Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
ONE DAY LATER
VES
I don’t know why I’m letting this get to me.
In all my years with the FBI, I’ve never let a case consume me the way this one is.
Granted, none of my previous cases were used to push me out of the bureau and into early retirement, but still. The way The Orphan is eating at me is different, and I think it’s going to send me right over the goddamn edge.
“Ves,” Chandler says, as she knocks on the open door of the local office I’m borrowing. “I think I might have found something.”
I look up from the crime scene photos spread out over my desk as she and Walker enter, motioning for them both to sit.
“Victim numbers three, five, and nine were all registered foster parents.”
“Right…” I say slowly as I arch a brow. “We basically have everything short of their ancestry documented. Finding a common link has been next to impossible.” Which is putting it lightly.
Finding something that can establish victimology has been a fucking mind bender that’s most likely going to cause an aneurysm, and if there truly isn’t any connection between the people The Orphan has murdered, this fucker might be a new breed of serial killer.
“Next to, but not impossible.” Marley puts a piece of paper on the desk and turns it toward me, pointing as she speaks.
“These three were foster parents. This row, victims two, seven, eight, and twelve were all foster children or adopted. One and eleven were raised in Catholic homes for children and never adopted, four spent her entire life on the street after her parents died. Six and ten each worked at the equivalent of an orphanage at one point, even if it was brief.” She looks at me expectantly, her eyes wide as she pushes her chart forward.
“All twelve are connected by the lack of a natural family.”
I nod as my stare moves back and forth over her very neat presentation, her words starting to stitch the seemingly random pieces into a vague pattern.
“And get this.” I glance up at Walker as he sets his own, far less legible chart in front of me.
“Victim three had seventeen complaints filed with CPS, a few of them were still open when he died. Eleven was an excommunicated priest, exiled for allegations of inappropriate relationships with altar boys. Six was a convicted sex offender—”
“They all have some kind of record.” Fuck, how did we not see that sooner?
Marley’s connection is one thing. It’s not all cut and dry foster system related scenarios where it would have been clear.
Especially when you throw in the two that worked at actual orphanages, and considering one was a brief stretch back in the sixties, it might not have even flagged.
Sy’s point, that’s a little more obvious and the fact that we didn’t connect those dots is almost embarrassing.
Not to say we didn’t look at that before.
We did, even tried to see if there was a facility or agency in common, but since there wasn’t, it didn’t seem like they had anything to do with why they were killed.
Looking at it now, though, it seems obvious.
Sylas leans forward, overlapping the charts and pointing as he talks.
“A lot of them involved abuse, but it’s not that simple.
Possession, fraud, a little B and E. The charges are all different, on all twelve, so it doesn’t look like they’d be enough to add to victimology. But when you dive deeper…”
They’re all related to the same lack of family Marley referenced.
The vic with the possession got hooked by a foster brother, the vic with B and E charge broke into the all boys Catholic home they were raised in.
The check fraud was cashing checks for kids they no longer housed.
If you look harder at all of the victim’s records the way these two did, it’s clear they all point back to the connection they have to orphaned children in some way.
Seeing it now, it’s obvious why they were all chosen.
All but one.
“What about the most recent victim?” I start shuffling through the papers on my desk, moving things around to try to find the very little we have. “Have they been able to ID her yet? Was there anything matching her description in any system?”
Marley shakes her head. “Nothing. Family Services, CPS, police records within a hundred and fifty mile radius. There’s nothing anywhere that matches.”
“And since we still haven’t found her hands…” Sy shrugs as he slumps back in his chair. “Her dentures probably had a serial number but those are long gone, and her surgeries were so standard there were thousands of people who matched the same procedures.”
“And no one matched the description, anyway.” It’s like this goddamn old lady doesn’t exist. “Has the artist finished with the reconstruction?”
“Not yet,” he says with a sigh. “Not that it will matter too much. She looks like she could be anyone’s mother or grandmother.”
Which leaves us with diddly shit.
After I found the feet, I was hoping the hands would soon follow, but they didn’t.
I lean back in my chair and scrub my palms over my face, pushing my fingers back through my hair as I close my eyes.
I could have been fired for the way I handled that entire scenario.
If it wasn’t for Baron, I would have been.
My lips try to curl into a smile as I think of him, the strange alpha who showed up out of nowhere and helped me dig through a crime scene.
My scent match.
That was the last fucking thing I expected, but to say I was relieved when he showed up would be an understatement.
Relieved and surprised. Then again, I’m sure not many people expect to find their younger, extremely fit, kind of creepy scent match at the scene of a murder, so surprised was a feeling that makes sense.
The relief was really the strange part.
Having him help me dig through bloody sand in order to find the other foot was a huge help, but what he did next solidified the way his presence calmed and almost balanced me out.
Baron handled the feet and put them in a grocery bag, helped me get rid of any evidence I left behind, gave me something to change into, then sent me back to the hotel while he took the severed appendages to the police station.
That alpha sat through almost twelve hours of questioning, another few before and after waiting to be seen then released, was grilled as if he was the murderer himself, and has been followed nonstop ever since just so I didn’t have to deal with any kind of bullshit from contaminating a crime scene.
Which would have been the least of my concerns, but still.
Baron did all of that without even being asked, just took the initiative and rolled with it, all for me. And we’d just fucking met.
Who knew scent matching meant covering for your person at a crime scene?
Not that anything else has come of finding my match.
We didn’t exchange numbers, we barely spoke while we were at the beach, and I haven’t seen him since they released him from custody. I’m not sure what to do with finding my match in the midst of all of this bullshit, especially when I’ve only just started my relationship with Arlo.
