Less than five minutes down the road, her phone rang.
She answered it on her hands-free device.
“It’s Dak.”
The seriousness of his tone told her she wouldn’t like what was coming next.
“I’m at a crime scene. A fisherman found the body of one of our missing persons.”
Ava. Please, not Ava.
She inhaled slowly, measuring out the breath as she exhaled. “Which one?”
“Susan Conrad. The lady from the retail store.”
Awful as it was, she couldn’t help feeling relieved.
She pushed the feeling aside. Susan Conrad had been a human being, too. One who didn’t deserve to be kidnapped and murdered.
A dozen questions flooded her mind. How did she die? What did the killer leave behind? Was there any indication that the other victims, particularly Ava, had been around Susan? Were there any other bodies out there that maybe hadn’t yet been discovered?
But one rose above the rest. “Where are you?”
“Pacific Paradise Marina. Got a pen so I can give you the address?”
“No, but I’ve got good short-term memory.”
He gave her the address, then paused briefly. “I’ll be interested in your thoughts on this. It’s weird.”
The words echoed in her head long after ending the call and using voice commands to program her GPS.
Weird could be good or bad. It could give her valuable insight into the killer’s mind. Or it might confuse matters further, especially if the killer was trying to throw them off.
Twenty-five minutes later, she turned off the main road by a weathered sign reading Pacific Paradise Marina and drove down a patch of crumbling asphalt that was barely wide enough for two lanes.
If the marina was as desolate as the road… driveway?... leading to it, then it would be the perfect place to dump a body.
Which meant the killer knew this area.
It’d be worth using this as a starting point and working outward to see if the killer lived in the neighborhood.
Evergreens loomed on either side, interspersed with tall wild grasses. A gray haze wrapped the tops of the trees. The fog seemed lower here, as if trying to hide the evil waiting up the road.
The path curved gently to the right and as she rounded a cluster of trees, a parking lot came into view.
Someone had the nerve to call this a marina? That was stretching things a bit.
No sign of any buildings, not even a bathroom or outhouse.
A single boat launch angled down to the water and one long pier stretched into the Puget Sound. Ancient looking lamp posts sporadically dotted the pier.
Something told her it’d be a small miracle if any of them even worked.
A cluster of people toward the end of the pier told her where to find the body.
Her tires bumped over the broken asphalt. With no lines remaining on the asphalt, assuming there had ever been any, she eased into what was probably a parking spot and put her car in park.
A crisp breeze swirled up off the water, blowing a chunk of blonde hair into her face.
Brrr. That wind had a bite to it!
She locked her car, then hurried across the parking lot.
A uniformed officer, whose face held a hint of green, stepped forward as she approached the ramp leading out to the pier.
Young kid. Probably his first homicide.
“Agent Taylor. I’m expected.” She handed the rookie her badge.
He looked at it, studied her face for a moment longer than necessary, then handed the badge back. “Go ahead.”
She gave him a brief smile before turning her attention to the scene not a hundred feet away.
A woman with short strawberry blonde hair rose above the crowd of men.
Hanging by her arms from one of those ancient lampposts.
Even from here, she could see that the woman wore nothing more than a lacy red bra. Probably matching underwear, if she had to guess, but the people milling around the scene prevented her from seeing anything below the woman’s ribcage.
The unsub had displayed her.
As remote as this place was, it was no accident that she’d been found right away. In fact, it was what their unsub wanted.
She easily located Dak’s dark hair among the people clustered around the body. Helped that he stood a few inches taller than most of the other guys.
No sign of JD or Felicia, but maybe they’d had further to travel.
A redheaded guy stood beside Dak. Might be the agent from the boat yesterday. It was hard to tell without him being handcuffed and bleeding.
The redhead saw her first. A single nod and Dak turned around.
“Top o’the mornin’ to ya, lass.” The redhead spoke with a heavy brogue.
Now that she was closer, she could see that it was definitely the same guy from yesterday. Sid. Although she didn’t remember the accent. “G’day.”
“At least she doesn’t have to fake the accent.” Dak slanted a look at Sid.
“Yeah, well sometimes faking it is fun.” All traces of the accent fell away as he turned deep blue eyes, that actually matched the stormy sea behind him, on her. “Kinda like you faked it with Esterson yesterday.”
Faking it. She hated that term, even if it was somewhat accurate. “I only faked what I had to in order to get the job done.”
“Well, I for one, am eternally grateful.” He bowed slightly.
Heat crept up her neck.
Time to focus on the reason they were here. She turned her attention to the body. “What do we know?”
She sensed both men turning to look at the crime scene.
“Susan Conrad, our first victim. ME hasn’t examined the body yet. I asked them to wait until you got here so you could see the scene intact.”
“Thanks.” She stepped closer.
Blood had pooled in her legs, but the rest of the body had a mottled hue. Conrad’s head hung forward and her shoulder length hair, crusted by the rain, was plastered over her face.
Clothing lay on the boards beneath Conrad’s dangling bare feet.
