Carolina Rain (26 page)

Some serial killers get the process down, in their own special manner, and then revel in the perfection of the killing and all that it brought to them. Some killed to take, some killed to receive. That had always been true. In the end, the motivation for these psychopaths was always something palatable, especially for women expressing themselves by taking lives. An uneasy feeling whispered in his head. I
f
this woman had no agenda
like the others
, other than the pure
joy of killing, it made her different than any other they’d encountered and the unknown was never a good land to
wander
through.

Taking a step
,
he shifted his weight, ready to run his hand through his hair and then stopp
ing
, the rubber glove making him rethink his habit. He’d lost more than one hair
forgetting he was wearing gloves. Instead, he bent closer to the thin man’s body and stopped at his eyes, which were closed. He frowned. The other victims
’
eyes had all been open, possessing the same kind of vision that belonged only to the dead. And unless he missed his guess, the angle of the other vic
tim
s
’
heads had been almost exactly the same, looking straight toward the ceiling. However, this one was different. His chin was touching his chest
as if
he’d been watching something just over his sunken
sternum
.

In most cases, when the mouth was sewn shut, it meant the killer was trying to depersonalize the victim by not letting them speak. Speaking might mean begging, not to mention yelling or screaming for help. The same with the
e
yes. If they were open, the victim might be able to communicate something with an expression that would dissuade the killing, in theory. Those actions would indicate a certain level of
. . .
feeling
. . .
toward the victim,
but again,
he didn’t get that feeling here.

Swamped
with another thought, Manny quickly glanced at the man’s wrists and then his ankles. He noticed no ligature marks or any tape residue on either, just like the others.

Shaking his head, he was immediately pissed at himself. In all of the files and this case, he hadn’t asked the question of how.

How did you gain control of these men, Aphrodite?

Stepping back to the door, he motioned for Alex and Dean.

“You done trancing?” asked Alex.

Manny
nodded
. “For now.”

“Good. Now get the hell out of the way and let the real cops go to work.”

Moving past Manny, Alex entered the room with Dean on his tail. Putting their black cases on the fl
oor simultaneously, the two CSI
s glanced at each other
the
n back to Manny.

“This is different, even for an ex
-
Los Angeles boy
,
” said Dean.

Letting out a breath, Alex nodded. “Always something different in this business
. . .
but you didn’t let us in because you had all of the answers, right?”

“I never have the answers, just guesses that work out sometimes. Anyway, I didn’t ask myself a question that I should have and I need your help
,
”
said Manny.

Alex
tore
his eyes away from the face of the corpse. “I’m marking this down on my calendar
. . .
you need my direct help this early in an investigation?”

“I do. I can’t see how this woman
who
, based on the video,
can’t be
more
than five-five and one hundred and twenty pounds, is able to control these guys. Other than some kind of drug
situation
. . .
”

“I think
I
can help you with that. Let me check something first
.
”

Reaching into the now open case, Alex pulled out a wooden tongue depressor, kneeled near the head of the vic
tim
,
and searched his mouth, taking a whiff of the
opening
.
He
stood
,
wearing a frown not common to his friend.

Pulling out his smartphone, he scrolled the screen down, reading intently for about fifteen seconds
, scowling the whole time
.
“Damn,” he muttered.

“What do you have?”

“It’s what we all have
:
a real smart woman with a truly
revolting
problem.”

CHAPTER-35

“Are you sure you’re all right,
M
um?” asked Chloe as she set the cup of tea on the table
and
sat to Haley Rose’s left.

“Yea. I’m fine. I might be fifty but I’m tougher than some of those American cops, ya know?”

Jen
nodded
. “I think
that’s true, G
randma Franson. You look tough.”

“Thank ya,
darlin
’
,
and I told ya not ta call me
grandma
when people are around
. But
I guess it’s okay this time,”
she said,
the sparkle never leaving her eye
s
.

Gavin snorted. “These are good cops. They just didn’t want to hurt you
,
and they wanted
to
avoid all that paperwork.”

“Well, now ya know
,
Mr. Crosby, I think
I
—
”

Chloe raised her hand and interrupted her mother. “Okay. You two can discuss that one over ice cream or
ale
,
just
not until you tell me what the hell you were doing outside the house, after dark, apparently sneaking up to the back door
.
P
lease.”

“Ahh, girl. Ya always did have that way of getting to the point,” said Haley Rose, sighing and grinning
.

“Got it from my mum, I did.”

