Taurus

by A P Morgan

  Knocking on his door at seven thirty, he barely appeared before taking the coffee from my hand and closing the door in my face.

  I shrugged. He didn’t seem to be much of a morning person. I hoped he got over his crankiness by the time Agent Perez arrived. I went to sit in the lobby and look over the paper while I waited.

  The headlines weren’t much different than those at home. Sensational stories of death or of heroes that save someone’s baby. I didn’t have to wait long because Agent Watson arrived early. Evidently, the FBI believed in being on time.

  “How’d you sleep last night?” He came over and stood next to where I was sitting.

  “Fairly good considering that it was a short night. Ryan should be down in a few minutes, I knocked and gave him coffee to help motivate him.” I stood so that he wasn’t looking down at me, “He recently lost a partner and it’s been tough.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe getting back to work will help him process it better.”

  “Hey, here comes the sleepy head now.” I nodded as the elevator door opened.

  “We can get going to meet Agent Perez.”

  “Great!”

  “It’s not anything fancy, but at least it’s food.” Agent Watson apologized as he pulled up at a local breakfast chain.

  Agent Perez was already at a table waiting for us.

  “Detective Boxe, Detective Fox, thank you both for joining me.”

  Agent Watson hid a snicker as he took a seat next to his boss.

  “We wouldn’t normally have two outside detectives working on a case like this, but I don’t think we have any idea what we are dealing with. Your experience will help us narrow down a profile and hopefully we’ll catch this killer.”

  “Thank you for this opportunity. We’re hoping with the extra resources you have available and our previous knowledge that we can stop him from doing this again.” I felt like a little kid wanting the teacher to acknowledge me.

  She nodded, “Down to business, here’s what we know, there were five women found out in Seaside. It’s a small tourist town of about three thousand right on the highway where tons of people go through on their way up the coast. From what I read up on your cases last night, our killer may not be a local.”

  “In both of ours, each of the killer was local, but it was in a much larger town yet they did move where they did the killings. I’m going to bet, he only used that spot for the first five days. Since you’ve uncovered his spot, he’s moved on to his next place already.” I agreed.

  “We’ve found two of the women’s identities and I would like you to go by their houses. Agent Watson will go with you because I’ve got to go back over to the town.”

  “Okay, we can do that. Are we thinking the killer took them from their homes or lured them out where it would be easier to meet them?” I wanted to be on the same page. I knew how we would handle it, but the FBI most likely had a different approach.

  “We haven’t found any evidence of abandoned vehicles and these two were the only ones reported missing so far. I don’t think you’re going to find much at their homes. I think he grabbed them while they were out. The question is, were they in Seaside or did he drive them there to dump them?”

  So we’re just going to be her extras doing the leg work.

  “We’ll make sure to find out for you.”

  Her phone beeped, “Agent Watson will help you get around and then bring you out this afternoon. We’ve got a missing girl right there in Seaside. It might just be a runaway, but I’m going to go give the sheriff a hand either way.”

  “I’ve got them taken care of ma’am. You go help find that girl.” He moved out so that she could leave the booth.

  “I shouldn’t have to tell you, but watch you’re backs. Agent Watson also has temporary badges for you. It doesn’t give you much authority, but should keep you out of trouble if you need help.” Without so much as a wave, Agent Perez was gone.

  “I’m sorry. She’s good at her job, but a little more on the brusque side. You were asking about the circumstances of the murders last night and I didn’t have any answers for you. Now, I do.” Agent Watson apologized for her.

  “So how did they die?” Ryan spoke up for the first time this morning.

  “They were chased through the woods and then shot with an arrow. The M.E. says that there isn’t any signs of sexual assault, but they were probably running for most the night when they died. He captures them and then hunts them. They’re dead before he buries them. We don’t know if he carves out the symbols first or after he’s buried them.”

  “Unfortunately, it’s still early in the process and we haven’t had any success at identifying a killer before they’ve killed themselves. I’m also going to guess that each of these women died on their birthday. It’s been part of the m.o. for the past two killers and I don’t see why that would change especially if he’s carving it above their graves.”

  “Agreed. We’ll be doing notifications and going through their houses to see what we can find. We are meeting the missing persons officer in less than hour.”

  ---------

  The first house was a twenty seven year old social media publicist for one of the stars. It was huge compared to some of the small houses that single women lived in in Texas. I wasn’t sure how just managing someone’s social media could pay that much, but it looked to be a lucrative vocation.

  Missing Persons had a detective that met us to let us inside. They had already marked off the house with crime scene tape announcing to the world that Elisa Robins wasn’t going to be returning home anytime soon.

  Introductions were made and they finally let us through to search for something left behind.

  Ryan looked a little lost, but I went straight for the office space. If she’d left of her own accord there would be some sort of record in her paperwork.

  Neat stacks of mail sat on the desk. A port showed the plugins for a computer or tablet, but it wasn’t there. Her calendar was circled for March 20th with a big smiley face. “Special trip with bestie for my birthday.” Had been written next to it in large green letters.

