The Perfect Prey (35 page)

“He’s a nice fella. Kinda lean, dark hair, real athletic looking. He bought a pretty big lot of the tabs. I don’t know why.”

Stallings looked as if he was about to be sick to his stomach. He stared at Patty and said the name on the computer out loud. “Larry, the bartender at the Wildside.”

Suddenly it all made sense.

Stallings shook his head and said, “The fucking bartender had access to all the spring breakers he wanted. Larry knew the slang for spring breakers from Daytona and Panama City. He knew how to avoid the video in the Wildside, and that’s why Allie Marsh was seen with everyone except him.” Then he muttered, “Oh my God.” “What is it, John?”

“Gary Lauer killed himself and he really didn’t have anything to do with Allie Marsh.” Stallings looked like he might vomit.

Patty said, “It was a choice he made and it didn’t have anything to do with our investigation. Don’t drive yourself crazy over Gary Lauer.”

“Should I drive myself crazy over talking to a killer and never realizing it?”

She was already thinking of the fastest way to find Larry Kinard.

It was early for a bar like the Wildside, but Larry Kinard was already done with his half shift. The manager was trying an afternoon happy hour bash that had started at four o’clock. Larry came in the late afternoon to help set up and now, before the place started kicking for the night, he was all ready to head back to his apartment and grab some sleep.

As he wiped down his end of the bar, he was about to turn his duties over to the new, young female bartender when he heard someone call his name from the hightop table a few feet away. He was shocked to see Ann standing there with a plastic bag in her hands.

“I know you must be mad. I was all messed up from a week of partying. I thought you might want your clothes back.” She held up a plastic bag. “I have your car keys too.”

He stared at her, setting the rag down to the side. Although she looked beautiful with her blond hair hanging loose around her shoulders, he still wanted to stab her in the throat with something sharp. He didn’t say anything.

Ann said, “What could I do to make this up to you? I am so sorry I left you stranded with no clothes.”

“So am I.”

She stepped closer, setting the bag on the table.

He could smell her scent. She was back to being prey. He quickly scanned the rest of the bar to see if anyone noticed her speaking to him.

Ann said, “Do you have any more X?”

“I have some back at my apartment.”

“When do you get off?” She gave him a sly smile as if she was in charge in setting the agenda.

“I could take you over there right now. Where’s your car?”

“I parked my friend’s car down the street at the public lot. In case you weren’t here, I was going to look for you at one of the other nearby clubs.”

He smiled, knowing what a perfect opportunity this was. “I’ll meet you out front in a couple of minutes.” He nodded as she smiled and turned away. This was gonna be sweet.

Ann was not happy about approaching him and giving his clothes back, but all she really needed was a few more hits of X to get through the break and back to school. Besides, now that she had some time to think about it, she realized he was just roughhousing and had an inflated view of himself like any guy. The only thing that threw her for a loop was when he said he had some of the tabs back at his apartment. She hadn’t really planned to go anywhere private with him. The club, even though it wasn’t crowded, had plenty of people around, and she felt safer there.

She had a choice to make. Was getting some more X that important? It didn’t take her long to realize it was. She’d already had sex with the guy–what else could happen?

Yvonne Zuni was feeling the pressures of command as she scrambled to get help for both Tony Mazzetti and John Stallings, as their cases seemed to come to a head at the same time. She had sent Stallings and Patty to the Wildside to find Larry Kinard. She and another detective were still with Jason Ferrell.

Now she had Tony Mazzetti on the phone. He’d developed a good suspect who had confessed to the shooting. She was surprised it turned out to be one of the residents of the house. She asked Tony, “You found both of the guns?”

“She pointed out where she had buried two guns. I’d risk my entire career the ballistics will match those guns to the shooting. Plus there was about thirty-five thousand dollars in cash stuffed in Ziploc bags.”

“What other resources do you need over there?”

