Murder Stalks (6 page)

The overwhelming grief from Kelsey’s death
was messing with his focus. The air felt thin, but he forced in a
deep breath. Had the paramedics shown up for this, Tony would have
gone out to beg for a hit of oxygen. He ran an unsteady hand down
his face, willing himself to focus.

“
Tony, you gonna be okay
for this?” At Rex’s voice, Tony opened his eyes. Staring into his
best friend’s face, he wondered if he could hold it together for
this investigation. Resolve stiffened his spine. He would do it for
Kelsey.

“
Yeah, I’ll be fine in a
moment. Anyone search the bed?”

“
I did. No hair, but we
found something else.”

“
What?” Tony clenched his
fists, bracing for the news.

“
A small scrap of
fabric.”

“
Let me have a look at
it.”

Rex took his time finding the plastic bag
containing the fabric. He held it up, looking at the cloth before
handing it off to Tony.

A thought pulled at the back of Tony’s mind.
Perhaps it was nothing. Had he seen that fabric before? He racked
his brain, searching for why that little half-inch square of fabric
was important. He pulled at his tie and swallowed. The memory of
his child dancing on the back porch flashed into his mind. A chill
traveled up his spine and he shivered.

“
Tony, what is
it?”

“
Nothing, it’s nothing.
Sekorski, have you rolled the victim over yet?” He was having a
difficult time thinking of Kelsey as the victim. Heart wrenching
anguish threatened to suffocate him. Gritting his teeth, he watched
the ME process Kelsey’s body.

“
No, I haven’t. Do you
want to be the first to look?”

“
Sure, I’ll
look.”

“
What’s this about?” Rex
asked. The edginess in his voice was filled with anger.

“
Last night, after
everyone had gone, Sekorski calls and tells me that the killer left
a calling card. He carved an ‘A’ on the victim’s rump.”

Tony bent low and shone his flashlight at
Kelsey’s backside. Grimacing, he held back a growl that threatened
to erupt.

“
It’s not an
‘A’.”

“
What do you mean?”
Sekorski questioned.

“
It’s an ‘S’.”

“
What do you think it
means?” Rex asked.

“
I don’t know,” Tony
replied calmly. No question in his mind now, the carved letter had
nothing to do with the victim’s name.

His bowels clenched, and he grabbed the wall
behind him. His lungs screamed for more air, but his body refused
to work properly. The room spun for a second, and he wondered if he
would pass out or could he hold it together long enough to get past
the feeling.

The fabric in Kelsey’s house, the blond hair
left at the Longfellow scene. Was it coincidence, or something
more? Ashley. His daughter’s name began with ‘AS’.

Blowing out a slow breath, Tony turned away
from Kelsey’s body. Could the killer be targeting him? Two years
had passed since Ashley’s death. He was crazy for even thinking it
could be something so sinister and crazy. His team would think he
had lost it if he revealed his line of thought. No, this wasn’t
something he could tell the others.

But what if it was all connected? It had
been the weekend before the fourth of July when he received a call
at work. The anguish in Marissa’s voice had been palpable. Their
sweet girl was dead. Nothing they could do.

A hard knot formed in the pit of his
stomach. Had Ashley’s death really been an accident or had there
been more to her death?

Chapter 6

The nights spent in agony beating himself up
for letting Ashley go on that camping trip came back to him. He’d
wanted to hunt down the mountain lion and kill it himself. During
the horrible weeks following Ashley’s death, the memory of his
parents’ death and the drowning death of his adoptive parents
stayed at the front of his mind. Was he cursed?

So many people had died around him. He
wanted retribution, even if it was from a mountain lion.
Eventually, he had agreed with the investigative team, Ashley’s
death had been an accident. Shit, what if they had been wrong?

The image of her body, half eaten by the
animal, played through his mind and tormented his thoughts. They
had been sure it was a simple case of nature being nature. The
hair, the cloth and now the two letters on the vic’s backs.

