Tainted Mind (12 page)

“Karen, it's Vivi.”

“Vivi,” Karen's voice warmed. “Good to hear from you. What did Nick do now?”

“I'm sitting here with the Deputy Chief of Police of Windsor, New York, and we have a case Nick is interested in. I wanted to verify his story.” Vivi gave her friend the rundown of what Nick had told her. When she was done, Karen spoke.

“It's the truth. But not all of it. Jessica Akers has been his white whale for the past three years. Nick was the one who interviewed her. He wanted to put her in protective custody, given the information she'd brought us. She declined and then she disappeared. It wasn't
our case, NYPD was handling it, and we were moving ahead on the case against her father. Our focus was elsewhere.”

“But he's never been able to forgive himself, has he,” Vivi commented.

“You know Nick,” Karen commented.

And despite everything, she did. “Thanks, Karen.”

“Are you going to work with him?”

“Work with him? No,” Vivi answered. “But we will keep him updated. We all know what it's like to be haunted. Despite what a cad he can be, no one deserves that.”

They hung up and Ian sat back. “Who was that?” he asked.

Vivi smiled. “Nick's partner. She likes me.”

He laughed for a moment then sobered. “So, do you think her father had anything to do with it now?”

“It's always possible,” she answered. The ibuprofen and ice had kicked in so Vivi was a bit more comfortable putting weight on her ankle. She gathered up their dinner plates and took them to the sink. Glancing around, Vivi noticed that Ian didn't have a dishwasher, so she stacked the dishes and began running the hot water.

“But?” he said, coming up beside her with their glasses.

“I can see a man cornered the way her father probably was, or feeling cornered the way he was, lashing out and killing no problem. But I don't see him killing her in the way I think she was killed.” She washed and rinsed a plate, then handed it to Ian.

“Meaning?” Ian pressed, taking the wet plate from her and wiping it dry with a white dish towel.

“He's a pedophile. Of course that doesn't mean he can't or doesn't commit other crimes, but being a pedophile isn't the same thing as chaining up an adult woman and killing her. Two very different psychologies at work.”

“But not always mutually exclusive?” he commented, drying dishes and putting them away as they came to him.

“I haven't seen it, but that's not to say it couldn't, or doesn't, exist. But like I said, a pedophile is more likely to kill an adult out of rage or impulse or fear. Jessica's death involved thought, planning, and execution.”

“What if he wanted to torture her for turning him in?”

“Possible, but unlikely. Torture probably isn't something that interests him,” she said washing the last of the dishes.

“Sex with young girls isn't torture?”

“It's torture for them, I'm sure. But not in his mind.” She handed him the last plate, then turned to find a towel to dry her hands.

“You said you thought there was a sexual component to Jessica's murder. Would that fit with her father? What if he was abusing her?” Ian asked, gesturing with his head to another dish towel hanging on the oven door.

“He probably did, when she was younger. But that's the thing. If there was a sexual component to Jessica's murder, and we don't have any physical evidence of that, then it's even more unlikely that her father would be involved. His sexual satisfaction comes from young girls. Once they reach a certain age, they aren't interesting to him in that way. He might not even be able to perform well, if at all, with an adult woman.” Vivi folded and rehung the dish towel, then leaned against the kitchen counter, as Ian put the last of the dishes away.

“But what if it's about the power, and it's the power that, well, for lack of a better word, does it for him?” Ian crossed his arms over his chest as he rested against the counter opposite her.

“It's always about power. But it's hard for me to see a pedophile being interested in holding the kind of power that whoever killed Jessica held over her. Again, I'm not saying it's not possible…” Her voice trailed off.

“But you think it isn't likely,” Ian finished.

“Keep an open mind, but I would be surprised,” she said.

“Shit,” Ian said, running a hand through his hair.

Vivi concurred.

“So, in all likelihood, we're back to the serial killer theory?” he asked.

“I am,” she said reaching for her cell. “But you should be more thorough. Come to think of it, Nick might handle that part of the investigation for us if you want him to.”