  I walked back out to the front room, “Do you know who reported her missing?” I asked the detective hovering in the doorway.

  “Her client. Her family was from the west coast and she came out here to be a star. Instead she became the publicist for one.” He answered patiently.

  “How long before they reported it?” I pushed further.

  “It wasn’t until Monday afternoon. Elisa was supposed to be gone for the weekend, but she should have been at work on Monday. Her client thought maybe something was wrong and called her repeatedly. When she didn’t show, they reported her missing and had us check out her home. The car was gone and there weren’t any signs of forced entry so there wasn’t much we could do.”

  “Do you check her social foot print for updates to see where she went or who she was with?”

  “No. We checked her accounts and nothing was posted.”

  “The killer could have deleted them, but he wouldn’t have thought to check unless he was much younger or had done his homework and knew what she did for a living.”

  “I’ll get one of our techs to start digging a little deeper into her profiles to see if something was missed.” Agent Watson quickly offered.

  I nodded before going back to see if there was anything else that stood out.

  Her trashcan was empty, but I shifted through the mail sitting on the desk and found a few offers for getaway retreats. I wandered out and went to the bedroom where Ryan was poking around in the closet.

  “Did she take a lot of clothes with her?” I asked making him jump.

  “There are a few empty hangers and not a lot of laundry. I’m going to guestimate about three or four sets of clothes. Probably enough for a weekend, but not long term. She’s got a lot of designer tags so she couldn’t have afforded to take have that many extras with her if each outfit was worth a few grand.”

  I stepped b
ack and looked at him in a new light, “Where did you learn about fashion designers?”

  “Shea watches all these fashion shows. I’ve tried to tell her that I can’t ever give her stuff like that, but she says that’s why they make the shows. It’s for those who won’t ever get to have them, but they feel like part of the process by watching.” He shrugged it off.

  “Impressive. I’ve got to agree with you though, I don’t think she was planning to be gone more than a weekend. Just a quick birthday trip with the girls.”

  There were a few pictures stuck into the mirror and I took the one that had a group of girls posing for a group selfie. If one of these girls didn’t know where Elisa was planning to go then no one did.

  Agent Watson stuck his head in, “I called in the information that you mentioned and they’ll get back to us in a little while.”

  “We need to find out who these girls are because one of them would have known where she was headed.” I held out the photo to him.

  “Take a picture please and we’ll compare it to who is listed on her social media. They’ve informed the family and we need to get to the other house if you’ve looked through everything that you can here.”

  “Might as well because I don’t think the killer was ever in her house. The Aquarius killer only met them at the front door so there wasn’t any DNA or other evidence at their homes either.” Ryan joined us and we left with a little more information to work with.

  ----------

  The second house was much like the first turning up nothing that was helpful. We were just about to leave when Agent Watson got a text telling us who Elisa’s friends were and where we could find them.

  Heather and Betsy were at a local coffee shop according to their social trackers.

  I shook my head at the stupidity of women only a few years younger than me. Why on earth would you tell people exactly where you were? Anyone trying to find or stalk you only had to be on the app to locate you.

  The three of us walked in and approached the table with the women who matched Elisa’s picture.

  “Heather? Betsy?” I asked stepping toward the two girls seated at the table.

  “Yeah, who are you?” Betsy asked with her nose turned up at my outfit.

  Suddenly self-conscious of my khaki pants and dress shirt, I had to repeat to myself that I’m wasn't the one broadcasting my location to serial killers on social media.

  “Are you friends with Elisa?”

  “Yeah, but you certainly aren’t, so what do you want?” Heather asked rudely.

  “She’s dead.” I dropped the words into the hostile air knowing it was the only way to get their attention.

  “Whatever. That’s your film crew right behind you isn’t it?" She barely glanced at the two cops standing behind me, "Ignore her, Betsy? We’re being punked.” Heather turned her seat away from us.

  I pulled out the temporary badge I'd been given only hours before, “The FBI begs to differ, Heather.”

  “Omg, it’s true?” Betsy started to wail.

  “Yes, can we have a seat? We have a few questions for you.”

  Eyes wide, Heather turned back toward us, “I haven’t seen anything on her social stuff.”

  “No, Heather you won’t either. She’s dead so she can’t post on social media to update you.” I couldn’t believe that she was missing the point completely. “We need to know where she was planning to go for her birthday this last weekend. Did you tell you who was going with her?”

  “No, we didn’t know we were supposed to meet her anywhere. Until she to some little place and we weren’t there. She called us drunk saying it was going to be a horrible birthday because of us and that shouldn’t prank people on special occasions.” Betsy answered between sobs.

  “Look, we didn’t kill her and we certainly wouldn’t send her to some beach getaway for her birthday. I talked to her before she got drunk I think and she mentioned something about it being a surprise from us. We didn’t try to surprise her.” Heather shrugged and went back to staring out the window.

