Murder Stalks (3 page)

“
Shit,” Tony cursed.
Dismembering a body wasn’t unheard of in a murder case, but it
spoke volumes about the type of killer they were up
against.

“
Look at those bruises.”
Rex pointed to the victim’s upper body.

“
Which ones? The ones on
her ribs or those around her neck? Her legs are fairly beat up
too.” Tony swiped a hand down his face, pulling harshly at his
skin.

“
He burned her.” Rex’s
voice was tight.

“
You think that’s what
happened to her belly?” Tony asked.

Sekorski pointed to the marks. “It’s recent
damage. Doesn’t look like a cigarette, maybe a heated piece of
metal.”

Tony wanted to kick something, but didn’t.
Violence for violence’s sake had made him want to be a cop, but
every time he saw the result of violence, it ripped a piece of his
heart out. Before things went south in his marriage, it was a
little easier to work a murder scene, but since Marissa had walked
out, his life had been turned to hell. His wife blamed him, and she
was right. He had been wrong. Add that to the guilt over losing
Ashley, and he was fucked. He should have been there for his
daughter that weekend. Instead, he had spent the time at work.
Hell, he should have been there for Marissa too, but something
urgent was always happening.

This killer had damaged the victim and made
her into a thing, but Tony knew someone had loved this woman and
thought of her as precious.

He covered his mouth with his left hand,
stifling the curses that came to mind, while obscuring a bit of the
smell that emanated from the body on the floor. The gesture was
hopeless. Once the scent of death settled in his nostrils, he knew
only time would take it away, usually a long time.

****

The thick brown drapes blocked the bright
sunlight, but not the heat. Temperatures hovered in the
mid-nineties, and there was no hope of relief in sight. Sweat
beaded on his forehead and pooled under his arms.

Doctor Sekorski flipped off one of the
high-powered bulbs. “We’re not gonna get much. She’s clean.”

“
There has to be
something. Unless David Copperfield took up murder for his next
act, there has to be a fiber or hair shaft somewhere in this
apartment. Hell, in this heat, he would have dripped sweat on the
victim.” Tony shook his head, not wanting to believe that Sekorski
could be right. “How could this guy have done this so
cleanly?”

“
Once I get her back to
the lab I’ll have a better idea on the trace evidence. But
honestly, it doesn’t look good. Take a look at the rug.”

“
What about it? It’s tan,
cheap, probably the same stuff from when Marissa and I lived in
this complex.”

“
Those marks, see them?
Look more closely. Someone vacuumed recently. Then look here.”
Sekorski focused the other light on the victim’s legs. “Those
bruises, what do they look like to you?”

“
I don’t know.”

Sekorski pointed to a long bruise on the
vic’s upper right thigh. “That looks like a vacuum wand to me. I’ll
match it up once we get back to the lab.”

“
I’ll go search for a
vacuum.” Rex volunteered and left the bedroom.

Tony clenched his fists and bit his tongue.
He wouldn’t blow his anger on his team. It might spark a fire under
his colleagues, but experience taught him that kind of fire burned
up quickly in police officers. He wanted his team committed to
finding this killer, not committed to looking for a way to escape
his wrath. Finally he said, “Find something to work with. Do we
have a name yet?”

Chapter 3

Rex came back into the bedroom, a frown
furrowing his brow. “Why don’t these dudes do their killing in
December, when it’s cold? By the way, the vic is Angela Longfellow,
twenty-one. She’s got a different address on her driver’s license.
Found her purse in the closet, but no vacuum.”

“
Search for mail,
something with her name and this address. I want to know how long
she lived here. I want to know if she was enrolled in classes. Was
this her first or last semester. And I want to know if she was
planning on moving soon.”

Tony turned his attention to the double bed.
The covers were gone, only the white mattress pad was left behind.
He stepped closer, shining his high-powered flashlight onto the
surface. In the middle of the bed lay a long strand of blond hair,
almost indistinguishable on the white cloth. Tony stared at the
victim’s jet-black hair cropped close to her head. “Rex?”

