“Jamison?” She said questioningly and he realized that she had been talking to him.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“I said, is there a particular reason you think that the killer is a man?”
“No,” he said. “It’s not common for women to be serial killers though, especially with young girls.”
She shook her head. “Very uncommon, not unheard of but close to it.”
“I know, I know,” he said. “We don’t want to rule anything out.”
Her smile lit her face and killed a little of the somber expression.
Approval from a girl higher up than me who’s young enough to be my daughter, he thought ironically. Whoopee doo. It still pleased him though.
She turned back and stared out the window. “Of course four is just the ones we know of so far, it could be a much higher number than that,” she said quietly, voicing one of his unspoken fears.
Agent Myers left to find a hotel and Jamison didn’t bother to tell her that there were only three to choose from. He figured she would find that out on her own. Of course there were Bed and Breakfasts but none were that great. He offered to take her for a bite to eat but she said she wanted to look around the town a bit. “Get to know it,” she said. He hoped she hadn’t thought he was hitting on her.
She shook his hand at the door.
“I’m looking forward to working with you” she said sincerely.
He didn’t know what to say so he just nodded. She took the coffee cup with her and he heard her rinse it out at the sink and thank Susan on her way out.
She was classy, this one. Already earning brownie points with Susan, too. He stood at the window looking out at the clouds thinking it was too early for snow, might be fixing to blow in a storm. As if in response to his thoughts he saw the wind chimes start to dance and the trees to slowly follow their lead. He wondered again if the killer lived here, if it was someone he spoke to, passed on the street. Gawd, it could even be someone he knew, maybe even someone he liked and trusted. His town already felt different, not the friendly little town he had lived in for so long. It made him angry. He didn’t have that much left in his life anymore and this town and his work made up most of his life these days. Whether the killer lived here or had just struck here didn’t matter. He wanted…no, needed to get him in the worst way.
“So whatcha think of her?” Susan said from the doorway behind him and he jumped. He unclenched his fists and relaxed his face before he turned around, forcing himself to relax.
He shrugged and sat down at his desk. “Seems smart enough,” he said noncommittally.
Susan’s eyebrows shot up exaggeratedly. “Smart, that’s pretty high praise coming from you,” she said, plopping her bulk into the chair that the FBI agent had vacated. She filled it side to side. He could have sworn he heard it groan a little.
He shrugged again and she snorted derisively. “A man of few words as usual Jamison, why has no one snapped you up yet?”
He smiled. He was genuinely fond of her but he loved annoying her, too. A lot of times he thought that she just pretended to be annoyed. Not that he’d ever been that good at reading women.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than worry yourself about my love life, Susan?” He asked with the smile removing any bite from his words.
“Hmf,” she grunted. “What love life?”
They sat quietly for a long moment before Susan broke the silence. “The calls about the Hanson girl have slowed down but people are still nervous,” she said soberly.
He nodded, staring out the window broodingly.
“They should be,” he said. “You keeping a close eye on your girls?”
She nodded. “They’re not even ridin’ the bus anymore; Travis is takin’ em back and forth.”
She looked down at her hands. “You really think it’s a serial, boss?” she asked with fear on her face and in her voice.
He mentally cringed at the word. If she was thinking that then he knew that other people were, too. There were a lot of scared people in his town and probably in other towns, too. He wanted to be able to tell her that everything was going to be all right but he couldn’t. There were no comforting words that he could come up with that would carry the truth. The truth was that everyone was in danger and telling them otherwise would just put them in more danger.
“I think everyone needs to be careful,” he said slowly.
“Imagine that, a serial killer in a small town like this. I just can’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ll catch him though,” she said with absolute confidence.
He wished he shared her confidence.
The phone rang and she heaved herself up out of the chair with a grace one wouldn’t necessarily expect from her.
“Well, I like the FBI girl,” she tossed over her shoulder as she hustled out to answer the phone.
“Yeah, I like her, too,” he muttered after she was gone. At least he hadn’t gotten stuck with some uptight dude who came in with the attitude that the whole show was his and he was sooo much better than these small town hicks. He’d dealt with that type plenty of times. They probably wiped their asses on damask napkins, and then wrote them off as a business expense. He put the files away and locked the desk. He almost but the key on the shelf where he normally kept it but thought better of it and stuck it in his pocket, telling himself not to forget it tomorrow. This was the first day on these pants anyway and barring any unforeseen situations they would be good for tomorrow, too. Since he had quit smoking he washed his clothes less often. Marcie had made him change every day even after he quit smoking. She was the reason he had quit. The day they found her father’s lung cancer he had thrown the pack away. What she went through over the year after that had made him not pick them up again. Susan popped back around the door, startling him again.
“Sorry,” she said with a very un-sorry grin. “Miss Tina was on the phone, wanted you to come out right away.”
