I love you Java Jarvis,” she whispered.
CHAPTER 32
Penny roused as Java slowed the van in front of the house surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. She groaned as she sat up and tried to move her arm
“Good, you’re awake,” Java noted handing Penny a bottle of water. “Take your meds right now or you’ll forget them.”
Penny swallowed the pills and listened as Kat related their theory that the killer was a train rider.
“Could be,” Penny agreed. “It certainly explains why all the massacres are within walking distance of the train stations. Perhaps we can forecast where he’ll strike next.”
“Kat has the Lake Charles police searching every dumpster between the crime scene and the train station,” Java informed her. “If we can find the clothes he wore, we can pull DNA from inside them.”
“Let’s pray they find them” Penny nodded. “I’m not sure I can work many more of these macabre scenes.”
“I’m with you, Pen,” Kat chimed in. “I’m beginning to have nightmares about the slaughter.”
“Is that what you were screaming about last night?” The gleam in Penny’s eyes told Kat the ME hadn’t been as sound asleep as Java had promised.
Java cleared her throat. “You go ahead Penny. We’ll unload the equipment.”
“You said she was knocked out with pain killers,” Kat elbowed Java’s side.
“I didn’t say she was dead,” Java chuckled. “You do tend to get loud.”
“Umm,” Kat shrugged.
##
The three joined Beau, Barbie and Chris in the carport of the house. “It looks like the killer broke in through this.” Chris gestured toward the broken glass of the back door.
“Java, another thing all these murders have in common,” Kat pointed out. “The victims had no dog or anything to provide warning of an intruder.”
“So, the killer did some research to make certain his presence wouldn’t be announced until he’d struck his deadly blow.”
Penny nodded. “From what we’ve gathered at all the scenes, I’d say the male was murdered first then quickly followed by the woman and children. The killer was very strong. The man was murdered with one blow. I suspect the woman was too, but he continued to pulverize her face after killing the children. I found DNA from all the victims in the remains of the mother’s skull.”
Kat shivered. “Such evil,” she mumbled.
They worked their way through the house room by room, collecting hair, threads, buttons, dirt clods, anything that wasn’t nailed down went into an evidence bag.
The three children shared one bedroom with two twin-sized beds. It was easy to track the path of the killer. He almost decapitated the boy closest to the door, then the girl in the bed next to his and finally the toddler in a baby bed.
They worked the room collecting blood samples, brain matter, hair matted with blood and saliva in hopes of lucking onto the killer’s DNA.
They followed The Basher’s bloody footprints down the hall and into the master bedroom where all five bodies were lined up across the bed beginning with the man then from the tallest to the shortest.
Everyone glanced away from the carnage giving their brain a chance to protect them from the horror of the sight before them. The stench of blood filled their nostrils as they moved into the room and methodically began filming and photographing the scene.
“Be sure you get good clear photos and film footage of that Bible verse,” Penny nodded toward a wall that was almost completely covered in the bloody message. “The more I work this case the more confusing it becomes. Is it racially motivated or religiously driven?”
Kat read the bible verse out loud. “Deuteronomy 7:1-26 . . . You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. . .
“I’m guessing both,” Kat shook her head. “A religious fanatic using the Bible as an excuse to kill those they find offensive.”
##
It was late in the afternoon when Penny’s team bagged the last body and rolled it to the van. Java looked away from the hollow stare in the eyes of her team members.
Beau joined them closing his note pad. “Thoughts, anyone?”
“I think we need to get Penny home and in bed,” Java grimaced. “Her assistant changed her bandage and gave her pain killers, but she’s pretty exhausted. This is her second crime scene in two days. Both have been brutal.”
“Penny’s assistant is going to drive the van to the morgue and take care of unloading so Penny can ride with us,” Beau informed them. “Let’s all ride in my Suburban. We can kick around theories on the way home.”
Kat pulled the pillows from Penny’s van and made the woman comfortable in the front seat of Beau’s SUV.
##
Beau turned on the voice amplification system in his vehicle as he pulled away from the crime scene. “Can you hear us?” He asked Chris and Barbie who were sitting in the far back seat.
“Clear as a bell,” Barbie chirped. “Great system, Beau.”
Kat shared her suspicion that the killer was using the railroad to reach his victims and added that he had to observe his prey in advance to ascertain there were no animals to raise an alarm.
“This isn’t a spur of the moment thing,” Penny surmised, “like we first thought. It is carefully planned and scoped out for the kill.”
“He is killing in a blood-lust frenzy,” Java added. “Only he has planned it. He planned to butcher three families in three days.”
“He’s toying with us,” Beau growled.
“I think so,” Java agreed.
“What about Budro?” Barbie asked. “Do you still believe he committed the first murders?”
“Yes, I do,” Java barked. “We have too much incriminating evidence against him.”
“The latest bloodbath wasn’t Budro’s son Raymond,” Beau pointed out. “It happened after you shot him.”