Their killer, who was presumably the kidnapper, had taken the time to strip the body of everything but her undergarments. Why? What was he trying to say?
A few steps put her directly in front of the body.
What was that on her forehead?
Blood? In some kind of pattern?
She studied the markings. Was that a cross? Wait. The marking adjacent to it looked like a “h”. Had the killer carved a message into her forehead?
Another letter. “R”.
Definitely some kind of message.
“Her forehead. Do you know what that says?”
She sensed someone at her elbow and turned to find Dak staring up at the corpse. “Nope. Once the medical examiner cuts down the body, we should know more. Any initial thoughts?”
“He definitely staged this for us to find. I’m guessing there’s significance in the way she’s hanging, with her wrists tied above her head, but it’s too soon to know what it means.” Kevyn nodded at the clothes. “As far as the body’s nakedness, he might be trying to bring shame to her for something. First, he stripped her of her identity, now maybe her basic human dignity? Just a guess.”
“It’s a good one.”
“I’d like to know what he wrote on her forehead.”
Dak turned toward a man standing off to the side. “We’re ready any time.”
The man immediately signaled another man, and several people began the process of cutting the rope and lowering the body to the planks.
Following Dak’s lead, Kevyn moved back to allow them space to work.
She shifted her weight as the body was carefully photographed, as the woman’s hair was moved and more photographs were taken, as every mark on the body and article of clothing was methodically documented.
Behind her, she heard Sid greet Felicia and JD, but she didn’t turn.
Susan Conrad had been counting
on them to find her, to save her. Susan hadn’t deserved to die. Especially not like this.
This woman deserved her full attention and more dignity than their unsub had shown her in death.
It felt like hours passed before the ME finished his evaluation and allowed them to approach the body. Kneeling beside Conrad, Kevyn focused on the crude lettering on the woman’s forehead.
Unworthy.
The letters, uneven and jerky, evidenced that it couldn’t have been easy to carve that into Susan’s skin.
The blood was caked, but not streaked, indicating that her heart hadn’t been pumping when the message had been carved. At least she hadn’t been alive to feel the pain of that degradation.
Bruising darkened the skin around her neck, suggesting strangulation as the cause of death.
“Unworthy of what?”
She jerked at Dak’s voice and pulled in a sharp breath. She’d been so focused she hadn’t even realized he’d knelt beside her. “I’m not sure, but it fits my theory about why she was stripped. Our killer believes she wasn’t worthy of even the basest of human dignities.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and took a few of her own pictures. Although not likely to provide any real clues, she’d study the writing to see if it yielded any details.
Tearing her attention from the body, she held Dak’s dark eyes. “Do they have any idea on time of death?”
“Not yet. Last night’s cooler temps and the rain make it hard to say.” Dak’s lips tightened slightly. “And the ME hates speculation.”
Big surprise. In her experience, most did. They were men and women of science and preferred hard fact to educated guesses. “Well, I’d say less than twenty-four hours, wouldn’t you?”
A decisive nod. “Definitely. She appears to be in full rigor, but hasn’t started to bloat yet. My guess is that she died sometime late yesterday.”
“Agreed.” She carefully skirted the body to get another angle, but didn’t see anything helpful. Finally, she stepped back.
The body wasn’t telling her anything else. The autopsy would tell them more.
She turned slowly and surveyed the surrounding area.
A rusty old fishing boat bobbed by one of the pilings. A stocky man with a deep tan, full beard, and Seahawks baseball cap hovered close by, looking anywhere but at the body.
Perhaps the fisherman who had discovered the victim?
“Is that the bloke who found her?”
Dak followed her gaze. “Yeah. Sid and I already interviewed him.”
There was little point in speaking to him again, then. She trusted that Dak, being the lead agent, would be more than thorough. “Then I guess I’m done here.”
“Okay. Let’s head to the office to debrief.”
She turned to find the rest of the team hanging back. Evidently didn’t feel the need for all of them to crowd the body, a fact for which she was grateful.
As she fell into step beside Dak, her mind remained with the body behind her.
What had happened to cause their unsub to kill Conrad?
And would more victims follow?
₪ ₪ ₪
A scrape from the door brought Ava to her feet.
Someone was coming!
The woman’s screams from yesterday echoed in her memory.
Was he coming to do the same thing to her?
She wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Even the mattress sat on a platform, leaving no space to crawl underneath.
The only place to go was into the bathroom, but she was just as trapped in there.
She skittered backward until her back bumped the wall.
A sob caught in her throat.
Another scrape, then the door creaked open.
A lady?
Was she the one who screamed yesterday?
She didn’t look like she’d been hurt. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as Ava had thought.
The lady didn’t look much older than she was. Blonde hair that was almost white, a pretty pink shirt with flowers, and a short skirt that brushed her skinny legs.
The lady entered, carrying a plate in her hands.
All the other meals had been delivered by the man. Why was this lady here?
“Hi.” The lady smiled, her bold red lips making her mouth almost glow. “I’m Ebony.”
Ava didn’t respond, but her stomach did.
