Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (11 page)

“
Peterson wasn
’
t innocent. He was obsessed with Cheryl Larsen. He followed her everywhere. She was
terrified
of him.
”

“
But he didn
’
t kill her.
”
Rick stated the obvious.

No, Peterson hadn
’
t killed Cheryl. He
’
d killed Aaron and in the process, he
’
d destroyed all their lives.

“
I read the Larsen file. Aaron was convinced Peterson was the killer
without any substantiating evidence.
He went after Peterson even before Cheryl
’
s murder. He stepped over the line because of her.
”

John certainly couldn
’
t deny it, but he wasn
’
t prepared to share the extent of those secrets with Rick. Not now. Not
after seeing t
he woman he hadn
’
t been
able to get out of his head
.

“
This is getting us nowhere. If you want to ruin the reputation of one of the Bureau
’
s best agents then go ahead. If you want to help me solve this case before another innocent victim is murdered then let
’
s go over the facts as we know them.
”

“
As we know them or as you
’
re willing to share them?
”
Rick stared
at him
across his steaming cup. When John made no attempt to dignify the remark, Rick blew out a
n
annoyed sigh.
“
Okay, got it. Let
’
s go over the facts again.
”

Rick picked up the case files
John had brought with them. It was
from the original murders, while John tried to control the shakes. He thought he
’
d buried
deep
Aaron and his own lies. He thought that with Aaron
’
s death their secrets were safe. He
’
d been wrong.

And now two
more
women were dead and Anna
’
s life was in danger.

“
Janice Daniels, thirty-three, the first victim. Her body was found a short distance from the central jogging path behind some scrubs. Stabbed forty plus times, the killer
’
s rage was obvious. Two weeks later, Belinda Cardwell—
”
Rick broke off as the coffee house clerk, sloshing coffee from a full pot, headed their way. John waved her off. Coffee could wait. No one needed to hear these things. They were bad enough for a seasoned professional.

“
Belinda Cardwell, twenty-seven, was found at the opposite end of the park, same basic MO. The killer stabbed her thirty-nine times. I guess he got tired.
”

“
Or someone interrupted him.
”

“
Both women weren
’
t killed at the park. Their bodies had been transported there. The killer wanted them found but he didn
’
t want to be caught. The park is usually very busy during the daytime. He must have dropped them off sometime between sunset and dawn. Which leaves an awful lot of time for the killer to work with.

“
Then there
’
s Cheryl Larsen,
”
Rick concluded.

“
Wait a minute. Let
’
s hold off on Cheryl for a second. We found prior notes at both Janice Daniels and Belinda Cardwell
’
s homes, correct
?”

“
Yes. But neither woman
appeared
worried about them.
Or, i
f they were they didn
’
t make a report, tell a friend. And neither reported having any problems until they ended up dead. Only Cheryl.
And as I recall, there was no mention of a note in Cheryl’s file.”

John was conscious of Rick analyzing his reaction. Rick thought he knew more about the case
than
was reported in the files. He was right.

His partner drained his cu
p
then got to his feet.
“
I
’
m going for more. Want some?
”
John handed him his cup without answering. He picked up the plastic evidence bag that held the note from Janice Daniels
’
place. If it weren
’
t for the murders, the note left at the victims
’
homes prior to their deaths could mean anything.
With the exception of Cheryl Larsen. Or so John’d thought, until Aaron confessed Cheryl had turned the note over to him.

Beloved, now that I’ve found you again. I will never let you go. You will be with me soon. And always.

“
You know, something
’
s always bugged me ab
out the way the case played out,”
Rick said as he held out John’s coffee and slid into his vacated chair, sipping his own.

John shoved the note back into the file and accepted the cup Rick held out to him.
“
What do you mean?
”

“
Well, for one, why did Sorenson think Peterson was the killer? How did he even come up with him as a suspect?
”

“
You mean
did he do it because C
heryl
told him about Peterson and the
re
s
training order?
”

Rick nodded.
“Was Sorenson the one who had Cheryl file the order?”

