by A P Morgan
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Spring. If we have any more questions, I’m sure that Sheriff Turner knows how to get a hold of you.” She held the door open for him.
“Sure does.” Mr. Spring grumbled as he walked out of the room with his head down as everyone’s eyes followed him to the front door.
“Can you bring in Mr. and Mrs. Roads please?” Agent Perez asked a man, I was assuming was Sheriff Turner.
Bored with the questioning of the locals I wandered out to see how a small town police force worked. There were several sets of people crowded on to a few chairs that had been set up as a waiting room and they all stared as I made my way outside. It was too crowded in the small space to think clearly.
I noticed that people were hovering around the building next door and decided to see what was going on.
The command quarters had taken over most of city hall and people in polos with the FBI embroidered on them were bent over computers and maps. I had to show my temporary id to the man guarding the door, but once he verified it I was able to walk in and look at some of the maps.
They had marked a few areas that were heavily forested and could be hiding bodies or used for hunting the women. No one seemed to mind me looking around.
A list was sitting next to the map of all the land owners in county, Urban Energy was listed as the owner of the land where the women had been discovered. Excited I scanned the rest of the property, but nothing else was listed.
“Um, excuse me.” I tapped the closest person a computer, “Can you tell me why you’re only looking at properties here in county?”
“Maybe, but who are you?” The Agent questioned since I had nothing on with the FBI logo.
“I’m the detective from Texas that they brought in to help with the case. We’ve dealt with similar killers the past two months.”
“Oh, I heard Agent Perez mention that yesterday. She told us to run those in the county. We could expand the search, but it would take longer.”
“I don’t think you need to expand it to all properties, but could you do a run that just lists properties owned by Urban Energy. They seem to be link to the killers somehow and I’m going to be that we’ll find the next burial ground on a property they own.” I suggested.
The woman agent turned back to the computer, “That won’t take nearly as long as pulling all the records for several counties and verifying if they are forested or wooded areas. When I get it done who should I take it to?”
“Uh, Detective Boxe. I can cross check with maps and see where I think the killer is going to go next. It might not work, but it’s worth a try.” I didn’t want to stand around while I waited, but instead walked over to look at the autopsy photos of the women who had been discovered.
Two of the pictures had names underneath them, but the other three were Jane Does two, four and five. I just hoped that we could give their families some type of closure.
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Agent Perez came over after the interviews and joined me looking at the board.
“There are already more aren’t there?” She asked without looking at me.
“Yes, he takes one every day. We may not know who they are yet, but that won’t stop him from killing them.” I acknowledged.
“Do you think he’s one of the ones I just finished interviewing?”
“I only saw the one, but he could be. Is there any connection to Urban Energy?”
“The corporation? None that I’ve come across so far, why?”
“They’ve had something to do with the past two killers. Not directly, but they seem to have their hands in everything. It’s something to check into and see where it leads. I have a feeling the one pulling the strings is going to change things up on us, but it doesn’t hurt to check out all of the possible scenarios.”
I pointed to the maps laid out everywhere, “I had your agent there widen the search, but only looking for properties that were owned by Urban Energy. It’s a long shot, but if we find your missing girl before he hunts her it will be worth it. Does she have an Aries birthday?”
Agent Perez grimaced, “Yes, in two days. He must take them early to help terrify them. Then when it’s time to hunt them, he chooses the one whose birthday it is. We got the id on the fifth woman while I was in there questioning the neighbors. Tasha Logan. Her birthday was last week and there isn’t a missing person filed on her.”
“Where did she live?”
“San Francisco this time instead of L.A. He’s not playing out of just one field, he’s using this to spread us thin.” Agent Perez frowned.
“We need you both to work with the profiler and see if we can come up with something to help narrow down who we are looking for. This killer, but ultimately this Zodiac Master that is controlling a bunch of killers.”
“I’ll find Ryan and we’ll get with your profiler.”
“Thank you. I hate when we are just waiting for the killer to make the next move. It’s hard knowing these are someone’s daughters or sisters, but when it’s a hometown girl that makes things so much worse.”
“Yep, I understand. I do think he’s someone that has local access because taking this last girl is just to taunt us.”
Ryan walked in with the Sheriff just then, “They uncovered another set of bodies, but they are three counties over.”
“Who found them?” Agent Perez came to attention immediately.
“A father and son camping expedition. They literally stumbled over one of the graves because it was so fresh.” Sheriff Turner rubbed his face wearily. “We’ll stay here and let you guys do your thing, but they have to be connected.”
“Thank you for your help, sheriff. If we get an id on the missing woman, I’ll notify you personally.” She looked at me and Ryan, “Ready to see the crime scene? Maybe you can shed some light on what’s going on in this killer’s brain.”
“We’d be glad to.” I answered for both of us.
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Since it was still daylight when we got there, we were able to get a good look at graves. They weren’t what held my interest though as the crimes teams started the process of removing the bodies.
