Don't Touch (20 page)

After walking almost the entire area they
went back to the newest victim to call it in. “Detective Jackson
Prince, I have another victim at the Altoona cemetery on Demko
Road. Yeah it’s all the way at the end of the road. Thanks.”

He knelt down with Ryan careful not to touch
anything until the crime scene unit got there. The girl looked
younger and her hands were a bloody mess. She had obviously fought
back hard. Dialing again Jackson shook his head. He should have
tried to search for the grave earlier. But then again he would
still only have the location of the drop and the girl would still
be dead.

“Lord.” The voice on the other side of the
phone was awake.

“Tom, you know where Demko Road is?”

“I’ll find it. We got another one?”

“Yeah, sorry about your date.”

“No you’re not, your enjoying the idea of
interrupting my evening. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Silvia
lives in Umatilla so it won’t be long.”

It wasn’t Thomas arrived a good forty minutes
before the crime scene techs or uniformed officers. The coroner
probably wouldn’t show up for another three hours. The first thing
he saw was the girls up turned hand. “You were a fighter
sweetheart. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough.”

Stepping back he examined the couple before
him. “Why do I get the feeling my evening wasn’t the only one
ruined?” When no one answered him not that he expected them too. He
continued. “How did you find her?”

Jack handed him the print out of the
gravestone. “He contacted me again. I e-mailed him back asking what
the picture meant. He replied that I was the detective I should
detect. Ryan was the one who was able to find a way to track this
place down.”

Thomas handed the picture back. “You are
becoming a handy lady to have around. Not to mention you’re better
to look at than he is everyday.”

Ryan smiled in spite of the chill that filled
her since they found the girl. “Thanks. What does Silvia think of
you working with a woman these days?”

He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.
“You have any nice single girlfriends that won’t freak out when you
get called in on a case? Sweet Silvia grew fangs tonight. She gave
me the old if you walk out that door don’t bother to come back
line.”

Ryan gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I’m
sorry.”

He shrugged, “Don’t be, it lasted a lot
longer than I thought it would. She was fun but it wasn’t serious.
So since I’m single again has Jack completely stolen your heart or
is there still room? I am the better dresser, I tend to comb my
hair and iron my clothes before going out. I eat with a fork
too.”

It seemed wrong to be joking over the dead
girl. She never would have tolerated such behavior in the autopsy
room. Still standing there as the sun started peeking over the
trees and Tom wiggling his eyebrows something snapped. Ryan started
to laugh until tears rolled down her cheeks and her side felt like
it was going to split.

Surprisingly the coroner was the first one to
show up. They got out of the van and walked over. The closer they
got the more confused one of the men looked. “Dr. Reign? You
okay?”

Wiping her face she nodded. “I’m fine Brad
good to see you.” Brad nodded in return then spoke with the
detectives before returning to the van until they were ready for
him to take the body.

As Jack headed up the arriving techs Tom sat
on the bench next to Ryan. “Your friend from the morgue said he
didn’t know you could smile much less laugh. I think you made him
nervous.”

Elbowing him then waving at Brad she grinned.
“He probably thinks I’m nuts like the rest of them.”

Shaking his head Tom put an arm around her
shoulder. “You went off the deep end honey when you started working
with us. So what’s going on between you two? There is something
different in the air around you.”

With a glance back at the working team and a
shrug Ryan wondered if they were doing the right thing. “Not sure I
can answer that.”

“Humph…. I can. You are in love with him and
Jack is head

over heels for you. I’ve never seen him this
at ease. He’s a good cop but it all gets to him. He takes his job
personally and that’s what gets him in trouble. Around you he’s not
as wound up. Just promise me when he breaks your heart you’ll call
me.”

Jack hollered and waved them over. Ryan gave
Tom’s arm a quick squeeze. “I’ll keep you in mind when I’m on the
rebound.”

Play time was over as they approached the
girl. Jack put his hands in his pockets to keep from touching Ryan.
He wanted to kiss her cheek and brush the hair from her eyes. “You
feel up to this? We don’t have to do this now.”

“Yeah we do. If it wasn’t for contaminating
any of the evidence I would have done it earlier. But I wanted it
all documented before I messed with it. She deserves that much, to
have any signs that she gives us help keep Black behind bars.”

Without further discussion she sat in the dew
damp grass and reached out. This time she touched the girl holding
one of her torn hands. The blood was still wet aided by the dew but
it was sticky and thick now. Ryan had learned to ignore those
things along time ago. Taking a deep breath she emptied everything
but the feeling of the hand in hers.

Chapter 18

She felt sick stumbling through the woods.
The girl had escaped Black as he pulled her from the truck. The
girl, her name was Lynn, Lynn ran trying to fight the effects the
drugs were having on her body. She felt heavy and her heart was
pounding. Lynn tripped her leg tangled in a vine. Biting her lip to
keep from crying out as the barbs dug into her flesh.

Once untangled she tried to get up and
continue her run but she could not get her feet underneath her. On
her hands and knees Lynn crawled to a clearing. Her vision was
starting to blur making it hard to see what was out in the sun away
from the trees.

It would be easier for him to spot her but
there was no way she could make it through the trees. Staying in a
straight line, she tried to crawl her hands digging into the earth
and pulling herself forward.

“Look around, Lynn, look around the clearing.
Tell me where you are.” Ryan whispered begging the girl to help
her. Pushing herself away from Lynn, Ryan was able to get a quick
glimpse of the area before the girl collapsed into
unconsciousness.

Maybe she was too connected to Lynn but Ryan
fainted as the girls hand slipped from hers. In a moment her lids
fluttered open to Jack patting her face. “I’m okay.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. You need to take
a couple of days off. I never should have let you do this now.” The
concern in his voice and the look in his eyes warmed her to her
toes.