He pulled Rex to the side and told him of
his suspicions. The look on Rex’s face told him that he’d slipped
over the edge.

“
No way, man. Ashley’s
death was ruled an accident. There was no evidence of foul
play.”

“
You know as well as I do,
they never looked for foul play,” Tony said through gritted
teeth.

“
Two letters, it could
spell out anything.”

“
Two letters, a strand of
blond hair and a piece of blue cloth from Ashley’s favorite
dress.”

“
We’ll have the lab do an
analysis on the hair. Maybe they can determine if it was
Ashley’s.”

“
Was the follicle still
attached?”

“
I don’t remember, but
don’t start sweating it. We have two murder investigations to deal
with, don’t be pulling a third into the mix based on your feelings.
Let’s see if we can get some hard evidence first. Deal?”

Tony kept his eyes on Rex. Was he reading
too much into this? Letting out a deep sigh, Tony shook his head.
“You’re right Rex. It’s not enough. But anything more--”

“
Don’t beat yourself up
over this. Two murders, back to back, it’s the stress. Ashley died
when that mountain lion attacked her. You saw the marks on her
bones. Don’t go back there. You and Marissa have come too far to
let this drag you down.”

Tony’s gut twisted. He and Marissa had gone
too far. Any day now, she could file for divorce, and then it would
be over. Not much worse could happen.

Collecting evidence from the Ingles’ house
ate at Tony. Working a murder scene was difficult, but working the
scene of a friend was excruciating. The memories of Kelsey and
Danny together flooded back on him. He thought about a better time
in the early years when the couple had announced their engagement.
Ashley had just been born and Kelsey held her in her arms, looking
longingly at Danny. As far as he knew, they had still been trying
for a baby when she was killed.

God, life was unfair.

Tony didn’t think Kelsey’s or the Longfellow
murder had been random. Their suspect must have known Kelsey would
be home alone last night, just like he must have realized Angela
Longfellow would be alone.

Five hours later, the intense heat had built
to almost unbearable levels. Tony and his team had found only the
scrap of fabric in Kelsey’s bedroom. Once again, the killer proved
he was good at cleaning up a crime scene. There had been no trace
evidence left behind. The bastard had gone so far as to leave a
small black comb resting on the victim’s pubic hair, daring them to
search for evidence. Tony hated that Danny had found her that
way.

Needing a break, Tony had Rex drop him at
home so he could pick up his car and go to the beach. The soothing
sound of the waves calmed his mind. He thought about stripping down
to his skivvies and jumping in for a swim, but he was too old to be
swimming in his underwear. Tony longed for the days when only the
immediate gratification of doing whatever he wanted came first. Of
course, those times had been few and far between.

Tourists flitted over the beach. Tony
recognized a few locals. They had bought into the propaganda.
Juniper was the ideal place to live and raise a family. Hell, it
wasn’t propaganda, Juniper was damn near perfect. Crazy people made
the problems, not the town.

Tony drank in the heady scent of the salty
water. The gentle, low waves of the Gulf of Mexico stretched
towards the shore, drawing him to the magic of the sea. It was
soothing, unlike the harsh rolling waves of the Pacific. Taking off
his shoes and socks, he walked out onto the hot sand, enjoying the
feel of the heated grains against the bottom of his feet.

Memories of the past quenched his agitated
soul. This was the beach where he had asked Marissa to marry him.
Ten years of wedded bliss had begun not too far from this place in
a quaint little chapel up the road.

He needed Marissa.

Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket
and pressed the first number on speed dial.

“
Hello.” At the sweet
sound of her voice, Tony’s heart clenched with longing.

“
Hi, Marissa. It’s me,
Tony.”

“
What do you want?” Her
voice went from warm and gentle to cold as ice.

Tony shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of
his nose with his fingers. Why had he been such a jerk? “I just
wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“
Why, because you found
another dead body? Wait, don’t answer that.”

Tony hesitated before he asked the next
question. “Marissa, are your doors locked?”

