Chapter 10
10
CHANDLER
I massaged my brows, eyes closed with my head hanging to alleviate the headache I’d had for two days now. Seventy-two hours since I arrived in this small Texas town, and I was nowhere closer to identifying the unsub. Hell, I didn’t even have a short list of suspects.
I delivered the profile to the officers, Chief Douchebag Swann, and Ellie, but like me, they came up blank on locals who matched.
Midthirties to midforties, white, unsuccessful, charming, reliable vehicle, anger and aggression toward women.
We also showed Ellie pictures of the victims, hoping she’d identify them as members of the cult and point us in the direction of Jacob or someone else behind those gates, but that was a dead end.
Even with her connecting the message carved into the latest victim to The Church, it wasn’t enough to warrant a visit. The moment I showed up at their gate, they’d know I suspected them, giving them the opportunity to destroy evidence or help hide the killer, and there wouldn’t be anything I could do until I had a warrant to get inside the compound—or Ellie which wouldn’t happen. I needed more evidence than that one saying, which was common, before showing our hand.
“You look like you could use a good cup of coffee.” I slowly peeled my lids open, my eyes so dry it felt like sandpaper scraping across the delicate surface as I met Alec’s concerned gaze. “You’ve been working nonstop since you got here.”
“And have nothing to fucking show for it.” I rubbed a hand over my short hair in frustration.
“Take a break,” he said.
I huffed. “Right. Go do something while some woman is missing with no one looking for her, living a nightmare.”
“You think he’s already grabbed another victim?” Alec sat on the edge of the table, our attention focused on the wall littered with pictures and evidence baggies.
“I do. I think something made him lose control with the last victim. He killed her too fast, and now he has a vacancy. This unsub won’t just quit one day. He won’t stop until he’s caught. There’s an obsession in him, one that won’t let him go long without a woman to abuse.” I stared at victim number three, whose body showed the most abuse. “It’s an anger that drives him to do this. But anger at what? What if I’m wrong about the aggression toward women part of the profile, and something different is driving him to take out his rage on the women?”
“Life, maybe. How it didn’t turn out the way he wanted. You said this guy would be unsuccessful, so maybe he’s angry at that,” Alec offered.
I tilted my head left and then right, weighing his words. “I could see that as a possibility. And what’s with the wide gap in kills? The report on those bones they found just came in.” Blindly reaching behind me, I plucked the manila envelope off the table and slapped it into his awaiting hand. “It was hard for them to narrow down the specific ages. Seemed the bastard covered the bodies in lye, which messed with decomposition. But based on what they can tell, the bones ranged from a few years old to fifteen-plus. If that’s the case, what made him stop to account for the gap between the older bones and the newer victims? And why not cover these in the lye too, or bury them, for fuck’s sake? Why leave them where someone would find them?”
I shook my head. There were too many questions, making everything jumbled and confusing.
“What if he found one who held his attention for that gap between the older set of bones and the new victims, so that urge to take his abuse out on an unwilling victim wasn’t needed or maybe subdued?” Alec flipped through the report, skimming the pages before tossing it back to the table. “Victim number one could’ve been his girlfriend and the one he wants back. The one he wants to come home.”
I nodded, liking the way this back-and-forth was helping me work through the never-ending questions. “I like where you’re going with that. But why stab her, then?” Alec shrugged and stood to stand in front of victim number one’s information. Something he said triggered another thought to snowball. “What if it wasn’t victim number one but another woman altogether who held his interest for that gap in time? A girlfriend, maybe, like you suggested?”
“Then she died or left,” he added.
“Exactly, making him start his old cycle back again.” I stood, excitement thrumming through my veins. This was the first probable scenario we’d come up with. “We need to look into incidences in town from two years ago. This time looking for a couple splitting. Divorces, breakups, wives dying. Anything that was triggered by the woman leaving either by her own accord or not. We know this fucker is a male, so we look at the men who were left angry and bitter after a relationship ended.”
Alec cast a meaningful look over his shoulder. “Well, I can ask around, but one stands out in my mind.”
“Yeah?” I rubbed my hands together, eager to tackle this lead and possibly get ahead of this bastard. “Who?”
