by Paris Morgan
Halfway into the week, I found some interesting information that I needed to check out in person. The next morning, I met the other two in the lobby as they were ready to head out to Alaska.
“Guess you weren’t too far off track with this one, huh, Ryan?” Adam joked as we all got into the car picking us up for the airport.
“Or the killer took my thought as a suggestion,” I countered. “Speaking of which, I’m going to need to go back toward home. With Shea being this close to having the baby, I don’t feel comfortable being gone right now. Are you both okay with being a partner short?”
“Sure. I knew this was coming, and we’ll manage just fine. It would be nicer if we’d gotten a few hits on the name Zesty, but right now, all we can do is follow the dead bodies around the country again.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at Leslie. “I’m going to keep working on finding out something about the history of the Zodiac Master. There’s something in there that could lead to him in that stuff we gathered.”
“We hate to see you go, but I get it, buddy. Take care of Shea, and we’ll try to be back in time for the baby thing.”
Leslie walked over to me as we stood on the curb at the airport moments later. “Be careful. He’s more likely to come after us when we’re split up.” She gave me a hug before walking away.
I wondered if she could sense that I wasn’t being completely truthful with them. Maybe I was just imagining things because I’d never gone behind her back on this case since we’d become partners. At least, not until now.
When their flight left, I walked down to the actual terminal I needed and sat down to wait until I could board.
On the one hand, it would have been nice to have seen Alaska, yet I had this feeling I was going to find something in California where Agent Watson was from.
They called my flight for boarding, and I was anxious about the actual plane trip. It had been months since I’d flown by myself. I had no idea what a calming presence Leslie had become in my life. Then again, it wasn’t until she came along that I’d started having all this crazy stuff happen and needed to fly all around the country.
Maybe when the baby was a little older and this mess was behind us, I’d take Shea on a trip to Alaska so that I could hit the one state that I knew wasn’t going to be on my travel logs.
That was something I needed to check on a map when I had some spare time, which states we had been to because of our cases. Were there any that had been missed? It was possible that the Zodiac Master would have someone killed in every state. We’d been to quite a few, and some more than once, but then again, we’d also had a lot of dead bodies to work with.
It was another possible direction to pursue.
The plane started to take off and I gripped the arms of the seat tightly as I closed my eyes, not wanting to know exactly when we left the ground.
A rustle of someone sitting down had me squinting to look out of the corner of my eye. A gorgeous woman of mixed race sat down in the aisle seat next to me.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she drawled in a Texas accent. “My plane had some mechanical issues, and this was the only flight heading out to California. They wouldn’t even give me a seat in first class, no matter how much money I threw at them.”
I gave a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah. Welcome to where the working class fly.”
The plane gave a jerk as we started rolling, and she giggled.
“Is this your first flight?”
“Nope,” I answered with my eyes closed. “I just hate flying without my friend. I’ve flown with her so much lately that I didn’t realize how she kept me distracted enough that I didn’t know when we were lifting off. Now that she’s not here, it’s all coming back.”
“Aw, sugar. I could help with that.” She ran a manicured nail up my arm.
It certainly took my focus off of flying and put it on the woman trying to seduce me.
“I’m sorry. The first thing I thought when you sat down was how gorgeous you are, but I’m engaged, and we’re expecting our first baby. So, while I’m very flattered, I’m afraid I can’t,” I apologized, moving my arm out from under her hand.
“I was just trying to take your mind off of your surroundings, but I wouldn’t have minded going a little further either. You’re not so bad looking yourself.” She winked at me, causing my whole face to blush.
“Noted. And while I appreciate that, it just wouldn’t be right.”
“You mentioned a friend? Is she your fiancé?” She tapped those long nails on her leg, which was still distracting me.
“Uh, no.” I gulped nervously. “She’s my partner, and we had to split up to cover more ground this time. Our other partner is with her. Oh, sorry, we’re detectives.” I shook the cobwebs forming away. “Probably should have led with that first. We’re working on a case that’s had us traveling constantly over the past few months. This is just one last stop before I head home and work out of the office because I don’t want to miss the birth of my first baby.”
“Is it a girl or a boy?” she inquired politely, her attention focused somewhere farther up the aisle.
“A little girl. We’re going to name her Hope Ivy.” I beamed, glad to talk about the little baby girl who was going to make me a father.
“That’s nice. I don’t have kids yet.” She gave me a sad look. “I don’t know that I’ll ever do that. It’s a crazy world for us to bring kids into these days.” Looking down the aisle once more, she announced, “Well, you’ll have to excuse me. I think they had someone who didn’t show up. Looks like I’ve been upgraded after all.” She stood as soon as the fasten seat belt sign went off. “Good luck with your kid. I hope you find what you’re looking for. It could be right under your nose, you never know.”
