Before he Kills (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1)

by Blake Pierce

  She didn’t know what to say.

  Nelson’s frown deepened.

  “I went to bat for you and tried to get them to ease up,” he said. “I even tried to simply let them allow you to finish up this case and then get expelled for a week or so. But Pope and the State PD weren’t having it. My hands are tied on this one. I’m sorry.”

  Mackenzie felt fury replacing the fear that had been boiling up in her stomach. Her first instinct was to lash out at Nelson but she could tell that he was pretty angry about this turn of events, too. Plus, given the way he had been showing her more respect in these last few days, she didn’t doubt him when he said he had tried everything he could.

  This was not his fault. If anyone was to blame, it was Ellis Pope. And, quite possibly, she herself as well. Ever since she’d heard that creaky floorboard three nights ago, she’d not been herself. Things going askew with Ellington had not helped, either.

  Yes, this was mostly on her. And that was perhaps the worst thing of all.

  “So who handles the case now?” Mackenzie asked.

  “The State Police. And they’ve got the FBI on stand-by if they’re needed. But being that we think we have the exact location of where the killer is coming next, we’re hoping it’s going to be a pretty simple case.”

  “Sir, I don’t even…”

  She stopped here, not knowing what to say. She had never been much of a crier, but she was so angry as she sat in Nelson’s office that her body seemed to have no other way to express it other than the threat of tears.

  “I know,” he said. “This sucks. But when it’s all said and done—when this asshole is behind bars and the paperwork is being done—I’m going to make sure your name is all over it in the best ways possible. You have my word on that, White.”

  She stood up in a state of shock, looking to the door as if it might transport her to some magical world where this conversation had never happened.

  “So what am I supposed to do now?” she asked.

  “Go home. Get drunk. Do whatever you need to do to shake this off. And when the case is closed, I’ll call you and let you know. The State won’t care about this ordeal once the killer is arrested. Ellis Pope will be all we have to worry about and that should be easy once you’re not in the spotlight.”

  She opened the door and stepped out.

  “I’m sorry as hell, White,” he said before she closed the door. “I really am.”

  She could only nod as she closed the door behind him.

  She made her way through the hallway, keeping her eyes on the floor so she would not have to look anyone she passed in the eye. As she made her way out to the front of the station, she looked up to Nancy. Nancy, apparently assuming that Mackenzie was now in the know, gave her a polite frown.

  “You okay?” Nancy asked.

  “I will be,” Mackenzie said, not knowing if it was true or not.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  While the idea of getting drunk was certainly an enticing one, it also reminded her of what had happened the last time she’d had a drink. Yes, it had only been yesterday but the embarrassment of what had happened made it seem like it had happened years ago and had haunted her all of the time in between. So rather than drink her anger away, Mackenzie did the only other thing she knew to do.

  She went home and placed all of the files concerning the Scarecrow Killer on her coffee table. She brewed a pot of coffee and went over every scrap she had on the case. While part of her felt that having the fourth murder site on lockdown was a sure-fire way to an arrest, her instinct told her that the killer would be smart. All it would take was him seeing the merest sign of a police presence to change his plans. Nelson and the State PD likely realized this, too but the fact that they were so close now might make them a little too conservative in their approach.

  Outside, night had fallen. She stared out of her blinds for a moment, wondering how the events of the last few days might affect the course of her life. She thought of Zack and realized, for perhaps the first time, that she was glad he was gone. If she was being honest with herself, she’d only tolerated the relationship so she wouldn’t be alone—something she had feared ever since walking into her parents’ bedroom and finding her dead father.

  She also wondered what Ellington was doing. His call with the profile earlier was proof that he was still involved in the Scarecrow Killer case, even if it was only in a background capacity. Thinking of him, she also wondered if she would have taken the profile and the visit to Holy Cross so seriously if it had come from anyone else. Had she been trying to impress him or had she been trying to impress Nelson?

  As she looked back to the files in front of her, a very simple yet provocative thought filled her head: Why impress anyone? Why not just do a good job and work to the best of my abilities? Why care what anyone else thinks of me, much less a useless ex-boyfriend, chauvinist supervisors, or a married FBI agent?

  As if provoked by such thoughts, her cell phone rang. She picked it up from the clutter of files and folders on her coffee table and saw that it was Ellington. She smirked at the phone and almost didn’t answer it. He was probably calling to receive thanks for the rabbit trail of Holy Cross, or maybe he had some other insightful idea that would lead her astray and get her reprimanded. If she’d had a clearer head in that moment, she would have ignored the call. But, as it was, some of the fury from Nelson’s office was still lurking in her heart and demanded that she answer it.

  “Hello, Agent Ellington,” she said.

  “Hey there, White. I know I keep bothering you, but I’m wrapping up for the day and wanted to see if anything on that profile panned out for you.”

  “No, it didn’t,” Mackenzie said, skipping the niceties. “In fact, it seems that the only thing my visit to a Catholic school did was piss off the head nun.”