Alec parted his lips to respond when the door to the small room slammed open behind me. By the way Alec’s dark brows furrowed and the icy glare he sent over my shoulder, I knew who to expect before I turned.
“They found another one.” Chief Swann sneered and shook his head in what looked like disgust. “This is on you,” he snapped before turning and stomping down the hall toward the front of the police station.
Alec and I exchanged a quick look before storming from the room, hot on Swann’s heels. Guilt ate at my stomach, replacing the earlier excitement. Swann was right. This victim’s death was on me.
Palm pressed to the cold glass, I shoved the station door open, putting extra strength into it to negate the strong wind, and jogged down the few steps. Clouds hid the normally brilliant stars and bright moon, the lone lamppost offering the only light in the dark lot as we made our way to Alec’s unmarked truck.
Once inside, I slammed the door and secured the seat belt as the truck roared to life.
“I have a bad feeling about this one,” Alec muttered as he circled the wheel to make a U-turn and floored it to catch up with Swann’s police car, which was already halfway down the dark country road, its lights illuminating the barren landscape in red and blue.
“Me too.” Lifting my hips, I dug into my front pocket and pulled out the gum pack I’d stuffed in there earlier today. Popping a piece into my mouth, I leaned against the door and held on to the handle above. “Not sure why. Maybe because I’m here for this one.”
“Why didn’t he say victim?” Alec asked, fiddling with the radio until country music blared through the speakers. He pressed a button on the steering wheel, turning the volume down to a low background noise.
“Who?”
“Swann. He said ‘found another one.’ Not ‘another woman,’ not ‘another victim.’ Just ‘we found another one.’ Sounds… detached to me.”
I adjusted in the seat, thinking back to Swann’s tone and stance when he relayed the information. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. Everything about him seemed detached. There wasn’t concern or worry or guilt in his demeanor.”
“Guilt? You think he did it?”
“Guilt that we haven’t caught the bastard yet. Don’t you feel it? In the pit of your gut, building with each body we find.”
“Of course I feel it. I wouldn’t be a good cop if I didn’t give a shit that I haven’t done my job to catch this guy.” He thumped a thumb on the wheel. I held my tongue, waiting for him to continue with whatever he was trying to process through. “Do you think a man like Swann is capable of guilt?”
I watched as the flaring lights turned right down a side street. Tightening my grip, I held firm to the handle as Alec followed, taking the turn without decelerating.
“He’s your typical narcissist, so probably not. He’s diverting the blame to us that the unsub is still on the loose. He would never think it was his fault. Nothing ever will be.”
Alec hummed as the truck slowly approached the group of cop cars. He shifted the truck into Park but kept the engine idling.
“What?” I hovered my hand over the handle when he didn’t make a move to exit. “What are you thinking?”
“Swann and Ellie.”
A growl rumbled in my chest at the mention of those two together. Nothing had happened between Ellie and me, but after witnessing their interaction at the bar, I felt even more protective over her when it came to that bastard Swann.
“What about them?”
“Two years ago they broke up.”
“Okay,” I said, not understanding where he was going with that random revelation. “And?”
“Damn, you must be tired.” The dome light illuminated the front of the cab when he pushed his door open an inch, highlighting his tight features. “Earlier you said look into relationships severed by the woman as the trigger for this bastard to start his cycle again.”
The implication of his words was like a fist to the chest. I sucked in a deep breath and slowly scanned the scene for Swann. Acting like there wasn’t a dead woman a few feet away, he sat on the hood of his cruiser with his phone out, thumbs flying across the screen.
“They broke up two years ago?” The way he acted those two incidences at the bar spoke to the fact that he didn’t accept her leaving him. Which was typical for a narcissist. They couldn’t comprehend why someone would leave them.
“It was a bad scene. That was when I stepped in to help her out, plus a few others too. She’d finally had enough and walked out with nothing but the clothes on her back and a middle finger in the air.”
A burst of pride swelled in my chest at that image only to darken with my next thought. “Did he hurt her?” My entire body was still, a predator focused on the fucker still playing on his phone.
“With that look of promised death in your eye, I won’t answer that question.” I shot a glare at him. “That’s her story to tell anyway. Have you seen her since you two talked nonstop while she worked yesterday?”
