Loves Redemption (26 page)

around five. She was returning from a road trip with her son when she pulled over to the side of the road.”

As he spoke, Mark turned on the shower. He reached for Maya as she leaned against the

counter and loped his arms around her back. “We could talk and take a shower at the same time you know. Save time, not to mention water,” he suggested with hopeful eyes.

“Such an ecologist. I don’t think we have time for that sweetheart,” she laughed.

“Yeah you’re probably right,” he agreed and gave her a quick kiss before stepping inside

the shower.

He spoke over the sound of the robust spray. “The witness pulled up behind a small

compact car, and as her kid is finished with his business another woman comes out of the bushes looking ‘crazy’ according to Jordan. Jordan said the traveler noticed the woman had blood on her clothes along with some other details. It prompted her to call the police because of the murders.”

As he finished speaking and stepped out of the shower, Maya handed him a large towel to dry off.

“Thanks, baby,” he said taking the towel from her. “There’s more but Jordan gave me the

bare details. The techs called in a few minutes ago to report they’d discovered a fresh dug grave and a body. No positive ID on the body. A cruiser was sent to pick up the witness.”

Maya had donned a robe and as they left the bedroom to head toward the kitchen. She

was in the process of putting coffee on for him when he stopped her.

“None for me sweetheart. I’ll grab some at the station.” After strapping on his holster, he turned around to face her. “I’m not sure when we’ll be done with this. We’ll have to postpone the skating for a later date. I know that tears you up inside,” he teased.

“I’ll get over it,” she tossed back with a smile as she walked with him to the front door.

“As soon as this is all over I’ll be back home,” he promised after giving her a lingering

kiss good-bye, unaware he’d called Maya’s house, home.

“Okay. Call my cell, because I may go into the House for a few hours to catch up on

some work. Or you can come on back home, use this.” She reached inside her pocket to

withdraw a spare set of keys. With a smile she looked up into his face.

“I’ve been wanting to give you these for a while now, so here you go.”

Mark looked down at her small hand offering him something that held more meaning

than opening a door. Taking her hand, he held it within his, and kissed it before he accepted the keys.

“Thank you, Maya,” he said simply. “I’ll call as soon as I can.”

After he reluctantly kissed her good-bye Maya closed the door behind him and went into

her bedroom, wondering if it was the slayer who’d struck again.

* * * *

“What do we have, Jordan?” Mark headed to the coffeemaker as soon as he walked into

the bay. After taking a bracing swallow, he grimaced before taking another healthy gulp. “Who makes this crap?” he asked, shouldering off his jacket and hanging it on the back of his chair.

“Hell who knows?” Jordan gathered his scribbled notes together. “I’ve been waiting for

you before I went in to brief the lieutenant, so let’s roll.”

“Gentlemen let’s get started on the briefing so you can go out and survey the crime scene.

Jordan why don’t you brief us on the call and then you guys can leave,” Lieutenant Hernandez said as soon as they entered the office.

Jordan turned around, so he’d have eye contact with Mark and the lieutenant. “I came in

early this morning and at around seven thirty I received a phone call from a Veronica Wells. She and her son were driving home late, and she pulled over so he could use the bathroom. It was the early hours of the morning, still dark out, so Wells left her headlights on. As her son was finishing, a woman came stumbling out of the brush, and according to Ms. Wells it looked as though she’d just gotten out of a catfight. Wells grabbed her son and rushed back to her vehicle.

After she was inside, Ms. Wells tried to get the license plate number off the car but was able to only remember the first three digits. She’s willing to come in for further questioning if we need her,” Jordan finished.

“It looks like we’ll need her. Mark why don’t you and Special Agent Montgomery go out

and survey the scene and find out if it’s our Slayer. Jordan, instead of sending out a cruiser, why don’t you go out and talk to the woman personally,” Lieutenant Hernandez instructed as they filed out of his office.

As the lieutenant watched them leave, a pensive look settled on his face.

