Don't Touch (21 page)

Paul pulled a bag out of the closet. Ryan
looked through it for a minute then found what she wanted. A tube
of Peachberry lipstick. She sat in the chair in the corner of the
small ER patient cubical. The mirror wasn’t there so she pulled a
mirror from her purse.

Jack ran over and grabbed her wrist. “Don’t
baby, don’t poison yourself.”

“It’s alright. I don’t think that there is
enough in just the lipstick to make a difference. I bet it’s mixed
into the box of test product he uses to do their make up. I’ll be
okay. Just move the trash can closer, nausea is what hit me first
last time.”

Paul was the one to move the trash can. Ryan
opened her compact and envisioned Lindsey’s face reflecting back at
her. Then she opened the tube and the image became Lindsey. The
hospital room fell away and became the run down mobile home.

Black pressed the tube and hand mirror into
her hands. She put them down on the table and he became infuriated.
Again he put them back in her hands and pulled out the knife.
Shaking Lindsey opened the tube and put on the color. He told her
to purse her lips. She did. He was under the impression she was
under control, to frightened and drugged to think.

He was wrong as soon as he turned his back on
her Lindsey picked up a skillet from the stove and summoned the
strength she needed to slam it against the side of his head. When
he crumpled to the floor she made for the door. All around was
forest not seeing a clear path and too scared to care she ran into
the cover of the trees.

Ryan felt Jackson’s hands on her face. “Hey,
come back to me, Ryan.”

With a shake of her head her vision cleared
and she realized she was lying on the floor. “What happened?”

Paul made her stay down until he checked her
out. “You just slipped out of the chair and blacked out on us.”

Jackson picked up the lipstick and dropped it
back into the bag with the other stuff. “I hope it was worth the
heart attack you gave us.”

“I saw the outside of the trailer and the
forest in front of it. The place is smack in the middle of the
forest. When she ran into the woods, there was a small trail that
had brush sticking out into it. There was a lake off to the side.
It’s not near the bombing range. I can’t say how I know that but
it’s not.”

Paul and Jack helped her to her feet and back
into the chair. She was trembling. Jack knelt and hugged her. “It’s
alright, its over. Lindsey did get away and she’s going to be
okay.”

Ryan didn’t know why she was shaking or why
she was gripped by fear only that she was done for today. Sensing
her upset Jack handed the bag to Tom. “Can you take this in? I want
to take her home.”

Taking the bag with concerned glance toward
Ryan he nodded. “Get her home and I’ll call if anything else comes
up.”

Thanking him and Dr. Torrence they went out
into the waiting area stopping long enough to tell Lindsey’s
brother it was time for him to go back.

The feeling of foreboding didn’t leave her
until she was inside her house and the door was locked behind her.
Since she was still shaking Jackson made her settle on the couch
while he made her some tea. While the kettle was heating he went
back to sit with her.

“What’s wrong?”

She shrugged and pulled off her gloves. “I
don’t know I just feel like something is missing.”

Before Jack could respond her phone rang.
“Ryan, Barney Flak. We’ve been given the go ahead to release your
sister’s body. I know you have a lot on your plate right now. I can
make arrangements for us to hold her until you’re ready. I’m sure
Kessler would go for it.”

Nearly choking on the surge of emotions
bubbling up she took a deep breath and swallowed. “No, I’ll take
care of it. I’ll have whoever I call deal with you if that’s
okay.”

“You know it is. If you need anything don’t
be stubborn, pick up the phone and call. I’ll let you know when
she’s picked up.”

“Thanks Barn.”

Hanging up she pulled the phone book and
started calling funeral homes. There would be no service. If
Amber’s little social circle wanted a funeral they could hold their
own.

It only took thirty minutes to make all the
arrangements but she felt like it had taken hours. Ryan couldn’t
keep her eyes open a second longer.

Jackson was busy on the computer searching
for Gerard Black so she leaned back in the recliner and dozed
off.

Hearing her settle in the living room Jack
called Tom. “Hey, you get back that background check on Black yet.
We should have had it three days ago.”

Tom leaned back in his desk chair. “I know.
I’ve been getting the run around about backups with all the new
requirements for checks now. I tried to explain that I didn’t care
about a guy who
maybe
was a terrorist I know this guy is a
serial killer.”

“I tried for an internet search but there is
nothing there. And no more e-mails. I hate to say it but we could
pay one of those private companies to do it”

Tapping his pen on the desk Tom sighed. “They
would leak information to the press. Wait a minute what about
Jared, you remember him leaving the department to go solo. He
stayed in Lake County. I’ll give him a call then call you
back.”

Jackson decided to give it a rest and wait
for Tom to call. He opened a desk drawer and snooped through it. He
knew she would know the second he touched something, that’s what
made it fun.

Inside he found a book of body graphs, sticky
notes in a rainbow assortment. Laughing out loud when he found a
stomach shaped stress ball. Picking up a box of business cards he
heard Ryan call his name out in panic from the other room.

Chapter 19

“Babe, I’m here.” As soon as he walked in she
jumped out of the chair and into his arms.

“I remember. When Black touched me at the
flea market I remember what I saw. He was going to take me home. I
saw a vanity and pictures of a woman. They weren’t regular pictures
they were posed like portraits, she was a model I think.”

The light bulb went off Jack sat her down on
the couch and sat on the coffee table looking her in the eye. “I
know it scared you but I really need you to think about one of
those pictures. Was it a photograph or did it seem like an ad from
a magazine or newspaper?”

Ryan took one of his hands for comfort. “I’m
not sure. They were mostly black and white but I don’t know about
any lettering or what kind of paper they were on.”