“What for?” He asked, irritated that Susan was on a first name basis with the mother of a victim and still irritated about the whole ghost crap.
Susan looked at him very much like his mother had looked at him right before she boxed his ears. That woman and her whole motherly intimidation thing! He mentally counted to ten and smoothed away the frown on his face.
“Did she say what she wanted?” He asked in a properly respectful voice.
She shook her head and her big boobs shook along with it. “No, but she said as soon as possible,” she said, speaking as though he were a not very bright child.
He nodded. “You’ll lock up then?” He asked, even though he knew she would. She didn’t need to be taken for granted though. She put up with enough of his crap already.
He wished her a good night and left. The wind blew in his face on the way out and he lifted his face into it even as he drew his coat closed and zipped it. He loved the heavy, tense feeling of a coming storm, always had since he was a kid. He used to sit out in front of the house whenever there was a lightning storm and just sit in the rain and listen to the thunder and watch the lightning flashes light up the sky. The closer they came to him the cooler he thought it was. He loved the expectant feeling in the air, the feeling of anticipation. He started the car and headed out to the lake. Better get the FBI lady too, he thought, no point in stepping on her toes already. She would be involved every step of the way now. He normally hated to be involved in any agency because of all the paperwork that came with the association, and the feeling of having to justify every choice you made and put it in writing. Not that it was always required but you never knew when it would be so you always had to prepare for it. It was part of the reason that he had never tried to move up in law enforcement, the bureaucracy, that and the fact that he hated big cities. He hated the constant noise and the mingling smells of exhaust and pollution and foods. He hated the frantic pace and the craziness, hated all those strangers bumping into him and nobody really giving a care about anyone els
e. Maybe people were nosy in a small town but at least that meant they cared. Getting in the car he hoped that Tina and James would not come off as completely crazy to Agent Myers. That was the last thing they needed, any of them. He was determined to be calm this time no matter what he thought or what happened, calm and professional no matter what Tina Hansen could come up with. For Hailey’s sake at least.
Chapter Ten
Annie checked into The Shady Lane Inn. The quaint name made her smile but it was no quainter than its appearance. She mentally reminded herself to take a picture of it before she left. The other hotel she passed looked fancier but this one was back off the main road and looked quieter. She parked right in front of her door, another plus of a smaller hotel. She hauled her suitcase in and put her clothes away in the armoire by the bed, real wood she saw. She ran her hand admiringly over it’s smooth, worn surface and wondered how old it was. Not knowing how long she would be here she had packed quite a lot. She didn’t like to mess with laundry while she was working. She had hoped she wouldn’t be here too long but she didn’t figure it would be a quick trip now. She needed to check in at headquarters but first things first. She needed to call home. After a twenty minute conversation with her husband and son she wandered the room. She felt calm and peaceful and the edge of homesickness was dulled. Hearing her husband’s voice, hearing the details of his day always helped. She got to hear the sounds of their everyday life. Not just what they told her about their day but the clank of the pans as he moved around the kitchen, the inane chatter of Sponge Bob in the background. It was the next best thing to actually being there. She put her toiletry case on the bathroom counter, the bathroom smelled fresh and clean. A little bowl of decorative soaps sat by the sink. She still missed home but then she always did. She called in to headquarters to report. Report was brief, she didn’t know much yet. Hopefully she would soon, she needed this guy caught, not for the sake of her job, although that would help of course. She needed him behind bars where he could ruin no more lives. Needed it as intensely as she had ever needed anything. The faces of the little girls were imbedded in her mind, she knew they would always be. The ones already lost and the one she meant to bring home. She had been surprised when she was given the case. She had not been with the department that long and serial cases were always fought over. Of course, they hadn’t really known for sure if it was a serial or not and given the area she was in people had less interest in it than they might otherwise have had. This was her first child serial case, if that was indeed what it was, and the truth was that she was scared. She would not have showed it for the world though, not at home or at work. It was her job and she was good at it. She had been good as a cop and good as an investigator and she was more than a good FBI agent because she was thorough and determined and she paid attention to detail. She took her briefcase with her when she left the hotel, she never felt comfortable leaving confidential information where the maid or anyone with a key could look at it. She drove around town slowly just getting a feel for the place. Every town had its own vibe and this one was of lazy days and quiet afternoons, counteracted by the various constructions going on. It had one main street called, Line Drive, with a maze of streets branching off. The buildings on Line Drive were well maintained and most looked fairly new. A couple of the streets she saw further back were seedier, mostly older trailers with the usual old cars and cluttered lawns. Just like most towns it kept its less attractive parts as hidden as it could. She curved back around and hit the main road again and turned in at the library, struck by the building itself. This was probably one of the oldest structures here she guessed but gracefully aged. It was two stories with beautiful columns standing sentry