Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  “Do you feel anything in relation to the killers or their whereabouts?”

  “No. All those spirits are gone now. It’s like there’s this empty space around me. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

  “That’s because you pulled all the energy into you. You need to send it back out into the universe. Don’t let it bottle up inside you. I felt you release the killer’s spirit and then the girl’s, but you need to focus and collect all that extra energy. Then take it like you’re throwing a ball that bursts when it hits.”

  Taking a deep breath, I did as he instructed. Nothing happened.

  I did it again, but with a little more force until there was a huge explosion against the wall. It looked like a paintball war had taken out the wall, as all the colors plastered themselves against the white.

  Adam started a slow clap. “Impressive. That’s how you conduct an interview with the dead.”

  “I didn’t do it wrong?” I asked, confused.

  “No. I cautioned you so that you wouldn’t go crazy. You’re still stronger than most people just starting out. That first part where you got rid of the extra voices was a nice touch. You can separate the individual voices faster than I’ve ever seen a seasoned psychic do. You were born to do this.”

  I could feel the blush creeping up my face. “Not really. It’s something I stumbled into.”

  “Well, just because you did this so beautifully, doesn’t mean that you should start doing all this by yourself. While I couldn’t have done a lot, I still could have brought you back with a few tricks.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m feeling my way through this, but I don’t want to burn out. If it helps our investigations now, then it can do the same in the future. Taking a chance now while I’m still learning the ropes isn’t a good, long-term plan.”

  I started to stand, and would have fallen over if Adam hadn’t caught me.

  “You’re going to need a little time to recover before you jump back into investigations today. Food will help.”

  Adam turned on his phone and frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Ryan figured out who the twins’ parents are. He’s setting up a flight for both of you this evening.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound like bad news.” I took a few sips of the water he handed me.

  “It’s not, exactly, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go into a place where the twin killers have lived without me. The residue they leave behind can trigger your connection to them and I won’t be there to help.”

  I shrugged. “Why don’t you come with us?”

  He frowned. “I can’t. I have to consult on another case we’ve been working on for a while. Just please, be careful, and share anything out of the ordinary with Ryan. He’s your partner for now and can still be your backup, even if he doesn’t have the gift.”

  “Got it. I’ll keep him in the loop,” I promised with my finger crossed behind my back.

  “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll send someone in with some food. Eat all of it before you try to stand up again. Having you hit your head isn’t going to help anyone right now,” he admonished.

  “Yes, sir.” I gave him a salute. “I’ll check in when we get there or find something.”

  “Copy that.” The door shut behind him as I dropped my head onto my arms resting on the table.

  “Psychic stuff should come with a warning label, ‘Will drain all of your energy,’” I muttered as I closed my eyes. “Only for a minute.”

  ***

  Another plane ride and hotel later, we stood on the front porch of Jessica Bishop, now Jessica Cameron.

  Ryan rang the bell.

  A man in his mid-forties answered the door. “May I help you?”

  “We’re looking for Jessica Cameron.”

  Her blonde colored head appeared right behind him. “I’m Jessica.” She was tying her robe shut. “What can I do for you?”

  Ryan and I held up our temporary badges.

  “We’re here about your sons, Randell and Darrell—” I began, but she cut me off.

  “Let them in,” she ordered the man holding the door.

  We followed him to the living area where she sat down, adjusting her robe to cover her thighs.

  “What have they done now?” she asked as the man joined her on the couch.

  “Um…” I glanced pointedly at the guy.

  “Oh, this is my husband, Gary Cameron. We’ve been married over ten years, so anything you need to say to me can be said in front of him.”

  “We believe that your sons are involved with some murdered twins.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not the first time.”

  “Are you saying that your sons are responsible for the deaths of your twin daughters?” Ryan tossed out confrontationally.

  “Yes, and the deaths of their cousins. It’s why my first husband divorced me. I didn’t believe him until it happened again to my girls.”

  Her husband patted her arm in support.

  “I watched them so carefully when the girls were little, but the boys were great with them. They had fun with them, and I never saw anything that made me worry about their safety. I thought it was just an accident with the other twins until I returned home that day.” She started crying.

  “The boys were supposed to watch the girls while we went out to lunch and a movie. They’d done it before, so we weren’t worried until we walked in and they were engrossed in their games,” the man informed us.

  “It was more than just playing their games. They were watching to see what we were going to do. As if they needed to see our expressions when we discovered what had happened. That was when panic set in.” She sniffled, wiping away tears. “I knew. Somehow, deep down, I knew that the girls were dead. I took off running through the house to the girls’ room. When they weren’t in there, I ran into each room, throwing open doors and searching frantically.”

  “They were just sitting there watching me panic. At that point, they’d stopped playing, but they weren’t helping look for the girls.”

