Chapter Fifteen
Gunner
Sitting at the bar, I watched as Beck, Sam, and Amber gathered around Aspen. My brothers had found some incredible women. But none of them compared to mine.
“You gonna claim her?”
Jack sat down next to me, and the prospect dropped off a beer.
“Yup.” I lifted my beer to my mouth as he chuckled.
“And you thought you’d never get what you wanted.”
Turning to look at Jack, I said, “Don’t have her yet, brother.”
“You sure about that?” Jack tilted his beer to where the women were sitting, and I caught Haizley’s eyes on me. She turned away quickly, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she had been watching me.
Not long after the front door opened, Declan and Deputy Blackwater strolled in.
I sat frozen in my seat as Haizley stood, walked over to Blackwater, and put her arms around him.
What. The. Fuck?
Jumping up, I walked over and pulled her away from him, tucking her into my side.
“Gunner,” Haizley cried.
“Keep your goddamn hands off her.”
Blackwater held his hands up in surrender. “Just saying hello.”
Growling at the deputy had Haizley elbowing me in the side.
“Would you stop?”
I looked down at my woman. “No.”
She pushed out of my arms and walked away, shaking her head.
“Good luck, man,” Blackwater whispered as he followed Haizley to where Aspen was sitting. He sat down on the coffee table in front of Aspen and waited for her to look at him.
“Hey, Aspen. You ready to talk?” Blackwater asked in a quiet voice.
Aspen took a deep breath and nodded.
“Aspen, honey, do you want to talk in private?” King asked.
He and Declan stood off to the side, trying not to crowd her.
Without looking at him, Aspen nodded.
“Gunner, set them up in church. Nav will shut off the cameras,” King ordered.
“Come on, Haizley.” I reached for her hand, helping stand from the couch. “Aspen, honey, you ready?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Standing to her feet, she pushed her shoulders back and shuddered. Amber took her hand and smiled. As they walked toward church, Banshee stepped in front of them.
He lifted a finger and tipped her head up. “Hold your head high, baby girl.” Then he leaned into whisper, “I want that fucker’s name.”
Aspen stared into Banshee’s eyes.
Her face was a blank expression, but in her eyes, we all watched as something came to life and she whispered back, almost too low to hear, “Greg.”
FUCK!
Banshee nodded once, stepping aside, and we all stared as he stormed out the door.
“Shit, that was hot,” Amber whispered, and Aspen, who continued to stare at the door, simply nodded.
Haizley and Amber entered church with Deputy Blackwater, and the doors closed behind them.
Turning to Declan, I growled, “What the hell happened last time that Aspen doesn’t trust you?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I told her King called you, and Haizley practically sneered your name. Said you screwed up last time.”
Declan rubbed the back of his neck. “I got a call about another body and sent Reed in my place. I guess he was gruff. I’ve already spoken to him about it.”
“What the fuck do you mean, he was gruff?”
“What other body?”
King and I asked our questions at the same time.
“That’s why I’m here. We’ll talk about it when they’re done,” Dec informed King. Turning to me he added, “Apparently he asked Haizley to leave, and wasn’t as compassionate with the situation as he should have been.”
“That fucker is shady.”
“Nav did the background check. If there was something to find, he would have found it.”
“Just because he hasn’t been caught doesn’t mean shit and you know it.”
“My hands are tied, Gunner.”
“Bullshit.”
“Calm down, brother,” King said. “Go get a drink.”
Walking over to the bar, I dropped on a stool, and the prospect set a glass of whiskey in front of me. He was a good kid, though I couldn’t have told you his name. I wasn’t sure any of us could remember it.
He was unremarkable. Average height, average weight. Dusty blond hair and brown eyes. He did what he was told without complaint, but there was nothing about him that stood out.
He would need a road name. We couldn’t continue to call him the prospect if we patched him in. Though, he had only joined a few months back, we had time.
King and Declan walked back to King’s office while we waited. Finally, after a little over an hour, Haizley returned, followed by Blackwater.
Nodding toward the church doors, I asked Haizley, “She ok?”
“She is. Corbin is going to bring a sketch artist out. She’s ready to describe him.”
Corbin?
She knew his first fucking name?
“No need. I can sit with her and sketch him out.”
“You can?”
I cocked my head and looked at her. “Baby, I’m a tattoo artist. Gotta know how to draw.”
“Oh, right.” Her cheeks turned pink, and I remembered that first night, when I saw her talking to Grace, and desperately wanted to see all her skin turn pink. I kissed the top of her head and added, “I’ll grab my book.”
I jogged up to my room to get my supplies. I should have thought about doing this with Sam. Maybe we would have caught this fucker by now.
Returning to the main room, I found Haizley and Blackwater talking. Watching her smile at him as they talked had something firing up inside of me. It was more than jealousy. It was fucking rage.
She never smiled at me like that. It wasn’t the smile itself. It was the look on her face.
Peace.
Comfort.
Familiarity.
I wanted people to see that when she was with me. Wanted men to look at her and see her so fucking happy and content they wouldn’t even bother. Knowing they didn’t have a shot in hell of tearing her away from me.
I wanted to give her time to come to terms with us. But I wasn’t leaving her with fucking Blackwater.
“Baby? You want to come with me in case she gets upset?” I suggested, wrapping my arm around her waist.
I knew women could lose it when faced with their attacker, even if it was just a picture of them. I wanted Haizley there for Aspen. And I wanted her away from the fucking deputy.
“Sure.” She smiled at Blackwater again, then turned toward me. As she walked past me, she mumbled, “Just pee on me already.”