She disappeared into the first-class section, and that’s when I realized that we were in the air. I’d made it through another takeoff. Next time, I wasn’t going to sweat it because I could do this without anyone holding my hand.
***
Agent Watson had come to us from L.A., so I had done a little digging to find out where he lived with his family.
The first Agent that had worked with us, Ava Perez, had suddenly excused herself from her position, and I was willing to bet that she’d been threatened, either professionally or physically. I was hoping that she would talk to me. Well, that was if I could even find her.
L.A. was even more confusing than driving around the Dallas–Ft. Worth Metroplex, so it took me a couple of hours to find her place, which according to the GPS map, was only a short distance away.
There was car in the driveway.
I looked around, nervous that I’d been followed, and that Agent Watson was going to confront me. I knew it was ridiculous, but that didn’t change the fact that what I was doing could completely backfire.
My knock sounded loudly through the house, and I wondered if I’d gotten the address wrong. That was until the door flew open, and a pissed off Ava Perez stood in front of me.
“What do you want?” she demanded. “Wasn’t it enough that you got me fired?”
“Fired? I didn’t get you fired. I think there’s been mistake. I was hoping to talk to you about Agent Watson, actually.”
She glanced out at the car, which was empty. “I guess it can’t hurt. But be quiet, my kid is napping.”
I just stood there in the entryway after the door closed, not sure if she wanted me to take a seat or not.
With a look of disgust, she nodded to the worn-out couch and took a seat, waiting for me to do the same.
“You didn’t know I got fired?” She pulled out a cigarette and held it between her fingers. “It helps if I hold it. The cravings aren’t as bad since I quit.”
“We didn’t know, honest. Leslie and I have been so focused on this killer that we didn’t realize that something might be wrong until recently. That’s why I’m here. Can you tell me why you got fired?”
“There were two reasons it happened. I had been in troub
le for a while, but when I took it out on your friend Leslie, that was when I was given my walking papers. I didn’t realize that she was someone important, or I would have treated her differently.”
I perked up at that. “Who told you that she was someone important? She’s just a rookie detective that got pulled into this case. There’s only one person who considers her to be important, and that’s our killer.”
“But the killer died in police custody, didn’t he?”
“No, that was the fall guy. He was innocent. His cousin had been framing him for years. The Zodiac Master was the one who actually killed him, but we weren’t far behind. His reasoning was that the killer had tried to kill Leslie. Can I ask, who actually fired you?”
“The head of our division. He wasn’t pleased with my performance, and said that he’d heard multiple reports about how I’d treated Leslie, explaining that he couldn’t have someone of importance not given their due respect. I was given severance pay and told to look for other employment in a different line of work.”
“What did they expect you to do? Go flip burgers or work at a convenience store?” Even though I wouldn’t have wished that on someone I hated, it wasn’t fair to fire her for not liking someone.
“Since anything in law enforcement was off the table, I looked into social work. I’m in training, but haven’t finished yet. You caught me on a rare day off.”
“Can you tell me anything about Agent Watson?”
“He moved up in the ranks almost as fast as your girl detective did. I’d say he’s only been with the Bureau for about five years. No one takes over and runs a case this big with that little experience,” she scowled, snapping the cigarette in half.
“Someone owed him a favor.”
“That would be my take on it. Look, I’ve told you all that I know, so can you please go before whatever your caught up in comes back to hurt me and my family?”
I stood to go. She’d already sacrificed more than enough. “Is there a direction that you can point me in? You know, where I might find this favor?”
She smiled at my choice of words. “You might check into the club where he used to work back in the day. It’s a prestigious club where only members can get in, and you have to be able to shell out a lot of money.”
“The Black Tie Club?”
“Yes, I believe that’s what it was called. How did you know?”
“We have one in Texas, and it’s no coincidence that Agent Watson is working on this case. Now, I’m just going to need proof.”
“You might need to check into the houses he rents out. I don’t think he manages them, but I heard him complaining about contractors one time.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you.” I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “For what it’s worth, Leslie will be pissed off that they did that to you. No one should be fired for having a bad day. I hope this other career works out for you, and if you need any recommendations, I’ll be glad to help.”
“While I appreciate that, I just want to stay as far away from the FBI as possible.” She smiled tightly. “I just want a job that will let me feed and clothe my family.”
“Completely understand. I’m about to have my first kid. Well, I’ll leave you alone. Here’s my card if you ever need anything. Don’t say anything about what you need, just remind me of my visit out here.”
“Your phones are bugged?” Her eyes widened. “Things are bad then.”
“Like I said, if you ever need anything, just let us know.” I walked down the steps with a frown on my face. If anyone was watching, I didn’t want them to know that I’d gotten something from her.
I hit the steering wheel in mock frustration. This cover-up went straight to the top of two divisions. My hunch had paid off, but I still didn’t have any evidence to back it up.
Kevin was going to have to look for the employee and land records out here in California. In fact, Adam’s new tech person, Mac, might be able to find out more for us than we could.