“What part?” Ian asked.

Vivi walked toward the back door but paused in front of Ian to answer. “He'll want to prove her father was involved once I tell him what we know. We can let him follow that trail while we continue looking at the connections between Jessica and Rebecca.”

“You think you're sending him off on a wild goose chase, don't you?” Ian asked as one side of his mouth tilted up into a half grin.

“I like to think of it more along the lines of giving him an excuse to exorcise a demon.”

“And we'll stick together?”

She nodded.

Ian grinned fully. “Then it sounds like a plan.”

C
HAPTER
9

AT NINE O'CLOCK THE NEXT MORNING,
Ian, Vivi, and Wyatt stood at the front door of the house where Rebecca Cole stayed while in Windsor. Ian had sent two other officers, Carly Drummond, a tall, fit woman with blonde curly hair and vivid hazel eyes, and Marcus Brown, an even taller man with broad shoulders and light brown eyes that contrasted with the dark color of his military-short hair, to stand perimeter. No one expected anyone to go jumping out windows or bolting out the back door, but as protocol and caution dictated, they weren't going to take any chances.

No one answered when Ian knocked and announced their presence. Wyatt debated with Marcus, who was visible from where they stood, about breaking down the locked door, but Vivi lifted a flowerpot and found a key. Holding it up, she handed it to Ian.

“The first lesson of the day: never make things more complicated than they already are,” Vivi chided. It was, in fact, a lesson, and she knew it would be the first of many that day. While she had little doubt the three younger deputies were good cops, all of them were new to this. From what she could tell, they were more interested in learning and doing the right thing than in trying to prove themselves in an area where they were so obviously out of their depth, and for that she was grateful. So, they took her announcement with good humor while Ian unlocked the front door.

Vivi, Ian, and Wyatt stood to the side, lingering on the threshold for a moment as the door swung open revealing a center hall staircase to the left and a hall to the right. When no one came barreling out and no weapons were discharged, Ian, who held his service weapon,
and Vivi, who'd brought hers along too, entered the house in the choreographed movement of a team who had cleared a building or two in their time. Leaving Wyatt to stand guard at the door and the stairs, they systematically went through the rooms before meeting up again in the center hall. Certain the house was clear, Ian called in the other officers, and when they were all assembled, Vivi proposed her plan.

“Why don't Carly, Wyatt, and I take the upstairs, and you and Marcus can take the downstairs? We'll photograph everything first and then start documenting and collecting?” she suggested. Ian was new to this, too—evidence collection. But she trusted his cautious nature and skills of observation to lead him. He nodded and she handed out the equipment—gloves and booties for everyone. In addition to her own evidence collection kit, she carried a camera. Ian held both the department's kit and camera. All three of the other officers were several years younger than Vivi—she would peg Marcus as the oldest of the three and Wyatt as the youngest—but they looked intelligent and alert and, more importantly, clearly and comfortably under Ian's command.

“Ready, folks?” Vivi asked with a nod to Carly and Wyatt, who both nodded back. “Good, follow me, stay to the outside, and keep your eyes open as we photograph. It's unlikely we're going to find a smoking gun here, but we may find something useful, so look for anything that might look out of place. Don't touch smooth surfaces until we know there aren't prints on them, and if you see something, don't waste any time wondering if it
is
something. Once we start collecting evidence, just document it, collect it, bag it, and tag it.” Everyone nodded again and they went to work.

Four hours later, they had several boxes full of evidence and, at least for Vivi, not a lot of hope they were going to find anything useful. While the deputies seemed excited about random hairs and fingerprints, she had enough experience to know that if the person responsible for Rebecca's disappearance ever set foot in the house he would have been too smart to leave any evidence of it. No, to her the most exciting thing was not the hair, but a small spot of oil in the garage. It looked like, at some point, there had been a second car in the garage. Judging from the spatter, something taller than Rebecca's own Subaru. But then again, even that could be nothing. It was possible
that the owner had a truck he drove up on occasion. But to be on the safe side, they had photographed, documented, and collected a sample. It sat in box number two, waiting to be dropped at the lab in Albany.