“Ryan, look at these carvings. He takes time to mark the tree with just a knife. I think he might do wood carvings as a hobby. They’re very detailed. He didn’t just sling it up there, he took pride in making sure they matched. Almost like he put a stencil up there before creating his art.” I traced the pattern with my finger.
“He might be doing this to fulfill a quota, but he’s enjoying showing his work off. Unlike the previous killers, he’s very experienced with this type of killing. We need to check the records for missing women over the last twenty years because he’s an artist and these are just his latest work.”
“Very good, Detective Boxe. I knew you had potential. I agree with your assessment. This property belongs to a corporation, but it’s not Urban Energy. It’s a real estate group that bought the property for investment purposes and they use it on occasions for weekend retreats.” Agent Perez had snuck up behind us.
“I’m going to head back so we can meet with the profiler and get a list of missing persons. If we can narrow down the dates these kind of disturbances started, we might be able to figure out who is doing it now. We’ll look at any bodies that have been uncovered as well. I’m going to have it extended to statewide. I don’t think our killer has stayed this close to home and not gotten caught.”
As she walked away to give everyone their orders, I whispered to Ryan, “She’s either really good at her job or has a sixth sense for when we’re about to find something. She scares me.”
He burst out laughing causing those around us to frown. For the first time in a week he seemed to come out of his depressed mood and I wasn’t about to complain.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re scared of an FBI agent. I honestly didn’t think there was anything that could get under your skin. You always seem so confident and yet a season field agent is the one th
at gives you nightmares. It’s hilarious.” Ryan kept chuckling to himself as we walked toward the vehicles parked at the edge of the wooded area.
“Not scared, just cautious.” I whispered at him.
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Chapter 6
Leslie
Exhausted after hours of going over the details trying to pin down something that will help to focus on a specific person. The town of Seaside had been overrun with tourists and there weren’t any hotels or motels even within an hour drive. Agent Perez was sending us to San Francisco to check out Tasha Logan the next morning, so we opted to drive back and spend the night away from all the chaos.
I fell asleep as Ryan was driving back to our hotel in L.A. even though it was in the opposite direction from our destination the next day.
Ryan cursing brought me awake with a start.
“What’s wrong?” I mumbled glancing in the mirrors as I sat up.
“Someone’s following us.” Ryan kept watching the one lane winding road.
“How long?” I asked, trying to gauge how far behind us the headlights were.
“About twenty minutes. I would just assume it was another car, but they never quite catch up to us. Other cars have passed them, but they’ve stayed exactly the same distance behind us. That’s not possible unless you’re trying to stay out of sight as you trail someone.”
“Did you call anyone?”
Ryan shook his head, “There’s no signal out here. I’m pulling over in the next town whether we need gas or not.”
Awake and alert, I watched for the next sign that announced a town. Five miles.
We slowed down as we entered the city limits. Ryan quickly found a place to pull off facing the road and turned out the lights. It was a few minutes before a large produce truck lumbered past us. A full load of vegetables didn’t seem that suspicious, nothing else passed as we waited.
“Well, was that it or did they turn off somewhere?” I wondered out loud.
“I think that was it and it makes more sense than someone following us. If the truck is loaded down then it wouldn’t be going very fast and it would fall back during the hills, never quite catching up.”
“Want me to take a turn?” I offered.
“Nah, I can’t sleep while the car is moving. I might as well drive.”
“K, I’m awake now. Let’s see if there’s anything on the radio that won’t put us to sleep.”
“Please tell me that you’re not going to put country on?”
“Nope.” I grinned mischievously, “Rap of course. I fell in love with it as an alternative for country. I can only handle so much country before I want to scream.”
“Oh, heaven help us.” Ryan tightened his grip on the wheel. “How did I fall this low?”
My phone beeped. “Yay, we have service again.”
I quickly typed out a message to Jerome.
“On the road back to hotel for the night, I’ll call when we get there.”
“You’re boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound real thrilled about it.” Ryan glanced at me.
“We’re in an unusual place. We’re still getting to know each other, but have already done the huge fight thing. He’s jealous, but his ex-girlfriend cheated on him. I get it, but I also have to have his trust. I work with mostly guys and he’s just going to have to believe that I’m not messing around on him.”
“Oh, that’s a hard one. Shea’s pretty good with it most of the time. She wouldn’t like these trips if she hadn’t met you. She trusts you to watch my back while I’m gone. I didn’t think she’d be okay with a woman partner, but so far that hasn’t really come up.”
“You’ve been a little busy with our last two cases.” I giggled, “She called me before we left and made me promise to look after you.”
“Nah, she didn’t?” He asked with disbelief.
“Yep, she did. I told her you were a grown ass man so of course I’d look after you.”
“There goes my street cred.” Ryan chuckled, “After all these years of being mr. tough guy, my fiancé goes and knocks me out with one blow.”
