Eleven (25 page)

“You’re trying to scare me?”

I recalled how I explained to Jack that my wife wouldn’t leave the house for anything less than a good reason. Even faced with a murderous psychopath she was prepared to stay and fight.

“We’re getting you a new cell phone.”

“This one works fine.”

“Trust me. Please, just a little.”

“Fine.”

“And please go back and stay with Karen.”

She let out a sigh. “If it means that much to you.”

“It does.”

Debbie told us she’d leave with one condition. She didn’t want cops posted outside the house while she packed and didn’t want them following her. I had given her a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead before we left. I knew I had a job to do, but all I wanted was to make love to her and hold her close.

Jack didn’t say anything until we arrived at Quantico and he pulled into the parking lot. “Be happy we should have other things to do here, Slingshot.”

“It’s not like we knew she was okay.”

“If you listened when she spoke you would have known where she was.”

“If you weren’t always rushing our conversations—”

Jack slammed a flattened hand onto the steering wheel. He didn’t say a word. We both just sat there looking at the other cars until my cell phone rang. I answered.

“I hear Chantilly is a lovely place.”

It wasn’t Debbie. It was someone using a voice modifier.

“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you when I find you!”

A laugh from the caller sent chills down my spine. “First you must find me.”

“You stay away from her!”

“Are you going to stop me?”

The line went dead.

“Fuckin’ shit!” I gripped my cell phone hard and faced Jack. “He knows where Deb’s sister lives. He’s been close.”

We both jumped out of the SUV and went straight to Nadia’s office. She was wading through screens of codes.

“The triangulation for the call just made to his cell. Now,” Jack barked.

Nadia jumped, and a stress ball fell to the floor. She spun around in her chair. An HB pencil sat clenched in her teeth. She took it out of her mouth as she nodded hello.

This was the second time I had seen her. The first was a quick orientation of the base office and personnel. Her dark hair swept just past shoulder length and held the shine of expensive hair products. The rusty-orange frames of her glasses would have been popular back in the seventies, but somehow they suited her.

“You said a call just now?” She asked the question as she bent over to pick up the stress ball.

“Yes.” The word came from Jack’s lips like the hiss of a snake.

“All right then.”

Any other time I would have found amusement in the contrast between Jack’s attitude and Nadia’s relaxed nature. I thought it ironic as Jack always told me to calm down.

Nadia turned back to face the screen. She clicked on the keyboard, and within seconds the triangulation filled in on the screen. Her finger traced the perimeter. “It’s coming from within here.”

“That’s a five-mile radius around my home—”

 My cell chimed notification of a new text message.

CHAPTER 24

Paige loaded into the SUV beside Zachery. She let him drive because he preferred to and she couldn’t care less whether she drove or rode shotgun.

They were leaving the Smith home after speaking to the wife Ann. They belonged to the same church were Royster was a member and Bingham attended. As with the other four families they had visited they didn’t have anything to offer. Paige suspected the unsub wasn’t a local. She brought the concept up to Zachery. “It’s like Bingham and this unsub didn’t even exist around here. And since everyone knows everyone and everything about everyone.”

“Do you think
they came to Salt Lick to kill?”

“I’m leaning that way.” She glanced at Zachery’s profile as he drove. “And if that’s the case there’s another connection to Bingham. What are we missing?”

“Not sure yet. But it would have to be someone tight with Bingham and comfortable with the area.”

“It could be a former resident or a non-church member. Maybe a visitor from Florida.” Zachery looked at her. “If the cases are connected, the unsub could have helped with the murders in Florida and followed Bingham out here.”

The onboard phone rang and the caller ID came up Harper. Paige depressed the hands-free button. “Hel—”

“I need you two to get over the prison, pronto.”

“Boss?”

What Jack told them next ignited a fire in the base of Paige’s gut.

Paige and Zachery inquired at the visitor’s desk and were directed by a uniformed officer to the prison warden. The officer had a thick torso and expansive hips which stretched the fabric of her pants to full capacity. She gestured for them to stay back a few feet as she rapped her dark knuckles on the doorframe.

A man’s voice called out from the inside. “Ye-eah.”

“FBI here to see ya. They says it urgent.”

“Let’em in Dorthea.”

Paige entered the room and could tell by the way the warden took a second glance he expected Jack and Brandon. “I’m Special Agent Dawson.” She extended a hand across the desk. The man stood to reach it. He pressed down on his shirt, and she noticed how unusually tall and slender he was. She gestured to Zachery, “And this is Special Agent Miles.”

“Clarence Moore.” His handshake, firm and brief, contained both confidence and power. “Pleased, I’m sure.” The warden shook Zachery’s hand and sat down behind his desk again. He laced his long fingers together. “What can I do for ya?”

“We need to see Lance Bingham.”

“I ’ssume you’re working with that other man and the young kid.”

Paige fought a smile from developing. She knew how much Brandon hated being referred to as Kid. “That’s right.”

