Ruthless (12 page)

Harper caught up with her. “I’ll put in a call to Dr. Baron.”

Jess had to clear her mind yet again.
Deep breath.
“Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

When Harper had rejoined the techs, Jess stretched her neck and took a couple more good, deep breaths. “Okay.” She braced for the fuss her sister would no doubt launch. “Let’s get this part over with,” she grumbled.

In the house Lily and Blake were questioning Lori. Jess wasn’t surprised. Knowing Lori, she had managed to get her questions in first in spite of these two.

“You’re not giving my detective a hard time, are you?” Jess asked, hoping to lift the mood just a little. Her sister had enough to deal with trying to find some answers to the medical issues plaguing her. She didn’t need to worry about Jess and some crazed killer on top of the mountain already in front of her.

“Is it another of those little girls?” Lil demanded. “Your detective won’t tell us.”

“We won’t be able to confirm that until we officially identify the… remains.”

Lily’s hands went over her mouth. She shook her head and a new wave of tears bloomed on her lashes. Blake draped his arm around her shoulders and tried to comfort her. Jess fought the need to cry herself. She wasn’t doing those little girls one bit of good getting all emotional like this.

“I’ll be outside,” Lori offered.

“Thanks.” Jess waited until Lori had gone out through the kitchen door. The front porch was a crime scene, there would be no using that door until sometime tomorrow.

“Why is he sending these to you?” Lil’s lips trembled.

Jess steeled herself against her own emotions and
hugged her sister hard. “I don’t know. But I’m going to do all I can to find him and stop him.”

“It’s not fair,” Lil murmured. “You already have one freak taunting you.”

A pathetic excuse for a laugh rumbled out of Jess. “I guess I have a target painted on my forehead that only the freaks can see.”

Lil drew back and searched Jess’s eyes, tears still slipping from her own. “I don’t like this, Jess. What if he gets lucky and somehow gets close enough to hurt you?”

Jess hugged her sister again. “That won’t be lucky, sweetie.” She drew back to look Lil in the eyes once more. “That’ll be the last thing he ever does.”

Lil required a few more minutes of persuasion before she relented and allowed Jess to leave so she could do her job.

They agreed on one point—the situation provided a tangible reason to be thankful both Lil’s kids were away at college. Jess was most grateful her sister didn’t seem to hold that against her. So far, her homecoming had disrupted the lives of everyone close to her.

“Way to go, Jess.”

Outside, Burnett waited for her. He looked as weary and troubled as she felt. Who wouldn’t be? They only had about eighteen more to go. Her entire being ached at the thought. The need to collapse in Dan’s arms was so strong she had to look away from him to hold herself back.

Having the killer continue to make deliveries to her wasn’t half as worrisome as the idea that he could start to eye replacements.

“Where’s Black?” she asked. He’d been talking to Dan when Jess went inside to reassure her sister.

“He’ll meet us at the coroner’s office.”

“We should get over there. There’s nothing else I can do here.” Except fall apart for the viewing pleasure of all those watching, maybe including the evil being who did this.

Dan nodded, but there was more on his mind. He looked so worried. She ached to just close out all those prying eyes and go to him.

Do your job, Jess.
“We can talk on the way,” she suggested. If he was going to blow up and lay down the law again about how she should be in hiding, she didn’t want that to happen here with all those reporters buzzing around on the street. Fact was, she was barely hanging onto her composure here.

He nodded again.

As they moved toward his SUV, the reporters clamored for statements and Dan gave them all they were going to get for now: “No comment.”

Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, Thursday, August 19, 2:29 a.m.

D
an stared at the tiny bones arranged on the coroner’s table and his chest ached. What kind of evil preyed upon little children like this? Humans made mistakes. But this was no error—no spontaneous event that was later regretted. No. This bastard repeated his heinous deed over and over. Year after year.

“How long will it take you to make the official identification?” Jess asked. “I’m not trying to rush you, Dr. Baron, but as soon as this news hits the street those parents are going to want to know which one of them this child belongs to.”

If the bastard who’d done this stuck to his previous MO, the remains would prove to be Emma James. Jesus Christ. Dan had to look away a moment.

“I uploaded the dental records of the other victims to our database after the first set of remains found their
way to you,” Sylvia Baron explained. “I wanted to be prepared… just in case.” She nodded to the computer screen on the credenza and then rested her attention on Jess—waiting, Dan suspected, for a thank-you.

Jess didn’t disappoint her. “I appreciate your hard work. I’m certain the families will, as well, even if saying so isn’t on their minds just now.”

When she didn’t get on with it, Dan prompted, “You want a drum roll, too?”

Sylvia shot him a glare. “Emma James. The little girl in the photo.”

“She went missing the year before Dorie.”

“That’s right,” Dan said in answer to Jess’s observation. She looked so tired. He hated that some sick fuck was doing this to her. “He’s taunting us with a trip down memory lane.”

“The delivery was made personally this time,” Jess said quietly, as if she were thinking aloud. Her voice was thin, anguished. No one wanted to investigate cases like this, but these children deserved the best on their side.

“He may have paid someone to make the delivery for him,” Dan countered. Walking up to Lily’s door when she was home was taking a risk. Then again, at that time of night most were distracted by television or preparing for bed.

