With Mindy’s death, the Avenger knew that Evans would try even harder to connect the dots. What better way to score a home run on him than to blindside him with this next move! “Ha!” Adrenaline soared through the Avenger’s veins. The mission would end with Cynthia Adams being replaced.
• • •
Overall, Troy’s morning run had done little to calm him. He was still very much ticked by all Natalie had done and said. She had a lot of nerve, deceiving him all this time and then hurling false accusations about him being a bad father. Yes, his job took up time, but he went out of his way to balance his home and work responsibilities. Didn’t he put off working last Sunday morning to keep Nate when she was upset before church? Didn’t he also delay work to take her and Nate out Wednesday? Even though there was a serial killer running rampant, he took off the entire weekend for his son’s birthday! Technically, he could still be called in if the killer struck again, but the point was that he’d made an effort to put his family first and his wife was too stubborn to see that!
After showering, he tried to unwind further by toggling between games of Madden NFL and Call of Duty on his Xbox. It was impossible for him to completely take his mind off of work. Unfortunately, the only thing that could be heard from the young boy’s 9-1-1 call was the gunshots that ended his life. The whole situation was so sad. The boy was an honor student, preparing for his junior year of high school with an ultimate goal of getting into MIT. The killer obviously saw him as a threat, but why not Eric?
Troy knew that Freeman was innocent of Mindy Lee’s murder, but what about the others? Could there be two killers? Was the Lee girl killed by Freeman’s partner to throw them off? If Freeman was truly innocent of the other murders, he didn’t understand why he wasn’t coming clean with all he knew. Was the killer blackmailing him? Was the killer a friend or family member? The whole thing about receiving messages from God was a bunch of bologna. Still, Freeman was getting his information from somewhere. Once that link was discovered, the case was sure to be blown wide open.
With thoughts of the case taking over, Troy decided to check in with Jon.
“Evans, what’s up, man?”
“Any new leads?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to go the entire weekend without calling. I do have some very bad news: there’s been nothing conclusive found from the Lee scene.”
“Are you serious?” Troy spat out so many curse words that he probably invented a few. “How can a guy kill so many people and not leave a trace of evidence?”
“We’re dealing with a very smart person. Plus, the rain didn’t help. Some things probably got washed away. The examiner found that Mindy’s hands were soaked in bleach at some point. She probably scratched the killer and he wanted to wash the evidence. The good news is that we still found some trace amounts of blood and we believe it’s enough to get a DNA profile. In the meantime, I’m working on a court order so we can get DNA samples from Bennett and Freeman.
“Oh, by the way, I found out that Marcus’ orders were only for two weeks. He’d told his wife that he was gone for a month because prior to leaving, he was with Mindy. He’ll probably submit a sample voluntarily since he’s got enough drama to deal with. Freeman will be hit or miss, depending on his mood. Freeman’s connected somehow, but I honestly don’t think he or Marcus is our guy.”
“I get that feeling, too, but we have to rule them out for sure.”
“Chances are, we’re looking for a white male just like Ch—uh, Agent Hunter said. Statistically most serial killers are white.”
“Don’t remind me. It’s an embarrassment to my race.”
“Dude, sometimes, you are an embarrassment to your race,” Troy teased. “By the way, how is the chat room investigation going?”
“So far, we haven’t been able to connect any of the other victims to the site Marcus told us about, but we’re still looking.”
“Call me if you hear anything. Meantime, send me what you have so I can go over the stuff this weekend.”
“I would say no, but you’ll come get everything yourself. Promise that you won’t work all weekend. Enjoy your son’s party, man. I got your back. You don’t know how much I wish I could be there for my son’s special occasions.”
“I hear you. Are you coming by tomorrow?”
“Uh, no. I, um, I have some things to take care of.”
“Anything to do with the cat?”
“Oh, um, naw. I’m not worried about that little gray thing.”
“I thought you said it was orange and black?”
“Yeah it is. In fact it has several colors. But, hey man, I have to go. I’ll get this info to you and we’ll talk later.”
Just as Troy hung up with Jon, his mom called. “Hey, Mama, I’m so sorry that I didn’t call you back the other day. I completely forgot.” Acknowledging his negligence was a pre-emptive strike in attempt to avoid an earful.
“At least I was able to get a hold of you now. How are you? Natalie said that you’ve been workin’ on a big case.”
“All my cases are big to me.”
“I see, ’cuz apparently, you were too busy to call your mother, but that’s okay. I still love you, son.”
“I would hope so, Mama.”
“Oh, boy, hush with your smart mouth,” she said lovingly. “Hey, I saw Lilly the other day for the first time in years. She said Elvin and his family were leavin’ for vacation this week. I didn’t know his boys were so old. I think she said they were what, um, fourteen and eleven?”
“I couldn’t tell you for sure, but that sounds about right.” Troy didn’t want to admit that he’d spoken to Elvin a few days ago because then he’d be given a guilt trip about being available to talk to his friend and not his mama.
“She looked so good. My heart still goes out to her about Elana. I’m sure it’s tough for any parent to lose a child, but it has to be so hard not knowin’ what happened after all these years.”