“Awe, you love her though. She’s been worried about you.”
“You two become besties over the past two weeks or something? How did I miss this?”
“Yep. It’s better to be friends than rivals. I realized that if Jerome was having problems with you then she might have the same concerns with me. I didn’t want that to be the case so I reached out. We did lunch last week.”
“Great. Just great. Now nothing in my life will be private, plus you’ll feel that you have to tell her everything while leaving me out of it.”
“Nope. Partners first. I just want to make sure we stay that way.”
“Hey watch out.” I screamed as the headlights from the other side of the road weaved into our lane causing us to drive precariously on the small shoulder.
My heart was racing and it seemed the truck had disappeared after almost driving us off the road.
“Do you think that was on purpose?” I asked trying to stop my hands from trembling.
“It could just be because it’s a long highway and they weren’t paying attention.”
“But you don’t think so.” I finished for him.
“No.” The words hung in the air as something rammed into us from behind.
“Hold on.” Ryan stepped on the gas.
I turned to look behind us, but there weren’t any lights.
“Someone’s trying to run us off the road.”
The car rocked as the other vehicle hit our bumper and started to accelerate.
“We’re headed down a hill. If they don’t stop, they’re going to push us off the cliff. Brace yourself.” Ryan warned.
I gripped the door as he pulled across the road to throw the vehicle from pushing us.
It pulled even with us and then proceeded to hit the passenger side at the perfect angle sending us into the ditch.
An airbag exploded in my face and I reached out for Ryan as felt better when his hand gripped mine. We were both alive for the moment.
Whoever had pushed us off the road might come back to finish us off.
The airbag deflated and I searched with my right hand for my phone which had been thrown when we hit the wall of the ditch.
“Ryan, there’s no signal. Can you get out?” I wasn’t letting go of his hand until we were out of danger.
A grunt was all of the answer I got from him.
“Ryan, don’t die on me partner.” I shined the phone toward him, “Hey get the light out of my eyes.”
His door opened and he tumbled out making his way around the car. It wasn’t until he tried to open my side that I came out of my daze and fumbled to unbuckle the seat belt.
“Can you get out?” He questioned looking up and down the now empty road.
“Yes, I think so.” I reached out to push on the door and it wouldn’t budge.
“You may have to crawl out the driver’s side. I think this door took some of the impact when he hit us.”
Crawling sounded easy enough, but my body was moving very slowly to my commands.
“Did you get a look at the license plate?” He asked as I made my way to lean against the front of the car.
“No, I didn’t. It was too dark and all I could see was the truck before it ran us off the road. Should we stay here or try to walk to the next town?”
Ryan walked around the car and stuck his head inside. The hazard lights came on warning other cars.
“I don’t think we can walk. The last sign I saw said twenty miles to the next town. I hate to just sit here though because we’re sitting ducks and have no idea if the next person that might ask to help is our killer being nice.”
Shivers ran up and down my spine when he mentioned that possibility. “Let’s give it a few minutes and if we don’t have anyone come by than we can start walking. I’m feeling a little tired so maybe we should just wait until we have to walk.”
>
“You’re bleeding.”
“What? Where?” I reached up a hand self-consciously to feel my face. There was a small cut that was the source of his concern.
“Stand right there.” Ryan commanded, going back to the car and coming out with napkins from our take out earlier.
Gently, he pressed it to my face making me suck in a breath of air to fight against the pain. “Hold that on it. Once it stops bleeding then we can get a bandage on it. You might have a concussion.”
“It’s possible.” I commented as a vehicle approached from behind us.
“You folks need help?” A woman’s voice asked.
“Oh, thank you. If you could get us to the next town that would be wonderful.” I accepted gratefully.
“Hey, can we trust her?” Ryan whispered grabbing my arm to hold me back.
“Yes, it’s a she. The killer is a he.” I must not have a concussion if I had noticed that.
“Right.”
He glanced at the car with the light blinking. “Should I leave the hazards on?”
“I would. That way no one else hits it.” I opened the car door grateful to sit down.
In the light from the dome inside, I got a good look at our rescuer. She was about fifty and didn’t appear to be threatening.
“Oh, my. You’re hurt.” She noticed worried.
“Ryan, just got me a few napkins. It should be okay once we get some stitches done.”
He opened the back and slid in, “We really appreciate you stopping like this. You never know who’s going to stop.”
“I wasn’t going to, but you both looked like you weren’t doing well and this part of the road can be dangerous for car problems. What happened?”
“He lost control and managed to steer it over into the ditch instead of off the cliff. I’m just glad that it wasn’t worse.” I purposefully left out the vehicle that tried to kill us.
“I’m just glad I could help. I’m taking you both to the hospital in L.A. because the next town only has a clinic and they closed hours ago.”
“You’re from around here then?” I asked curious.