I shook my head, chewing my gum with more force than needed to shove aside the disappointment. “No. I wasn’t there today when she would’ve come by.” I hated missing that hour. I’d come to look forward to us talking, but the case took precedence, and I’d been at the station all day staring at that damn wall.
“Well, now you have a reason to go see her.”
“Why’s that?”
“First of all, you need a break. I haven’t seen you sleep more than a couple hours since you got here, man. That’s not healthy. Plus you can ask her what happened two years ago. Tell her it’s for the case.”
“Using her breakup story as a ruse to get into her apartment. Not the smoothest plan.”
“It’s better than your damn plan of pouting while you wait for her to come to you.”
I crossed my arms. “I’m not a damn two-year-old. I’m not pouting.”
“The sexual frustration radiating off you in waves seems like pouting.”
I huffed out a laugh, and for the first time today, my lips twitched, wanting to smile. “That might be accurate.” I shook my head. Only us two who’d been surrounded by the worst types of crime scenes could talk about my girl problems at a dump site. “There’s something about her that I just can’t….” I drummed my fingers against my thigh. “It calls to me. Makes me want to dig in her head and pull out all the things that make her, her. I don’t know if it’s because of her childhood and mine or if it’s just her, but there’s something so damn intriguing that I want more every time we’re together.”
He whistled, the high pitch piercing my eardrums. “You have it bad, Chan.”
“Chan?” I laughed loud.
“We’re at the nickname point in the friendship.” He shoved at the door, allowing a gust of cold, dry wind to swirl around the cab. “And think about it. Consider how much you care for Ellie after only knowing her a few days and how Swann felt after having her all to himself for two years, then her walking out on him. That might be a trigger for even a sane man, don’t you think?”
The door slammed, rocking the truck with the force, leaving me sitting alone in the dark to process his parting words. Maybe Swann as a suspect wasn’t that far off the mark after all.
Climbing out of the truck, I shoved both hands deep into my front pockets to keep frostbite at bay. The skin beneath my long-sleeve T-shirt sprouted goose bumps as the wind cut through the thin cotton, reminding me that I needed to replace the jacket that was stolen sooner rather than later.
The heels of my boots sank into the soft, damp soil as I trudged toward the bright spotlights. Bending low, I maneuvered beneath the yellow crime scene tape that was still being secured on the other side of the large clearing. With every step, my stomach filled with dread. This was always the toughest part when working a case.
This victim’s death was on my shoulders. I didn’t kill her, but I sure as hell hadn’t done anything to stop the bastard who did.
I paused beside Alec, who, without looking my way, slapped a pair of latex gloves between my pecs.
“Well. This is different.” He sighed.
My joints cracked as I squatted close to the body. The several bags of chips I ate throughout the day threatened to come back up as I studied the bloody mess that used to be a young woman. It wasn’t the bruises and blisters that littered the body that turned my stomach. Nor was it the dozen or so jagged stab wounds across her torso and chest.
No, what made my stomach turn was what was missing.
Her hair.
The victim had been scalped, leaving the top of her head a bloody mess now mixed with dirt and debris.
“Let’s get a coroner from the Dallas FBI office down here,” I commanded over my shoulder as I stood.
“It’ll take a day or so to get someone down here. Do we have that kind of time?” Alec questioned.
“No.” I glanced over the body to where Chief Swann was still busy on his phone. “You could take her.”
“What?” Alec stepped back, hands out in front of him. “You want me to take the body to Dallas?”
“We need a deeper analysis of the evidence and body. She hasn’t been dead long, which means evidence could still be lingering on her. Get her to Dallas, let our coroner pull as much evidence as possible. Have them scour every injury, each of the stab wounds. This one was different.” I pointed to the missing fingertips. “This is the first time he’s done this too. What if it’s because this victim could be identified? What if she wasn’t his typical target.”
Slowly, Alec lowered his hands, jaw tense as he listened.
Seeing that he was considering my plea, I continued with my reasoning. “The air is cold enough that the evidence won’t deteriorate once she’s in a body bag .”
“You’re serious right now.”
