Chaos #2
It became clear almost right away that they were both from the same area. The only difference was that Bianca’s was set to go out sixty miles from Sparta, not fifty. As I scanned it more, I noticed the location of each woman’s home. They were almost evenly distributed throughout the area.
“What are the dark black dots? I know these are their homes, where they were attacked, and these are their work, right?” Shadow asked, pointing out other marks on Bianca’s map.
“Yes, they are. The dark ones are where their gyms are. Other than the two who attend the same one, the others don’t.
However, they all have memberships and actually go to the gym regularly.
And when I spoke to them, except for the last one, they confirmed they had been at the gym within a few days of their attacks.
I feel that might have something to do with it, but I don’t know how.
Why target them? There are probably hundreds of women who go to those exact gyms. Why not them?
They can’t all be homebodies who never go out to bars or parties.
That’s the thing that doesn’t make sense to me,” Bianca explained.
Shadow and Cambria exchanged a look that showed the wheels were turning in their heads.
“You said there was more. That it would be upsetting. Tell us the rest,” I demanded.
“It was Cambria who noticed it, not me. But when she brought it to my attention, I saw what she meant.” Shadow paused before continuing.
As he spoke, Cambria laid out one photo after another.
They were of women’s faces, nothing more.
As she spread them out and Shadow’s words registered, I saw it. God.
“All of the women who have recently been attacked look eerily like your friend, Elodie. As in they could be sisters or very close bloodline cousins.” Shadow said softly.
Bianca leaned over the photos. She hadn’t sat back down on my lap. I stood and placed an arm across her lower back. Bianca studied them for a long time. We let her. Finally, she broke the silence.
“I met with all of them, but it never registered. I don’t know why. Now that you point it out, it’s glaringly obvious. What are you trying to tell me, Shadow? Do you think…” Bianca didn’t finish her thought.
“We think there is a possibility that whoever attacked your friend ten years ago is the same person who has been attacking these women for the past four months. And your idea that they’re targeted before going out is a good one. And the gym idea is worth checking into,” Shadow said.
“I came here with them to let you both know that I’ve tasked Shadow, and when they can assist, Cambria and Crusher, to put their all into running this down.
I want whoever did this, whether it’s the same person or not, to be found.
And we’ll make sure they won’t be able to do it again.
” Wrath stated. His meaning was in his voice.
“Help us understand something. You work in a gym. Who else comes in there besides people who want to exercise? Break down the employee types and anyone who steps inside the gym and would see the women,” Cambria asked.
Bianca straightened. I moved her back until I could sit in our chair with her back on my lap.
I felt how tense her body had become. I kissed the back of her neck, trying to offer her comfort.
I rubbed my palms up and down her arms, too.
Bianca sat there thinking. She reached over, took back her map, flipped it over, and snatched up a pen on the table she’d left there earlier.
She began writing. When she was done, she ran through the list.
“There is one or more of each of the following—front desk staff, membership sales consultant, facility manager, personal trainers, group instructors, strength and conditioning coaches, nutrition coaches like me, maintenance staff, and cleaning crews. Then, there are outside people who come in at different times and on different frequencies: the equipment suppliers and regular delivery people. If the computers are messed up, you have tech people fix them. The last one I can think of is the vendors who stock the gyms with drinks, protein bars, and supplements.”
“Damn, so it can be dozens of people at each gym,” Wrath muttered.
“Oh, don’t forget, it could be a member. It’s not unheard of for some people to have memberships to more than one gym,” Bianca added.
“It won’t take as long as you think. The members and staff will be on the gyms’ computers.
I can write a program once we have access to those, and it’ll flag any duplicates.
The time-consuming part is getting into their systems. I’ll need you to tell me what system your gym uses, and then I’ll find out what the others use.
Once I know that, we’ll get in. The vendors aren’t that hard either.
What may be an issue is if anyone brought in guests,” Shadow muttered.
He’d brought out his cell phone and was tapping on it. Taking notes, no doubt.
“At my gym, all guests have to sign in, and they have to have basic information entered into the system. It’s in case they get hurt or there are issues.
I would think in this day and age, all gyms would do something similar,” my woman told him.
This news seemed to perk Shadow up. After a few moments of silence, Bianca spoke again.
“I agree with you. They all look scarily like Elodie. But why wait ten years? Shouldn’t there have been rapes this whole time if it was the same person?” Bianca asked. Her voice cracked on her friend’s name.
“We have a program checking for more rapes in this same area that match the parameters of Elodie’s and these women’s cases. There could be others. And when they cross jurisdiction lines, they don’t know about each other. It’s a problem for all law enforcement,” Cambria told her.
“We’re not saying with one hundred certainty that whoever hurt your friend is the one behind these women’s attacks.
Only that there is a chance. If it is, and we find he was dormant, I can think of a few reasons off the top of my head.
One, the guy was incarcerated. Two, he was scared into stopping, but the urge became too strong to remain good.
Three, he wasn’t finding women who looked enough like Elodie.
The fourth reason is he moved out of the area and has only recently returned.
If he was in another area of the state or even another state, that makes it easier to hide his crimes,” Wrath explained.
“God, the possibilities and the enormity of finding and then sorting through the information you need is mind-boggling. The search could take months, even years. And in the meantime, this animal will still be out there hurting women. It makes me sick,” Bianca whispered in despair.
“Lioness, we’re not the kind to give up just because something is hard or takes time. We’ll keep going. Even though it won’t be the same punishment, maybe the cops will get lucky and discover who it is,” I told her, hoping to make her feel better.
“Bianca, you’ve heard us speak of other clubs we’re friends with, besides the Cherokee chapter of the Pagans.
There’s also a group of paramilitary guys.
The original owners were Navy SEALs. They’re the Dark Patriots, and they do all kinds of work and have resources we could only dream of.
As soon as it’s light out, I’m reaching out to the Patriots and the presidents of the other clubs.
I want to see if their computer gurus have any bandwidth to help Shadow and Cambria.
I let Shadow organize it how he wants because I know he likes to be in control, but I’ll get us the manpower,” Wrath promised.
He grinned at Shadow when he mentioned “organize.”
“Hey, I can’t help that I’m thorough,” Shadow protested.
“Anal retentive,” Wrath murmured, acting as if he said it under his breath, while he winked at Shadow.
Wrath’s lighthearted teasing helped to ease the overall tension in the room.
“Wrath, I welcome any help I can get. I want to stop this from happening to anyone else. And I admit, Elodie’s assault and death have haunted me for ten years. I feel like if we find who hurt her and they are dealt with appropriately, then her spirit can finally rest in peace,” Bianca told him.
“That’s what we want too. Alright, I’ll do what I can to rustle up more help.
Bianca, if you can be on call to answer questions from Shadow, Cambria, and the other computer geniuses about gyms, that’ll be very helpful.
I don’t want anyone doing anything on their own.
It’s too dangerous, and we don’t want to tip the bastard off that we’re closing in on him.
He might disappear if he knows. Or make some crazy attempt to stop us.
I know it’ll be hard, but try not to stop living your lives or let the stress tear your lives and relationships apart.
The strength of your bonds is what will keep you going and sane,” Wrath concluded.
His speech was true. I believed it wholeheartedly.
There were a couple more minutes of talk before they all rose and excused themselves.
As we stood in the doorway, watching them walk away, the night sky was beginning to lighten.
Morning would soon be here. I’d take Bianca back to bed and see if I could get her to sleep more.
If not, I knew how to exhaust her enough to make it happen.