Chapter 20 #2
My old man and brothers rush over. Jasper turns first, I see him lower his cell phone, mumbling, “I’ll call you right back.” He shoves his cell phone and the booster Striker gave him back into his pocket.
My old man, Slate, Mica, and Jinx circle around to get a better look. We keep the dogs pulled close. Forge whines and looks up at me but I don’t loosen my hold because this is a fuckin’ crime scene, not playtime at the dog park.
“You’re right. This one is older,” Rock says, kneeling near the edge without touching the soil. “It’s settled more. There is no tellin’ how long this one has been here.” Glancing up at Jasper, he says, “You know what this means, right?”
Jasper jerks his chin in acknowledgement, but I see the shift in his expression as the pieces fall into place.
He grumbles, “One body means someone likely lost their shit and did something they regret. Murder is a crime no matter how you look at it. But two graves this close together, created at different times, means something else is going on. Could mean we have a serial killer on our hands.”
Fuckin’ hell. None of us are rookies. We’ve seen brothers in arms blown up, pulled bodies from wrecks, and were even forced to drop a couple of bodies in our time.
This feels different. The way the killer carefully picked pretty spots for each of them, even though he never meant for them to be found.
This is something it would take a head shrinker to figure out.
The wind rustles through the trees. Somewhere overhead, a crow calls twice. I can’t help but think two calls, two graves, even though I know there can’t possibly be a connection.
We came out here looking for a fugitive, but found what just might be his deepest, darkest secret instead.
I feel as though we’re finally getting traction on this case.
These people, whoever they might turn out to be, deserved to be found.
Their families deserve to bury their bodies and mourn for them properly.
I try to let that be my guiding light in this fucked up situation.
We’re still standing there when Jinx crouches and runs his gloved finger over a loop of muddy dark-colored leather. His fingers move slowly through a pile of wet leaves, surrounding it.
“What is it?” I ask, already moving closer.
“It’s the handle of a woman’s purse. Should I dig it out?”
Jasper has already wandered a few feet away and is back on his cell phone. He pulls the phone away from his ear, long enough to shout. “I said don’t disturb the crime scene. That means stop digging around in that shit.”
Jinx jumps to his feet and takes a couple of steps towards him. “Tell Detective Morgan the second grave has a woman’s purse imbedded in it. It might mean both are women.”
Jasper doesn’t have to tell Morgan because he overheard what Jinx said. After listening for a minute, he says, “Get here as soon as you can. We’ll pull back and protect the crime scene until you arrive.”
When he puts his cell phone and signal booster away, he turns to us. “Morgan thinks the second body might be a former college friend of Brennan’s. She went missing about fourteen months ago. We won’t know until the lab officially verifies their identity.”
When we fall back, I can’t help but think of the face on those missing person flyers.
Brennan’s girlfriend was young and cute.
She had a pretty smile and parents who loved her.
She got with him, having no idea how her life would end, much less that she would end up buried in the woods.
All while the man who put her there lied and blamed her for disappearing.
I break out in a cold sweat, thinking how my Emily might have been his third victim, laid out in this scenic location with the others.
That thought keeps circling around in my head and won’t stop.
The night he forced his way into her cabin might have been a one-off.
But once he met her, he tried to keep her and even circled back around to burn her place down when it became apparent he couldn’t get his hands on her.
If I hadn’t fuckin’ intervened, she could have ended up out here too, buried in a shallow grave that Brennan thought no one would find.
I shove my hands through my hair. “Fucking hell.”
Mica is beside me in an instant. “Hey brother, are you good?” he asks worriedly.
I rub my hands over my face, exasperated that I can’t seem to get control of my emotions. It’s an embarrassing place for a man to be. Glancing over at him, I give a small nod. “Yeah. I just can’t stop thinking about how this could have been Emily out here, lying in the cold, dark ground.”
His face hardens. “That would never happen to our Emily. She has us covering her back. We’ve always been there for her and that ain’t ever gonna change.”
Slate steps closer. “You’re being a dumbass. Stop letting this fucker get into your head.”
I shoot him a disparaging look. “I’m not lovin’ the tough love, asshole.”
He grins unrepentantly. “Now that you’re angry, use it to help track this fucker down.”
“I’d rather put his ass in a shallow grave than turn him over to the police.”
Our old man walks up shaking his head. He reaches up and flicks a finger against the side of my head. “Use your brain, son. It’s better to turn the stupid fucker over to the police, let him rot in jail and then just kill him if and when he ever gets released.”
In moments like this, I can’t tell our old man is being serious or just trying to pull me out of a murderous mood.
When I glance over at Jasper, he just nods.
“He’s serious. Cool your jets. If you still want to kill him in thirty or forty years, we’ll help you beat him to death with our walkers and canes.
” Gesturing to Rock, he says, “Of course our old man will be long gone by then, but he’s had his fair share of dealing out justice over the years. ”
Our old man is not amused. “It’s clear I didn’t raise you right because all you do is flap your jaws about me kicking the bucket. Common sense would tell a smart man this isn’t the time or place to talk of death.”
Jasper grumbles, “We should do something productive until Morgan gets here.”
We take turns monitoring the area waiting for the detective.
I go for a short walk, trying to take Slate’s advice about not letting this whole situation get to me. I hate that arrogant, smug bastard who thought he could lie to our faces. He was acting like the police were incompetent while two women, his victims, were rotting in the woods.
After I put that beatdown on him, that slimy fucker knew we wouldn’t let this go.
And I think that’s why he jumped bail and went into hiding.
He knew we’d keep diggin’ until we found all his dirty little secrets.
He was worried about charges piling up, about problems even his slick lawyer couldn’t get him out of.