The disappearance of Elvin’s sister when they were younger was something Troy didn’t like to talk about. He felt partly responsible. “So, how are you, Mama?”
“I’m all right, tryin’ to cope with this Texas heat. It was one hundred and ten degrees today.”
“You’ve lived in Houston all of your life, you should be used to it by now.”
“I don’t think I ever will. I like it better here in the winter, though. Y’all comin’ down here again for Christmas, right? It’s too cold up there in December for me.”
“I don’t know. We’ll see… How are Tracy and the kids?”
“They are fine. Tracy’s getting ready to move out. She and Al are gettin’ back together.”
Troy rolled his eyes. His brother-in-law and father were two of a kind. Al and Tracy had been miserably married for nearly a decade and there was nothing but abuse, adultery, and an unstable environment for their children.
“Your dad and I are happy to have the house to ourselves again. He moved backed in a few weeks ago. By the way, he says, hi.”
“Okay.” Troy’s father was a drunk, cheating scum bag. Troy swore to himself that he would hang up if his mom put that man on the phone. If they were still together come December, his family would definitely not be in Houston. However, with Christmas still over five months away, history put the odds in favor of them being separated by then. Ever since Troy could remember, his father had kept another house furnished that served as an alternate dwelling whenever he and Troy’s mother broke up, which was quite often. “Mama, I need to go. I have some work to finish.”
“You’re always workin’.”
At least I’m not an abusive drunk.
“Oh, before you go, did y’all get Nate’s package?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. It came yesterday. We’ll have him call you after he opens it tomorrow.”
“Good. Tell him and Natalie I said hi. I love you guys.”
“We love you, too, Mama.”
“Your father wants to—”
“I h
ave to go. See you later.” The thundering herd of elephants followed by a loud thump and Nate’s cry captured his attention. He and Aneetra made it to the living room at the same time to investigate.
“What happened?” they asked in unison. Natalie was out running errands and had kept Nate home with Aneetra and her girls for the second day in a row. If she felt so overwhelmed, she should have sent his butt to school instead of messing up the boy’s routine so he could run wild around the house.
“Her made me fall.” Nate pointed at Lauren, Aneetra’s oldest, while reaching for Troy to pick him up. There was nothing broken and there was no blood. Troy ignored the request. His son would not grow up to be soft.
“It was an accident. We were playing tag and I accidently tripped him.”
Aneetra eyed her suspiciously. He didn’t know the girls well, but Lauren was at the pre-teen stage and sometimes it seemed like the younger kids really got on her nerves.
“It’s true, Mommy.” Ashley spoke up. “Lauren didn’t mean to do it.”
“Y’all know better than to be running around the house anyhow. You don’t do that at home so I don’t know what makes you think you can do it here.”
“Nate knows better, too, don’t you, man?”
With an expression mixed with guilt and pain, he slowly nodded his head.
“Lauren and Ashley, y’all better get somewhere and sit down. If something gets broke around here, it’s going to be your butts.”
“And yours, too,” Troy said to Nate. “Why don’t y’all go outside? There’s plenty of space to run around in the back yard.”
“Oh, can we, Mommy?” begged Ashley.
“I don’t care.”
Nate was likely the ring leader in this in-house game of tag they were planning because he was first to take off. “C’mon, guys!” he yelled, running out the living room, through the kitchen to the back door. Lauren and Ashley took off behind him.
“Walk!” shouted Aneetra. She turned to Troy. “I bet you are ready to kick us out, huh?”
“Y’all aren’t bothering me.”
“I appreciate you guys opening your home to us. We’ll be out by Sunday, Monday morning at the latest.”
“Not a problem.” Hearing the garage door open, he knew Natalie was home and he wanted to be back in his man cave before she walked in. He was sure that Aneetra was aware of some kind of tension between them. She gave him a funny look when he said, “I need to get back to something,” and jetted down the stairs. Moments later, he heard Natalie’s footsteps walking across the house. He was glad that she didn’t bother coming down to say hi. He was not ready to face her. Apparently she was just as mad at him as he was her, but for what, he hadn’t a clue. He hadn’t done anything but trust her and she’d made a fool of him for an entire year. She owed him an explanation, though none would really be good enough. The least she could do was apologize, but she was too stubborn for that!
Troy took the opportunity to get his mind off of Natalie by calling Cheryl.
“Agent Hunter.” Her stern, low voice intimidated him for some reason.
“Hi, this is Troy.”
“Oh, hey, Troy.” Her pitch rose several octaves. “I didn’t pay attention to the caller ID.”
“Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all, what can I do for you?”
“I was calling to touch base since I neglected to respond to your text.”
“No problem. Any luck in finding this creep?”
“Nothing.” Troy shared with her the details of what went on in the woods in Hocking County and what Jon had told him about the evidence.
“Being forced to break his M.O. could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I wouldn’t be surprised if evidence was left at the scene. If not this one, then most likely the next. The killer has been so methodical and now he has to reinvent his whole strategy. There’s a good chance he’ll make a mistake as he attempts to regain control.”
Troy didn’t want anyone else to die before catching this guy. He also knew that sometimes it was clues from the last victim who helped police find the perpetrator. Somehow he and Cheryl started talking about the good old days and eventually Troy was reminded that he’d broken her heart because she was ready to settle down and he wasn’t.