I haven’t told him about Baron yet.
I’m not keeping it a secret, I wouldn’t do that, but it’s barely been two days since he found me, and I’ve been up to my eyeballs in this thirteenth victim.
When I call to check in, I just want to talk to my daughter and my omega about their day.
I want to hear about what they’ve been doing, how they are, and get my fix as often as I can, even if there isn’t much substance to it.
I miss them both so much, and can’t wait for them to come out this weekend.
The last thing I want to do is talk about me and whatever I’m dealing with.
I’m going to have to, though, and I know that.
It might be new, and I might not exactly be embracing him, but I’m going to want Baron to be a part of my life, of our life together, and that means I have to bring him up in conversation at least once before I tell my omega we have an alpha who’ll be railing us both the first chance we get.
Well, another alpha.
I’m still not sure how I feel about Lennox, aside from being extremely attracted to him.
Just because I’ve jerked off to the idea of him knotting my ass while I fuck Arlo doesn’t mean I’m ready to bring him into our family, not yet anyway.
Frankly, I’m still teetering on jealousy when it comes to Lennox and Arlo’s obvious attraction to him, despite where our relationship is going and the fantasies I’ve been entertaining.
The thing is, acting on my feelings for Arlo was hard enough. It was difficult getting there but what made it easier was the clear love he has for my daughter, and hers for him in return.
After Cali’s biological mother tried kidnapping her, running my ass over with her truck in the process, it was hard to fathom letting anyone into our life in any way, romantic or otherwise.
If her own mother—the woman I assumed was my soul bond after she forced a bite on me—wanted to kidnap her, after attempting to drown her in the bath more than once, how could I trust a complete stranger I might date with my daughter’s safety let alone her heart?
We’ve been burned before, burned on a massive scale, and I’m not going to let that happen again.
Arlo has proven without even trying that he’s everything I could want in a partner, he’s shown how good he is, and how big he loves, but scent match or not, adding someone else to our family is scary.
Even if I can barely stop myself from getting a boner when I think about either of the alphas I’ve recently met.
My dick is obviously not a good judge of character, and I need to know more about both Baron and Lennox before I start thinking with anything other than him.
“Boss man?”
I open my eyes and blink a few times, focusing on Sy before shifting between him and Marley. “Yeah?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Thought maybe you were catching a quick nap.”
I frown. “What?”
“We’ve been talking for a few minutes and you haven’t heard one thing we’ve said,” Marley says with a small giggle. “It’s not uncommon for you to sleep at the office, it’s just not the norm for you to do it mid conversation at lunchtime.”
I crack a grin and shake my head. “Sorry. I’ve been going pretty hard at this case, my mind keeps wandering.”
“Why don’t we break for lunch?” She stands and stretches before smoothing out the front of her slacks. “None of us have been balancing things very well since that body was found. I think we need to try and fix that or else we have—”
“A snowball’s chance in hell at finding this peckerhead,” Sy says with all of his southern flare as he gets to his feet. “Time to refuel, maybe catch forty winks, then say, we head down to the coroner’s office to see if the artist has finished up the reconstruction?”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I nod and blow out a breath. “I need to check in back home, too.”
Marley smiles wide as she asks, “How is Cali? I miss her adorably blunt little self.”
Me too. “She’s great. Arlo is taking great care of her. He’s keeping her busy while I’m away.”
“Taking care of you, too, boss man?” Sy wags his eyebrows.
“He’s a pretty little thing, isn’t he? Real sweet kid.
I’m glad you made your move to lock him down.
” I frown but he just laughs. “It’s obvious, Ves, but only because we know you so well.
Arlo obviously means something to you, and you’re more spacey than normal, which can only mean one thing. Facetime doesn’t lie.”
I forgot about that.
Cali called me yesterday while I was with Sy and he must have noticed when she put Arlo on.
They knew about the new nanny when I hired him, met him briefly when we were back in LA, but I haven’t exactly shared any relationship updates since we’ve made things relatively official.
What it really boils down to is the fact that Sylas and Marley have been my team ever since I was transferred to Los Angeles, and they quickly became two people I trust and actually care about.
We know each other well, and it shouldn’t surprise me that Sy picked up on things without being told.
“I’m probably going to bring them out here a little more long term,” I huff.
“I don’t want to uproot Cali, but with this recent victim and current state of things, I need them out here with me while we’re working the case.
” Then I arch a brow in his direction. “Because yes, Arlo and I are together, and I don’t want to be away from him or my daughter any longer than I have to be. ”
“I love that,” Marley sighs dreamily. “Plus, Cali is my girl. I need a spa day and there is no one in the world I’d rather do that with than her. I miss that little peanut.”
They met her when she was a baby and instantly became the extended family my daughter didn’t really have.
Not outside of my parents and siblings, and since Marley and Sy know them, too, it all just makes sense.
Not to mention, my kid is an absolute magnet.
Everyone she meets adores her and wants to be in her orbit, I’m just extremely cautious about who I let into it.
These two were an exception I’d make one thousand times over and never change a thing about it.
“Go eat. I’ll get things rolling with Cali and Arlo.” I hold up my hand as they both open their mouths. “And I’ll call for takeout. I’ll make sure to eat lunch, Mom and Dad, don’t worry.”
They both laugh as they head out of the office, and I slump back in my chair.
I’m definitely going to need my family out here as soon as possible because I have a feeling, thirteen victims in, and we’re only getting started.
This case is going to be one for the books, there is no doubt in my mind. I just hope it doesn’t drive me insane before I get the chance to solve it.
Retirement in the looney bin isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.