Chapter Twenty-Two
Post Funeral Home
Tuesday
Mid-Morning
Now, she had a conundrum, and there was no doubt in her mind that there was a risk in going with her gut. What she wanted to do was regroup, go back to the hotel, and relook at everything, because this all felt wrong.
This was a dog and pony show, and she didn’t like it.
Not.
One.
Bit.
The reason being was she was being pulled around by her nose, and for the killer’s amusement.
There was no doubt in her mind that he was watching, and giggling like a schoolgirl over the fact she was being bounced around from clue-to-clue like he’d planned.
This last one was a little too much for her, and could have gotten someone hurt. What if she’d pulled her gun and shot Travis? It would have cost Elizabeth her badge.
Yeah, she needed to handle this differently. The stakes were just too high.
As she stood there, leaning against the side of their ride, she was contemplating their next move.
What she needed was a way to figure this out, and to get something that would work.
Because this wasn’t working.
“You look pissed and perplexed,” Ethan said.
On that, Gene agreed.
“And like you want to punch someone,” he admitted. “You should have punched that dude when you caught him.”
She sighed.
“He’s playing with me. None of this fits. I can tell already that the security company won’t be part of this, and that we’re being jerked around. I’ve done this long enough to know that I’m being screwed with.”
Gene patted her on the back.
“I’m with you on this one. I’m putting my money on the forensics,” he admitted. “We have all of those samples that Callen is heading back with, and that Chrissy is going to run. What do you want to do? It’s your call.”
She was honest.
“I want to go back and regroup. I feel like I’m out in the open here, and that it’s going to be a problem.”
Ivan liked that idea.
“I’ll drive,” he said. “Get your ass in the vehicle.”
She laughed.
“I want to go back, but I can’t. I have to think about this. We’ve had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us. I had an urn, a vase, and a casket tossed at me, too. This case is weird, and I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of this one.”
That was problematic.
“I feel rushed, and I feel like I don’t have everything that I need to do this. It all feels...”
She stopped speaking.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“Like I’m prey, and I’ve been studied. We get here, and there’s a detective assigned to a case, and that detective just so happens to be tied to you two.”
They let her talk.
“Then, everything is out of order. I’m getting eyeballs, and skulls, and a dead soldier.”
Ethan knew what she was saying.
“You advocate for soldiers.”
She nodded.
“I do. If that’s not enough, I’m on the other side of the country, and off my game. I don’t have the resources built back up yet, and that makes me wonder. Did we catch this person off guard, or was this all intentional?”
Ethan knew what she was asking.
“You think that the soldier was the catalyst, and that someone dropped him so the cops would find the eyeballs.”
She nodded.
“Yeah, but in order for that to happen, this person would have to be beyond smart. He’d have to be organized, and know how well I do my job.”
Gene got it.
“So we’re thinking maybe the attorney you were chasing? Do you think she’s back in play?”
She shook her head.
“No, just because this has been ongoing. I think we’re missing one big piece, and until we get that, this is going to get dangerous. I don’t like the idea that I’m being watched. I don’t like the idea that my team is under scrutiny.”
Gene and Ethan both got it.
“I’ll send texts out to Corbin and Alex,” Ethan said. “I’ll get them back here.”
She stopped him.
“I don’t know if Alex will even come back. That’s just one more distraction, and I hate it. Why do I feel like someone unleashed the Kraken on me, and it came from higher up?”
Ethan lifted a brow.
“Like above you and Gabe?”
She didn’t know, but this felt…all encompassing. Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to explain it. At first, she was thinking it might be two people, but now…it just seemed like someone was planning the long con.
“It’s rare someone can play me, EJ, but I really feel like I’m being yanked around on a string. Someone has their fingers in this, and I don’t like it.”
Maybe she was just being paranoid.
But this felt…twisted. Like she had been the target from the very beginning, and this wasn’t some merry asshole playing with his dick, some eyeballs, and a penchant for dead bodies.
Oh, he was sick as fuck, but it felt…stalkerish.
Gene pulled out his tablet, and he began scanning the pictures that had been collected on the crime scene. They had to have missed something.
Ethan on the other hand, pulled out his phone, and he made a phone call.
When Gabe answered, he had it on speakerphone.
“Hey, what’s…?”
Ethan didn’t have time.
“We have a problem.”
There was a pause, and they knew that Gabe was moving somewhere silent where he could talk in private.
“What is it?” he finally said.