“Yeah,” Java huffed. “I don’t know how he’s connected or why he shot Penny. We weren’t threatening him. He wasn’t even at a crime scene.”
“But he was in the vicinity for some reason,” Penny added. “It was no coincidence that he was on the same street as the murders.”
“Going on the assumption that Raymond was somehow involved in his father’s dirty work,” Chris chimed in, “there must have been three of them.”
“The footprints only showed one,” Penny insisted.
“Obviously our killer or killers are smarter than we give them credit for,” Kat frowned. “It wouldn’t take a phi beta kapa to have three or four people wearing the same size shoe just to throw us off the multi-killer theory.”
“They have always left many shoe prints,” Penny agreed. “Too many for someone trying to get away with murder. I’ll see if Raymond’s shoes match Budro’s.”
##
They helped Penny into her home and waited until she was safely in bed then headed for the club where the women’s cars were parked.
Java scowled when she saw Jody Schooley’s Corvette parked in the lot behind the supper club. “What’s he doing here?” She growled.
&nb
sp; “Probably showing off his latest girl,” Barbie offered. “He brings her in and parades her around the place, buys her a drink, dances with her then walks out with her fawning over him.”
“He is a handsome fellow,” Kat commented. “Too bad he’s a pimp.”
“Am I the only one that’s hungry?” Barbie exclaimed.
“I could eat something,” Kat said. “None of us have eaten all day.”
“I don’t have much of an appetite,” Java scowled, “but a cup of coffee would hit the spot.”
CHAPTER 33
The next morning Java left Kat sleeping and drove to the office before sunup. She started her coffee, flipped on her computer and the television.
The Basher case was now making the national news headlines. Java cringed as she listened to the morning news hawks discuss the Lake Charles murders. The banner beneath the newscaster read “Police clueless.”
Java was furious, but knew the newscaster was right. They were clueless. She searched her mind for any thing they had missed. I’m grasping at straws, she thought as she tried to find a trail to follow, a suspect they hadn’t thoroughly vetted or a motive they’d missed. She recalled Déjà’s veiled hint that the killings weren’t original, but someone copying other murderers.
“Serial killers,” Java mumbled out loud as she searched the internet for Louisiana serial killers. “Oh my God,” she gasped as she pulled up an old news article titled Mulatto Ax Murders 1911-1912.
The ax murders had happened over a hundred years ago, but they followed the same MO as The Basher’s bloody rampage. She printed out the article and made a chronological list of the towns the killer had targeted a hundred years ago. The Basher’s murders followed the same pattern.
Java dialed Beau’s phone. “Beau here,” the deep baritone sang across the line.
“Beau, I’m emailing you a link right now,” Java said as she pushed the button sending the Mulatto Ax Murders article to him. “I’ll hold on while you read it.”
“Jesus,” Beau whistled. “How’d you figure this out?”
“Déjà put me on to it,” Java answered. “If The Basher is using this as his game plan, we should be able to anticipate his next move. I’ll run this by my team,” Java said. “You see what your people think.”
Java disconnected the call pleased with her morning’s work. Now to run her theory by Chris, Barbie and Kat. If anyone could punch holes in it, they could.
When Java heard voices in the restaurant, she leaned over the balcony to see who was in so early. To her surprise the other members of her team were present.
“I have coffee,” she called to them. “Come up and let’s talk.”
The three popped out of the elevator in less than sixty seconds. “What are you doing here so early,” Kat scowled. She didn’t share her displeasure at waking in an empty bed.
“This case is driving me crazy,” Java said as the others poured their coffee.
A text message from Beau popped in. “I’m at the back door. Let me in.”
“Barbie, Beau is at the back door, please let him in,” Java instructed.
They waited for Beau to fix his coffee then gathered around a dining table.
“In less than a year The Basher has mutilated seven families and murdered thirty-one people,” Java sipped her coffee. “It’s almost Christmas and we’re no closer to catching him than we were in January.”
“Do we have a paper map?” Kat asked. “One we can spread out on the table.”
“I have one in my office,” Java pushed her chair back and strode to her office returning with a map of the United States.
They spread it on the table and Kat began to trace the path of destruction on the map. “The first was in Crowley. The second was Rayne, then Lafayette and San Antonio. The fifth slaughter was back to Lafayette then Crowley again and Lake Charles was number seven and our last.”
She shook her head. “I was hoping there’d be some rhyme or reason to his killings, but I don’t see one.”
“He killed a second time in Lafayette,” Chris noted. “Then hit Crowley the next day and Lake Charles last. I’m thinking he was familiar with Lafayette and Crowley and just threw in Lake Charles because it was in the vicinity.
“If we could make an educated guess at where he will strike next, maybe we could be waiting for him?
“I’d hate to guess,” Java shook her head. “There’s no pattern. Maybe he’s killed enough in Louisiana and will move toward Texas towns along the line. We could stake out all the train stations and watch for anything out of the ordinary.”