“I’m a big girl. If I didn’t think I could do
it I wouldn’t have done it. I think it was just the effects of
being drugged myself then being in her head. She got away from him.
If she hadn’t been dosed out of her mind I think she could have
made it out. There was a clearing. I only got a quick flash of it
before she went out. I don’t even know if it was valid or her
vision gone askew affecting me. A huge clearing but it was weird,
there were marks like scorching on the ground. Bits of metal
scattered around but it was in the middle of the forest.”

Jack thought about it for a minute. “We need
to make some calls to Pinecastle Navel Base.”

Tom frowned. “The naval base, you think he’s
out there?”

“It sounds like the bombing range. I had
permission to search there one time for a fugitive but it took a
while to get it. So we need to make the call, they’ll probably want
to be on the search teams.”

The trio left together to see if the Forestry
Service could be of any assistance to the cause. They agreed to
help search the perimeter of the bombing range. John, a ranger who
had been in this area for years headed up the team. “There will be
a lot of wildlife out there. They seem to know that area is off
limits and they’ll be safe.”

Ryan wasn’t to be talked out of the hike
either. “There may be something I recognize from the visions.”

They searched until the edge of dark. Jackson
leaned on the tailgate of the forestry truck. “We’ll have to go
back out tomorrow. Maybe by then we’ll have word from the base to
it the range as well.”

Ryan dumped the sand from her shoes. “I can’t
believe how much everything looks the same when you get that deep
in. No wonder people get lost out there.”

One of the rangers walked over. “They want
you to head guys to head out. Your cells are not working out
here.”

Once back on the highway Tom made the call
back to dispatch. “We need to go to the hospital. They have a
possible victim in the emergency room. Your Dr. Torrence called it
in, the blood work tested positive for GHB.”

Jackson stepped on the gas. When they arrived
the woman had been identified and her brother was pacing the
waiting room. “Mr. Bower?”

“Is Lindsey going to make it?”

“I’m Detective Prince; I haven’t spoken to
your sister’s doctor yet. As soon as we know something I’ll make
sure you are informed. Can you tell me about Lindsey?”

The man sank into a chair worry, etched in
his features. “Some guy on a four wheeler found her in on a trail
in the woods. He said she was stumbling around in the brush. She
used his cell phone to call me. Linds was so out of it, like she
was drunk. She was dressed different too.”

Jackson glanced at Ryan and Tom as he tilted
his head. “Dressed differently how, Mr. Bower?”

“When she left the house this morning she was
wearing a denim skirt and a blue sweater. When they wheeled her
passed me she had on jeans and a green hooded jacket. Linds doesn’t
even own a hoodie, she hates those things.”

Giving the man a moment to pull it together
Jackson asked Ryan to get him a cup of coffee. Once she returned
and pressed the cup into his hands Mr. Bower had calmed. “Do you
know what Lindsey’s plans were for today? Was she going with
friends or on a date?”

Shaking his head as a tear escaped Mr. Bower
sighed. “Her boyfriend is a soldier, he was sent to Iraq a couple
of months ago for a second tour. Last night she said something
about going to the shops in Mt. Dora then the mall. I don’t know
how far she made it though.”

Dr. Torrence came out and sat beside the
distraught man. “Lindsey is pretty out of it right now. I think
she’ll recover with out any affects from the drug. Mr. Bower, I’m
going to take the detectives back first then I will send a nurse
out for you. We’ll keep her at least over night. Alright?”

The man nodded and Paul motioned for them to
follow him back. Once behind the swinging doors he shook his head.
“She was a lucky young woman. We removed everything carefully and
bagged it for you. Since she was out of it and he said she had on
different clothing we did a sexual assault kit. I had it rushed so
as soon as I get the results I’ll fax them too you.”

Ryan stopped at the end of the girl’s bed.
She looked so pale and fragile. Lindsey Bower could be the lead
they needed but she wasn’t able to speak to them and may not be
able to once she wakes up. “Why are we back here Paul?”

He sighed then leaned on the wall as he
glanced at the bed. “I don’t think she’ll be able to help you when
she wakes up. One of the biggest side affects of GHB is memory
loss. I thought you could do your thing and have a chance at
getting this monster. “

Ryan looked at him confused then realized
Jack must have had to explain the gloves and why she couldn’t be
touched. Without worrying about it she walked over and looked down
at Lindsey Bower, sole survivor of Gerard Blake serial killer.
Taking off her right glove Ryan rested her hand on the girl’s
shoulder.

It was as if her body needed to tell what
happened to it. The images slammed into Ryan and she quickly backed
off. Paul moved from the wall as Jackson and Tom stepped closer.
She waved them off. “It’s okay just a lot at once. Let me see if I
can sort it out.”

Trying again she tried to force the images
into a form she could understand. Then suddenly they just hovered
like she could pick what she wanted to see. “Lindsey, show me where
he picked you up.”

The vision went back to what had been become
the norm. Ryan was looking through Lindsey’s eyes. She was walking
through the park on her way to the bookstore. There were always a
few booths of artists or musicians set up around the park in Mt.
Dora. Today she saw a man giving away free samples of make up to
women. Not one to miss out on a bargain she headed over.

It was hard to watch having experienced the
killers charm and attentions personally. As she started to feel ill
Black offered to help her to the restrooms. Behind the port-a-johns
Gerard had parked his truck. It was a red midsize not new.

He helped her into the passenger side of the
truck. Lindsey was pretty much out of it at that point not able to
fight him. The whole thing seemed like a dream. He left for a time
then came back and the engine roared to life. Then nothing.

Ryan wasn’t satisfied with that she was going
to find out more. “Where are her things or what she had when she
was brought in?”