5. Elijah
5
ELIJAH
T his is a fucking mistake.
That thought runs through my mind—a nonstop loop of forewarning as Captain Perez explains my next assignment. Fifteen years older than me and at one point a marine, he’s someone I respect and have never questioned, but this time…
I’m receiving the bare minimum while he pushes a sealed file across his desk that I haven’t opened yet, but the longer I sit here, the more my irritation mounts.
This has to be some kind of joke.
I’m not a hired guard on duty, much less a roommate’s babysitter. Not that it can’t be asked of us: certain cases require round-the-clock protection, but this precinct has never demanded it of its officers. It’s a sign-up detail, the time given with incentives, but not like this, even if it is for a case that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“She’ll be under your watch until he’s caught and sentenced,” Captain Perez says as if sharing the weather report and not the bullshit job I’ve been assigned to. “We need her in that courtroom, Ford. Her testimony alone will put him away for a very long time, if not the rest of his life.”
The him is a serial killer.
The same son of a bitch I’ve been chasing for over two years.
A murderer who somehow managed to escape captivity during a routine transport a few days ago after his initial hearing in Dallas.
“This bullshit…” I run an agitated hand through my short hair “…wouldn’t be necessary if they’d just handed him over like our district attorney wanted. It started in Los Angeles and should end here. Those three families— all of those girls—deserve equal justice and not to be an afterthought.”
“I agree, but Texas as a whole has a larger body count than us and won the toss. Nothing I can do since California was denied the right to extradite and process.”
“Then send me back out into the field. You know I’m a bigger asset hunting the sick son of a bitch down than watching over her,” I beg through clenched teeth. “I can find him. I know how he thinks.”
“That’s why you’ll be a bigger asset to me here. Protecting her.”
“I’m sorry, Capt., but I don’t agree with you.” Keeping my eyes on his, I bring a bottle of water to my lips and take a deep pull. He’s my superior, and I need to remember that. No matter how hard I want to knock some sense into him with my fist, I can’t. “Everyone—every single person that worked this case wants this man’s head, but we’re being blocked because of a back-door compromise between states. A few shaken hands and a promise of recompense later decided Texas would charge and process while attaching our victims’ names to their already thick file. Each murder—thirteen in total—will now carry the maximum allowed. Am I correct?”
Captain’s jaw ticks. “Yes.”
“That isn’t enough, and you know it.”
“And what would you like them to?—”
“He should die.” Plain and simple. “That’s a fitting punishment.”
“Trust the laws you serve and protect, Ford. He won’t get away.”
“He already did, and it’s been a week,” I manage to say while biting back the colorful variations of the word fuck I want to add between every few words. “His victims will never hug their families again. They’ll never have a chance to get married and have kids of their own, and instead of bringing their memories justice, we’ve let them down. The possibility of a larger body count rises each second he’s?—”
My phone vibrates inside my pocket then, cutting me off. I’m glad for the small break in conversation; I need to get ahold of myself if I’m going to get out of this assignment. Pulling it out, I see it’s a text from my mother, but I don’t open it, choosing instead to put it on vibrate as I school my expression.
Mask how the guilt eats at me every single day that bastard is on the run.
Those bodies haunt me. Every life taken could’ve been prevented had I caught him.
However, after a year of following leads that led me to just within reach, he disappeared out of sight. Not a single trace for months. It’s as if the ground opened up and swallowed him, hiding the son of a bitch, only so he could reappear in Dallas after leaving another string of deaths at his heels between three large cities.
Texas. Arizona. California.
Perez exhales roughly, running a tired hand down his face. “We found another body that matches his M.O., and this death is being added to his grocery list of charges.” This is a motherfucking mistake; I should be out there hunting. “... and because of this, Ava will be staying with you in your apartment.”
Those words stop my train of thought, and my eyes refocus on Captain Perez. The fuck? “Sir, I don’t think I heard you right. Repeat that one more time.”
He can’t be…
Fuck. No.
“You did.” He picks up his coffee cup and takes a sip before sitting back in his chair. There’s an edge of exhaustion in his tone that matches the dark circles beneath his eyes. His accent also thickens the slightest bit, which is not noticeable to most, but after working together for so many years, I can pick up the Spaniard inflection. “Take that with you and study it front to back; it holds new sensitive-to-the-case information that few are privy to. I trust you, Ford. I know that you’ll keep her safe no matter the cost. She’s too important—the only person that can identify him from that night.”
“Can’t Meyers or Anderson take this instead?” I try one last time. “I’d be more useful?—”
“I want you alone to handle this. Very few people…” he points at me “...know of her whereabouts outside of the ex-military guards driving her across state lines. They’ve already been instructed to deliver her to your home within the next six hours, Elijah, and we’ll be keeping it that way. End of discussion.”
“From Dallas?”
“Yes.”
“Why not a transport from our precinct?”