  “She kept saying something about all these plans, I guess waiting for us to slip up and tell her what we were doing. I thought someone else was surprising her and I didn’t want to ruin it for her.” Betsy was taking deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm down.

  Agent Watson stepped forward placing business cards in front of each girl, “If you ladies think of anything else that might help us find her killer, please call.”

  “Wait, she was murdered?”

  We finally had Heather’s attention.

  “Yes, the FBI doesn’t normally get involved with informing friends of their peer’s deaths when it’s only a car accident.” I added with sarcasm.

  “Who would kill her?” Betsy covered her mouth in horror.

  “Are we in danger?” Heather looked at the three of us for an answer.

  Gritting my teeth because she was getting on my nerves, I tried to answer politely. “Do you have a birthday this month?”

  “What the hell does that have to do with anything?” She asked offended.

  “The killer is only going after women with the birth sign of Aries.”

  “Oh, well then both Betsy and I are safe. I was born in December and her birthday is in August so we should be okay.”

  “Yes, Heather. I think you’re going to be just fine. Thank you both for your help.” I got up to leave knowing that even if they knew anything they were self-absorbed to realize it.

  The three of us left quickly and I let out a relieved laugh when we were inside the safety of the car.

  “I was ready to strangle that girl myself. Please tell me I wasn’t alone in the feeling?”

  “How can someone not even care that their friend is dead?” Ryan agreed pitying the dead woman her choice in friends.

  “Heather cared a lot more than she let on, I thought she was really stupid at first, but I think it’s just an act. Either way, I think we got all the information we could. Now, we know the victims probably didn’t tell anyone about where they were going on this special birthday getaway.”

  “I’m going to have to let the two of you drive up to Seaside. Agent Perez needs me to run point on something that’s come up here. I’ll take you to my building and put in the address. I’ll let her know that you’re on the way.” Agent Watson looked apologetic.

  “We can handle it. Nothing like a murder to take you new places or go on a road trip.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine, but I just hate that we’re treating you like this.”

  “It won’t be the first time. If this keeps up we may be going all over the country. We’ll manage. I’m just thankful that we didn’t have to rent a car.” Ryan got out of the back and walked around to the driver’s side.

  “It’s a company car so I have no problems loaning it out.” Agent Watson grinned, “I don’t have to pay for the insurance when it comes back with bullet holes.”

  “Does that happen frequently?” I asked shocked.

  “Not most of the time, but it has happened before. You never know what kind of situation you’ll find yourself in.” He patted the top of the car, “I’ll let her know to expect you in about two hours.”

  “Thanks.”

  Neither one of us saw the truck pull out from the groups of traffic and follow us to the state highway.

  Chapter 5

  Leslie

  Agent Perez had a small group of locals that she had come in for questioning. The interrogation room was small and there was a group watching outside so we joined them.

  “So you didn’t hear anything last night or see anything unusual next door?”

  “No, ma’am. I went to work like I normally do and came home about six thirty or seven. My t.v. faces the other side and I was busy watching the basketball games. Went to bed around ten thirty because they went into overtime and I have to see how it ends.”

  “Can anyone verify that you were home last night?” Agent Perez pressed.

  “Nope. It
was just me and the dogs.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a trucker for the Spring Mill. It’s a day job and I’m home most nights by five.”

  “Do you work there or run it since your last name is Spring too?”

  “It’s owned by my extended family. Mama’s father owned it until he died and then they split the company between all the boys. They gave Mama a nice check and she bought the farm where I live now.”

  “Where’s your mama these days?”

  I might have been out in the hall, but I was picturing a Psycho story where he had his dead mother propped up in a chair to keep him company.

  “Well, ma’am. She’s been buried about five years now over in Oak Cemetery. It’s not the same, but life goes on doesn’t it?” He grinned up at Agent Perez.

  “So you live alone out there?”

  “Yes, I told you that already. Look I’m real sorry about this girl going missing, but I didn’t have anything to do with it. Now, you asked all of us neighbors to come in to help you, but if you’re going to start questioning my moral character then I’m going to need a lawyer or I’m going to leave.” He threatened.

  “Mr. Spring you’re free to go whenever and you’ve been very helpful. We didn’t mean to question your character. Sometimes if you ask questions from a different direction you can find that you remembered more information.” Agent Perez tried to pacify him.

  “Uh, huh that what the cops always say and then the innocent guy goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. I’ve the t.v. shows. I think I’ll just head back over to work. I can still make to Templeton and back before quitting time.”

  “Just one more question for you, do you have a brother named John?”

  “Yeah, what’s it to you?” Mr. Spring stood by the door ready to leave.

  “We were just wondering when was the last time you’ve seen him?”

  “At Christmas I reckon, he travels a lot, but he comes home for the holidays if he can. He lives up in Seattle or that area somewhere. I’m not one to go gallivanting off to gracious knows where when home is right here.”