John accepted
the angry undertone in Rick’s voice
without comment.
“
No
, I don’t think so
.
Anyway, w
e analyzed the note, found out only a few places in D.C. sold that particular type of red parchment paper. Aaron discovered Peterson worked at one of those places. He had easy access to the paper and he was stalking Cheryl Larsen.
”

“Hum, okay, so what about Cheryl? The killer didn’t send her a note
, there was nothing in the
—” Rick’s gaze narrowed as he studied John and then it hit him. “But he did, didn’t he? You and Sorenson just left it out of the file.” 

John slowly nodded. No point in denying it. “Yes. I found out about the note after Cheryl’s death.
Aaron
was convinced
he
’
d found the Rock Creek
k
iller.
”

Rick shook his head, his disgust easy to read. “Why’d Sorenson keep the note from the file?
Was he afraid of getting caught in the affair?
”

John wished he knew the real answer to that question, but Aaron’s actions in those final
months
had been anything but rational. “All he told me was that he was afraid the note contained something that might incriminate him.” John spotted Rich’s confusion and tried to explain. “I think it was more like he was afraid Anna would learn about the affair.
He might not
have
want
ed
to be married to her anymore, but he didn't want her to know about his infidelity
either
.
”

Rick kept his opinion confined to his disgusted expression.   

Outside the
sun rose high above the nation’s capital.

For many, D.C. repre
sented security
and power
.
But even
here,
evil existed. Just as it
had
before
.

* * * * *

Janice Daniels
’
parents still lived in the same Roanoke neighborhood they had the night John and Aaron had to bring the worst possible news to them.

A quiet middle
-
class area where most
of
the houses had been around since the Nixon administration.

John glanced at his watch.
Eleven-
fifteen.
T
hat moment in time would stand out in his memory forever.

Rick glanced his way, sensing his mood.
“
What if they
’
re at work? What do they do for a living?
”

“
The wife was a homemaker. She volunteered at the hospital a couple of days a week. The husband worked for an insurance firm in the city.
”

When his first barrage of rings didn
’
t illicit any answer, John resorted to banging on the door.

“
Whoa, buddy, lighten up. We want their help. Remember, as far as they
’
re concerned we had their daughter
’
s killer in prison.
”

John spotted the morning paper lying on the front porch. The headline announced the worst was yet to come.

Rock Creek Killer Returns. Did Feds Put The Wrong Man In Jail For The Wrong Reasons?

He picked it up and handed it to Rick.
“
Not anymore.
”

“
Dammit
,”
Rick whispered under his breath.
“
This isn
’
t good.
”

The door opened and Frank Daniels stood in the doorway.

“
Yes?
”
It took him a second longer to recognize John.
“
Agent Delaney.
”
It occurred to John that the older man
wasn't surprised to see him
.

“
Come inside. I
’
ve been expecting you.
”
Frank Daniels opened the door and waved them inside.

John waited until they
’
d taken the proffered seats on the living room sofa before beginning.
“
I need to ask you some questions about Janice
’
s life.
”
He
’
d racked his brain trying to think of some common denominator between the victims. He
’
d come up empty.

“
So is it true then
?”
The old man
had
aged ten years since John
ha
d last spoken to him.

“
Yes. We believe so.
”

“
How it that possible, Agent Delaney
?
You assured us you had Janice
’
s killer.
”

John wondered where the man
’
s wife might be.
“
I know. We were certain of it. But in the light of this new evidence, the two new cases and some other information, well, we now believe George Peterson is not the man responsible for Janice
’
s death or the others. He is, however, still guilty of killing a federal agent.
”

“
And that
’
s the real reason why the case ended so abruptly, isn
’
t it. Because Peterson killed one of yours, the Bureau was eager to put an end to the whole thing. Sweep it under the rug.
”

John couldn
’
t blame the man for being angry.
“
That
’
s not what happened. My partner believed the evidence gathered against Peterson was enough to prove he was the Rock Creek
k
iller.
”

Frank Daniels wasn
’
t impressed with John
’
s passionate plea.
“
And now we know the truth.
”

“
Yes, I guess we do.
”

“
And you
’
ve come to me, for what? To dig into my daughter
’
s life some more. Try to find some dirt on her?
”

“
No sir. That
’
s not the case at all. I
’
m just hoping that you or your wife might remember something new. Something that didn
’
t occur to you at the time. Something that might help us connect the cases.
”