“
I don’t live with you
anymore. I can take care of myself.”

“
I love you.” The words
escaped Tony’s lips before he could consider the consequences. But
damn it, he did love her.

The silence from the other end of the line
hung in the air, emitting a chill that cooled Tony’s expectations.
He shouldn’t have pushed. Worry thrummed through his veins as a
sheen of perspiration covered his forehead. Would saying those
three little words cause her to hang up? It was the truth. He ached
with love for her. He hadn’t been the best husband in the world.
The fact was that he’d been stupid. Putting work first after
Ashley’s death had drained the love from their marriage. He’d made
a huge mistake. If only he could go back and do it over again.

“
I have to go.” Marissa’s
voice was icy cold, her words sharp and stinging.

“
Marissa, wait,” Tony
begged.

“
What?”

“
Please be careful. I
don’t want anything to happen to you.”

She exhaled slowly. Tony waited, wanting to
hear her voice softened again, wanting to hear something other than
her anger.

“
Tony, I’m always careful.
All the doors are locked, and I was just going to close the
curtains.”

“
I want to see you,” Tony
pleaded.

“
Not today.” The anger was
back again, and a painful silence followed. “Tony, I know we need
to talk. How about next week?”

“
Before then,” he
pressed.

“
Don’t push it,” Marissa
warned.

“
How about dinner
tomorrow?”

“
Lunch,” she spit the word
out crisply.

“
Okay, lunch tomorrow at
Manny’s”

“
Goodbye.”

“
I love you,
Marissa.”

The line went dead and Tony blew out an
explosive breath. He would see her tomorrow. It wasn’t soon enough
for him, but he would wait patiently.

Kelsey's battered face popped into his mind.
Fear and anguish mixed, bringing his mood back down to earth. Tony
kicked at the sand. Oh God, he would have to tell Marissa about
Kelsey.

Again, Chief Randall wanted to withhold the
victim’s name for twenty-four hours. He didn’t want his first
meeting with Marissa marred with the news of the death of a beloved
friend, but telling her over the phone that Kelsey was gone would
be wrong.

The cold water lapped at Tony’s feet,
shocking his senses with the sudden change of temperature. Looking
around he saw the beach was filling with tourists picking the
perfect spot to spend the afternoon. Could their suspect be a
newcomer to the area? Maybe killings like this were happening
elsewhere in the country. Did psychopaths take vacations?

Tony moved out further to catch the ebb and
flow of the waves. This time, the cool water on his feet was salve
to his tired body. Out of habit he searched the crowd as he
strolled along the shore.

Was the killer here, on this beach, waiting
for another victim?

He shook his head. These murders were highly
premeditated. It was doubtful that such a clean killer would take a
chance on an unknown victim. This guy was watching his prey,
waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

A sea gull cried in the distance. Normally,
Tony thought the gulls sounded happy. Today, their call took on a
mournful note, matching the loss that pulled deep at his
emotions.

Closing his eyes, he imagined what Kelsey
must have suffered before she died. Why were there no forced entry
marks on any of the doors? No windows had been jimmied or knocked
out. It didn’t make sense. Had Kelsey let her murderer in, offered
him a drink, and maybe even allowed him to use the bathroom before
he attacked?

Tony stalked down the beach, ignoring the
people having fun. He wanted to be alone, to sail off into the Gulf
and never come back, but that wouldn’t solve anything. He wouldn’t
abandon his town, his work, or his wife.

****

Following the unmarked police car had been
easy. He watched as the detective kicked sand, ignoring his
surroundings. The jerk was probably pouting about the latest
problems on his beat. Sloppy, that’s what the great detective Tony
Santos was. He was getting careless and not watching his back.

He liked being this close to Tony. It was a
trip to park five slots down and hide in plain sight. This part was
the best. A predatory instinct pulsed through his veins. His lips
turned up into a smile. Tony made life too enjoyable. Too bad the
great Detective Santos wouldn’t figure it out until it was too
late.