Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) (77 page)

Now you can’t quit, since you have a vested interest.

That had her attention. It made her think back to the altercation between herself and Lowry. “I told the police chief that I was quitting. I only said it in front of her, Ethan and Callen.”

Cyra saw her path. “You need to call her and ask her who she told!”

Callen shrugged. “Yeah, but they could have told people, who told people, who… The whole town could have been gossiping.”

Elizabeth thought about it.
“I think that she would tell her inner sanctum and they would keep it quiet. I mean look at me. I tell things to Ethan, Callen and you too, Chris. You’ve kept secrets for me without me asking, why?”

“Because we’re friends and that’s some unspoken code,”
Chris replied. “You think that she told her friends and it stopped there?”

“I can hope, because we need
to pinpoint a suspect right now, and it’s the best I have other than they have access to those two buildings.”

Elizabeth began dialing and placed it on speaker.

“I didn't know if you were going to check in or not today, Director,” stated Chief Lowry. “You seem to have gone MIA, and I was looking for you.”

Everyone in the room looked around.

“Yeah, I’m buried in paperwork, but something has been brought to my attention. Remember that day, when I stated I was quitting?”

“Yes, vividly.”

“Who did you tell?” she asked. “I need to know.”

The woman didn't answer at first. “I don’t know. I may have just inadvertently mentioned it.”

Elizabeth stared at her watch. She didn't have time for this bullshit. “If you don’t remember and spill it to me ASAP, I’m sashaying my ass down to your commissioner’s office and telling him you’re shacking up with your subordinates.”

The woman gasped. “I thought you said…”

“Shut it and tell me who you told.”

The woman thought about it. “I was having lunch in the cafeteria
with a bunch of people and I made a joke about it getting too hard and the FBI was running for it.”

And there it was.

“Who was there?”

“It was Greg Marsh, Larry Murphy, Clifford my assistant and the ME. That’s all. I didn't say you were leaving, I stated the FBI was breaking camp out of frustration. Why?”

She threatened the woman. “We never had this conversation, or I’m going to kick your ass so long and hard you’re not going to be able to even day dream about sitting down. Am I clear?”

The woman wasn’t happy. “Fine.”

Elizabeth hung up the phone. “Our killer got wind of me quitting and took that as his sign to up the ante. We have to be right. He took Ethan because he believed that he would likely figure out who the killer was first, and to have me stay.”

“Yeah
, he screwed up.”

Elizabeth walked to the map. “We have the people to start eliminating an
d now we have the map. I don’t believe it’s going to be coincidental or random either. Let’s figure out what it all means.”

It was time to get to work
.

Monday Evening

He hadn’t seen him all day, but now
Ethan could feel himself sliding along the ground. Only, it wasn’t his skin touching the grass. Somehow, there was a barrier. Slowly, he opened his eyes as he fought to figure out what was real and imaginary.

For the last few hours
, he was slipping in and out of consciousness and dreaming about his grandfather and mother. He needed to focus now. Taking in his surroundings, he could smell the wood. Horror filled him, as he realized the killer had indeed built him a coffin, and now he was in it.

As his heart pounded in his chest, he knew he was one step closer to the grave, literally. When the box came to a stop, he tried to
peek through the cracks. He could see him, looking around the open area. When he must have spotted it, he once again began dragging the box across the grass.

Ethan
took in his confined space as barely any light was getting through. It had to be Halloween night. His mind was foggy from the blood loss, no sleep, and lack of water, but he knew that he’d taken him yesterday and promised Elizabeth’s death tonight.

Suddenly, he realized something important. His arms were no longer tied with the rope. Using his teeth, he started to rip his way through the thick layer
of tape around his wrists. If he could get them free, then he could release his feet next. The man was in for a surprise when he opened the box. Ethan would be ready.

Chewing like a madman, he finally made one line down his wrists. As quietly as possible, he tried to pull his wrists free.
His raw, ripped open skin bled as he pulled it away from the duct tape, but it didn't matter. Getting free was his top priority.

Next, he gauged how much space was in the box. The killer made it more of a square space. If this was coffin size, he’d be screwed. He wouldn’t be able to move into a position to get any leverage, but because of its shape, it offered him opportunity.

Once more
, the box came to a stop. Ethan ran his fingers around the corners, trying to ascertain the construction. He was very good at building things, and there were certain woods that would be impossible to damage. He rolled to his side, ignoring the pain, to stick his nose in the corner of the box where there were cuts to the wood. As soon as he smelled it, his hope soared.

It was pine.

Running his hands over the corners, he tried to feel for any air. That would be the location he would focus his attention on. It meant that it would was thinner and the nails weren’t as deep.

Hope was building. In a box this size, buried under dirt, he’d have ninety minutes of air to stay alive. Ethan began watching the man digging the hole.

The killer was clueless and was setting him up to escape. Now, all he could hope was he wouldn’t be buried too deep.

~
Chapter Twenty ~

They sat on the floor, all th
eir notes in front of them. It was time to start eliminating suspects. Once they had that done, they could work on the location next. Time was ticking, but as long as Elizabeth kept calm, she knew that they would be alright.

Or at least she prayed that was the case.