  Ellington clearly hadn’t been expecting such a response; the other end of the line was quiet for a full five seconds before he responded.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “It was a dead end. And while I was there being lectured by the principal on the nature of evil, the State police showed up on the scene of what we believe is going to be the site of the fourth murder. Being that I was not there, they pulled rank.”

  “Ah, shit.”

  “Oh, it gets better,” Mackenzie snapped. “Remember Ellis Pope?”

  “Yeah, the reporter.”

  “Yes, him. Well, he decided to press charges today with the threat of going to the media about our little scuffle. The State boys heard about that, too. So they got after Nelson and, as of about an hour ago, I was officially removed from this case.”

  “Are you kidding me?” he asked.

  His disbelief sparked even more anger in her and, fortunately, it helped her to realize that she was being rude for no reason. The spot she found herself in was not his fault. All he was doing was checking in and lending a sympathetic ear.

  “No, I’m not kidding,” she said, trying to keep herself in check. “I have been asked to sit idly by while the good old boys wrap this one up.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “I agree,” she said. “But I know that Nelson had no choice.”

  “So what can I do?” Ellington asked.

  “Not much, I’m afraid. If you really want to help with the case some more, call Nelson. You may actually get in trouble over talking to me about it.”

  “White, I’m really sorry about this.”

  “It is what it is,” she said.

  Silence filled the line again and this time she didn’t give Ellington a chance to pick the conversation back up. If he did, she was afraid her misplaced anger might resurface and he certainly didn’t deserve that.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said. “Take care.”

  “Are you going to be okay?” he asked her.

  “Yeah,” she said. “It’s just been a shock.”

  “Well, take care.”

  “Thanks.”

  She ende
d the call without waiting for a response. She tossed the phone back down on the table next to photocopied pages of the Biblical passages they had deciphered from the posts. She read them over and over again but found nothing new. She then looked to the map taken from the back of the Bible and a crude map that Nancy had made, listing all potential murder sites. It seemed so well put together and simple.

  And that was why it made Mackenzie uncomfortable. That’s why she felt the need to keep digging, to uncover some truth that they had not yet found. She drank coffee and pored over the files as if it were another day at the office, losing herself in her work despite being off the case.

  *

  When her cell phone buzzed again, the display on the clock read 7:44. She blinked her eyes and rubbed at her head, slightly in shock. Nearly two hours had passed between Ellington’s call and this call but it hadn’t felt nearly that long.

  She was confused when she saw Nelson’s name on the display. She let out a coarse little laugh as she picked up the phone, wondering what else she might have done that would warrant further punishment.

  She answered, her eyes once again traveling to the window and the night outside. Was the killer out there, ready to string up his next victim? Or was he already in the act?

  “You’re about the last person I expected to hear from,” Mackenzie said.

  “White, I need you to shut your mouth and listen very closely to me,” Nelson said. His voice was soft and almost gentle, something she had never heard out of him before.

  “Okay,” she said, unsure of how to take his tone and instruction.

  “Twenty minutes ago, Officer Patrick pulled a man over on State Route 411. He was driving an old red Toyota pickup truck. There was a Bible in the passenger seat and strands of rope in the floorboard. This man, Glenn Hooks, is a pastor at a small Baptist church in the town of Bentley. Here’s the kicker: there were eight passages marked in his Bible. One of them dealt with the Six Cities of Refuge.”

  “My God,” Mackenzie breathed.

  “Patrick has not arrested this man yet, but was pretty insistent that the man come to the station. He put up a stern argument, but Patrick has him right now. As they’re on the way, I’m sending another unit to his house to see if they find anything suspicious.”

  “Okay,” was all Mackenzie could manage to say again.

  “The State PD knows nothing about this,” Nelson went on. “Between you and I, that’s at my instruction. I wanted first crack at this guy before the State got involved. I just got off the phone with Patrick. They’ll be here at the station in about ten minutes. I want you here to question the guy. And I need you to do it quickly because I don’t know how long we can keep the boys from State in the dark. You might have twenty or thirty minutes before I’ll need to get you out of here.”

  “After everything you told me in your office, do you really think that’s the best idea?”

  “No, it’s not a good idea,” Nelson said. “But it’s all I have right now. I know I sent you packing less than five hours ago, but I’m not asking if you’ll do this, I’m telling you. You’re still officially off the case. That doesn’t change. This is being done under the table. I need you on this, White. You got it?”

  She’d never felt so disrespected yet valued at the same time. Her heart was sparked by a stirring of excitement but it was underpinned by the anger that had been pushing her for most of the afternoon.

  Remember, she thought. This isn’t about impressing anyone. This isn’t about being right or wrong or looking good. This is about doing your job and putting a man that tortures and kills women behind bars.

  “White?” Nelson snapped.

  She looked down at the coffee table and saw the photos. The women that had been stripped of their dignity, terrorized, beaten and killed. She owed them justice. She owed their families some sort of rest.