  “When I saw her running to their room, I joined her. We didn’t see them, and I realized that the pool was one place the girls weren’t supposed to go without one of us with them. That’s where they were, floating in the pool.”

  “We called 9-1-1, but they’d been dead for hours.”

  “Did you mention your concerns to the police?” I questioned.

  “How could I do that? I would’ve lost my daughters and my sons. There was no evidence that the boys had done anything. It was ruled an accident, but I knew deep down that they had had a part in it.”

  “Aren’t you concerned for your safety?”

  The couple exchanged a glance. “The boys aren’t here much. They left for college shortly thereafter, and then moved out to the cottage when they came home. We don’t do much with them, and have an alarm code they don’t have access to.”

  “Honestly, the boys have scared me for years,” her husband confessed. “We’ve managed to have an excuse most of the time and live somewhere else. They were going on a trip, so we came back while they’re gone.”

  “Do you know what kind of trip they were going on?”

  “They told us it was work related. Why?”

  “Uh, do they work for Urban Energy by any chance?”

  “Yes, they do. It’s supposed to be a promotional tour for some new products the company is integrating.”

  “I regret to inform you that we’re looking at them for the murders of several sets of twins. They’ve been using their work tour as an alibi for a murder spree.”

  Their mother let out a gasp, turning to hide her face in her husband’s shoulder.

  “Should we be worried that they’ll come after us?” He pulled her closer, trying to protect her.

  “Not exactly. Is there someplace that you can disappear to for the next two weeks?”

  “We can go to my sister’s. What’s going to change in the next two weeks, though?”
/>   “It needs to be somewhere that they don’t know about. No family or friends,” Ryan advised. “We have a deadline based on their activities, and they’ll either be in custody or dead by then.”

  The mother sat back up, facing us. “If you’d have said this five years ago, I’d have cried and pleaded for their lives. But I can’t ignore it any longer. There’s something wrong with my sons.”

  “Would they answer a phone call from you? We need to find them, and if we can track their phones when they answer your call, it could be the break we’ve been looking for.”

  “I can do that, but they’re not going to be expecting it. What if you called them and warned them that we had made a visit to your house and you were just letting them know that you have their backs?”

  “Hmm… That might work.”

  “I’d like a chance to look through their living quarters for anything helpful. Would you allow us to do that?”

  We didn’t have to get a warrant if the home owners allowed us inside.

  “Yes. Gary, can you go let her in while I start packing?”

  “Thank you. Just no phone calls until we can get things set up.”

  “The last thing I want to do is warn them.” She grimaced at the thought.

  Ryan nodded at Jessica. “I’ll stay with her while you go out there and see if you can find anything. Be careful.”

  “Will do.” I followed Gary out to the cottage.

  He unlocked it. “I’ll go start packing. I’ll come back to lock up when you’re done.”

  Ryan’s instincts had been right with Jessica. I wondered if it was connected to what had been bugging him lately. I walked into the cottage, which looked like a normal bachelors’ pad.

  I started looking through their belongings, which was a little creepy because everything was in sets of two. Their closets were mirror images of each other, with matching outfits for each twin.

  As I touched their things and moved around, I began to get dizzy.

  “Focus, Leslie. Block out all the extra and just work through their stuff.” I counted, taking several deep breaths.

  “Visualize a shield to keep out all the emotions trying to get through.”

  It helped, but I was still having trouble concentrating. Flora had said to let it guide me.

  I’d been trying so hard to keep things out that I hadn’t thought about it blocking my normal senses. I released a small amount of energy and let it flow through the room. Instantly feeling better, I looked around, waiting to see if anything in the room called to me.

  There was a certain symmetry to their room, but the only thing that really stuck out was the desk where they could place a laptop. It must have been with them, but they might have written something and left it behind.

  I fumbled through stacks of papers in the drawers, but no luck. Crawling onto the floor to look under the desk for hidden drawers, I found nothing. Still feeling slightly off, I sat in the chair, and that’s when I saw it. The calendar that had been in each of the victims’ homes was staring straight at me.

  The first date of the murders was circled with a set of initials. Each of the days had another initial by them, but they didn’t match the names of the victims. They did match the states where they were murdered, though.

  I yanked it off the wall to hurry back to Ryan, and the next thing I knew, he was standing over me, gently slapping my face.

  “What happened?” I started to sit up, but things began to get fuzzy.

  “When you didn’t come back by the time they got packed, I realized that something was wrong. You were passed out on the floor, holding the calendar.”

  “Food. I need to eat something.” I had to get back up to speed quickly.

  “Here.” Ryan offered me a granola bar.

  I nibbled on it while I handed him the calendar that had been grasped in my hand.

  “Do these dates correspond to the murders?”

  He nodded as I stuffed another bite into my mouth. I was starting to feel a little better. We were going to have to add a revival kit to carry in the field with us from here on out.

