Concealed (9 page)

“Is she all right? Pete?” Something awful had happened. She could feel it in her gut. Wade calmly took her hands and Sydney braced herself for the news.

“There’s been another murder.”

AN HOUR LATER, WADE
was still recovering from the sound of Cara screaming hysterically into the telephone, desperate to know that Sydney was all right. It took a few minutes for what she was saying to actually sink in, that a woman was dead behind the diner. A blonde. And he could only imagine how terrifying it was for Cara and Pete to see the woman and immediately wonder if it was Sydney or Melissa. After he calmed Cara down and spoke with Pete, he’d told Sydney what happened and watched her face go completely white at the news. She had immediately called Melissa for her own piece of mind and confirmed again that she was all right and over a hundred miles away from town in St. Louis. It wasn’t until they pulled into Sydney’s driveway that the color started to creep back into Sydney’s face.

Once the shock had passed, Sydney insisted on seeing Faith. Wade drove her home and led her upstairs where Agnes had already tucked the little girl into bed. When she saw the five-year-old curled up, safe and sound, she crawled beside Faith, wrapping her body protectively around her daughter and let her frightened tears fall. When she looked over her shoulder at Wade and with weepy eyes asked, “Will you come back?” he was lost to her. All he wanted to do was pull her and Faith into his arms and calm their fears. Forever.

“As soon as I can,” he said as he wiped the small trail of tears from her cheek. “I promise.”

Downstairs, Agnes offered to stay with them until Wade got back. She flashed him a Smith and Wesson to prove she had things covered and was able to protect the precious cargo sleeping upstairs. It shouldn’t have made him feel better to know there was a seventy-five-year-old woman with a gun protecting Sydney, but it did. Agnes Whittman was a skilled markswoman and knew how to handle a firearm. If anything looked suspicious, she’d take care of it. Of that he was certain.

“Go. They’ll be fine,” she said ushering him out the door. “On a night like this I plan on shooting first and asking questions later, so make sure you identify yourself when you come back. Understand?”

“I think we’ve lost enough people. Don’t you?” When Agnes simply raised an eyebrow at him he shook his head. “Fine. Do what you need to. Anything seems off, you call me.”

“Certainly, Sheriff,” she said with a wave of her gun. “Go find the bastard that’s doing this.”

“I’ll find him.”

As he pulled into the diner, a sense of dread washed over him. He’d spoken with Sam and was relieved to hear the woman wasn’t anyone from town. That made him feel a bit better knowing he wouldn’t be seeing a friend’s body, but death was never easy to process. No matter how many times you see someone dead, their life taken prematurely, it was a difficult thing to swallow.

The flashing lights from the other police cars were a terrible beacon in the night across the parking lot of Pete’s. Wade parked his car and walked to the side of the diner where two of his officers were talking. “Here he is,” one said as he approached.

“What happened?” Wade asked, surveying the area around him. The weather had taken a turn, the bitter cold biting against his skin as the wind whipped past. Off to the side, Pete’s car was parked diagonally with both doors open.

“It’s awful. She’s got stab wounds all over her, Wade. It’s a nightmare back there,” Sam, one of his deputies, said, his voice shaking. There hadn’t been a murder in Elton, ever. So this was all new to Sam. Wade felt for him, but there was still work to be done so he pushed on.

“Who found her?”

“Pete and Cara, poor things. They’re both in shock. What we know so far is that Melissa had left earlier in the evening for St. Louis so they closed up the diner at the usual time, alone. Pete and Cara went home for a while, but had to come back for something.”

“Anything inside that might help us?” Both men refused to meet his eye. They were holding something back and it annoyed the hell out of him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

They awkwardly shook their heads. “Nothing, boss. It’s just…well, Melissa left a note for Sydney that was kinda personal. She was asking Sydney about her date. With you.” When Wade’s only response was a cold stare that told them he had no intention of discussing Sydney or his date with them, both of the officers wisely dropped the potential line of inquiry and got back to work.

The deputies quickly gave him a rundown of the scene and who they had called already. Wade wondered if there was a link between this and the girl they found in Greenville.

He’d put it off for as long as possible. Now it was time for him to go to that place inside himself where he could shut off his emotions and objectively investigate the crime scene. He’d done it countless times overseas, but this was the first time he had to do it at home. As he turned to walk behind the diner, Sam grabbed his arm.

“It’s bad.”

Luckily, Wade was familiar with bad. He’d lived through bad and thought it ended when he came home, but obviously he was mistaken. He knew what Sam meant. He’d barely rounded the corner when he felt like he had been punched in the gut.

The scene turned his stomach. The woman’s lifeless body was face down on the asphalt of the back parking lot. She was naked, her arms were splayed out and her legs were bent, making her look like a rag doll that had been dropped onto the floor. Her blonde ponytail fell over her face, hiding it from view. The police photographer was snapping pictures from various angles to document everything he could that might give them a clue as to what happened here. With each flash of the bulb, Wade noticed another detail.

She hadn’t been killed here, there wasn’t enough blood. The body had been dumped here, her murderer probably far away by now. But was he really? Two murders in a month, a town apart. If there was a pattern or a connection between their deaths, Wade was determined to find it.

Wade cleared his throat. “What’ve you found?”