“That’s okay it’s something. This might be
the connection we need.” Kissing her forehead he went back to the
computer entering a new search for Palace Cosmetics models. “Do you
recognize anything that we can use to date the woman in the
pictures? Style of clothing or hair?”

“Her hair was seventies, in that half upswept
look. It was dark. I think I could pick her out if I saw her
again.”

A list of models from the late seventies came
up. They went through the long list until Jackson saw a newspaper
article listed on the search page. “What have we here?”

It was a lovely dark haired woman in her late
twenties. The article stated that she was the victim of Palace
Cosmetics secret ring. “The reason they went out of business wasn’t
because they failed or lost out to the bigger companies. The dogs
were using their models for porn mags and a lot of these girls were
under age.”

He scanned down the long article at the
bottom were a few black and white photographs of the young girls.
He started to scroll down further when one image caught Ryan’s eye.
“Wait, go back up. There the fourth one over, that’s her that is
the one. I’m sure of it.”

She rubbed her arms as the hair stood on end.
They found a name, Georgia Black. Bookmarking that page Jack
started a new search for Georgia Black. Nothing.

The newspaper the article came from wasn’t in
existence either. So he called Tom and had him do a case search.
Sure enough her name came up. She had been stabbed to death by one
of the photographers.

The photos showed her wearing a hoodie
jacket, tee, and jeans. The only belongings recovered had been a
peachberry lipstick and a pocket mirror from her pocket.

Tom printed the file to take it to Heinz.
“Too young to be his mother or even wife. Sister maybe?”

“Then why is he killing other women if his
sister was a victim of the crime.” Jackson stood up from the
computer and started to pace. This was just getting more
frustrating.

Ryan turned pale then flipped back through
her personal e-mail. Her sister had sent her a message saying she
was going to try and audition for a new modeling agency in town.
Ryan remembered cautioning her to check them out before she went
down there. But she didn’t get the job she wanted and just took in
some shots. “We need to see if any of the other girls were here. At
the King’s Modeling Agency.”

Jackson made the call and all but three had
sent in headshots or a portfolio. “I hate to say it but that still
doesn’t glue them all together. The victims had nothing to do with
King’s. There has to be another connection to them.”

Going into the station Heinz set them up in
the conference room with phones to call all the victims’ families
and question them about Palace Cosmetics. After the first four
conversations it all started falling into place. “All the girls had
a parent that worked for Palace Cosmetics.”

Ryan pulled off her left glove and started to
pull at the fingers. A new nervous habit. “That’s what made me a
target at Markets of Marion. I mentioned my mom selling it. Idle
chatter to pass the time and make nice with the person behind the
counter.”

Heinz sat on the edge of the table glancing
through the call list. “What does making nice get you a
discount?”

She smiled. “Better, free stuff. Last time I
went shopping I complimented the woman’s jewelry then bought a ten
dollar box of eye shadow. Walked out of the store with about forty
dollars worth of free samples. I haven’t paid more than twenty
bucks for my full regime of make up in years.”

Now his own wife’s actions in the mall made
more sense Heinz still shook his head at the whole ordeal. “He’s
not been sighted any where in the Lake or Marion county areas. We
may have driven him underground. Need to find that trailer.”

Ryan agreed and there was one thing left to
touch. When she turned to suggest it Jackson was already shaking
his head and waving his hands. “No, you are not going to handle the
murder weapon. I don’t want you any closer to this than you
are.”

Her eyes narrowed as she set to argue. “I
slept with you not asked you to be my dad. If it takes us to him we
have to try.”

Heinz looked from one to the other then
shrugged. “I agree with your boyfriend. All you may be able to pick
up is the killing. That would be the strongest event to be left
behind. Barbara has had experience with such things and I won’t let
her do it either. Trust me you don’t want to be stuck inside a
killer’s mind, that’s too much to ask of anyone.”

The desk clerk opened the door and ushered
the brother of Lindsey Bower in. Jackson stood and shook the man’s
hand. “Mr. Bower. How’s Lindsey doing?”

He nodded and smiled a good indication of the
news. “She has nightmares but other than that she’s fine. I’m here
because this was given to us when we checked her out.” He pulled
out a ring of two keys. “These aren’t hers. She thought they might
have belonged to the man who tried to take her. I hope this
helps.”

Jackson motioned for him to set the keys on
the table. “It does help any clue no matter how big or small. Can
she remember anything else about where she ran from?”

“No all she remembered was trees and weeds.
It all looks the same clumped together in the forest.” Tom walked
with Bower back out to the parking lot.

For a few minutes they all stared at the keys
silently debating on the possibilities. Heinz was the one to
finally break the silence. “Well what are you waiting for? It’s a
score better than the murder weapon if the keys do belong to
Black.”

With a deep breath she pulled off a glove and
scooped up the keys. “They’re his house keys.” She saw the door of
the run down trailer. He opened the door and drug something in. No,
someone in. It was Lindsey.

Quickly Ryan pushed herself out of his vision
and looked on from the corner of the room. He carelessly flopped
Lindsey onto the kitchen floor.

The tiles were dirty and stained. Like the
morgue floor from spilling so much blood on it, the once white
flooring had now taken on that same rusty tinge. Black went to the
other room with Ryan following his steps. Out of a bag he pulled
the jeans, hoodie and tee.

He had three bags full of them, thrift store
bags. The girl was starting to rouse a bit. He patted her roughly
on the face. She screamed realizing she was no longer in the
park.

Shaking her roughly he demanded that she
change her clothes. Lindsey pushed them away and he tore her shirt
down the front to make his point. Either she changed or he would
change her. Ryan did not want to see this. She wanted to see the
girl run.