“Crime scene is here now processing the guns and checking out the rest of the yard. Christina and I are going to book this girl on first-degree murder. The media is gonna go crazy as soon as they hear about it. I’m gonna need to get home and change before I talk to the reporters.”

“Why are you going to talk to the media?”

“Because that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few years in homicide.”

“If they need a comment they can call the lieutenant. That’s her job. We’ve got a lot going on right now, and I might need you on Stallings’s case.” She had everything handled, but she didn’t want the detective to think he could call the shots and decide who would or would not talk to the media.

She just hoped Stallings and Patty could grab Larry Kinard without too much trouble.

This was the second time he’d had prey to this apartment. Lester wasn’t home, and the neighborhood was very quiet tonight. He also had the advantage of not having the victim’s car in his driveway. It was a simple plan. Fuck her, then kill her. He still wasn’t sure if he was going to leave her back in her own car or find a place to hide her body completely. Considering the interest of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, he tended to think he’d leave her somewhere damp and swampy.

She wandered through his little place ahead of him, looking for signs of a female roommate. Then she stopped in the hallway, noticing his collage of other prey. She said, “Larry, who are all these women?”

“Just girls I thought were pretty.”

She stepped forward and brushed the corkboard with her fingertips. A couple of loose photos on the frame moved at her touch. “You sure do have a one-track mind. These girls could all be sisters.”

He gazed at her as she stared at his work of art and wondered if it wouldn’t be as much fun to kill her fast and not even worry about the sex. His erection told him
that would be fine. He felt the power start to build and surge through his arms and legs. He flexed all over like a big cat ready to pounce. He joined her at the same table where he’d mounted Lisa, then broken her neck. The same sharp letter opener was still in the drawer. He leaned in close to her, sniffing to make sure he still had her scent right, and kissed her on the neck to hide what he was really doing. He slid the drawer open and took a quick look down at the letter opener.

“That poster is kinda creepy.” Ann stepped away from him quickly. “If you have any Ecstasy I’ll take it with me.”

She had no idea it was already too late. He was now completely in predator mode.

Stallings and Patty raced from the Wildside dance club. The manager had told them Larry Kinard had just left after having worked the early shift. He gave them Kinard’s address, and now Stallings had the gas pedal pressed hard against the floor. Patty was on the cell phone advising the sergeant where they were going and asking for as much help as they could send.

Patty said, “John, slow down. If we’re killed on our way there it won’t do anyone any good, and my mom will be pissed at you.”

“Sorry, we gotta grab this guy, and it’s a way to keep my mind off of Gary Lauer.”

“I understand, but Kinard has no idea were looking for him. He may not even be home yet. We have a better chance of T-boning someone than we do of losing him.”

Stallings slowed down but still managed to pass one of the many buses running between downtown and all points east. He turned to his partner and said, “Who else is coming?”

“The sarge says she and Mazzetti are on their way,
and Hoagie is coming from the crime scene near Market Street. Should we wait for the whole posse?”

“Let’s do a drive-by and check the place out. I promise I won’t do anything stupid.” He appreciated the fact that Patty knew not to tease him right now.

Not only did he feel the power as a predator, he vividly recalled how he felt when Ann had left him naked and bruised at the beach. That was why he wanted to throw a good scare into her first. He could’ve just attacked her as she gazed out the window or hidden the deadly weapon, but instead he turned around slowly, smiling with the letter opener in his right hand and touching the point of it with his left index finger.

Ann said, “You look like something out of a stupid horror movie. Stop fooling around and find me the X.”

He stepped closer to her and reached out to take her hand. Tentatively, she reached out to his and let out a giggle.

He said, “What’ll you give me for the X?”

Now she gave him a broader smile, came closer, and said in a soft voice, “What would you like?”

He glanced over his shoulder and said, “I’d like to put your photo on that board too.” He slashed upward quickly with the letter opener, making a deep gouge in her chest and cheek. He liked the stunned expression on her face and decided he’d wait to let what was happening sink in completely.

Her shriek only heightened his excitement.