“My men checked with the railroad line,” Beau informed them, “and no one purchased tickets to the same place twice in the past eleven months.”
“Train tickets can be used by anyone,” Kat pointed out. “Even though certain tickets will have the name of the traveler or person who booked the tickets printed on them anyone can use them.”
“Yes,” Beau agreed. “That’s what makes it impossible to track down anyone purchasing tickets to our crime scenes.”
“He seems to be revisiting the sites of his former crimes,” Kat ran her finger along the map. “Maybe we should concentrate on Rayne, Lake Charles and San Antonio.”
Beau studied the map. “I think you may be on to something,” he mused. “We need to pinpoint one station. We don’t have enough manpower to cover every station along the line. Has Java shared her discovery with you?”
All eyes turned toward the blonde as she explained her discovery about the hundred-year old serial killer case.
“What made you think of that?” Kat inquired. “That’s brilliant.”
“Not really,” Java blushed. “It was Déjà vu’s idea.”
“Was she here this morning?” Kat puffed.
“No, no!” Java defended. “It was something she mentioned to me a while back. I had no idea what she was talking about and didn’t follow up on it. I should have. Our killer is following in the tracks of the killer from a century ago.”
“So, the next crime should be committed in San Antonio,” Beau added.
“If he continues to emulate the original ax murderer,” Java nodded.
“We’ll visit the priest that leads the Christ’s Sanctity Church,” Java said. “Since this has taken a religious turn maybe he can shed some light on it.”
“Take Déjà vu with you,” Beau advised. “He might be more cooperative with her. You know he’s pretty radical.”
Java nodded as Kat scowled.
“I’ll go with you,” Kat volunteered.
“Works for me,” Java took Kat’s elbow. And steered her toward the elevator as the others followed.
Kat elbowed Java hard in the ribs and walked onto the elevator as Java gasped for breath. “I don’t need you holding my elbow,” she snarled at the blonde. “You may drive me to our destination, but you may not touch me.”
Java bent over trying to catch her breath as the others snickered.
##
Java and Kat sat in the car watching Beau leave the parking lot. “I’ve wanted to do this from the moment you walked in this morning,” Java whispered as she leaned over and kissed Kat.
Kat pushed her away and slapped her hard snapping Java’s head back. Blood oozed from Java’s cut lip. “I take it we have watcher’s,” Java mumbled, wiping the back of her hand across her injured mouth.
Kat motioned to the driver’s side window where Barbie was peering into the car. Java rolled down the window.
“Java, I just wanted to tell you I’ll close tonight if you want to leave early,” Barbie smirked.
“Thanks Barbie,” Java dabbed at her lip with a napkin. “I may take you up on that.”
CHAPTER 34
Kat wrapped her arms around Java’s waist and pulled the blonde on top of her. “Ouch, I think you cracked my ribs today,” Java whined. “That really hurts.”
“I could move from your arms and sleep on my side of the bed, as far away from you as possible.”
“Hum,” Java hummed. “A little hurt sleeping with you in my arms or sleeping without touching you? You know me, I like a little hurt.”
“I thought so,” Kat giggled as she tightened her arms around Java.
“God, Kat, you’re killing me.”
“Let me do something that will take your mind off the pain,” Kat purred.
“What do you want from me, Kat?” Java looked into dark eyes that ruled her world.
“Everything you’ve got to give,” Kat mumbled just before she bit Java’s lip. She sucked on Java’s full lower lip. “I love the taste of copper.”
Java pulled back from her and let a drop of blood fall from her lip to Kat’s. “Sometimes I think you enjoy hurting me,” she mumbled.
“You know I do,” Kat kissed her hard, sucking the soul from her. “Because I know how much you like it. You drive me wild. You’re the other half of my soul, Java.”
“I’ve thought about this all day,” Java breathed in Kat’s ear. She slid her hand up to caress Kat’s breast.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to you?” she whispered as both her hands paid homage to Kat’s ample breasts.
“Surprise me,” Kat challenged.
Java rolled Kat onto her side and wrapped around her back. She pulled Kat’s back against her and the brunette moaned loudly as Java rubbed her bare breasts against Kat’s back. “You like this, hum?” Java cooed.
“You know I do.” Kat gasped. “I love the feel of you touching me anywhere. I want you all over me.”
Java splayed her hands down Kat’s torso to her abdomen stopping just above the area that was her intended target. She buried her face in soft fragrant hair and nibbled at Kat’s shoulder. She hoped she was arousing Kat because she was driving herself insane.
“Oh God, Java,” Kat cried out. “Do something, anything. You’re killing me.”
Java pushed Kat into the bed face down and slipped between her legs. Supporting herself so she was barely touching Kat she slowly rubbed her breasts from Kat’s soft buttocks up her silky back until her body covered the brunette’s. She kissed and nipped Kat’s neck as she let her weight press Kat into the mattress.
