Chapter Sixteen #3
Well, he wasn’t alone.
MATE had that effect on everyone who met her for the first time.
“Thank you, MATE. Get Gene the list of funeral homes. He’ll keep me updated.”
That worked for MATE.
Then, as quickly as she’d showed up, she popped out of there.
Now, Elizabeth had to talk to her husband. It was time to get shrinky-dinky with this one.
Pulling out her phone, she video-called him, and hoped he was in a good mood because this was getting funky.
When his face popped up on the camera, he was smiling, and looked…calm.
Well, this sucked.
She was about to ruin his night. Only, before she could go there, he picked up on her mood.
“Uh-oh,” he said. “What happened?”
Yeah, never let it be said that her husbands weren’t hyper-aware that if she called after dark, the shit was hitting the fan.
“Well, we got to the cemetery, and we found something. The person behind this opened a grave, and Steph Lewis was left for us. We don’t know if she was left intentionally, or if we interrupted his game. Oh, and yeah, he left a message.”
Elizabeth updated him.
The whole time, he said nothing—but she knew why. The wheels were spinning. Ethan was thinking about it.
“The woman died ‘accidentally’ with an insulin overdose,” she said, letting that hang there.
Ethan lifted a brow.
“So another drug death? Gene and I had a case like that once,” he admitted.
Yeah, so Gene had said. Apparently, they were all on the same page.
“Well, that’s not it. Chris ID’d two more sets. We definitely have Lory Vanbruggen’s eyes, and she’s the lady with the no grass on her grave that had me twitchy.”
Ethan listened.
“And we have Alina Mussen. She was killed in a car accident where her vehicle went into a ditch.”
Ethan stopped her.
Yeah, there were too many arrows pointing at this one for it to be pure coincidence.
“That will be him. It fits his MO of car versus person. He simply couldn’t get to her outside her car, so he had to take desperate measures.”
Yeah, she’d thought that too.
Damn.
This person was definitely into setting a scene. It had been a while since she’d gone against someone who was this into playing the game.
Without mistakes.
So.
Far.
“I have warrants in for the four victims. This one,” she said, taking the phone over to the grave and pointing it into the hole, “didn’t disappoint.”
Ethan saw the body, and saw that she was missing her head.
Oof.
Yeah, that was going to be something, and exactly what they thought it was going to be, too.
“And if that’s not enough, look what he left,” she said, turning to show him the skull with the horns, skin, and eyeballs. Under it was the message.
Ethan was to the point.
“This is absolute escalation.”
Callen was beside her, and wanted his brother to know that wasn’t all. Elizabeth tended to downgrade any danger that was focused on her, but they all needed to be on the same page.
This cuckoo was cuckooing.
“Uh, did she tell you that he was in the trees not far from our wife?” he asked.
Immediately, Ethan began flushing.
Oh, and there was no doubt why.
“But the dog kept her from going near the trees,” Callen added. “Shadow went ballistic, and he wanted to go into the woods after whatever ran—I say whatever, because this POS is evil. I can feel it to my bones.”
Ethan was damn grateful no one went after the man because that was not a good plan in the dark. Even with the Marines, they’d played this game not long ago on the rez, and it had been too damn close for comfort.
“Don’t chase,” he said. “It would be a trap. He’s got a penchant for women, but he’ll kill anyone who annoys him. Plus, he’ll hurt anyone who he deems is keeping her safe.”
Yeah, she’d thought so.
Ethan continued.
“As for Shadow, that dog can have ALL of my shoes if he keeps you from getting hurt. That’s my declaration for tonight, other than I’m on my way back.”
She stopped him.
Oh.
Hell.
No.
There was no way that was happening, and for one damn reason too.
“NOPE. You’re keeping that fine ass of yours there. You have that meeting with the council in the morning. You’re going to claim Shaman-ship for the reservation. I’m good. Chris is on his way here, and we’re going to be busy all night. We’re going to play divide and research all night. INSIDE.”
He hesitated.
Only, she wouldn’t let him cave.
“No, you’re staying there. I mean it. We didn’t move out here to just work cases. I could be doing that back home. We follow the plan, Ethan.”
Yeah, her husband got it, and she was right. They’d given him the opportunity to be Shaman, and take up Timothy’s role, so he had to be true to that.
“Thank you, Elizabeth.”
She didn’t need thanks.
She needed a profile.
“Now, profiler, riddle me this. How the hell do I catch this nut, because he’s moving fast? It’s day one, and I’m only about eight hours in, and already, I’m being called out, and have a slew of bodies.”
Ethan knew.
“He won’t return there. You caught him in the act, and while he might want us to believe that he was only setting the scene of the crime up, he’s going to be angry that you interrupted.
That will taint it for him, so he’ll refocus, and likely go off the rails.
He likes a well-ordered life, and this isn’t going to please him. ”
She listened to what he was saying.
“In his perfect world, he would have closed Steph’s coffin back up, and re-buried her so you would still be a step behind. The horned skull would have been all you found. This gave you more than he wanted. This gave you an opportunity to catch up to him, and that’s going to piss him the fuck off.”
She was curious.
“He’s playing a game, right?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, and that he didn’t finish, and you found him here says we’re getting close. At some point, you’ll get a name, and we’ll have to catch him. That’s not going to be easy. He’s been doing this for a long time.”
Oh, she didn’t like this at all.
That meant he’d had time to perfect this.
“He’s been playing this as a game from the start. That means he was prepared to be ‘found’. There are going to be red herrings all over the place,” he admitted. “Because he’s had YEARS to set this up.”
She was to the point.