Vivi watched as Carly and Marcus drove away, headed back to the police station. Wyatt had the afternoon off, so he departed for home.

“Want to come to Albany with me?” Ian asked from behind her. She turned and considered, then shook her head.

“Yes, but I won't. Sam needs some time alone with the evidence. He knows his team and his equipment. I'll let him do his job without me standing over his shoulder like I did when he was my student.”

“He may want your help.”

“And he'll get it tomorrow, if he wants it.”

Ian studied her face for a moment then gave a short nod. “I'll take you back to The Tavern then, before I head up to the lab to drop everything off.”

They climbed into the Jeep and headed back into town. “So, what will you do this afternoon?” he asked.

“I have some research I want to do on the case, some people to call. Then I have to make some calls.”

“Anything I should know about?”

“I'm going to log into the similar crimes database and also the VICAP, the FBI violent crimes database, and the missing persons database, to see if anything comes up. I'm also going to call Nick.”

“You didn't call him last night?”

Vivi shook her head. “No, call me petty but I wanted to make him sweat a little, and then we were a bit busy this morning. I'll fill him in now though.”

They pulled up to The Tavern and Ian put the Jeep in park. “Is there anything more we should be doing? It feels like we should be doing something.”

Vivi turned and held his gaze. His face was expressionless, but she could hear the frustration in his voice. “Unfortunately, all is not like what we see on television. In real life things move slower, especially on cases like this where so much time has passed.”

“It's only been a few weeks since Rebecca Cole disappeared,” he pointed out.

“And without a body, she's still just another missing adult who could have run off to the Bahamas with the love of her life,” she countered. “Unless we find something in the evidence we collected today, we don't have much to go on.”

“Or until we have a body, Rebecca's or someone else's.”

“Hopefully, Rebecca's alive,” Vivi commented, not wanting to think about yet another woman being involved. Even though she suspected that between now and when they caught the killer, if they caught the killer, there would be more than a few more bodies. “Dogs,” she said, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

“Pardon me?” he asked, turning in his seat to look at her.

“Dogs. If you want to do something, and you have access to search and rescue dogs, or cadaver dogs, maybe you could get them out to the house.”

Ian considered the suggestion then frowned. “Won't it be too late? We know it's been a few weeks since she was in the house. Wouldn't any trail left outside be gone by now?”

Vivi lifted her shoulders. “No, you don't want sniffing dogs. Those trails do go cold after several days, but dogs trained to air scent can come in sometimes weeks later. And the scents associated with decomposition can be identified by cadaver dogs for years. But what will have an impact is getting the dogs in the right area to catch any scent. We don't know where she went missing from, but if you start with either air scent search and rescue dogs or cadaver dogs, we might get an idea of whether or not she was in the house or died there. It's not common to find dogs who do both, but since we don't know if she's alive or dead at this point, if you had access to one who can sniff out both, it might be worth a try.”

“And it might give us something. I'll make a few calls while I drive to Albany and see what I can pull together. Dinner?”

“Sounds good. Meet back here at seven?” she answered, before thinking or even considering how easy her response came.

“Seven it is. Call me if you find anything.”

“You too.” She gave Ian one last look and had the sudden urge to lean over and give him a kiss goodbye. Startled by her instinct, Vivi opened her door, climbed out of the car, and quickly shut the door behind her. After a sharp wave goodbye, she turned and went inside.

Rob was at the bar when she entered. He held up a glass, asking her if she wanted a drink before heading up. Vivi shook her head but approached the bar and ordered a salad instead.

When it was ready, she headed upstairs to her room, and after plopping herself, her computer, and her lunch on the bed, she propped her ankle up and called Nick.

“You can be vindictive, can't you?” he answered.

“Yes, but that's not why it's taken me eighteen hours to call you back. We had to collect some evidence this morning. I was busy.”

“Evidence relating to Jessica Akers?”

“No. We have another missing woman.” Vivi went on to tell him about Rebecca Cole.