Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set
Page 115
“Yeah, you’d do your best to keep your promise, though I’m not ready to be done with the game yet. How about this. I’ll promise that after December, I won’t recruit any more killers.”
I huffed in disgust. “Seriously, I’m supposed to let you keep killing for two more months? That’s not possible. An entire state is looking for you, and most of the FBI. You’re listed as the most wanted man in America right now.”
“Finally got around to that, huh? Guess throwing my father in jail wasn’t enough, now you want to make sure that we both have cells next to each other.”
“What do you want? There has to be a solution to our stalemate,” I pleaded.
“I want you.”
“Honestly, if I thought that sleeping with you would get you to stop, I’d do it. Just like with any other terrorist, you’ll find some new demand to keep me doing what you want.”
“That wouldn’t work for me anyway. I want you to willingly come to me, not because it will make things stop so you get your way.”
I laughed then. “You think that wanting to save lives is selfish, and it’s me wanting my own way? Up until now, I thought that you were a rational, intelligent person, but I can see that I was wrong. I mean, I knew that you had a screw loose, but not a whole basket full.”
“Oh, honey, I don’t have any screws loose,” he said in a condescending manner, “but I guess I’m just going to have to keep showing you that to you over the next few months.”
He faded back into the bushes. Those last few moments, he seemed almost familiar. I still couldn’t place him, though.
Agent Heath showed up right then. “Detective Boxe, what’s going on?”
“The killer just wanted a meeting with me, and I didn’t want to find myself mysteriously gone while no one knew where I went to begin with.”
“He wanted to meet with you? Why didn’t you alert everyone?” he demanded.
“Because he would never have shown up. He has a weird obsession with me, and I needed to find out more. Besides, he only gave me about ten minutes to get out here, which wouldn’t have been enough time to do anything.” I sank into one of the chairs lining the edge of the pool.
“I’m sorry. You know what you’re doing or they wouldn’t have let you be the team leader. It’s just that some of the others are wondering why we have two detectives leading the task force.” He held out his hands in a questioning motion.
I pulled my legs up on the lounge until I could wrap my arms around them for warmth. “We got pulled into it. I’m not sure that the Zodiac Master could have planned it that well for us to get assigned to those specific murders, but once we were, he had an agenda for us. Agent Watson is the one who brought us in onto the task force.”
“Sorry.” He took a seat on the lounge chair next to me. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
I waved away his apology. “I get it. We’re outsiders who haven’t been trained the same way you were, and then we came in and took charge. Well, we should have expected a little blowback. I guess most of the team was there for the third killer, Aries. They saw what he could do firsthand and everyone just pitched in.”
“We’d heard that you’d gotten hurt on that one.”
“Yep, and we wouldn’t even have you, as well as new agents if we hadn’t discovered that Agent Watson was dirty. Adam’s been going through files to make sure we have a clean team from here on out.” Adam had Barbie and Mac do really deep dives on anyone that was going to be added to the team.
While there was still a chance that someone might be working for John Reed’s organization, it was unlikely that they’d have connections with the Zodiac Master. One threat had been neutralized, and we just had to find a way to take out the other one before he was able to kill more people.
“So we keep looking for this killer while he makes a swath through the south, and we just trail behind him?”
“I wish there was another way for this to work, but pretty much. The fact that he wanted to talk to me is a good sign.”
“How on earth can you say that?” Agent Heath protested.
“Because he knows we’ve got his number. He wants to make sure we aren’t putting all the pieces together by distracting me. We’re going to catch him.”
“That sounds like a promise.”
“That’s because it is one,” I proclaimed with determination.
Chapter 10
Adam
“I’ve got it.” Barbie texted at one in the morning.
“Where are you?” I texted back, hoping that autocorrect would fix any errors.
“At the warehouse,” she responded.
“Be there shortly.” I tried to get out of bed quietly, but Flora heard me anyway.
“Something happen?”
“Not exactly. Barbie has something for us.”
“Can’t it wait until morning?” she asked sleepily.
“If it can save some lives, then no.” I leaned down to kiss her before slipping into my pants and dress shirt.
“Stay safe.”
“I will, babe.” I reluctantly turned to go, knowing that we might finally have a chance to end this thing.
