Serial Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (15 page)

Nodding to his men, Jack turned to walk outside. At the door, he turned back around, staring at the remains one last time. Lifting his eyes to the examiner, he said, “When you’re all done with her, contact me. I’ll pay for her burial.”

If the doctor was surprised, he did not show it. He had paid for a few burials himself over the years. He just nodded and turned back to his duties.

Chad and Blaise shared a look, unsurprised as well.

Back in the SUV driving home, the three were silent for the first part of the trip, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Call the others. We meet when we get in,” Jack ordered and both men immediately began texting.

Blaise added, “Boss, if you wanted to take an evening off to go ou—”

“Nope. Meeting.”

The two men nodded, knowing their boss’ mind was not going to change about the evening. They just hoped that it would not change about Bethany.

*

The men had
just met back at Jack’s and had begun to process the new information when Monty called.

“Hate to dump this on you, but there’s been another one.”

Jack had him on speaker and growled, “Fuck, go ahead.”

“Just got a call from my FBI contact who hasn’t even called the Governor yet. Virginia University in Charlestown. Same MO. I’m heading there now. Figured you’d want to be there as well.”

“Yep,” Jack answered. Looking around, he said, “Luke, what do you want to do on this one?”

“Same as always. You interview and feed me info. I’ve got an angle I’ve been looking at, but I’ll take whatever data you can send to me.”

“Chad, Blaise. You two just drove through the night. You up for more?”

“Absolutely,” both replied at the same time.

“All right, Monty. The six of us will roll out of here. We should be there in about thirty minutes. We’ll rendezvous and you can get us inside where the FBI is investigating. I want all of you on this and use whatever means you need to. We’ve got to stop this fucker.”

Once more, the men left Jack’s place to prepare to hit the road. He stood by his kitchen counter looking down at the empty, washed cobbler dish and his mind turned to the beautiful blonde with the heart of gold.
How the fuck can I give you what you need when I can’t be home regular hours? And how the fuck can I keep my world from tainting yours?
Locking up and leaving his house, he felt more desolate than he ever had going on a mission.

He was beginning to see the handwriting on the wall telling him there was no way a white-picket fence would fit in his life. And Bethany deserved nothing less.

*

The men effectively
spread out, each knowing what needed to be done. Cam, Blaise, and Bart went to interview the girl’s roommates, classmates, and friends to gather as much information as they could. Hacking into student records, Marc delved into her classes, grades, loans, and accounts. Luke was back at the compound digging into her Facebook and social media. Monty was with the FBI at the scene where the body was found.

And once again, Jack was in the medical examiner’s room, this time staring at the mutilated body of Karen Solter. Blonde, blue eyes, medium build.
Fuck. Looks too fuckin’ much like—Stop…don’t go there.

Forcing his mind to the task at hand, he discreetly moved from the side to the head of the victim, looking down her body. While the cameras had taken pictures from multiple angles, he was stunned to see what the other medical examiner’s assistant had said. At this angle, it did appear as though the random mess of cuts did point like arrows from the girl’s pubic region toward the throat slice.
Doesn’t give us much, but could confirm the sexual motivation of the actual killings.

Moving back around to the side and out of the way, he admired the professionalism of the medical examiner, who combined clinical precision with a profound respect for the murdered girl.

“Weapon of death?” he quietly asked as the doctor took meticulous measurements of the length and depth of the wounds.

“Very long, thin blade. These lacerations are almost surgical in exactitude.”

“You think a scalpel?” he prodded.

“No, no. A scalpel wouldn’t be long enough.”

The examiner walked over to a computer and quickly began searching. “Here,” he said. “I would have to take more measurements, but something like this.”

Jack walked over and stared at a long, filet knife. The one on the screen called it a fishing filet knife.
Fishing?
His thoughts raced to the fishermen he ejected from Bethany’s place days earlier. Once again, forcing her from his mind, he asked, “This would be a common knife, wouldn’t it?”

The doctor gave a derisive snort, “Oh yeah. Got two of them at home myself. Take the grandson fishing when he comes to visit. Hell, in Virginia, with our beaches, rivers, and lakes, you’d find one of these in over half the homes here.”

Nodding, Jack left soon after, meeting some of the men in their hotel room. Marc reported what was becoming a familiar tune as they were finally starting to connect some dots in the backgrounds of the victims.

“She was a solid student, not brilliant, but studied a lot and studied hard. Her professors have mostly been here a while and I’ve already checked with Luke, none of them had been at any of the other colleges when one of the girls went missing.”

Cam, Blaise, and Bart had preliminary reports and would continue interviewing the next day.

“She was considered a good girl,” Cam said. “No partying, no boyfriends, no booze.”

“Her roommates appeared genuinely upset. Liked her and said she had no enemies. Usually kept to herself and studied in the library most evenings. They had recently met with some friends and they were surprised when she had come along to a bar for dancing. That was unusual for her, but they were thrilled she came with them,” Blaise reported, looking down at his notes.

