Chapter One #2
And she did. The uneasiness that had followed her from her home in Denver reminded Ava that she and Shadow were about to face off with the part of her past that almost destroyed her.
She had to be strong. Shadow needed her in control.
Ava would be in charge of the case for the FBI.
She couldn’t afford to show weakness or indecision to those working for her.
Ava killed the engine and clipped the lead to Shadow’s harness. She slipped into her heavy down jacket, which concealed her gun holster.
Opening the door against the brutal winter wind was a reminder of one of the many dangers that lurked up here in the mountains. Ava stepped into a cold that took her breath away.
The winter chill had her zipping her Bureau-issued heavy jacket all the way to her chin.
In some way, Ava was thankful for the bitter-cold because it had a way of clearing away the clutter in her thoughts and sharpening her focus.
She had a job to do. Someone had died, and Ava’s gut screamed it was at the hands of Wax.
Her winter hiking boots gripped the frozen snow as she made her way to the back seat and opened the door.
Shadow jumped down with his nose to the ground, searching for clues already. His ears pricked, anxious for the hunt but looking to her for orders.
Ava grabbed her credentials from her bag and slipped them into her pocket before heading toward the group of men gathered near the vehicle.
She recognized two deputies. Several park rangers and what appeared to be a local detective who was severely underdressed for the weather conditions.
Ava flashed her credentials to the group whose eyes were all fixed on her. “I’m Ava Blake with the FBI’s Redeemed K-9 Unit. I’ll be taking over the case from here.”
“Say’s who?” the detective demanded, bristling immediately at her claim of control.
Ava wasn’t surprised at his reaction. Most times, having to take orders from a woman was met with varying degrees of animosity.
“Special Agent in Charge Marcus Kane. We believe this murder is related to a previous case from three years back. That brings it under the FBI’s jurisdiction.
Your command should all have been briefed by now. ”
One deputy stepped forward. “We got the email confirmation from Special Agent Kane. Some of your team is already here, including your crime scene people.” He extended his hand. “I’m Deputy Vaughn.”
She gave him a polite smile. “Nice to meet you.”
Vaughn turned and introduced his fellow deputy. “This is Deputy Archer.” He leaned past his partner to the others. “Detective Hunter from the Cedar Creek police force, and park rangers Larabee and Shackelford.”
After a long beat, most nodded.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Shackelford said.
Detective Hunter remained indifferent. She’d run into that sort of behavior many times throughout her career. She’d passed through the small town of Cedar Creek on her way here. Ava could imagine him resenting having the most significant case in his career yanked from him.
She’d be as sympathetic as she could, but she wouldn’t jeopardize the case over someone’s ego. Overall, she was pleasantly surprised by the minimal pushback from her male counterparts.
The deputy shifted his attention to where Shadow waited at Ava’s side. “He seems well-trained.”
She smiled at her partner. “He’s the best. Shadow’s ex-military.”
Vaughn’s impression showed. “I served myself. I know how important the K-9s are to our soldiers.” After a beat, he nodded toward the car.
His expression shifted to business once more.
“We found her ID inside her purse. Name’s Emily Fields.
She’s twenty-seven from Duluth, Minnesota.
She passed through town yesterday afternoon.
Had a late lunch and visited a few shops. ”
Ava arched a brow his way.
“I had the video pulled from several of the shops showing her movement. Looks like she headed out of town just before dark.” He indicated the car.
“She must have broken down shortly after nightfall. Probably tried to get cell service, but up here it’s next to impossible, especially with the bad weather that blew through here yesterday evening. ” He shrugged.
Ava liked his attention to detail. “Nice work.” She glanced briefly at the detective, who appeared to be trying to rally the others to his point of view.
She had a feeling she’d need to rely on Vaughn over Detective Hunter as the case moved forward.
“Let’s take a look at the car.” She moved to the victim’s open car door and leaned inside.
Vaughn followed while the others remained where they were talking amongst themselves.
Snow covered the car’s seats and piled onto the floorboard.
“There wasn’t a phone left behind, which suggests she took it with her. Did you recover it?”
Deputy Vaughn confirmed they hadn’t. “If the killer took it, maybe we can track him through it.”