“I was young then. My priorities weren’t to start a family.”
“Understandable. If I would have been more patient, things could possibly be different. I got married about a year after we split. The ink never had a chance to dry before he started cheating on me. A few years later he died in a car crash.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“I was so depressed. It was hard for me to admit that I loved the idea of being married more than I loved him. He was a rebound. After that I focused on my career and now I sort of regret not having kids. I love my job, but I think I could have been happy just being a wife and mother.”
“Man, I wish you could talk some sense into my wife.” Troy found himself sharing his frustration about Natalie not wanting more children, including the birth control discovery. “I don’t understand the change of heart. My work schedule was crazy when we were dating, so she knew what she was getting into. I try very hard to balance work and family. I even passed up an opportunity to be on SWAT.”
“That’s too bad. I remember you used to talk about that being your ultimate dream back in the day. Do you regret it?”
“Not really. It is one of the sweetest gigs on the force, but it can also be the most demanding. I’m pissed because Natalie doesn’t recognize any of the sacrifices I’ve made for us. She acts like everything is all on her. There’s no reason we can’t have more children.”
“At least you guys have one child, but I understand your point. Hopefully she’ll come around before it’s too late because the clock does not turn backwards. My forty-four-year-old eggs have about dried up.”
“Wow. I forgot that you were older than me. You look great, though.”
“Thanks. I do my best to stay in shape, but you’re also a pleasure to look at. You have got to be a distraction for female officers.”
“I wouldn’t say all of that.”
“I would. I had a hard time staying focused when I saw you in that room.”
“I couldn’t tell. I thought you were going to bite my head off when I questioned something you’d said.”
“I’m sorry. I know I can come off very abrasive sometimes, but you, better than anyone, should know that I’m as soft as pudding.” There was enough seduction in her voice that Troy felt uneasy. Perhaps it was not her, but the smile he’d formed as he recalled a memory from their time together. “Hey, are you free this evening? Let’s meet for coffee. We can discuss the case further and I can also prove to you that I’m not an ogre.”
“Tonight’s not good.”
“Maybe another time.”
“Yeah, maybe. Um, I should probably get off here.”
“Me, too. It was good talking to you. Good luck with the case and please don’t hesitate to call me about anything.”
“Thanks, Cheryl. You take care.” When they hung up, Troy had a hard time understanding why he had butterflies.
CHAPTER 28: PLAIN OLD COMMON SENSE
Corrine got to work that morning, surprised to learn that Brent wasn’t coming in. The director said that he’d taken a personal day. No one in the office knew of their relationship. No one could know about them, as it would complicate matters for sure. Hurt that he didn’t inform her, she texted him to make sure everything was okay. He responded saying that his son was sick and that he’d have to cancel their plans for that evening.
Corrine tried calling Natalie to tell her that she could keep Nate if she still needed a sitter. When Natalie didn’t answer, Corrine had second thoughts, remembering that Nate came as a package deal and didn’t leave a message. She had nothing against Aneetra’s girls, but it took a lot of energy just to keep up with Nate. She wasn’t eager to add two more children to the mix, having gotten back from
her trip last night. She’d been looking forward to a relaxing evening with Brent.
During lunch, she went out to her car and called to talk to her mom. After finishing the call, she listened to the radio while browsing through Facebook. She updated her status to Home sweet home! Chillaxin’ by my lonesome tonight. She also accepted a friend request from one of Troy’s acquaintances before noticing that Brent had unfriended her. She sent him a text asking what was up with that and he called her back.
“Hey, sweetness.” His voice was low. “I’m sorry. Hannah figured out the password to my account and I didn’t want her to stumble across anything that could give you away. I’m only trying to protect you. I’ll change the password and send you another request in a week or so. Give her time to quit snooping.”
“I hate all this sneaking around.”
“I do, too. I’m so sorry about having to cancel on you tonight. My son is really sick. His temperature was over a hundred.”
“I hope he feels better. Why’d you have to stay home if Hannah’s there all day?”
“She’s useless; been passed out drunk since early this morning. Honey, I have to go. I’ll try and call you later this weekend, okay?”
Brent hung up before she could say anything else. He was probably whispering so his son could rest. She hoped he didn’t think she was being insensitive by inquiring about Hannah. It had been so nice to spend time with him in Chicago. To keep Hannah from calling so often, he’d finally told her that his phone battery was dead and that he’d forgotten his charger. She’d been glad to have Brent to herself without the interruption. She commended him for being so dedicated to his children. It had to be hard to be stuck in a marriage for his children’s safety. Corrine looked forward to meeting them one day. Hopefully they would accept her. She’d certainly make a better stepmother than Hannah had been a mom.
The day seemed to drag by since there were no secret instant messages or flirtatious looks shared with Brent all day. Later that evening, Corrine found herself dozing on her sofa while watching television. Her last memory of the clock was 7:43 p.m. Several hours later she was awakened by her cell phone and instantly perked up when Brent’s number flashed across the screen. “Hey, babe…”
Wages of Sin Page 13
