Chapter 47
FORTY-SEVEN
Katie awoke to the sun shining through the blinds, which refreshed her spirit. She could hear the shower and knew John needed to get to work—he had a long day as well, with the search of Shelby’s house ahead of him.
She got up slowly, feeling sore, but she had more energy than the night before and the sunshine seemed to bring her back into the land of the living.
She wanted to get to work even though it was a Saturday.
She and Gav needed to keep things rolling, especially if they were close to finding the killer—and hopefully finding Patricia alive.
Walking to the bathroom, she stepped into the steamy-hot shower with John.
Katie drove into the department parking lot feeling more positive. She sat in the car thinking about yesterday and the day before with Cisco. Now it seemed like a lifetime ago. She finally got out because she needed to make sure everything was good between her and Sean.
As Katie walked to the side entrance, she noticed a van with signage that read: “APS Electricians.” Two men were on ladders attempting to fix the outside lights. There was also a construction van for specialty building.
She entered and made her way to the forensic division as she always did. She knew John had a few things to take care of first thing, so she walked to the cold case office where the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and saw McGaven sitting at the table with new paperwork and his laptop.
“Hey,” she said, putting down her things.
“Hey,” he said back, but without making eye contact.
Katie knew that last night still simmered within McGaven. She glanced at the board, but she had to make things right with her partner. “Gav,” she said.
“What’s up?”
“I need to clear the air.”
“Okay.” He looked at her then, but he didn’t seem to have his usual fun spark.
“First, I want to apologize to you.”
“Katie…” he began.
“No, listen. I have been on this path of destruction when it came to catching this evil killer who dismembers women’s bodies.” She stopped and tried to remain calm and not cry. She had to come to terms with the fact that she was in a fragile state—and hated it.
“I know… this is a tough one. And I also know the scare you had with Cisco.” He smiled at her. “Know that I can never stay mad at you. I’m worried because I don’t want anything to happen to you—I would be lost.”
“I know. I feel the same way about you.”
McGaven stood up and hugged his partner. “It’s okay. We’re going to catch this guy. I got the best photo from the surveillance I could and sent it to John.”
“Good.”
“Now do your magic with the killer profile,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “It makes sense about Tyler.”
“What makes sense?”
“Shelby’s social media didn’t have much on it that indicated she was in a relationship with him, did it?” said Katie.
“You think he was lying to us about that?”
“Yes. I think he’s involved in these crimes, but he’s not a leader in this. He’s a minion and I think he was picked carefully.”
“By the killer?”
“What else makes sense?” Katie went to the board. “He has no record. He works at a restaurant as kitchen help, so isn’t in public view.”
“I see where you’re going with this, but…”
“What’s been bothering me is how the killer seems to be steps ahead of us. I’ve realized he has help.”
McGaven studied the board, the crime scenes, and locations. “The killer’s been watching you. How did you get on his radar?”
“It could be anything. Maybe he read about some previous cases? He wanted to leave the finger to taunt the police and I happened to be that officer.” She thought about it.
“If Tyler took the chance to attack a police officer, he’s desperate.
Chris said he was looking for something and getting frustrated he couldn’t find it. ”
“For what?”
“I think he was looking for something at Shelby’s house that the killer wants—like something that would incriminate him or something that links Tyler and the killer. Like photographs. Maybe there was one that unknowingly placed the killer with Shelby.”
McGaven thought about it. “So that story he told about him and Shelby hanging out at the hotel…”
“It was a trap and we walked right into it,” she said. Katie was mad at herself that she was so careless.
“But we learned a lot and we may have a good enough image of the killer now, or at the very least a person of interest,” he said.
“We need to find out where Tyler is, but I’m afraid he might be a liability now.”
“And the killer might get rid of him.”
She nodded. “The next body might be Tyler’s.”
“Let’s see if his car has been found,” said McGaven. “Maybe we’re looking at this wrong.”
Katie followed his thought. “We could be. Maybe we should be looking at the locations and how they might be connected instead.”
“The body-part dumps?”
“Yes. We haven’t been able to get a hold of the attorney for that land at Heritage Road. Try him again or we’ll just track him down,” she said. “His name is… Jake Devaroux. Or why not track down the owner himself, Martin Sills?”
“Good point. Copy that,” McGaven said. “Leave it with me.”