Jess shook her head. “He wouldn’t share any part of this with anyone else. I’m certain he made the delivery himself. His every step is careful, methodical.”

Dan laughed, a painful sound even to his own ears. “And he wants to share his accomplishments with you.” How the hell was he supposed to protect her until they found this bastard?

“We will find him, Dan,” Jess said as if she’d read his mind. “He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s helping us along.”

Dan held up his hands. Couldn’t say what was on his mind in front of Sylvia. The associate medical examiner knew too much about him and his relationship with Jess already. She didn’t need to know he was out of his mind with worry. Hell, he hadn’t slept at all last night. From the looks of her, Jess hadn’t, either.

“I have to tell you, Harris,” Sylvia said, as she folded her arms over her chest and pointed an accusing look at Jess, “you certainly know how to keep life interesting. In all my years in this office, I have never had so many back-to-back—how shall I put this—completely bizarre cases. You should have your own reality series.”

Jess forged a quick smile. “I’ve made it my mission in life to make sure you’re never bored again, Doctor.”

“What’re your preliminary conclusions on the remains?” Dan decided this might be a good time to draw the conversation back to the case. He was relatively certain Jess was not in the mood for pithy remarks. He definitely wasn’t.

Sylvia took his pointed question in stride. “No visible fractures or damage.” As she spoke she studied what she had to work with on the table. “I’ll do what I can, but there’s really nothing left to give us any firm answers. There are other tests that take time which might give us something, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

“I guess we’ll know what happened when I catch him,” Jess announced. She turned to Dan. “I thought Chief Black was meeting us here.”

“He’s here,” Sylvia answered before Dan could. “He got a call just before you arrived. He’s using my office.”

“I’ll give him an update and find out what’s happened now.” Dan headed for the exit before Jess could decide to tag along. He needed a few minutes alone with Black. What he really needed was some distance to get his emotions in check.

The long white corridor was deserted. Dan hated the smell and the total absence of color. If he had the time he’d step outside for some air. It was driving him crazy to have Jess trapped in the crosshairs of two damned killers. She refused to listen to reason. She wanted to work. He had tried every way under the sun to dissuade her but that wasn’t happening.

Harold Black exited Sylvia’s office just as Dan reached the door.

“It’s Emma James. Sylvia just confirmed.”

Harold exhaled a weary breath. “I suspected that would be the case. What is this monster doing?”

“Whatever it is, I don’t think he’s anywhere near finished.”

“He has at least eighteen more victims,” Harold agreed. “Enough to make a delivery about every other night until the harvest moon.”

“I’m just praying he doesn’t do any shopping.” How the hell were they supposed to find him in the next month when dozens of cops hadn’t been able to in the last thirty years? Dan wanted to kick something.

“I hope we’ll be so lucky.” Harold scrubbed his hand across his face. “On top of that, we have a development in the Allen investigation. I got a call from Detective Roark. With this”—Harold gestured toward the room Dan had just left—“and the Spears case, I put Roark as lead on Allen’s disappearance.”

They could use a break in that case as well. The idea that one of his cops may have been in bed with the very criminal element he was tasked to investigate was tough to swallow. Yet that was one of the avenues that had to be investigated. Jess’s clash with Allen and Lopez complicated matters. Certain circumstantial evidence indicated Allen had a grudge against Jess and had attempted to act on it. Whatever he’d been up to, finding him was the first step in getting some answers.

“A jogger found Allen’s cell phone this afternoon. Called the contact listed as ‘wife.’ ”

Dan perked up. This could turn into a solid lead. “Anything on the phone salvageable?”

“We don’t know about that yet, but Roark has delivered it to Vernon at the lab.”

If there was anything to be found on the device, Ricky Vernon would find it. “This could be the break we need.”

Harold nodded. “It could be. You’re right.”

The other man’s inability to maintain eye contact warned there was more. “But…,” Dan prompted.

“The troubling part is where they found the damned thing, Dan.”

Dan’s spine went rigid. “Where the hell did they find it?”

Harold frowned. “Was today trash pickup day in your neighborhood?”

What was he getting at? Dan was too damned tired for beating around the bush. “As a matter of fact, it was—what about it?” And then he knew. As if the thought had slammed into his brain like a bullet… he understood what his friend was getting at.

“Your trash can was overturned, some of the contents
scattered over the end of your driveway and into the street.” He managed a dim smile. “You know how sanitation workers are, they aren’t picking up what falls out. So, this jogger spotted the phone. There was blood, Dan. The lab has already confirmed it’s a match to Allen’s blood type. We’ll know more in a day or two.”

In other words they’d had this phone for hours. Harold had known it was found in front of Dan’s house but he hadn’t bothered to tell him until now. The urge to laugh came hard and fast. Instead, he held up a hand to stop whatever Harold had to say next. “Just let me know when Vernon gives you something.”

Harold nodded. “Will do.” He scrubbed at his jaw. “If you don’t object, I’d prefer to notify the James family personally. I worked this case when that little girl went missing. I know these people.”

“Of course. You should take care of that.”

“I hate to wake anyone at this ungodly hour,” Harold confessed with a sigh, “but I don’t want them hearing this any other way.”

Every one of those families would be watching and waiting for more developments. They had the right to know as soon as humanly possible. The anguish on the faces of those who had showed up at his office would haunt Dan for the rest of his life.