“Not a heck of a lot. Melissa was supposed to close, but they let her leave shortly after you and Sydney took off, according to Pete. He and Cara locked up and left here around nine.” He handed Wade a clear plastic bag with a scrap of paper. “Melissa left this for Sydney.” He recognized Melissa’s handwriting from his countless diner tickets.

Syd,

Hope you had a hot night with Wade and aren’t still mad at me for the auction. He’s a great guy and you’re a great girl and I just wanted you to see what could be.

Love ya lots!

Melissa

ps: Did you kiss him? I am dying to know and you better text me before they close the door on my plane or I’ll kick your butt all the way from Europe. Love you, Syd!

“Pete and Cara were getting ready for bed when he realized he forgot to take the breakfast sausage out of the freezer, so they headed back to the diner and that’s when they found her.” Sam shook his head. “I thought Pete was having a heart attack when he called the station. He thought it was Sydney. Cara heard him scream Syd’s name and she apparently bolted from the car and took off around back. We found the two of them huddled together against the wall with their phone in hand. I think they were talking to you, Wade?”

Wade nodded his head. “Melissa had called them earlier to let them know she made it to St. Louis so when they came back to the diner, they saw the long blonde hair and thought it was Sydney, but she was still at my place. Sydney called Melissa right away while I kept them talking until I heard the sirens in the background and knew you guys were here with them.”

“I take it you asked if Melissa saw anything unusual before she left the diner?” Sam asked, looking up from his notepad.

“She left shortly after we did and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Only three cars in the parking lot when she left, all of which she knew, and each one belonged to someone in the diner. No one lurking in the area, no cars parked on the side of the street. Her car was packed and gassed up for her trip so she left straight from here.”

Everything that had been photographed was in plastic bags to protect any trace evidence from contamination. Unfortunately besides the body, there wasn’t much that had been dumped with her to give Wade something to go on. A small pile of her clothing was tossed haphazardly beside her body along with a section of rope that appeared to have been tied around her feet. It had come loose and was lying a few inches from her, but other than that, there was nothing.

“Give me a minute.” The deputy respectfully retreated around the corner, leaving Wade alone. In the quiet he looked down at her pale, lifeless form, wondering what kind of life this poor woman had been ripped away from and who was looking for her.

“Oh, honey. What happened to you?”

It took a few moments but Wade managed to collect his thoughts and focus. He noted multiple stab wounds on her back that were wet with what little blood she had left in her body. He carefully lifted the hair from her face and he could see a large welt on her forehead surrounded by several scrapes and dried blood. She must have been slammed into something, probably to knock her unconscious, then stabbed repeatedly. The lack of defensive wounds on her hands and arms indicated the attacker took her down quickly. Whoever he was, he had made sure to kill her somewhere else, and left as little evidence as possible.

Using what he had, Wade reconstructed what might have happened, imagining the car pulling in the main entrance to the parking lot. He had probably kept her body in the trunk. Wade looked for any indications on the asphalt like tire tracks that might give them a car model for this bastard, but there was nothing. He’d probably pulled behind the building for cover, popped the truck and tugged her out, tossing the clothing out last. No other buildings backed up to Pete’s Place, so the odds of someone seeing anything were slim to none, but they’d look into it, nonetheless. Maybe there was an unusual car driving around that caught someone’s eye. He was definitely going to call Melissa again and see if there was anything she could add.

Wade walked around the area, searching for anything they might have missed. He was about to leave when a triangle of white caught his eye, something covered in some kind of liquid that must have oozed from the dumpster. On instinct, he gripped the corner with his fingertips touching as little of the paper as possible. He called for Sam and when he poked his head around the corner Wade asked for an evidence bag. If this was related to the case, he wasn’t going to risk damaging the evidence by handling it too much. Of course whatever that foul stain was on the paper might have already destroyed everything. Sam ran over, holding the bag open while Wade gingerly slipped the paper inside.

“I’ll go log this in.” Sam disappeared, leaving Wade alone again with his thoughts.

It could have been Sydney. The irrational thought jumped into his mind until he couldn’t escape it. It could have been a night she and Mel stayed late. They could have been closing up and she could have walked out to this psycho dumping a body behind the diner and then God only knows what would have happened to her. He glanced back and saw the blonde hair and for a split second, it was Sydney lying there on the ground. The anger it stirred in him was illogical, but real.

He had to push the thought from his mind before he hit something. Tonight had been the first time they’d been alone together, so he shouldn’t be feeling so strongly about Sydney, but he did. The thought of anything happening to her threatened to send him into a blind rage. It also confused the hell out of him.

“Wade. I think you need to see this.” His deputy motioned him over, the evidence envelope still dangling from his fingers. In the distance, Wade could see the county coroner had arrived.

“I’ll find the bastard who did this to you.” He stifled his rising anger and focused on work. It was the only thing he could do that might make a difference for this woman and her family.

“What?” Wade held out his hand to the deputy.

“Did you look at this at all?”

Frayed nerves and strung out emotions got the better of him and he snapped. “No, I was busy. What’s the problem?” Wade snatched it from Sam’s hand, careful not to damage the contents but his irritation was obvious in his body language.

“Flip it over.”

When Wade did, his rage was replaced by confusion. He held the plastic bag closer to his face to get a better look. A figure was on the paper which now looked to be a photograph. Some of the liquid had oozed off the image and was starting to collect at the bottom of the baggie. With his thumb he wiped a little more off through the plastic. When he did, he nearly dropped the bag.