Ethan went there.
“Elizabeth is off. She feels like this particular killer has been gunning from her from the start. I need a favor,” he said. “I demand one.”
Gabe was a game player himself. In fact, he was the king of them.
“What do you need? I’m not playing with her life. Tell me what I can do?”
He was to the point.
“This is a long time coming. This killer, we think, started over twenty years ago. It’s been methodical. It’s been long planned out. I need you to start listening to see if anyone knows anything about this. Before we progress, we need to know how this person is so attune with her methods.”
Gabe didn’t like this.
“What’s going on?”
He told him.
“Every single step has been a red herring. Every single piece of evidence leads nowhere, and we’re going in circles.
I profiled it, and I know I’m right, but we’re missing something.
You were the head of the FBI back then. Can you see if there’s anything you recall that might be similar to this case? ”
Gabe was curious.
“Is she right there?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Gabe addressed her.
“Elizabeth?”
She went there.
“It’s a bad one, Gabe. I can feel it coming, and we have that award ceremony this weekend coming up. I need to make sure I’m not in danger, because this killer will start picking off the people I love.”
Ethan interrupted.
“We can skip the award ceremony.”
Oh, over her dead body. She’d worked damn hard to get Ethan and Gene this moment, and there was no way.
“No, we can’t. If I abort, that might be more danger. I have to keep going, and hope I can figure this out.”
Gene offered to help.
“You can go back, and I can handle this case if we don’t wrap it, Elizabeth. I don’t mind.”
Know who did mind?
Ethan.
Elizabeth.
Gabe.
Keeping this a secret had been one hell of a monumental task. There was no way they could abort.
“No, I’ve got it, Gene. I can’t risk this focusing on anyone but me. I just need Gabe to dig around a bit. You have files, right?” she asked.
He laughed.
“You know I do. They’re in my garage.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly a safe place.
“Can you dig?” Ethan asked. “See if anything pops up? I’ll send over what we have, and what we know.
We just figured out that there have been rapes where women were assaulted in their homes, and then, they went silent.
This has been ongoing for three years here, but the last victims, that we know, were in Salt Lake City. ”
Gabe could help.
After all, they’d helped him. Oh, and his daughter and grandson were with them on the other side of the country.
“I can ask around, too. I’ll see what I can find. If you need to get out, Elizabeth, get the hell out.”
She didn’t like this.
Not.
At.
All.
“It’ll have grave robberies, sexual assaults, and DNA not on file.”
Gabe went there.
“Do you know how difficult it is not to have DNA somewhere?” he asked.
Yeah, tell her about it.
They ran in a digital and DNA-filled society. The only reason theirs wasn’t accessible was they worked for the government.
They were cops—so to speak.
“I’m going to have MATE go through all my old cases, Ethan’s, and Gene’s to cross-compare them. Maybe we’ll extract something.”
As she said the AI’s name, she appeared, and she was back in her normal attire.
“Send it over, and use encrypted lines. I’ll see what I can find out. I’ll ask around. Be safe. See you this weekend, Elizabeth, because you absolutely are NOT getting out of this ceremony.”
She didn’t even fight, and she hoped that Gene didn’t get suspicious.
That would suck.
“I’ll be there. Thanks, Gabe,” she said, hanging up Ethan’s phone.
MATE was waiting.
So, Elizabeth gave her a task.
“Go back twenty years, and access all of our cases. If ANY of us worked them, including Chris, when he wasn’t on my team, find a connection to this current case.
Then, throw that net out for that DNA that we’re going to be comparing.
I want to know where this nomad killer hunts.
Clearly, he’s been going a while, and that means he likely moved around.
Expand the search to be across the whole country. ”
She saluted.
“Oh, is it a bad time to tell you that you have warrants coming in, and graves that can be opened?” MATE offered.
“Yeah, it’s a terrible time.”
She shrugged.
“Okay, I won’t tell you,” she said as Elizabeth’s phone chimed, and it was the sound indicative of Chris messaging her. When she pulled her phone out, she saw the text.
‘Your warrants are in. I’ve contacted the church, and there’s equipment on the way. We’re opening some graves. I’ll see you there. Love you.’
Well, shit.
So much for regrouping back at the hotel, or going to Jeffrey’s home to discuss the fact that his mother was dead. It looked as if that was going to have to wait.
“Thanks, MATE,” she said.
When their assistant disappeared, Ethan wanted to know.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.