“Bingham’s out in the yard right now. Recess as we term it ’round here.” He smiled. When no one said anything for a few seconds, he picked up a phone and directed a person by the name of Tom to retrieve Bingham. Moore hung up the receiver with his attention on Paige. “Let me warn ya he might be in lock-up for assaulting a neighbor, suspected of these other horrid crimes.” A hand waved across his desk. “And he might appear to be near ninety, but the man ain’t dead. If you know what I’m talking about.”

“I’ll be fine.” And the words she spoke were the truth. When it came to the dark side of humanity, she had seen a lot. A man who killed his entire family because he couldn’t afford them due to a lay-off, a serial who stalked maids from work wanted ads, a serial who took tongues as trophies. Yes, Lance Bingham of Salt Lick may hold a sick record—countless mutilated and disemboweled bodies—but he would be no different than the rest of them. He’d have an agenda and if she could tap into that, even give him the impression she understood, she’d have a way in.

The door opened with a buzzing noise as the man who would have been his victim’s last horror was escorted into the room. With a guard on each arm, they guided him to the table and secured him to the restraints there. The amped up security made her wonder if the warden was spreading the reason for the FBI’s interest in Bingham.

Paige told Zachery she had this under control, and even asked that he not be in the room. She knew he watched through the window in the door and sensed his concern through the pane of glass.

Bingham’s wiry hair, both on his head and face, had him resembling a ripped apart scouring pad. His glasses were oversized, taking up a third of his face. His lips were thin and an underlying smile was stenciled on them. The glint in his eyes told Paige she was looking at a different creature from the ones she had met before.

“What do you know about this?” She produced the two photos that were dropped off at the hotel, the one of Brandon’s house, and the one of his wife. She held a third picture in her hands. This was what prompted the call from Jack and the directive to speak with Bingham. As she flung the picture of Brandon’s scantily dressed wife, she felt an involuntary catch in her throat. That was the other woman.

“I ’pologize
for my appearance. They took my razor.” He rubbed at the growth on his face.

She wouldn’t become distracted from her goal. She leaned in her chair and flung an arm over the back of it. “Earl Royster.” She studied his reaction. Nothing. “You two were close.”

“If you know everything why do you need me?”

“See that’s the thing we don’t.” Paige smiled at Bingham, attempting to use her female charm to lure him into speaking. “We don’t know what he ever saw in you. You’re easily what twenty, thirty years older than he was. Surely he’d have more intelligent friends, and more engaging conversationalists to be around, because from what I see you rarely speak.”

Bingham’s eyes narrowed.

“I mean he had lots of buddies, but losing his brother, he had a hard time with that. Is that why he turned to you?”

Bingham’s eyes snapped to hers and dropped to her mouth just as quickly. She knew he watched her lips as she spoke and she put effort into manipulating them to her advantage—a small pout here, the hint of a smile there.

“He looked to you for comfort didn’t he? He saw you as a caring individual who had his back. He knew you from church and saw that you were a hard worker with the farmers in the area.”

A small twitch in his cheek revealed she was chipping away at his pride. He didn’t want to be thought of as weak, empathic and caring, least of all a simple farm hand.

“And you gave him friendship and supp—”

Bingham smiled. “Ain’t none of this true.”

“No? Well, then you’ll have to educate me because from what I see it is.”

He looked down at the photos. “It was supposed to be a joke.”

“What was Lance? Can I call you Lance?” She pulled out his first name and added an element of huskiness to her voice.

“The pictures.” Bingham’s expression went serious and any sort of control she had gained evaporated with a figurate hiss to steam. “None of you can prove I did anything wrong.”

“We know about the other murders in Sarasota Florida.” She paused. He didn’t blink. “We know about some of your victims right here in Salt Lick. Earl’s brother was one of them.” She stretched the truth.

He tapped an index finger on the table.

“Why go after Special Agent Fisher?”

“Special Agent, la de la. Nothing special that I see there. But you do.” He leaned in, closing the distance between them. “You do, don’t you?” His mouth rapidly transformed into a wild smile.

“Why his wife?”

The smile disappeared. Bingham’s gaze lingered in her eyes making her uncomfortable, but she refused to break the eye contact. To do so would demonstrate weakness and give Bingham the upper hand. She needed to maintain control. “Who is this person? Who is your follower?”

“You told me already that Earl must have been.”

Paige smirked. He bit. “How many did he help you with?”

Bingham guided her eyes to the table and the photograph of Brandon’s wife. “She’s beautiful.” Seconds of delay followed those two words. “That must bother you.”

Jack pressed the brakes hard enough the SUV lunged forward. He put it into park, and I jumped out and headed up the porch steps. Police cruisers were already at the house including the two officers we had met earlier.

“I didn’t think you big shots needed us,” Spalding said as he pulled up on his pants and adjusted his holster.

“We need you to block the street. No one in. No one out.” I heard Jack’s firm words. “Now.”

“Yes, boss.” Spalding’s words were followed by a chuckle, but he complied with Jack’s directions.

“The only way he could have got that picture is from inside the house.” I turned the handle and turned to Jack. “It’s unlocked.” Deb’s car was in the driveway. But if she was there wouldn’t she be outside wondering what was going on with the police cruisers? And why wasn’t she answering her phone?