“Well,
Sesute
, it seems as though you have received another bouquet of flowers.” Dalia entered the kitchen where Maya was sampling one of Jorge’s baked wares.

She was taking a bite of the sugary confection, when Dalia walked in with the simple

bouquet in her hands. She placed the remains of the desert on the counter, and dusted her

fingertips against the side of her dress. “Is there a card?”

“Yes there is, I have left it in there for you to take out and read yourself. What is the

matter?” Dalia was clearly surprised at the cautiousness with which Maya approached the

flowers.

Placing the bouquet down, Maya lifted the card. After she’d read it, a puzzled look settled across her face.

“What is it,
Sesute
?” Dalia demanded, and without another word took the plain white card and read it out loud, “
You will not be bothered by that cretin again beautiful lady.
’ No signature. What does this mean, Maya? Who is this from?”

“Dalia who delivered the flowers?”

“The new intern brought them into the office. I did not ask him who delivered them. Do

you wish for me to go and find him and ask?”

“I’ll ask him myself. Where is he?” Maya didn’t wait for an answer. She searched for the

intern and found him in the staff lounge reading from one of the psychology periodicals on the table.

At her approach, James glanced up in surprise before a pleasant smile crossed his face.

“Well hello Dr. Richardson! I didn’t know you were here.” He immediately rose.

“Please sit down. James, Dalia brought me a bouquet of flowers you accepted delivery

for. Could you tell me who the company was that delivered the flowers?”

“No, ma’am, I didn’t notice anything. The deliveryman didn’t have on a uniform or

anything, and I didn’t get a look at his truck, so I’m not sure which florist company he was with.

I’m sorry. They sure looked lovely. Don’t you like them?” His wistful expression was close to reproachful.

“Oh yes of course. They’re very beautiful. I wanted to thank whoever sent them to me,

but the note was unsigned,” she told him diplomatically. “Thank you, James. And by the way, you’ve been doing a wonderful job, how’s everything going for you? I believe we’re scheduled to have our one-on- one this Tuesday?”

“Yes we’re scheduled for this Tuesday. And everything is wonderful. The residents and

the staff are simply divine. It’s already turning out to be just what I expected. Everyone is so helpful, particularly you Dr. Richardson.” His eyes lit as he complimented her.

“Anytime you need anything, you know where to find me, James. I’m going back to my

office. As I said, if you need anything, James, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Of course, thank you so much, Dr. Richardson.”

* * * *

Mark and Nicolai had barely arrived at the crime scene, when Alicia Somers, along with

her cameraman came barreling in their direction. “Oh hell, this is just what I need now.”

Nicolai caught at the odd nuance in Mark’s voice, as the determined reporter walked to

the taped off barrier, boldly lifting it to duck her head underneath. He walked away from Mark and the approaching reporter to observe from a distance.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Alicia? Get back or I’ll have your ass arrested

for interfering in a police investigation.”

Ducking back under the tape, the woman looked at him with beguiling eyes. “Come on,

Mark, tell me what’s going on. Is it another slayer victim?” She asked with a near gleeful voice.

“What the hell is wrong with you? And how did you find out about this so soon?”

“I received an anonymous tip from a passerby that the police were congregating here. It’s

a free country you know, Mark. I have a right to be here if I want to. Can’t you tell me

anything?” She pleaded.

“Look, I don’t know anything myself so there’s nothing I can tell you. Except stay out of

the way or I’ll have you and your cameraman behind bars.” He told her and stalked away.

“Old friend?” Nicolai asked in his scratchy voice as soon as he caught up with him.

“Something like that,” Mark answered. Although there was no way the agent could have

heard his exchange with Alicia, he must have picked up on their mutual animosity from his body language. “Let’s go.” They walked toward the chief who stood next to the excavated grave.

“Have you had a chance to look it over yet, Davis?” Mark asked, after introducing Agent

Montgomery.

“Briefly. I wanted to wait for you before I continued. Has the same MO as our gal’s

others with the exception of one thing.” All three men kneeled down to examine the body. “The victim’s car wasn’t at the scene.”

