In His Sights (Second Sight #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Detective Gary Mitchell took one look at the naked dead man lying facedown on the bed and his day officially went to shit.

Aw Christ, not another one.

The bedroom was an eerie carbon copy of the previous crime scenes.

A small bottle sat on the nightstand, and Gary didn’t need to see the label to know it contained GHB.

On the bed beside the body were a tangle of red rope and a pair of handcuffs.

He glanced at the rug, and sure enough, there was the soiled condom.

Gary returned his attention to the deceased, noting the marks on the wrists and ankles, just like the previous victims.

This one struggled too. At least until the drugs kicked in. It was all supposition until the autopsy, but Gary saw no reason why the killer would change his MO. It hadn’t gotten him caught so far, right? Why change a winning formula? The thought made Gary’s blood run cold.

But what made his heart sink was the bloodstain on the corner of the white sheet that covered the guy’s lower back.

“We’ve already taken photos of the scene.” Detective Riley Watson picked up the condom with his nitrile-covered hand and dropped it into an evidence bag, then sealed it. He scowled. “God, I wanna catch this bastard.” He scribbled on the label, noting the time.

Gary didn’t respond. There was no need. They all wanted that.

Detective Lewis Stevens stood next to Del Maddox, the medical examiner. Lewis stared at the sheet, then raised his gaze to meet Gary’s. “Wonder what it’s gonna be this time?”

“Maybe he’s obliged us by signing his handiwork,” Del muttered. He pulled back the sheet with care and sighed. “Here we go again.”

A letter X was carved into the victim’s lower back.

“Done before death occurred, like the others?” Gary inquired. The amount of blood pointed to that conclusion.

Del nodded. “Looks like he used the same implement too.”

Lewis grimaced. “Jesus. I hoped we’d seen the last of this guy.”

“You and me both.” Riley peered at him. “I bet it’s days like this that make you sorry you ever left Vice. Chelmsford PD get a lot of these kinda cases?”

Lewis shook his head. “Never saw anything like this.”

“Give it time,” Del observed. “You’ve only been in Homicide for what, four years? Wait till you’ve been at it for as long as I have.” He gazed at the deceased, and Gary noted the compassionate glance. “He could be my age.”

“Can we save the chat for later and concentrate on doing our jobs?” Gary’s stomach roiled, and a rock had taken up residence in his chest.

Lewis was silent, but his scowl said plenty. Riley gave a respectful nod and withdrew to talk to the uniform boys.

Del glanced at the nightstand. “Thoughtful of the killer to leave the drug. Now I know what to look for in the tox screen. Except if he’s anything like the previous victims, there’ll be a whole cocktail of drugs inside him.” He addressed Gary. “How many of these guys do we have so far?”

“He’s number five.” Another one to add to the board. Any more and we’ll need another board. Gary couldn’t suppress his shiver.

Del pursed his lips. “So, five letters now. Anyone succeeded in making a word from the previous four?”

“None that make any sense.”

“The killer’s probably a Scrabble player with a list of obscure words.

” Both Gary and Lewis gaped at him. Del pushed out another sigh.

“Sorry, guys. I’m as gutted as you are, but humor is my default when I don’t want to think about a maniac being out there.

” He gestured to the body. “Help me roll him so I can take a look at the front.”

The three men gently rolled the body with a care that was almost reverential.

The man’s wide staring eyes threatened to unravel Gary’s self-control, and he had to force himself to shut off his emotions and look at the body objectively.

The victim was maybe in his mid to late forties, with a salt-and-pepper beard and dark brown hair tinged with silver at the temples.

A handsome man who’d clearly kept himself in good shape.

I hope you didn’t suffer. Except Gary knew it was a false hope. The knowledge that he’d been cut before death and the bruising on the guy’s wrists and ankles were grim indicators to the contrary.

Del gestured to his assistants who were standing to one side, maintaining a respectful silence.

“Okay, boys.” They lifted the corpse and placed it in an open body bag.