“Don’t fucking tempt me,” I said and smacked her ass.
She turned and glared at me, her mouth hanging open.
Leaning in so no one heard me, I whispered, “Is that open mouth an invitation? If not, you better close it before I forget there are people around and stuff my cock in it.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth clamped closed.
I laughed and followed her into church, sitting down with Aspen and Amber.
Almost two hours had passed by the time Aspen finished describing the fucker that attacked her. I showed it to Sam, and she agreed. It was the same ‘Greg’ that had approached her months ago.
That meant this fucker had been doing this for way too long. There was no guessing how many women had fallen victim to him and whoever he was working with.
Haizley and Amber took Aspen upstairs to get her settled in her room. King called the officers into church, along with Declan and Blackwater, since he was still there.
I gave Nav the sketch, and he scanned it into his computer and put it up on the screen at the front of the room.
“Sam confirmed this was the guy who approached her at the bar back in October.”
“Son of a bitch,” Jack cursed.
He still hadn’t forgiven himself for walking away from her and leaving Jingles to bring her home from the hospital.
“Does anyone recognize him?” Declan asked.
“He looks familiar, but I can’t quite place him.” Deputy Blackwater walked closer to the screen, scrutinizing the image.
“What is it?” Cash asked.
I was surprised to see him sober enough to be in here. Not that he hadn’t been drinking already today.
“I don’t know.” Blackwater shook his head like he was trying to knock something loose.
I could help him with that if he touched my woman again.
Focus, asshole.
“There’s definitely something familiar,” Jingles confirmed.
“I bet we’ve all seen him at the bar or in town. We just didn’t know who we were looking for until now,” Ghost added, while he too stared at the screen.
“Dec, you said you found another body?” King asked, moving our focus from the man on the screen.
“Yea, another body found on the Powell Ranch. Before you shit a brick, I asked them not to tell Win. I know you trust him, and Grayson does, too. But I can’t have everyone knowing what is going on. Not yet.”
“So, is this guy only killing certain victims or what?” Blade asked.
“I don’t think it’s the same guy,” Dec explained. “The second body I found was a female, brunette. She had that in common with the first victim. She was also twenty-three. Whoever is killing these women is beginning to develop a pattern, but it doesn’t match the rape victims. The rapes have no pattern. They are a crime of opportunity. Some of the women have blonde hair, some red, as well as brunette. That leads me to believe these are two separate crimes. Whoever is killing these women is planning the abductions. Whether he is killing them on purpose, I don’t know yet. So far, the elements have killed both victims. Powell’s cattle trampled the first woman. The second woman fell from an outcropping of rocks. Like she had climbed up there and lost her footing.”
“Except she was naked,” King surmised.
“Except she was naked,” Dec confirmed.
“The first UNSUB is methodical. He appears to be planning everything, including their deaths. Though, we are still unsure if their deaths are intentional, or if they are getting away and succumbing to the elements. The second UNSUB is sloppy. He’s never assaulted a woman at the bar before. Aspen was different. We hoped finding her in the bathroom meant she hadn’t been raped. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The previous rape victims were all led from the bar and taken somewhere else, then dropped at a secondary location where they woke up alone. That theory was due to the lack of evidence found at the scene they said they woke up at,” Blackwater expounded.
“One goddamn psycho isn’t enough; we need to have two.” Nav shook his head. “Do we have anything at all? I need something to dig into if I’m going to find anything.”
“I have the two victims’ names. I want you to dig into them. See if there is anything that connects them. There has to be a reason the UNSUB is choosing them. Whoever they are, they are taking their time. Two bodies in four months doesn’t make a serial killer. But if I was hedging my bets, I would say this was just the beginning.” Declan looked around the room before continuing, “Aside from the mayor, the men in this room are the only ones who have all the facts.”
“Not the other officers?” I found that interesting.
“No. The others know the facts of the case, but no theories. I have been in law enforcement long enough to know that anyone is capable of this shit.”
“So, what makes him so trustworthy?” I asked, hitching my chin at Blackwater.
“You got a problem with me because I’m friends with your girl? She’s like a fucking sister to me. I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you have. If I wanted her, I’d have had her.”
Who the fuck did this asshole think he was? Talking to me like that in my own fucking house? I was about to fire back when Cash spoke up.
“You’re screwed, Gun. That fucking ‘like a sister’ shit ain’t fucking real.”
“Fuck off, Cash,” Blade growled.
“What the fuck did you just say to your VP?” Cash sneered, standing from his seat. Blade followed, slamming his hands on the table.
“Sit your asses down,” King demanded, but neither moved.
Cash and Blade just glared at each other over the table.
“NOW GODDAMMIT!”
Blade sat first, but he never took his eyes off Cash. This shit was building like a fucking volcano about to erupt. If we didn’t do something, the whole fucking club might explode.
“We’ll keep it quiet, Dec. But any more bodies, we have to tell the guys.”
“Any more bodies and we will officially have a serial killer.” Dec sounded defeated.
“Does that mean bringing in the Feds?” King asked.
“It is at my discretion. I won’t bring them in unless I absolutely need them.”
Dec knew we wouldn’t want the Feds here. We might not be a 1% club anymore, but the Feds wouldn’t care. They would want to stick their noses in where they didn’t belong.
Things like this didn’t happen in small towns like Diamond Creek. Serial killers liked to blend in, hide in crowds. It was a hell of a lot easier to narrow down the fucker in a town with less than two thousand suspects.
Whoever he was, he wasn’t too smart.
That should make catching him easier.