Ava shook her head. “Only if it’s turned on and pinging a tower.
As you said, coverage is patchy at best out here in the mountains.
If it’s off or the battery’s dead, we’ll get nothing but the last tower she hit.
Let’s look at Emily’s car as our first confirmed crime scene location.
” Her gaze dropped to Shadow, who was already sniffing the perimeter for a viable scent for the killer.
“It’ll be up to Shadow to find the killer’s trail past the location where he left the body.
” She glanced up at the sky as it continued to weep down snow.
“And with this weather, it will be difficult.”
She noticed the hood of the car was left up. Just like with the previous victims. The killer had done something to disable their vehicles when they were away from them. Something that would take time to stall out. He wanted the women to be alone, preferably in an isolated area when the car died.
While working on the Wax Saint case three years earlier, it was discovered that one of the victim’s tires had a nail in it. Two others had holes punctured in their radiators.
The raised hood suggested the obvious. “Has forensics checked the radiator for fingerprints?”
Vaughn frowned. “I’m not sure. Your team dusted both the outside and the inside of the vehicle. Much to Detective Hunter’s displeasure,” he added with a grin.
Ava repressed a smile. “He’ll grumble but he’ll fall into line. This case is too important for squabbling over jurisdiction.”
“Agreed. I’m not sure about the radiator or anything under the hood. I’ll find out. You think he tampered with the radiator?”
There was no doubt in Ava’s mind. “Most definitely. If this is the Wax Saint, he would know how to sabotage the radiator so that the vehicle wouldn’t break down while she was in town.
” She told him about their earlier case and the discrepancy in the location of the victims’ vehicles.
“He’s shifted his MO slightly to kick off this new round of killing.
If they haven’t already, get ERT to dust for prints.
” Ava hoped the weather hadn’t taken away their possibility of finding any.
“Copy that.” Vaughn had already grabbed his radio to convey the order to the FBI’s Evidence Recovery Team, or ERT.
There didn’t appear to be any sign of blood inside the car, and no indication of a struggle on the road such as skid marks that might indicate Emily had been forced from the road, but given the murder probably happened between six and midnight, the snow might have hidden any evidence of her being chased.
But in Ava’s mind, that didn’t happen because it wasn’t Wax’s MO. He waited for his victims to come to him...just like he had Ava.
Her gaze swept the snowbank that led into the woods. Even through the gray, snowy day, she could see it was littered with the footprints of all the first responders. Any evidence left there had long since been contaminated.
Ava stepped back. “Have you checked inside the trunk?”
Vaughn confirmed they had. “It’s full of clothing and knick-knacks. She was in the process of relocating to Spokane, according to her family who have been notified.”
“I’ll need to speak with them at some point.
” One of the things she hated the most was talking to the grieving family and trying to answer their questions as to why when there was no answer.
Emily had crossed paths with a madman and died.
Ava’s life hadn’t been taken from her physically, but she’d felt like one of the walking dead since meeting Wax.
A sense of urgency suddenly filled her. The FBI had flown Ava and Shadow from Denver into Kalispell, Montana and Glacier Park International Airport because the case was too important to delay by driving.
Still, she was over four hours behind the initial discovery of the victim, and who knew how many hours lagging behind Wax’s kill.
If he were acting true to form, he’d have a second victim in mind. It took only five days for Wax to kill three victims and one day had passed.
Ava frowned when she considered Emily. Wax wouldn’t have known ahead of time she was coming through the area. Why had he picked her?
She voiced her misgivings to Vaughn.
“How did he choose his previous victims?”
A valid question that had never been answered. “We believe they were selected at random. All three previous victims were from around this area. But not Emily.”
“Maybe he saw her in town and decided to target her?”
Ava thought about the possibility. “I guess. He would know she wasn’t from around here, though, from her license plate.”
“Maybe it’s not so much about where she’s from.”
That was true enough. Most of the victims bore a faint resemblance to each other. Still, Wax’s motives were primarily unknown. There was a religious connotation. He believed he was doing “God’s” work, or at least that’s what he told Ava.
Against her will, that grotesque mask he’d worn to cover his face and keep her from being able to identify him still gave her the chills. It reminded her of the Phantom of the Opera’s mask.