Gary watched as they zipped it closed, obliterating his view of that staring face.

They hoisted the bag onto a stretcher before carrying it out of the apartment.

Riley bagged up the cuffs, rope, and bottle and handed them to one of the assistants, along with the bag containing the condom, to accompany the body to the morgue.

Del stripped off his gloves. “I’ll get onto this one first thing tomorrow morning.” He peered at Gary. “I’ll see you there?”

Gary nodded. He knew Lewis wouldn’t attend. He’d barfed at his first autopsy, and that was the last time he’d visited the morgue.

Del followed his assistants to the front door. The police officer let them through before reattaching the yellow tape that barred entrance to those neighbors who tried to get a glimpse. The officer was polite but firm, and the rubberneckers soon gave up.

Gary’s hackles rose. Yeah, someone is dead. You can read all about it in the media tomorrow. Christ, number four had made the headlines before the ink was dry on Gary’s report. He breathed deeply. His energies were best directed to the case.

Riley came over. “The victim’s name was Marius Eisler, age forty-five.” Gary’s stomach clenched, but he pushed down hard on the momentary flash of nausea that always accompanied a surge of grief.

Keep focused.

Riley continued. “The body was discovered at twenty-three-hundred hours by the guy from the apartment next door, one Billy Raymond. He had a key. He said Marius had a habit of working late and not eating properly, so Billy regularly dropped by with food. He didn’t see anyone.

Uniforms have questioned everyone on this floor, but no one saw our man. ”

“Too much to hope there are cameras?” Gary asked.

Riley snorted. “Sure, they have cameras in the hallway downstairs, but they don’t work. The neighbors said there were always guys coming and going.”

Lewis rolled his eyes. “Another queer? Now there’s a surprise.” Riley fired him a disgusted glance.

Gary didn’t bother reining in his glare. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that. Now why don’t you go speak with Sergeant Michaels? See what else you can learn about the victim, the building….”

Lewis’s brow furrowed, but he went without a word.

Gary breathed a little easier. He didn’t need Lewis’s shit right then. He scanned the bedroom. “No sign of a cell phone?”

Riley shook his head. “Just like the others. We’ve searched the whole apartment.” He gazed at the rumpled sheets on the bed. “I’ll bag these too.” Riley glanced toward the door with a distant stare. “This was one talented guy. Did you see his paintings?”

Gary hadn’t seen a thing. He’d been in too much of a rush to prove that nagging feeling in his gut wrong.

One look at the blood on the sheet had confirmed his fears.

“Our killer’s not in any hurry, is he? Five bodies in two years.” Riley’s shoulders slumped. “I really thought he was done. Nothing since December.”

Gary had hoped the same thing. “What worries me is those letters. How many bodies are there going to be before whatever it is he’s spelling out begins to make sense and we get a lead?” Because so far they’d had precious few of those.

He walked into the living room, leaving Riley to remove the sheets from the bed, and paused to get a feel for the place.

The heavily varnished wooden floor and oak furniture gave the apartment an elegant appearance.

It wasn’t cluttered, and judging by the size of the windows, Gary imagined it would be a light, airy room in the daylight.

Every inch of available wall space was taken up with paintings of men.

Some of the models were clothed, but most were nude or seminude, and all of them were good-looking.

An easel stood by the window, a table next to it on which sat an open box filled with squeezed tubes of oil paint.

A glass jar filled with dirty liquid held three long thin paintbrushes, and there was a palette covered with blobs of paint, a layer of clear wrap laid over it.

A couple of rags smeared with colors sat beside the palette, and the odor of turpentine lingered in the air.

Gary went closer to look at the canvas sitting on the easel.

It was a detailed study of a middle-aged man, clothed, sitting in a wide armchair, the same chair that stood beside the comfy-looking couch.

The artist had yet to work on the clothing; the model’s shirt was blocked in solid colors, shades of dark and light.

And now he’ll never get to finish it.