I nodded and glanced back to the body. “She deserves answers. Our best chance to collect the evidence to help us identify this bastard could be on her right now.”
As Alec debated his decision, the coroner from the next town over arrived. The stench of stale whiskey wafted on the wind the moment he opened the van door. I tapped Alec on the shoulder and pointed toward the drunk now stumbling toward us, mumbling to himself like a crazy person, to prove my point.
“Fine.” Alec sighed. “Let’s get the body into a bag. I’ll call highway patrol to escort me to Dallas and keep the chain of evidence.”
“Take his van.” I tilted my head toward the coroner, who’d somehow become tangled up in the crime scene tape. “Clearly he shouldn’t have driven here anyway.”
Grumbling about bossy FBI agents, Alec flipped me the bird as he stormed off, his phone already at his ear. Pulling out my own, I ignored the few new texts and called my contact at the Dallas FBI office.
After relaying what I needed and starting the process of having our coroner request the cross-county transfer, I pulled the phone from my ear and flipped it over to read the missed texts. Three were from the boss, needing an update and offering suggestions on the profile. The others were from a single number I didn’t have programmed into my contacts. I tapped the screen, a smile creeping up my cold cheeks as I read the messages.
Unknown: Hey. It’s Ellie. Hope it’s okay that Alec gave me your number.
Unknown: And if it’s not, sorry. I’ll stop texting you.
Unknown: But if it is okay, then hi.
Unknown: I get off work in an hour.
Unknown: Want to come over?
Before I could respond, Alec’s approaching voice had me shoving the phone back into my pocket and refocusing on the scene. I squinted at the two figures, the coroner and Swann, who stood just inside the yellow tape talking, their heads bowed as if they didn’t want their conversation overheard.
“It’s all set,” Alec announced. “As soon as we get a request from the coroner in Dallas, I can take her.”
“Just got off the phone with the Dallas FBI office. They’re submitting the order now and will text you directions shortly.”
Alec hitched his chin toward Swann, whose focus was back on his phone. “How do you think he’ll take it when he finds out?”
“Peters,” Swann bellowed, his eyes wild as he scanned the scene. I raised my hand and gave a small wave to help him find me.
Arrogant smirk tugging at my lips, I turned to Alec. “Pissed, I’m guessing. But ask me if I give a flying fuck.”
“Do you give a flying fuck?”
Tucking my hands back into my pockets I rocked back on my heels as Swann stormed toward us, steam coming from his ears.
“Nope.” I popped the P. “Is it wrong that I’m actually kind of enjoying doing this to him?”
“Nope,” he said, popping the P like I did. “That’s why we’re friends.”
“We like instigating men into a fury who deserve it?”
“Exactly.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Swann’s forehead glistened with sweat despite the cold. “You have no right to take the body. This is my case.”
“Due to the current circumstances, I’m officially removing you from the case.” Alec adjusted his belt as he stood taller, towering over Swann. “So no, it’s not your case.” A mischievous twinkle in his gray eyes told me he was enjoying this as much as I was. Swann was now a suspect too, which Alec conveniently left off. “It’s mine, and I’m allowing the FBI free reign to do as they see fit.”
Swann’s hate-filled glare bored into me. Without another word, he stormed off, ripping the crime scene tape off the metal post like a frustrated toddler who didn’t get his way.
“I wish he would’ve tried something,” I admitted. “I’d love a reason to punch that fucker in the throat.”
“He’ll give you one at some point. A dipshit like him won’t let this slide without a fight.”
The vibration in my pocket had me pulling my phone free. I read the screen and sighed. “Everything is all set.” Gazing down at the woman, another onslaught of guilt slammed into me. “Hopefully she’ll be able to tell us something the others couldn’t.”
Hand on my shoulder, Alec offered a quick hard squeeze. “We’ll find him, Chan.” I shook my head at the nickname. “Be safe while I’m gone. And keep an eye on Ellie for me. I shouldn’t be more than a day or so.”
He smacked a hand against the middle of my back, propelling me forward an inch before making his way toward the drunk coroner.
I smirked at the phone screen rereading Ellie’s earlier texts. With the invitation to come over tonight, hopefully I’d be keeping more than an eye on her.