“
Yeah, Tony.”

“
Someone collecting
evidence yet?”

“
I’m on it.”

“
Good, check this room
over. I’m taking a walk.”

The heat hit Tony first then the humidity
settled in on him. He walked around the building, careful to stay
on the sidewalk and not disturb any evidence. He could have stayed
in the vic’s apartment, but he needed air. It was something a
rookie would do, not a seasoned detective.

Hell, he needed a break. An image of he and
Marissa squeezed in the tiny box shower, like the one in the vic’s
place, flashed in his mind. It had been a magical time together,
before things got difficult and life happened. A year in the
apartment had been more than enough. They’d moved to a bigger
place, something with more shower room. Somehow, in that move, they
lost something.

A chill spread through Tony’s chest and down
the back of his neck. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He
paused, trying not to be obvious as he bent to tie his shoe. His
excuse to search the area was useless.

Nothing. That’s what he saw. There were no
cars with people ducking their head or flashes from light
reflecting off a camera lens. His muscles were coiled, ready to
spring, but there was nothing to go against. Tightness clawed at
his chest, bringing him to the realization that he was being overly
aware of his surroundings.

Reaching around, he slapped the back of his
neck. A bloody mosquito stuck to his palm. The tingle was from a
small, bothersome bug. Disgusted with his overactive imagination,
he slapped his hands together, wiping the insect and its blood
away. Moving quickly, he made his way back to the victim’s
apartment. No one was spying on him, only his mind working
overtime.

The activity in the victim’s apartment had
accelerated to one step below Hobby International. Janice snapped
more pictures, and Rex searched for evidence to collect so he could
fill his plastic pouches. The victim was still uncovered on the
floor, the blue and purple bruises marring her flesh were
highlighted by Janice’s flash as she snapped picture after
picture.

Tony pulled out his high-powered flashlight,
focusing it on the center of the bed. “Rex, you already collect the
blond hair on the bed?”

“
Snap, can’t believe I
missed that.” Rex pulled his tweezers from the pack and secured the
thin strand in an evidence bag.

Tony squinted, looking closely at the bed.
He moved the light across the surface, examining every inch again.
“Funny, one blond strand and no black.

“
Excuse me, Detective
Santos?” A fresh-faced young officer, dressed in a crisp blue
uniform stood just inside the apartment. His eyes darted to the
dead body on the floor. He took two steps back before
blanching.

“
I’m Detective
Santos.”

“
There’s a g-guy from a TV
station in Houston. He wants t-to talk to you,” the newcomer
stuttered, beads of sweat poured off his pale face.

Tony’s first instinct was to yell at the
kid, but he didn’t. He kept his voice even. “Did this reporter ask
for me by name?”

“
Well, n-no sir.” A deep
red blush settled over the officer’s washed-out complexion making
him look years younger and much sicker than he probably
was.

Rookies. Everybody was one in the beginning,
but why today? Trying his best not to scare the rookie, Tony calmly
said, “Ask him to stay behind the yellow tape. You have blocked the
area off with tape?”

“
Yes sir. Gerrig, I mean
Miss Gerrig—Officer Gerrig—checked it for me. She told me to tell
you about the reporter.”

“
Really? Well, would you
please tell the reporter to stay behind the yellow tape? As soon as
we set a time for the news conference he’ll be the first to know.
By the way, what’s your name?”

“
Officer Farris, Dickey
Farris. This is my first day out of the academy.”

Tony covered his smile. He waved his hand as
a dismissal. In the next twenty years that kid would see plenty of
murders, humanity at its lowest, but hopefully he would be able to
compartmentalize his feelings and keep them from exploding back
onto the world.