Riley joined him. “According to the neighbor, this is how the victim earned his living. I googled him. Pretty well-known artist. I’ll see what else I can find out tomorrow.” He inclined his head toward the door. “The CSIs are here to dust and document the scene.”

Beside him, Sergeant Rob Michaels cleared his throat. “I’ll secure the scene once all the evidence has been removed.”

“Thanks, Rob.”

Lewis came over to them. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do here.”

Gary had to agree. The day had almost ended, and he was in dire need of sleep.

“I’ll see you both in the morning. You can write your reports then.

” He bade a good-night to Rob, and once the officer at the door had let him out, he hurried along the hallway to the stairs, stripping off his gloves and stuffing them into the pocket of his jacket.

Some doors were open, and residents peered out as he passed.

Gary paid them no mind. He was too busy thinking about their victim.

Please, God, let us catch him. Don’t let there be a number six.

Gary let himself into his apartment and bolted the door behind him. The silence that greeted him held none of its usual comfort.

He knew why. All the way home, his head had been filled with thoughts of Brad. No, even before that. Memories of his late brother had suffocated him all day, to the point where he’d struggled to maintain his focus.

He’d have been forty-five today. The same age as Marius Eisler. It had taken every ounce of effort not to react when Riley had revealed the victim’s age.

Gary trudged into the kitchen and peered into the fridge, not that he wanted anything. The neatly stacked microwave meals, bottles of iced tea and water, and foil-wrapped lump of cheese made the fridge’s interior appear as minimalist as his apartment.

Despite his fatigue he wasn’t ready for bed yet. Gary filled the kettle, then opened a cabinet to remove the box of chamomile tea. Its fragrance always soothed him, and right then he was in need of soothing.

When are we going to get a break? He loathed the hollowed-out feeling that pervaded each time he confronted their lack of success. The killer was either blessed with unholy luck or phenomenal planning skills. How can he slip by unnoticed? Surely someone must have seen him.

If they had, they had yet to come forward.

Sure, the police had the guy’s DNA, thanks to the condoms, but he wasn’t in the files.

He left no prints, a fiber here and there, and appeared to have chosen victims who had a steady stream of male visitors.

Lieutenant Travers had already intimated that the chief was making noises about bringing in more men.

The shit had hit the fan after the discovery of victim number three, Geoff Berg, when some bright journalist had worked out all the victims were gay men.

Worked out, my ass. Someone leaked it.

The headlines had screamed Killer Targets Gay Men!

for a couple of weeks, but as the months passed and no more bodies turned up, things quieted down.

Thank God the letters had remained confidential.

They had one tool left for weeding out the crank confessors.

But that didn’t relieve the resulting pressure Gary and his team found themselves under once news had gotten out.

The kettle whistled and he turned off the gas. As he poured water onto the tea bag, his phone pinged, and he glanced at the screen.

Still coming Sunday?

What the hell was his mom doing awake at this hour?

Except he knew that was a stupid question.

She’d been a poor sleeper for the past twenty-three years.

As usual, cold fingers traced a path around his heart at the prospect of the monthly ritual of Sunday lunch.

He hated himself for even thinking like that.

Seeing his parents shouldn’t be a burden, shouldn’t fill him with apprehension.

But it did. And he knew he’d go, because not to would be unthinkable.

Unforgivable.

He typed with his thumbs. Sure. There was no reply, but that was typical of his mom. Her texts were always succinct and infrequent.

Gary took his tea and went into his bedroom. He placed the cup on the nightstand. The closet door stood ajar, and Gary moved toward it without thinking. He stepped into the closet and headed for the built-in drawers. He paused, his hand on the knob, his heart racing.

Will it help?

He ignored the quiet inner voice. He opened the drawer and removed the folded sweater, inhaling as he held it close. Whatever scent it had possessed had long since disappeared.

Gary returned to his bed and sat in the center, pillows stuffed behind him. He buried his face in the soft yarn.

I’ll find him, Brad. I promise. I haven’t forgotten about you.

The reminder was etched onto Gary’s skin.