***
When I arrived, Mac and Barbie were sitting in front of two sets of screens and working some sort of magic as each one changed.
“Ah, Adam, glad you could join us.” Barbie grinned, spinning in a circle in her chair.
“How could I refuse when you said you had it? Now, I might not have hurried if I’d known what it was, but let’s have it.”
“Ha-ha. I did leave you in some suspense, didn’t I? Pull up a chair. This is the list of weapons that Leslie got for me. I’ve been running a few patterns and algorithms, gathering all sorts of data. One of the things I’ve uncovered is a list of potential victims. We’ve narrowed it down to certain cities and states based on their Zodiac signs.”
“Cities and states have Zodiac signs?” I stared at the screen incredulously. “How did we miss this?”
“It’s one of those little known facts. It was one of the patterns I picked up when I did some digging on the places he’d had victims. Each one corresponds to the city’s sign, or as in the state of Georgia. The entire state was his playground.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Amazing.”
“Now that I’ve gotten a handle on that, I’ve managed to gather all the cities and states that would be under attack or targets for the Zodiac Master. Then I ran a list of names from the driver’s license and passport databases to come up with a list of suspects.” She hit the button and a printer started spitting out paper.
“If we keep this quiet, we can request of all these women to either relocate to stay with families for the next few weeks, or we’ll provide protection in hopes that we can catch him in the act,” she beamed triumphantly. “We’d need a few undercover women to stay in their homes until he hits. From what Leslie said, he’s knocking them out first, and then tearing out their hearts. We’d have a few moments before he killed them to act. If what she believes is true, that he’s doing this himself, then the danger is much greater to him. He’s going to be checking things out before he goes inside now.”
“No,” I disagreed. “She’s pretty sure that he’s so confident in his actions that he’s not doing much more than taking advantage of them when the opportunity presents itself.”
“He’s not prepping first?” Mac asked from where he sat in front of his screen.
“He’s moving too fast for that. It’s kill and move on to the next town or victim with no room for failure,” I explained. “He won’t have time to case the place and find out that we have someone on the inside.”
“I wanted to send each police department a list, but didn’t want to start a panic.” Barbie walked over to pull the list from the printer.
“This is what’s going to change the outcome of the war with the Zodiac Master. I’m going to let Leslie know, and they can stakeout the few of these that are in Alabama in case he stays in the area.”<
br />
***
Leslie
When I got Adam’s call, it was still early morning on the East Coast. I immediately went to go meet with police officer Flint and work out a plan.
Since the state of Alabama was also on the list, I was betting that he was going to stay as close to me as possible while staying out of our reach.
After I’d outlined our plan for a few undercover agents in the homes of possible victims, we got the call that another body had been found.
This time, he’d left a message just for me.
Until we meet again…
I wanted to pound my fist into the wall. We’d been so close to catching him.
“We can’t put you into any of the possible houses. He’s keeping an eye on you, so you’ll give it away if we use you.”
“Agreed. Let’s find some women who are willing to take their places and get someone in their homes quickly. All of the dead women have been coming home or doing something normal, like taking out the trash. They’ll have to appear natural and not like their giving him an opportunity.”
“Got it. I’m going to leave the tech crew here to finish up. We can get things ready. It’s going to be a long night,” he sighed wearily.
“Yes, it is.”
***
Everything was quiet as all of our potential homes were given the go ahead. No one tried to enter, even when the undercovers gave him a chance.
It wasn’t until the next morning that we realized he’d been given a heads-up, or figured it out all by himself.
A message was painted across the front of four of the houses that said—You can’t catch me. Nice try.
There was a note attached to the front door.
Leslie,
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’re going to have to try harder. Now that you’ve taken away this month’s target—points to you for that, by the way—I’m going to have to do something else for next month. Up the ante as it were, because I’m not finished with you.
Take care of yourself,
The Zodiac Master
“What does that mean?” Officer Flint inquired, reading over my shoulder.
“That we have to keep these ladies safe, but he’s not going to continue until it starts over next month. We took one of his important pieces off the board, and he’s got to go home and regroup.”
“So no more murders? Just like that?”
“Well, we’ll need to keep things monitored, but yes. Whatever horrible person he is, he’s been honorable whenever we’ve got the killer of the month. If we beat him, then that’s it until the Zodiac clock resets on a new sign.”