Bart took over from there. “I checked out the bar they went to. Live music and a friend of theirs was playing so that appeared to be the reason she went. They said she had a great time dancing. She didn’t drink so no one could have spiked it. There was a guy she was dancing with for a long time, but he left earlier than her group did and he left alone. He has an alibi; he met up with his girlfriend later.”

“Now there was one piece of information I followed up on but it led to a dead-end. The roommates said the bar was crowded and they lost track of each other, but one said she looked up at one time and saw Karen standing on the stairs leading to the loft chatting with a man there. Later, when she looked up, neither Karen nor the man was there.”

“She leave with him?” Jack asked.

“Roommates say no way. She was not about to pick up a guy in a bar; it just wasn’t her.”

“Cameras in the bar?”

“Only in the bar area so the owner can keep track of his bartenders’ handling of money.”

“Get it,” Jack growled. “Send it to Luke.”

Bart nodded and immediately headed out into the night. An hour later he was back, a grin on his face. “Easiest bar to break into I’ve ever done.” Seeing Jack’s face, he added, “Already sent to Luke.”

Finishing their meeting for the night, they planned the next couple of days. And Jack knew they were going to be long ones.

*

He taped the
latest pictures up on his wall, adding them to his collection. “I told you that you should have stayed a good girl. But no, you had to become a slut. So now, you join the others.” Standing back admiring his wallpaper, his eyes roamed over the macabre collage.

His fingers trailed along the wall, touching the photographs almost lovingly. Reverently. The memories of each one flooding his mind. He was at peace. The urge had been assuaged, leaving only satisfaction in its wake.

His cell phone vibrated and he grimaced at the interruption. Pulling it out, he read the text, sighing.

Collecting his things, he readied himself to go back home. Using a large bucket filled with water and bleach, he quickly wiped down the tabletop and splashed the remaining liquid on the floor. With an old broom, he gave a few sweeps to send the bloody water out of the door.

He never spent too much time on cleaning the room…it was just a place to make the sluts pay. But the knife was different. Carefully washing, bleaching, and then drying the instrument, he tucked it back into his case.

With a last glance around, he stepped out into the night air and locked the door behind him. He smiled, humming a tune as he drove away.

“W
hat do you
think?” Bethany asked, twirling around breathlessly, allowing the jewel-blue jersey dress to flare out around her. “Do you like it better than the green one?”

Sally and Gram clapped in approval for each dress she had tried on, deciding to plan ahead for the date with Jack. When he left, he had said to be prepared for this next Saturday. He had been gone for almost a week, with no contact, but she knew he was working. It stung a little that he had not called or texted, but she reminded herself that he said his work was unpredictable.

She had stayed busy and now was playing dress up with Sally and Gram helping her to choose her best date clothes.

“Oh, darling, they all look so pretty on you,” Sally enthused. “Don’t you think so Ann?”

Bethany looked over at her grandmother, knowing that she was slipping farther away from reality. Gram did not reply but offered a smile instead. It was all she could give and Bethany would take anything offered, wanting to hold on to every memory with her grandmother.

“Why haven’t I seen you in any of these dresses before?” Sally asked. “Have you had them here all along?”

“Yes,” laughed Bethany, “but there’s hardly been a reason to wear them here. How can I chop wood in a dress and high heels?”

“Well, no matter which one you choose, you’ll be beautiful,” Sally remarked. She looked at Ann and said, “Let me help your grandmother to bed while you change.”

Smiling, Bethany agreed, then moved back to her bedroom. A few minutes later, dressed in her pajamas, she checked in as Sally was just getting Ann into bed.

Leaning over, she whispered, “I love you, Gram,” kissing her cheek.

Sally and Bethany quietly left the room. “She’s getting worse, you know,” Sally said.

Bethany sighed, “I know. I called mom and dad the other night and they were checking on the closest facility to here.” Tears filled her eyes, but she dashed them away quickly.

But not quickly enough. Sally walked over, offering her a hug and said, “You’re a good woman, Bethany.”

Soon afterward Sally left and Bethany locked up the lodge. Climbing into bed, she looked at the dresses hanging on a hook on her closet door. Smiling, she thought of the date she and Jack would finally be able to go on. Saturday was only two days away and she had the perfect pampering day planned for tomorrow.

The next day, Bethany drove into the city for an early appointment at a spa and salon. Starting with a massage, she felt the kinks smoothed out of her work-tired muscles, followed by a hair trim and style. She loved the feel of someone else drying her hair while brushing it out. It reminded her of the times when she was a little girl and her mother would sit for a long time running the hair brush through Bethany’s thick tresses. Then lastly, she sat getting a pedicure while reading a trashy magazine, checking out the latest Hollywood couples.