Haley threw back her head and laughed. “You did at that.”

Her mother had always been a pretty woman
—t
ough, but pretty. She still had th
e
red hair Chloe had inherited and she kept herself in great shape. But seeing her like this, maybe when she needed to see her the most, made her mother look like an angel in
disguise
.

Reaching across the table, her mum touched her hand. “I’ll be honest. I came for two reasons. I’m missing you and this new family of yours more than I thought this old Irish lass would. I was going to surprise ya all. But those Bobbies spoiled it. Why are they there, by the way?
”

“I’ll tell ya later.”

“I’m sure ya will
.
It also seem
s Manny and his lovely daughter
have captured more than just my daughter’s heart. I think of you, all of you, more these days especially with your cousin Ma
i
r
ead
ready to tackle college in Dublin. Plus, I ain’t getting any younger. Lonely and old ain’t no way to live life. So I’m here ta tell ya I’m selling the bed and breakfast and moving to the
states,
if you don’t have a problem with either situation.”

“What? Really?” asked Chloe.

Haley
Rose nodded. “Really.”

Before she knew it, Chloe had pulled her mother out of the chair and hugged her like only mothers and daughters, who’ve seen a thing or two
together
, could do. Chloe tried to stifle tears that had a mind of their own.

“Nothing would make me happier,” she whispered.

She felt
Haley Rose
swallow hard
,
then break the embrace, holding her daughter at arm’s length. “I’m glad to hear that. We’ve not spent enough
days
together since you joined the FBI and I want to fix that. A girl could always use her
M
um around, from
time
to
time
.”

“I’d like that, very much.”

“Hey
, does
that mean we can go like shopping to the mall? All of us?” asked Jen.

Haley Rose laughed again. “That would be wonderful
.
I need some of those jeans that make my fanny look a wee bit smaller.”

“Fanny looks good to me,” said Gavin,
shrugging
.

“We
re ya looking, man?”

“Ah, well, yes. Anyway, you said there was another reason you came to visit.”

“Still a cop, I see. Yes I did.”

She looked at Chloe, then glanced at Gavin, her look far more serious than a moment
earlier
. She reached into her purse and brought out a
disc dressed
in an amber case and handed it to Chloe.

“I-I
. . .
well
,
I was cleaning the room that Fredrick
. . .
Argyle
. . .
had stayed in
and
found this hidden under the heat register behind the door. All these months and I never noticed it. It was in an odd place, to be sure, but still. I should have seen it.”

Turning the disc
over in her hand, Chloe felt
uneasy
. “Okay mum.
Only
this could be anything, belong to anyone.”

Haley Rose shook her head. “See that label, the one that says
‘
HELP?
’ That’s his handw
riting.”

CHAPTER-36

Sophie circled the back of the rundown motel and started up the iron steps
bathed
in
dim
fluorescent light. The steps were bowed in the center and looked like they hadn’t been painted in a century
or longer. She didn’t know how the owners got away with such piss-poor maintenance. She could actually scratch her new shoes on this crap.

She reached the second floor, followed by Ben Garcia
,
and immediately banged on the first door. Waiting for an answer, she glanced up at Garcia and her eyes lingered a little longer on his handsome face than she had intended. The man had one of those mugs that got him into bed far
more
often than not and if anyone knew that
look, it was her. Plus, h
e was built like a brick shithouse.

“Something wrong,
A
gent?” he asked.

“Ah. No. Just wondering why you’re playing cop instead of dancing at the local strip club on women’s night.”

“How do you know I don’t?”

“Good point. Do you?”

“
Twice,
on a dare
.
Problem is,
the
c
aptain frown
s
on exposing his staff to the public like that. Get it? Exposing?”

She rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she had been attracted to this type. Dumb and shallow. They were good for one thing, however.

“Yeah, I got it.”

Sophie turned and knocked on the door again, then crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She’d volunteered for the canvas
s
ing duty
. Unfortunately,
it had slipped her mind just what a
pain in the ass
door-to-door
was.
Along with that
, she really couldn’t remember when a single word out of a “credible” witness had panned out.

Damn. I could use a drink.

“Ahh, Agent
.
I think
—
”

“Not now
,
Detective
,
W
e
have
to get this covered
,
and I don’t have time for any more small talk.”

“I understand, but you’re knocking on the maintenance door. I don’t think we’ll get anyone to answer at
eight
o’clock in the evening.”

“I know what I’m doing, smartass. Just stand back and learn.”

“Learn what?”