Tony rolled his shoulders, easing the
irritation building under his exterior. Sally knew better than to
send the rookie in here to ask about the reporter. Something would
have to be said, and that meant seeking her out. Tony didn’t look
forward to the task because it would interrupt his efforts to stay
away from the woman.

Rex pulled open another drawer, searching
its contents before shoving it closed. “The press is going to be
crawling all over this. With all the tourists being in town for the
Fourth, this will be prime news.”

“
Hopefully most of them
have left. And nothing about the body gets to the press.” Tony’s
voice was cold as steel. There would be no leaks to the press on
his watch. Letting the general population know that female coeds
were getting their hands hacked off and their bodies burned didn’t
help the police solve the crime. This woman’s death hadn’t been
pretty, and the press didn’t need the sick details.

Tony’s phone chirped. He looked at the
caller ID and rolled his eyes. He stifled a groan and could only
guess why the Chief of Police was calling him so early in the
investigation. Dirty work should be left to the detectives, not the
politicians.

Tony was almost glad ‘the big blowup’ with
Marissa had already occurred. There wasn’t time for a regular life
while working a murder case like this one. He would spend his time
at headquarters following up on leads and racking his brain trying
to figure out the evidence. Assuming the killer had left anything
other than the murder victim behind.

“
Sir, we have nothing so
far,” Tony said before the chief could question him.

“
I know that. Damn it, you
guys aren’t psychics. The press is all over this. Must have gotten
wind because of the holiday. I don’t want anyone talking to them.
Got it? No talking.” Chief Randall’s voice boomed over the
phone.

Tony fisted his free hand, resisting the
urge to grind his teeth. “No problem, no one will talk to the press
about any part of this case.”

Randall blew out a breath, and Tony could
hear the crinkling noise of paper shuffling on the other end of the
line. The chief had shifted focus. Relief pulsed through Tony, now
he would be left to work the case instead of playing games with the
politicians and reporters.

“
Santos, I don’t even want
this talked about within the department. Until we have a basic
profile built up, I don’t want the guys down in traffic, or anyone
else in the department to know what happened.” Randall’s voice had
lowered to a less threatening level.

“
Yes sir,” Tony replied,
not wanting Randall to hang-up with a negative image of the
encounter.

Gossip wormed its way through the ranks on
the force, making hush-hush whispers the norm in the locker room.
Tony could guess that by the end of the day all of the officers
would know about Angela Longfellow’s hands being sliced off, but he
would do his best to warn and threaten the hell out of everyone on
this case to keep their mouth shut.

Before Randall disconnected he cautioned,
“No name to the press either. I don’t care if they throw ten
amendments at us and threaten to go to a judge. Don’t give them
anything until we’ve sat on it for twenty-four hours.”

“
Any reason?”

“
Heck, yes. I have my
reasons and I’ll discuss them at our meeting. Have your team
assembled back at headquarters by four-thirty. Do you think you can
manage that?”

****

The hair on the back of Tony’s neck prickled
against his shirt collar. He clenched his fist and held his breath
to keep from blurting out what he really wanted to say. There was
enough stress in the department with the extra holiday traffic.
Vacationers, here for the beach, would learn of this murder. It was
bad for the tourist business. And Juniper, Texas was all about
attracting the tourist trade. Tony responded the only way he could,
“Yes sir.” He flipped his phone closed, popped his neck, and let
his eyes roam the room.

Tension draped every area of the apartment.
How soon would his team start to drag from the stress of this
murder? Tony’s heartbeat returned to normal. His first argument
with the chief about this case was over. He knew from experience
that murders brought out the worst in the chief. Now he needed to
do as much damage control as he could before Randall got antsy and
started going to the individual contributors of his team.

“
You know when I want the
reports, Sekorski?”

“
Yeah, I know. Give me
forty-eight.”

“
Forty-eight? Randall will
want them in twelve. How about we compromise and you get them in
twenty-four?”

“
Right,” the seasoned
medical examiner grumbled as he pulled off his rubber
gloves.