“Because she’s been in their protective custody since Ripley’s arrest.” Perez’s expression and tone are angry, almost matching mine. “They’ve kept her guarded while the state prepared for his trial, an advantage since I know people in her city.”
“Is there something I’m missing? It doesn’t sound like the HPD is on her protection?—”
“I asked two ex-Marines for help.” What the fuck? “And before you ask, this is both a favor from the two men and a concession the Texas DA had no choice but to make. I’ve known them for years—since their fathers were rookies—and they are trustworthy. More than passed the state’s vetting.”
“This feels personal, Captain. Why are you getting to choose where she goes?” Why my home?
“There’s a nationwide manhunt.” That’s all he says. No further explanation. Perez evades the first question, and for now, I let it go. Choose to fight a different battle.
“We don’t know if he’s heading this way, sir. He doesn’t know she’ll be here.”
“Unfortunately, we have reason to believe Jason has a tracker on Miss Perry. Someone is trailing her movements from within. That, and all departments are stretched thin looking for this asshole.”
“Then plant a decoy and send her far away. Alaska if necessary.” We know how this goes. The extremes to which officials will push themselves to catch a criminal, even using one of our own as bait if warranted. “This wouldn’t be the first time?—”
“That’s a territory I have no leverage over.”
“What does that mean?” There’s an icy edge to my voice, and I flex my jaw to keep in a few expletives. “I deserve a better answer than that.”
“It means, Elijah, that we do our job and keep that girl safe,” he says, matching my tone. The bottom of his mug cracks as it meets the edge of his wooden desk, and what’s left of his black coffee spills and falls to the floor. “You are my best detective and someone I trust. Prove me right.”
“Understood.” Because nothing I do or say will change her coming here. So, instead of losing my temper, I grab the file. Flipping open the first few pages, I read the basic information on the perp again—because I know him—and at once, that same rage I experience when dealing with every homicide case fills me.
Only this time, there’s an added tinge of unease, but it’s overshadowed by the need to kill him myself. It’s been growing for a while. Since he escaped our grasp because a dead criminal can’t hurt anyone, and I’ve more than made peace with that.
He doesn’t deserve to live.
Accused: Jason Ripley
Age: 28
Born: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Occupation: Supervisor at a small lawn company.
Lives: Dallas, Texas (Prior address is from Los Angeles, where he resided for eight months and then moved back while evading the LAPD.)
Currently Resides: Two streets from the witness’s home. (Shrine found inside a guest bedroom with pictures of Ava Perry in various scenarios: some in public, others in the privacy of her home, and a few are intimate.)
Reading a few more pages, I take note of the obsession Jason has with the victim under state protection. There are highlighted sections of his interview after his arrest: threats and the hoarse growls of her name detailed by those who witnessed his capture.
Each report is almost an exact copy and paste—the new details giving me a small glimpse into her living nightmare—and a weight settles on my chest. Guilt eats at me.
It’s probably why Captain Perez chose me; he knew I’d take it personally. Knows I’d do anything to stop Jason from killing again, and his hard-on for this young woman means she’s both a target and his destruction.
She’ll be the cause of his downfall. That one mistake all animals like him make.
Because crimes of passion are sloppy and desperation leads to reckless choices.
Closing the folder, I sit back and meet his hard stare, fighting not to show the ire flowing through my system. I’m still angry, but this time it’s for a woman I’ve never met. How we’ve failed to protect and end this nightmare for her and any possible future victim. “They have to know he’s desperate, that he’s coming for her in a place he’s familiar with. Jason having lived here and escaping our chase gives him an edge.”
His nostrils flare while nodding. “Yet on the same note, it has a few advantages. The first is the detective who almost caught him and knows how he operates.” Perez opens the top drawer on his right and pulls out another folder. This time, it’s in red. “That’s what makes you the only person I trust with her life.”
“I still don’t like it?—”
“Noted.” Perez lifts his brow while tapping the red file with his pointer finger. “He has to travel through a few states and evade a lot of people, including you, to get to Miss Ava Perry. Those women— all those young lives taken—deserve justice, Ford. And this is our best chance to do just that.”
Nodding, I scratch the two days’ worth of stubble on my jaw. “They’re going to need all the manpower available to track him down. Jason Ripley is conniving and resourceful; thinking this capture will be easy is a mistake.”
“Agreed.” A moment of silence follows. He seems to want to say something else but remains quiet, and I take that as my cue to leave. There’s no point in arguing anymore. Once he makes up his mind, it’s set in stone, just the same as I won’t rest until Jason Ripley’s dead or behind bars by my hand?—
The only acceptable outcomes.
Rapping my knuckles twice on his desk, I push my chair back and stand. “I’m out.”
I make it a few steps. The handle of the door is just within my reach when Captain Perez clears his throat, and I stop. I don’t turn around but tilt my head to the side so he knows I’m listening.
“I chose you for a reason, Elijah.” A heavy sigh follows. “Keep her safe. Nothing else matters. No matter the cost.”