As soon as Ann entered the little bungalow she got a weird vibe. She wasn’t sure if it was from the building or
from Larry, but one way or the other all of her internal alarms were telling her to get out fast. She took a good look around and saw no indication of anything unusual. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. Maybe child pornography or a bottle of ether. Her mind was starting to cook up crazy ideas about this guy. But she had to admit he’d been a perfect gentleman since she’d talked to him at the club, then followed him back here in her friend’s car.

She noticed a nice, framed corkboard bulletin board crammed with photos of young women. It took her a moment to realize every single one of the girls had blond hair and blue eyes. They were all shapes and sizes–some with big boobs, some without; some shaped like pears, others tremendously athletic. But every single one of them had blond hair and blue eyes. Immediately she thought of her own blond hair and light blue eyes and felt a chill run down her spine.

She couldn’t help herself as she turned around and told him how creepy bulletin board looked. She said, “If you have any Ecstasy, I’ll take it with me.” When she turned around he was standing there with some kind of a letter opener or knife in his hand by his side. He looked so goofy with that grin, she thought it was a joke.

Ann said, “You look like something out of a stupid horror movie. Stop fooling around and find me the X.”

He said, “What’ll you give me for the X?”

Ann tried to make her voice sexy and gave him a little smile and said, “What would you like?” But she had no intention of giving him anything other than a quick hug or kiss. Right now she was thinking that if she could just get her hands on the X, she’d grab it and head out the door and never have to see this jerk again. Then he did the one thing she really didn’t expect.

He swung the letter opener up, catching her in the chest and face. She was stunned more than anything else for a moment until she felt the blood dripping down her face and imagined what it must look like.

Then her screaming drowned out any other thought she had.

Patty looked out at the dark house and said, “Are you sure this is it?”

Stallings had pulled his Impala to the curb, checked the notes he’d made at the Wildside, and said, “It’s the right address, but it’s awfully dark.” He looked around at the other houses. “I wonder if the neighbors would know anything.” He slowly pulled the car ahead and noticed the driveway slipped away to the back of the house. He saw light at the end of the driveway. “Is that an apartment in the back?”

Patty rolled down the window for better view and saw at least one vehicle and a couple of lights on at the much smaller structure. “It’s gotta be. A lot of these places on the east side have little attached apartments.”

As Stallings was deciding which neighbor to talk to, they heard a female scream from inside the back apartment. There was no time to wait for help or talk to the neighbors. They both sprang out of the car.

He watched as Ann stumbled back, touching the thick, sticky blood, pouring out of the gash on her face. She started to hyperventilate, and he thought it was gonna cause him to ejaculate in his pants.

“You’re not so smart now that you can’t surprise me.”
He stepped toward her, keeping the sharp letter opener well within her view. “Strip down.”

Between crying and gasping for air she managed to spit out a “What?”

“You heard me. I said take off all your clothes, and I want you to do it right this second.”

Her eyes darted around the room quickly, and she jerked her shirt over her head and unhooked her bra with amazing speed. She wasted no time kicking off her sandals and sliding down her jeans. She stood straight up, perfectly still, only her belly sucking in and out with each strangled cry.

He took a moment to study her and decide what he might take as a souvenir. He had a photo of her from one night at the bar. For right now he was satisfied to watch her beautiful body tremble in front of him, knowing that when he decided it would all be over. He had to savor this one because it would be months and months before he had another chance.

Ann sniffled and managed to say, “What are you going to do with me?”

He let his smile spread slowly. “I thought it would’ve been obvious by now. I’m going to gut you like a fish, then dump your body somewhere between here and downtown Jacksonville.”

“I said I was sorry and I shouldn’t have left you at the beach.”

“And you will be sorry, I promise.” He stepped forward, knowing she couldn’t retreat far into the room.

When she bumped into the rear wall he paused a moment, reasserted his grip on the letter opener, and prepared to step forward hard and thrust at first directly into her heart. Then he was going to swing it up under her chin like he did with Holly.