“If you say so, but I’m still wondering how that’s going to work.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“The FBI’s team is going back to Dallas. If there’s another body found, then we’ll keep at it, but I can almost guarantee that we won’t. Regardless, we’ll come back. With the information that they’ve uncovered, we can get a jump start on next month, and hopefully prevent a lot of deaths if we start the work now.”
“Well, this isn’t the conclusion that I wanted, but I hope that you’re right. Maybe you’ll get what you need to put this monster behind bars.” Officer Flint turned to go. “Good luck.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll take all that we can get.”
***
The flight home was quiet as everyone processed the events of the last few days.
While I was happy to be done, I knew that we hadn’t actually won, not by a long shot. It was nice to finally win a battle, but the war wasn’t over yet.
Adam had messaged us to take the night and show back up at headquarters the next morning. If there wasn’t another body, then we were good to go. If it went the other way, we’d have gotten a good night’s sleep and be ready to jump back into it.
The conference room was full of people, ready for their new assignments when we all arrived the next morning.
Adam took his place next to the director, who shared a few words.
“I’m proud that we were able to put a stop to this month’s murders before we even reached the halfway point, but that doesn’t mean we can slack off. From our information, we may be able to predict who and where the Zodiac Master is going to have his people strike next. Keep up the good work, and let’s put this guy behind bars.”
A chorus of agreements came from those gathered.
“Thank you, Director,” Adam acknowledged as he took over. “Now, for those of you who had assignments here, please check in with your leaders and provide updates. They’ll let you know if you need to continue or if we’re going in a different direction. With that said, the away team needs to have their reports on my desk before noon where I’ll give you a new personal assignment that will help with our overwhelming case load. Any questions?” he asked.
Someone from the back of the room raised their hand.
“Yeah, I do.” Noah Preston spoke up so everyone could hear. “What’s a person got to do to get assigned an office around here?”
***
Epilogue
Zodiac Master
Leslie and her team had proven to be worthy opponents this month, but I was going to have to do something severe. They weren’t going to like it.
I bellowed at my secretary to get me the new interviewees ASAP.
The first two were so stupid, it was a wonder they were still alive. It was the next few that piqued my interest.
“How did you come to apply for this position?” I inquired eagerly.
“I’ve done food service work, and I used to work for law enforcement as a secretary. They wouldn’t promote me or let me try out for training, so I’ve decided that they need to see what I’m capable of.” The petite woman stood with a determined look in her eyes.
“Good. I like to hear things like that. It makes it easier to do the job I have lined up for you.”
“Thank you, sir. I aim to please.”
“I’ll let you know. I have a few other interviews, but at the moment, you’re at the top of my list.”
She smiled and went to sit back out in the waiting area.
Each one of the next two women intrigued me and answered all the questions correctly.
I tapped my chin as I considered something completely radical. It would be more difficult for the FBI to track three women all with the same goals. Plus, I needed something to distract them from noticing what I had planned for my grand finale.
“Send all three back in,” I demanded through the intercom.
“Yes, sir.”
As the three women stood before me, I thought I should have a little fun and make them work for it.
“There is going to be a test which you must complete. During this test, you cannot kill each other, or you will be automatically disqualified. Do you understand?”
Three heads nodded their agreement.
“Good. Now, who wants to blow up an FBI agent’s house?” I rubbed my hands together as I imagined the looks on Leslie and her friends’ faces when they accomplished my mission. It wasn’t part of the original plan, but it needed to be taken care of.
“Yes, this should work out nicely.”
Make sure to check out the next exciting installment of Sagittarius: Murders of the Zodiac
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Murders of the Zodiac
Sagittarius
Paris Morgan
Paris Morgan
Sagittarius
Murders of the Zodiac
Book #11
Copyright © 2019 Alathia Paris Morgan
Sagittarius-Murders of the Zodiac Book 11
This is a work of fiction and in no way is meant to portray actual people, names, places, events or situations. The ideas were from the author’s own imagination and any resemblance to people living or dead is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of quotations for articles and reviews.
Editing by: Rebel Edit & Design
Book cover: Widget Wyvern Studios
Interior formatting: That Formatting Lady
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my readers, who never know what’s about to happen.
Editing by: Dana Hook
Book cover: Starjewel Book Covers