The low growl made Ebony giggle. “Sounds like you’re hungry.”
She was, but she wouldn’t admit it. Not when she knew something awful had happened yesterday.
After pushing the door closed behind her, Ebony pranced toward her, steps light, like she was dancing. “I think we’re going to be friends.”
“I don’t want to be friends!” The words burst from her. “I want to go home!”
Silence descended as the words echoed in the confined space.
Ebony stared at her, smile fixed on her pale face. “You are home.”
What was wrong with her? “I don’t live here.”
Ebony sat in the middle of the floor and put the plate between them. Smoothing her skirt around her white legs, she seemed to think about her response before lifting her pale blue eyes to hold Ava’s. “You do now, Ava.”
“You-you know me?”
“I do. You’re Ava. And you’re the newest member of our family. The latest to be offered a new life.”
Her stomach clenched and she felt like she was going to throw up. “I don’t want a new family. Or a new life.”
Ebony’s smile seemed glued on. “You’re so lucky. You’ll see. Jax takes real good care of us.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I want my dad.”
“You don’t need a dad when you have a big brother like Jax.”
The tears spilled down her cheeks and sobs wrenched from her throat. She pinched her eyes shut, as if doing so could close off this whole nightmare. “I don’t need a big brother! I want my daddy!”
Bony fingers gripped her shoulders and shook her hard.
She blinked until her vision cleared. Ebony’s face was inches from her own, those red lips curled down in a scowl.
“You listen to me. You are lucky to be here and you will like it. Jax won’t tolerate anything less. You do not want to make him angry.”
Her breath stuck in her throat as the words echoed inside her head. Why didn’t she want to make him angry? Did it have anything to do with the screams from yesterday?
“Do you understand, Ava?”
All protests died in her mouth. Yeah, she understood. She nodded slowly.
Like flicking a switch, the smile returned. “Good. Now you should eat. Don’t want the food to get cold, right?”
With her legs shaking so hard that she thought she might fall, Ava lowered herself to the floor and reached for the tray. The sausage links, eggs, and toast were good, but the food tasted like dust in her mouth.
She was stuck here. Maybe forever.
“Jax wants you to start eating with the rest of the family soon, but he wants you to be comfortable here first. It takes time, adjusting to a new life. I should know, I’ve been here the longest and have seen people come and…” She pressed her lips together briefly. “Anyway, once you get used to it, this is a great place to live. I’ll never leave. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Maybe. But it wasn’t what Ava wanted. Not now or ever.
She’d find a way outta this place. No matter what.
Six
“I found it!”
Kevyn jerked as Sid’s loud exclamation echoed in Dak’s office.
Leaning back in his chair, Dak set the papers he’d been reading aside. “What’d you find?”
“The connection between our vics.” Sid strode into the office and pulled out one of the chairs opposite Dak’s desk. “Man, it took some digging, but it’s there. Nobles Department Store. That’s the connection.”
JD and Felicia stepped inside the office in time to hear Sid’s announcement.
“We already looke
d into that, man.” JD leaned against the door jamb. “Wendy Watson doesn’t have any connection.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” Sid’s smile was more satisfied than a dog with a new toy. “Watson goes to church with a girl who works there and they meet for lunch on a weekly basis. They almost always have lunch at the café on the top floor of the building.”
Which meant that Watson, who apparently didn’t shop at Nobles, was in the store regularly.
But there was still a piece missing. “And Ava? She’s too young to be shopping there.”
Not to mention that Nobles was a high-end department store. From what she’d seen of Ava’s father, that kind of store would be well outside his budget.
Sid’s smile faded. “Yeah, well, I didn’t say I’d solved the case. I was focusing on the adult vics.”
“It’s a good start.” Dak leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk. “JD, Felicia, check with store management about reviewing security footage. See if anyone was overly interested in our vics. Look into Watson’s friend, too, while you’re at it.”
JD and Felicia immediately turned and disappeared from sight.
“Sid, did our vics drive themselves to work or take the bus?” Kevyn searched her brain to see if they’d already discussed this, but she was pretty sure the topic hadn’t come up while she’d been there.
“All of the above.” Sid answered without hesitation. “Susan Conrad took the bus. Oliver Richards lives about 2 miles away and he walks. Wendy Watson rides the monorail, then walks to where she parks her car.”
“And I’m sure we’ve already reviewed surveillance tapes from the bus and monorail to see if anyone seemed to be following our vics?” Dak’s tone said he already knew the answer.
“Yep.” Sid jammed his hands into his pockets. “Nothing popped.”
Maybe they’d get lucky and someone suspicious would show up on the department store’s footage. Although, as careful as this guy had been so far, she doubted he’d be reckless enough to be caught doing something stupid on video.
“I take it we haven’t yet interviewed Watson’s friend? The one who works at Nobles?” Dak directed the question at Sid, who shook his head.
“Nope. Just found out about her today. Her name’s Becky Beauregard and she’s worked at Nobles for about a year.”
Nameless (Sinister Secrets Book 1) Page 6