on either side of the wide doors, reaching to the roof. In the distance she saw a school, maybe half a mile back on one of the branching roads. It, too, looked well kept, shining with new paint and bright playground equipment. She parked in a guest spot and got out. Looking around she wondered what it was like to live in a small town. On her fifth year renting an apartment in Portland, Oregon she was as far removed from a small town as you can get, except for New York or one of the really big cities. She thought that the people of this small town were probably even more unprepared for what they were being faced with, unused to violence and crime as they probably were. It probably just made the whole nightmare all the worse for them. She wondered how it was for Jamison, with all these people that he knew and liked to be responsible for. Of course in their line of work they were always responsible for the safety and wellbeing of others but it must be even worse when you knew them intimately. The wind nudged her and a few leaves blew past, tumbling gleefully to rest against one of the big oak trees skirting the parking lot. She felt the weight of the rain in the air and turned her face into the wind drawing in a breath deep with the smell of the coming storm. Walking across the parking lot she saw a little girl sitting on the park bench under the last tree. She was young, twelve or thirteen probably and Annie immediately thought that she shouldn’t be out here alone. Didn’t these people know what was going on, in their state if not in their very town? It was the curse of the population to always think someone else, somewhere else, not in our town. People always chose to see what they want to see and to ignore what they don’t want. Of course some people wouldn’t be able to handle knowing the darker side of life, the terrible things some people did to each other or the fact that no one is ever really safe. No matter how careful you are the darkness can find you. Maybe it’s better not to know really, you never can see life in the same way once it’s touched you. But it does hone your appreciation of the beautiful things, too, it reminds you to tell the ones you love every day what they mean to you.
Annie walked over to the girl and sat at the opposite end of the bench. The girl eyed her solemnly through her glasses and pushed her hands into her pockets. Her hair was French braided and the tail disappeared into her jacket.
“Hi” Annie said.
The girl looked at her silently and a flash of surprise crossed her face but she smiled a pretty little smile in response.
“Do you live around here?”
The little girl nodded, still silent.
Hmm, Annie thought, not so trusting of strangers anyway. Which was probably a good thing. She sat quietly for a moment watching the clouds push at each other and slowly inch their mass across the sky.
“You better get home, sweetie, before it rains,” she said.
The little girl looked at her with those big quiet eyes.
“You have to help her,” she whispered.
A hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped and made an embarrassing little squeak. Detective Jamison stood next to her. “You okay?” He asked with concern in his voice.
She turned and saw the bench next to her was empty.
“We’re running out of time,” but the soft whisper echoing on the wind was only in her mind.
“Where did she go, did you see her leave?” She asked urgently.
Her heart was thumping and her hands felt clammy. She had an odd feeling of disorientation. Did I fall asleep she wondered? A few raindrops spattered down on her head. Was she hallucinating? It would be the end of her career if she started cracking up now, in her first major case.
“Who?” He asked, looking around the yard.
“The girl I was talking to,” she said calming her voice, in spite of her thumping heart.
“I didn’t see anyone, did you doze off or what?”
“Probably” she said getting up and tucking her hands into her pockets. Just like the girl had hers. She had the weirdest feeling of déjà vu.
He shrugged. “Probably jet lagged,” he said and dropped it, although he looked at her oddly over his shoulder. She figured her credibility probably had just taken a good kick in the nether regions.
She fell into step beside him, looking as composed as she could. Thank God she had a good poker face. She looked around, half expecting to see the girl hiding somewhere but they were alone in the yard. Sh
e felt completely unnerved. She was an FBI agent! Not some college stoner. She needed to get a hold of herself.
“I’m headed out to the Hanson place, Mrs. Hanson called and says they got something they want to talk to me about and I figured it might be a good time for you to meet them,” Jamison was saying as they reached her car.
She nodded, with her calm FBI agent face firmly reattached. “Should I just follow you then?”
“That’ll work,” he said and walked off to his car. She paused with her door open and looked at the bench. It was empty, raindrops starting to patter on it in earnest.
We’re running out of time, you have to help her.
Little girl, who are you, she wondered. She was not one of the victims, not one she knew about anyway. Just a product of my mind or something else, she wondered. If it was in her mind then she was seriously losing it, she would have to ask to be taken off the case. And if it was real, what then? What did that do to the world she knew? She shivered and got into her car, turning on the heater full blast.
The little girl stood under the trees watching the two cops walk to their cars. The woman walked with the easy stride of a person who knew who she was and was okay with it. Except for a moment there when she had seemed unsure and upset. The man walked with the weight of the world on his shoulders, she could almost feel the sadness coming off of him. She wondered why he was so sad. The little girl smiled as she watched them go, they were the hope of this town. Finally someone knew, someone was going to catch him. She had waited for so long for someone to find the truth and now it was happening. Maybe this time no one had to die, this time she might be able to stop him.
I will never really leave you
Even when I am gone
I will still be watching over you
Down in the Lake Page 7