They went over the entry and exit bullet wounds before carefully turning the naked body

over. The evidence was obvious that the victim had been sodomized.

Carefully, they turned the lifeless body, face up. Mark noticed although Montgomery had

donned the surgical gloves, he’d refrained from touching the body. As they stood, he made eye contact with the agent before turning to the tech.

“Davis I have a few questions I’d like to ask the officers who discovered the scene, could

you go with me?” Mark turned in the opposite direction of the dug out grave, and the victim that lay near it, leading the techs away and giving the agent time to be alone.

As he spoke with the technician and the other uniform officers, Mark told them to finish

the scene and walked back toward his vehicle. He was surprised to see Montgomery open the

passenger side minutes later. “That was quick. So?”

“So what?”

“Did you learn anything?” Mark barely bit back his annoyance with the agent’s non-

answers.

“Do you mean anything more than what we observed together?”

When he only looked at him, saying nothing, Nicolai relented, “I thank you for whatever

it was you thought you were doing to help me. But I could not,
observe
the scene, as I normally would, with others around. I usually do this alone. But I do thank you for your intent, Detective.”

Mark swore he heard silent laughter in the austere agent’s voice, but as he looked at him, his expression was as bland as usual.

“Okay. Whatever the hell that means. Do you want to come back when the scene is less

populated with cops?” As they were leaving the scene, Mark noticed Alicia Somers had finally packed up her camera and left, no doubt frustrated with his refusal to give her any information.

After a few moments of silence Nicolai turned in his seat to face Mark. “Detective

Halstan, I know you’re curious about what I do and I appreciate your silence on what must seem to you to be extremely odd behavior. I would also like to request you do not notify anyone that I’m observing the scenes alone. It would make my job easier all around if no one knew of this.

Including your partner as well as the lieutenant.”

Mark agreed to keep silent on the matter although he didn’t understand the request or the

reasons behind it.

* * * *

“What d’ya find out, partner?” Jordan asked Mark as soon as he and Agent Montgomery

entered the squad room.

“Same M.O. We’ll know for sure after we get the forensic report. Did you get to

interview the witness?” Mark asked as he took a seat at his desk. Looking up he noticed

Montgomery leaning against LeDoux’s desk. “LeDoux’s out for the day, feel free.” He motioned for him to use his chair.

“I’m fine thank you, Detective,” the agent said quietly and in Mark’s opinion predictably.

“Ms. Wells stated that at around 3 a.m. she pulled over to let her son get out to pee after he’d woken up. Right after the kid finishes up with his business, Ms. Wells is putting him back in the car when a woman comes ‘falling’ out of the bushes,” Jordan included Montgomery in his brief.

“The woman’s clothes are ripped and it appeared as though she had blood smeared on her

face but Ms. Wells wasn’t too sure about that. However, what drew her attention more than

anything else, were the clothes she was holding bundled in her hands. She says she definitely saw blood on them. Her headlights picked it up pretty clearly. Wells was afraid because the woman looked at her, and she said the look in her eyes was friggin’ nuts. She ran back to her vehicle with her son and locked her door before starting her engine. The woman got into her vehicle also and took off in a hurry.”

“Damn. Did she get a good description of the woman?” Mark asked in sudden

excitement.

“Unfortunately the description was pretty generic. Slightly taller than average, estimated

her height to be around five 8 or 9. Dark brown shoulder length hair. Dark colored eyes. She couldn’t get a clear description of her features despite her headlights. That was it.”

“The height is consistent with what we already know from forensics’ projection of the

bullets, and the size of the foot impressions they’ve gathered,” Mark interjected.

“The hair too. We’ve already deduced our slayer
is more than likely wearing a wig. The fibers we’ve found in the victims abandoned cars indicate that. She said the woman appeared to have dark eyes but she couldn’t say for sure what color. What she did see, was a small blue compact and she got the first three digits which helps us identify the county.”