“Chris is running the semen DNA against cold cases. I’m curious if he’s been practicing for a lot longer than the first three grave robberies. We might have someone who started in his youth, or someone who is older.”
Ethan agreed.
“He would have started as a child. You know that pattern. First it’s fantasies, then animals, then…people. Over time, he perfected it, and you’re not going to get a DNA match. He is smart enough to know that he could never get his tested, or risk it going on record.”
Yeah, she didn’t like this.
Not.
At.
All.
“We found out that one of the victims works for the church,” she said.
That’s when he blinked, and again, she could see him running that against what was already in his head as a profiler.
That’s when he said the one thing she DIDN’T want him to say.
“We might have made a tactical error,” he said. “If they’re all tied to the church, then Jeffrey Von Gunter is back in the running for being tied to this. He could be faking it. He might be savant intelligent, and hiding it under a guise of being an idiot.”
Well, great.
So basically, nothing was what it seemed. An idiot savant would have the ability to perfect one aspect of their life—like killing—while appearing to be inept.
DAMN.
How could that go wrong?
She’d sent him off, and at that very moment, he could be watching them. After all, he knew this cemetery inside out, and upside down.
“Or,” Ethan began, “the person behind that knows that, and is fucking with us. Like I said, red herrings. He’s going to plant them all over, watching to see if you can determine which is pertinent and which is to delay and sidetrack you.”
Callen didn’t like that.
“So booby traps?” he asked.
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
For Elizabeth, that meant one thing.
Bad.
Shit.
Ethan gave her a hint.
“We need to research everyone and see where it all connects. If we can tie them all to the church, then we’re going to have the hunting ground. You’re standing on it.”
She sighed.
“I love playing in cemeteries and burial grounds,” she stated, sarcastically. “Don’t think that I haven’t noticed that I do that a lot on this side of the country.”
He actually laughed.
“Marry a hot half-Native man, she said. It would be fun, she said,” he teased.
She winked at him.
“Oh, it’s been hella fun, Mr. Blackhawk. Trust and believe that,” she stated. “I made gorgeous babies with you, and your brother, and I had fun doing that.”
He snorted.
“I love you, Elizabeth,” he admitted, but then got serious. “You need to be damn careful. He’s fixated on you now. We have to figure out why the eyes, and why these women. Did they see something? Does he like when they watch? It’s got to be something.”
Callen took a guess.
“Does he like watching them?” he asked. “Maybe from afar? Because if this is Jeffrey Von Gunter, maybe women were afraid of him, and he couldn’t get laid if his life depended on it, so then their lives became the casualty in this.”
That was a good option.
Ethan nodded.
“It could be. It might get him off, or it might make him feel powerful to destroy that sacred rest of death. We’re only on day one.
We can’t let him slip away, or we’re going to be playing chase.
We don’t like chase,” he reminded them. “Remember the ones who got away, and it took us a while to find again? Lottie Tipton, your brother…?”
Oh, she knew.
She was currently hunting down an attorney whose sperm donor was still in lockup because of her.
“We’re going to deal with the body, and then later, dig in at the hotel for the night. Gene is on the suspect list for the night, MATE is getting me the list of funeral homes, and Callen is doing a deep dive on everyone’s childhood—all of the suspects.”
It was a good start.
She wasn’t done.
“Callen is also researching the groundskeeper, and I’m giving him the priest, too. We’re going to have to meet him tomorrow, if he doesn’t show up when we start exhumation.”
Ethan was mentally checking the list off in his head, too.
“I’ve got Tora and Mac on Bill Farmington, Larry Springer, and the shell company that owned the building. I sent Corbin a text regarding researching Steph Lewis deeper, and we’ll see if he finds anything.”
“And Alex?”
She shrugged.
“I’m going to say he’s going to be down until tomorrow, at least. We all know how he handles things. Luckily for us, we have enough people to cover this. The detectives can hold up.”
That they did.
Thankfully.
“I’ll be ready by morning to hit day two up and hard,” Elizabeth admitted.
Ethan was to the point.
“If at any time, it feels wonky…don’t fall for it.
We’re going to be jerked around. Remember, he’s had years to perfect this game.
We’re behind and at a disadvantage. We don’t know that you haven’t been his goal for a very long time.
You’ve been doing this for twenty-plus years, and you’re the pinnacle when it comes to a challenge. ”
Yeah, she was aware. Only, she’d catch up.
This was her jam.
“Calling me out never ends well for them, EJ. I’ll be ready,” she admitted.
Ethan was curious.
“Where’s our dog?” he asked.
She showed him. Shadow was laying on her feet, keeping her in one place.
“Why?” she asked.
“He gets a steak when I get back. Give the big fluff a kiss for me, and tell him he’s a good boy for protecting my family. I’ll see you as soon as I’m done with Lance Running Wolf.”
She broke into song, busting his ass.
“You love my doggo cuz he’s a good boy.”
He was amused, but mostly because she was absolutely right and calling him out on it. If a dog was going to guard his wife, he had all of his respect and love.
Period.
“Yes, I love you and that doggo. I’ve clearly lost my goddamn mind,” he stated before blowing her a kiss and ending the call.
When she tucked the phone away, Callen just shook his head.
“You finally broke the head-shrinker. Congrats. We never saw this day coming.”
She snorted.
“It took fifteen years,” she joked. “And he’s made me work damn hard for it.”
Yeah, he had.
No.
Doubt.
When she heard engines moving through the cemetery, she knew that her husband had arrived.
“Well, time to play with the dead. Get ready for the ME,” she said. “This was going to make him prickly.”
Yet, Elizabeth only hoped for one thing.
That they could keep up with the crazy because if it outran them, people would get hurt.
Innocent people she was supposed to protect.