I wasn’t looking forward to flying again on the same day, but it would be worth it when I got home and could sleep next to Shea again.
Chapter 7
Leslie
When we got to Alaska, the nights were already getting shorter, and it was cold enough that we had to buy gear just to go near the crime scenes.
The bodies were days old by the time they’d been found, which explained the first one on the East Coast being older, and the latest three being fresh.
Our killer had flown back and forth across the country several times since the start of the new zodiac cycle. What she wasn’t planning on was that in Alaska, a lone woman stood out more than she did when in the states.
It was for that reason that Adam had stayed by my side and had gotten adjoining rooms. Alaska was supposed to be a law-abiding state. Most of the cities here were, but anything outside of that was handled by the law of the west.
The state police could be called in, but things like fist fights weren’t going to get you thrown in jail for long. That was what they’d consider a normal Friday night.
The killer had left her mark each time with a candy corn message or drawing. Nothing too overt, but enough that we knew it was her. When the bodies didn’t get discovered for several days, it made it harder to make out what her messages were. All the same, I had a feeling she was taunting us.
We’d eaten early and headed for the safety of our rooms. Ever since we’d gotten to Alaska, I’d felt eyes on us.
Adam was certain someone was watching, but he couldn’t feel what I was feeling.
I flung myself onto the bed and put my gun next to me. When I’d joined the force, I hadn’t thought that I would be marrying my gun. I was more comfortable with it on the pillow next to me than I was with a man.
Trust wasn’t as easy to come by these days. The Zodiac Master had pretty much isolated me, making me feel that I couldn’t even trust my own mother.
Would I ever be able to trust my own instincts again?
My phone buzzed, which considering I was up at the top of the world, I was amazed that I even had a signal. I guess the modern world was still able to track people down, even in the wilds of Alaska.
Wilds of Alaska. I sat up as it dawned on me. Our killer wasn’t comfortable in the country. Even though they’d come all the way up here to make a statement, they hadn’t left the confines of the city.
We were working with a city girl.
The phone buzzed again and I picked it up. “Hey, how are things going?”
“Pretty good considering that therapy turned into an anxiety ridden killing spree. I’m lucky to sleep through the night these days. I don’t know how you managed with all the things you see every day,” Jerome replied.
“It’s kind of messed me up too.” I wanted to be honest, but I couldn’t share my heart again so soon. It was going to take some time, and a lot of work on his part.
“There aren’t a lot of therapists here that deal with this kind of stuff, but I’ve been going to one who has so far prescribed all sorts of medication. Taking the nighttime p.m. stuff seems to help the best. But I don’t want to be one of those guys who takes pills on top of more pills.”
“Yeah, that’s a slippery slope.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was “medication” that had killed all those people at the rehab facility, since he must not have heard how badly things had gotten.
“What’s new with you?” he asked, careful to keep things light.
“Not much outside the norm. We’ve got Shea’s baby shower this weekend, but other than waiting on the baby to get here, I don’t foresee anything really exciting happening.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that she was that far along. When you see him again, can you tell him congratulations for me?”
“Yeah, sure.” It was amazing to me, now that Ryan and Shea were having a kid, the amount of suspicion in Jerome’s voice went way down.
Just because someone was having a kid, that didn’t mean they woul
dn’t cheat. I mean, I guess the odds did go down a bit, but a lot of guys used their wives pregnancies as an excuse to cheat.
“You sound tired. Are you okay?”
“Just a long day, and flying makes it worse. All those dead bodies take a toll on us, and it’s hard to deal with on a regular basis.”
“Well, make sure to get some rest. We can chat again in a few days if you’d like.”
“That would be nice.”
I hung up, not believing he was the same man. Nice and caring would be the words I’d use to describe him now, but I wasn’t going to be fooled a second time.
I fell asleep with the light on, and when I woke up it was morning, even though it was still dark outside.
We had one more body to look at while we were here in Alaska, but it was going to be an all-day trip there and back.
When we got there, the local sheriff had the body sitting on a slab in their freezer.
“Sorry about this. We don’t get many bodies up here, and we have to store them with the processed meat each year until spring. We didn’t want to bury him until we’d done the autopsy and gotten an identification.”
“We can’t help you with the identification part, but I can tell you how he was killed. He was beheaded by a woman using a katana.” I glanced at the body, which had been frozen in stasis. “Adam, do you think you could get a description of where they found the body and any other details?” I asked, feeling the need to get all the eyes off of me so I could check out the body.
“Yeah. If I could see the pictures of where you found it, that would be extremely helpful.” Adam ushered the officer back into the other office.
As the door closed, I took a few deep breaths, trying not to feel claustrophobic.
Something about this body was calling to me, and I knew enough now to know that I needed to see what the spirt was telling me.
I reached out a physical hand and concentrated on feeling the energy around me.