“Okay, we know that the killer works during the day. The five victims were all taken during cover of night. Plus, we have Ethan’s profile stating that he’s blue collar to professional.”

Cyra picked a name. “Let’s start with Officer Murphy. He received
the first note.”

Elizabeth mulled that over. “The killer is familiar with all the schedules, so it has to be an insider. He knew the cop
’s routines, and that again confirms Ethan’s profile. The killer stalks his prey, even the ones that he’s not killing.”

Callen thought about it. “That could mean h
e’s laid back and quiet. Look at Ethan. In a way, he’s like that, only his targets are the bad guys. When he’s in a room, yes you notice him at first, but he melts into the background to watch and silently observe.”

“Good point, Callen.”

“We never confirmed his work schedule,” Cyra stated.

Callen objected. “Yeah, we did. We had coffee and donuts with the man
and he told us he mostly worked nights. That’s how he met the first victim. He was ticketing her.”

Elizabeth looked over at him. “
Good catch, Cal,” she said, trying to smile. In her heart, she was still fighting the fear that from this day forward they’d be on this path alone.

He knew what she was thinking, and when he brushed a curl back
from her cheek, a sob slipped free from her lips. That one intimate act was something that Ethan always did and it caused the pain to push back up.

“
Angel,” he whispered, realizing what he’d done.

“
It’s okay. I’m sorry,” she said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to focus. “I think we can eliminate him and not only because of his work schedule, but let’s all revisit the morgue scene.”

They all thought about it.

“When he heard stomach contents and watched you stir them up, he tossed his cookies. How was he going to carve up these women? I don’t buy that it’s him.”

Cyra had to agree.
“What if this is part of the killer changing the methodology too? He doesn’t think we’d ever believe that Murphy could pull off this kind of deal, so he picks a cop we might think could do it.”

The
all stared at her. She’d just dropped something none of them had thought about.

“What? I was a cop before this gig. I’m really not a newbie,” she added laughing.

Elizabeth drew a line through his name on the paper she’d written them all on. “I’m with you, Cyra, and that brings us to our next person. What if the killer knew that giving the rest of the notes to Greg Marsh would make us point the finger at him?”

Callen completely could see that. “Here we have a cop getting
all the notes and of course we would think that he’s got his hand in this somehow.”

“Yeah, look at his work schedule,” Elizabeth stated. “He works days and spends his nights with Lowry.”

“Which the killer would know, if he was a stalker. He would have followed the people he wanted to frame to learn their schedules.”

She agreed. “By knowing them, he could commit a better crime.”

Callen added, “Since Lowry and Marsh were really quiet about it, he assumed that we would waste our time and focus on him.”

She agreed there too.

“
Are we buying the police chief’s alibi?” Chris asked. “What if she’s lying and it is him?”

“At this point, we have no choice but to accept it. If we eliminate everyone, then we may need to revisit this.”

Callen wanted to know. “What
does your gut say?”

She thought about it a
nd drew a line through his name. “While I believe the chief is a pompous asshole, I don’t think she’d bullshit us when it came to an alibi. Gena Lowry may lie to cover for her job, but she’s not going to jail if she gets caught sleeping with an officer. If she lies for him and he’s the killer, I’m taking her down too.”

Callen didn't look so convinced.

“Spill it Cal. I need you to play devil’s advocate here for me. Normally, that’s Ethan’s job.”

He thought about it. “The only thing that makes me wary is that he went to the same
gym. That’s the only way we can tie the victims to the man.”

She understood. “But, it’s also the ONLY gym. That may be coincidence.”

He looked at it from that perspective. “Okay, I think I can agree to cross him off.”

Chris picked the next person on the list
. “How about my counterpart, Doctor Patrick Parrish?”

Elizabeth thought about it. “You tell me. You worked beside him. Did he work at night?”

Contemplating it, he thought back to the nights before the women were found. “Yes and no. Last night he was still there when we walked out. I can’t tell you how late he stayed.”

Cyra continued, “
He did miss the necklace.”

She thought about it. “But did he miss it or was he just incompetent? He had a woman with her throat slit and wanted to release her. Maybe
, he is just an idiot.”

Chris worked with him and had to agree with that. “I didn't think he was a moron, but he’s not FBI material.
The man likes to take shortcuts. Even when I talked to him about the techniques I learned in school, he was more concerned with why I used them. When he didn't think it was necessary, he discarded the need to learn.”

“
We don’t really have much more on him,” she stated. “Is he incompetent or is he a killer.”

“He was privy to all our
conversations and information,” Chris threw out there.

Elizabeth was aware. “Yeah, as was the chief of police and anyone that read the papers we filed with her office.
I handed over official reports through this whole assignment.”

“That brings us to the last
name on the list. “Clifford Bean. He would have seen everything we sent over and know all the details we put out there. Plus, he was the keeper of the kingdom. He was responsible for the keys to the rooms.”

“He worked during the
day,” Chris added.

Elizabeth thought about it. “Yeah, I saw text books on his desk. Big fat thick
ones and that screamed college. Run him through the federal loan database. Let’s see if he’s a college student on top of Lowry’s pet paper filer.”