  “Okay to get up now?” Ryan squatted beside me while the worried faces of Jessica and Gary stood behind him.

  “Yeah.” I pushed until I was completely sitting up.

  “Better?”

  “Getting there. While I recover, go ahead and have them make the phone call. I’ll be ready by the time you get done.”

  “Roger that.”

  He placed the call to Agent Watson and explained what was going on, then he had Jessica dial the twins.

  “Hey, baby. Something happened today and I wanted to let you know that we’re going to go away for a while,” Jessica explained with the phone on speaker.

  “Mom, what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  “Not really. We got a visit from the FBI today, and I don’t want them to come back or find you. If we aren’t here, then they can’t talk to us. Just take care of your brother and make sure to stay safe. I love you both.”

  “We love you too. If they’ve come around there, then that means we’re doing what we set out to accomplish on our trip. You’re the world’s best mom.”

  “Aw, baby. That means so much to me. They were accusing you of awful things, but I didn’t believe any of them.”

  “What were they saying about us?”

  “That you murdered some girls. I told them that was an accident and that you and your brother weren’t to blame for that.”

  “Mom, they’re right. We’ve done some things that I know would disappoint you, but we had to do it to protect you.”

  “To protect me? What do you have to protect me from?” Jessica looked puzzled.

  “From other twins who are trying to get your attention. You’re our mom, the others are just clones trying to impersonate us.”

  “That’s the craziest thing you’ve ever said. What would make you think that other twins were trying to impersonate you? You’re my twins, and there aren’t any others like you anywhere in the world.”

  “Mom, you held our baby cousins and you just couldn’t get enough of them. When we needed you, you were busy helping with them.”

  “Aw, honey. Never would I put your cousins before you. They were babies that were cute and cuddly. Once they get bigger then they aren’t nearly as cute. You have to soak up the baby stage before they outgrow it. It reminded me of you and your brother. I missed those baby days when you were little because I was taking care of two of you. I didn’t get to enjoy it like I wanted to,” Jessica apologized through her tears.

  “That wasn’t what it felt like, Mom. Then when our sisters were born, you did better, but you were starting to put too much time and effort into them. Taking them to beauty contests and dressing them like little dolls. We just couldn’t have someone taking the attention away from us again.”

  “Mom, we’re sorry, but this is something we have to do. We need to send a message to the twins of the world that we won’t put up with this kind of thing,” the other twin chimed in.

  “We love you, but we have to go.”

  The line went dead.

  “Was that long enough?” Jessica asked through her tears.

  “Yes,” Agent Watson answered. They’re up in the Northeast part of the U.S. Finish up there and head to the airport. We’ll have an exact location here shortly.”

  Ryan hung up and walked over to where I was sitting.

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah. We’ll need to get some food, but I’ll be fine with a little rest.”

  “Jessica, I’m curious. Why didn’t you call them by name when you were talking to them?” Ryan’s question slowed her tears.

  “I can’t tell them apart. I learned when they were little to just act like I knew which was which because they would get so upset if I called them by the wrong name. I wanted them to feel loved, so I just thought it was a twin thing at the time. Now, I realize it was a sign that they weren’t right in the head.” />
  “It’s not your fault,” Ryan assured her.

  “Your sons are psychopaths. They’ve managed to build up all the small slights into something huge. They see any other set of twins as possible targets for your affections. It doesn’t matter that they are adults, all the twins can see is a threat that must be taken care of properly. You did not do this.” I spoke with a little more bluntness. She needed to know that their problems had started much earlier than she could have ever guessed.

  “Thank you.” She used the edge of her sleeve to wipe away her tears. “I never understood what drove them to kill their cousins or sisters. They just explained it to me in a way that makes sense. It was all jealously. As small children, I can see how they would feel threatened by another set of twins.”

  “I think they had more of a connection with their sisters than they had thought they would. When it came down to it, you started showing more interest as you felt the danger had passed. I’m sure that you kept a watch over the babies until they were much older than the cousins were. When you started showing love, they switched back to being threatened.”

  “Well, now that I know this, we’ll sell our property and move permanently. I don’t want to be anywhere that they can find us.” She gave Gary a tight smile.

  “Please contact us when it’s safe to come back and pack up.” He gave Ryan a card with their information on it. “Come on, honey, let’s go.” He wrapped his arm around her as they moved in the direction of their car.

  “We should follow their example and head out.” Ryan held out a hand to help me up.

  “Thanks. Just point me in the direction of the food and I’m good.”

  “Done. Please don’t scare me like that again. When I found you on the floor, I thought you were dead.”

  “Sorry. I think their presence and anger just overwhelmed my senses. I’d felt dizzy, and now I know that’s a sign to leave. I can reevaluate before going back into a situation like that.” I was still feeling a little off, but I didn’t want to worry Ryan, and food should take care of most of it.