  Gripping the phone tightly and with a look of steeled determination coming over her face, Mackenzie said:

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  When Mackenzie arrived at the station, there were two officers at the front doors waiting for her. She was surprisingly pleased to see that one of them was Porter. He gave her a knowing smile as she reached the doors and without a word, the men opened the doors and led her inside. They had taken three steps into the station when Mackenzie realized that Porter and the other officer were acting as a shield. They walked to either side of her at a brisk pace, helping her to blend in just in case anyone at the station saw her and might want to stir up trouble.

  Quickly, they reached the main hall where she saw Nelson standing outside of the interrogation room. He straightened up when he saw them coming and Mackenzie saw that he looked terribly on edge—like he might very well blast off like a rocket at any moment.

  “Thanks,” he said when they reached him.

  “Of course,” Mackenzie said.

  Nelson gave Porter and the other officer a curt nod and they headed away at once. After taking a single step, though, Porter turned back to her and whispered. “Damn fine work,” he said with the same smile he’d showed her at the front door.

  She only nodded her head in response, returning the smile. With that, the officers headed down the hall, back toward the front of the building.

  “Okay,” Nelson said. “This Hooks guy, he’s being mostly cooperative. He’s just scared and nervous. He’s doing a great deal of talking and hasn’t asked to see a lawyer yet. So don’t push him too hard and we might get out of this one without a lawyer coming and stalling everything.”

  “Okay.”

  “We’ll be watching in the review room so if anything goes wrong, someone can be in there in less than ten seconds. You good?”

  “Yeah, I’m good.”

  Nelson gave her a reassuring pat on the back and then opened the door for her. To her surprise, Nelson walked away from the room, down the hall toward the review room. Mackenzie looked to the open door for a moment before walking in.

  He’s in there, she thought. The Scarecrow Killer is in there.

  When she entered the interrogation room, the man at the small table in the center of the room went through a strange series of emotions; first he sat up as rigid as a board, then a frown washed over his face, followed by confusion and then ultimately a vague sort of relief.

  Mackenzie went through a similar range of emotions when she saw the killer for the first time. He looked to be in his early fifties, his hair gray around the edges and the lines of age starting to show in his face. He was a skinny man but rather tall. He regarded her with deep brown eyes that were easy to read: he was sacred and deeply confused.

  “Hi, Mr. Hooks,” she said. “My name is Detective White. I think if you can answer some questions for me as honestly as you can, you can get out of here pretty quickly. I’m told you’ve been cooperative so far, so let’s keep that up, okay?”

  He nodded. “This is all some huge understanding,” Hooks said. “They think I killed three women. They think I’m that Scarecrow Killer.”

  “You’re not?” she asked.

  “Of course I’m not! I’m a pastor at Grace Creek Baptist Church.”

  “That’s what I’m told,” Mackenzie said. “The Bible in your truck was marked to several passages. One of them happens to be closely associated with the Scarecrow Killer case.”

  “Yes, that’s what the other officers have said. The Cities of Refuge, correct?”

  Mackenzie took a moment to regroup. She was pissed that someone had already revealed their hand and told Hooks about the Cities of Refuge connection. She was going to have to try a different angle here. All she knew for certain was that her gut told her implicitly that Hooks was certainly not the Scarecrow Killer. The fear in his eyes was genuine and, as far as she was concerned, told them all they needed to know.

  “What about the strands of rope we found in the floorboard?”

  “Grace Creek’s Vacation Bible School is in two weeks,”
Hooks said. “The strands of rope were left over from one of the stage decorations we’re creating. We’re going with a jungle theme this year and we used the rope for vines and a little mock swinging bridge.”

  “And where is Grace Creek Baptist located?”

  “On Highway 33.”

  “And that runs parallel to Stare Route 411, correct?”

  “It does.”

  Mackenzie had to turn her back to Hooks for a moment to hide the expression on her face. How had Nelson and his sycophant officers been so blind and stupid? Had they not done any digging before bringing this poor man in?

  When she managed to compose herself, she turned back to him, trying her best not to show him that she was already convinced that he was not the killer. “Why, exactly, did you have the passage about the Cities of Refuge marked?”

  “I’m planning to preach about it in three or four weeks.”

  “Can I ask why?” Mackenzie asked.

  “It’s to talk about committing sin in a way that doesn’t make the congregation feel guilty. We all sin, you know. Even me. Even the most devout. But many people are raised to believe that sin means eternal damnation and the cities are a great illustration for God’s forgiveness of sin. They are all about degree of sin. They were meant primarily for those who had committed unintentional murder. Not all sins are the same. And even those who commit murder, if unintentional, can be forgiven.”

  Mackenzie thought about this for a moment, feeling a connection trying to click in her head. There was something there, but it wasn’t making itself known just yet.

  “One final question, Mr. Hooks,” she said. “Your Toyota is rather old. How long have you owned it?”

  Hooks thought for a moment and shrugged. “Eight years or so. I brought it used from a member of Grace Creek.”

  “Have you ever hauled any sort of wood in it?”

  “Yes. I had several sheets of plywood in it last week for more decorations. And from time to time, I help people gather firewood in the winter and deliver it to their homes.”