Touch of Fate (Bennett Sisters Book 2) (2 page)

“Do you know if this place has any type of security system?”

Henry never paused in his assessment, not even to answer her. His gaze trained on the lifeless female body. “Jefferson is headed to the manager’s office, and several other officers left to question witnesses and canvas the area.” He shrugged. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Somehow she doubted it, but it wouldn’t be from the lack of trying. Jefferson had been with the department as long as her brother, Mike, had and was just as good. The motionless body lay facing the sliding glass door, as if she had attempted to make a run for it after being stabbed. The wall that adjoined the kitchen had most of the blood splattered in an arc. Her queasy stomach rolled from the sight. The unease sent a slight shiver down her spine.

“Let’s catch this creep,” she mumbled. Abby remembered each victim and every crime, locking it in her brain should she ever have the need to recall the information again. She would catalogue this one too.
This bastard is going down
. No one deserved this type of death. A thought occurred and Abby walked back to the door checking the locks and the surrounding frames. She proceeded back into the apartment and checked the windows. No forced entry.
She opened the door.
Possibly someone she knew and if not, someone she didn’t feel threatened by. Abby couldn’t fathom the pain the victim had felt or the darkness of the killer who had done the deed. She shook off the slight chill to refocus on her task.

Crimson stains now covered the pale walls and told a scene all of its own. Each piece of evidence was like trying to solve a puzzle. If you missed just one, you would only have fragments of the picture.

The tail end of the blood spray had dried dripping to the right. “The killer is left-handed or at least ambidextrous.”
So much blood
. She wondered if maybe some of the killer’s might be mixed in. Abby hoped the victim might have gotten in a hit or two against her murderer while struggling for her life. She numbered the evidence and continued to snap photos and swab some blood from the walls and around the body. Henry informed her, from his observation the visual lacerations were deep and had been made from an angle. Her perp was taller then the victim’s roughly five-foot-six frame. This was not going to be an easy case. No crying boyfriend stood nearby, no blood-covered knife lay around waiting to be dust for finger prints, and damn it, there was no confession.

Abby snapped more pictures as she made her way around the room then hit play on the blinking answering machine. A high-pitched, panicked voice shrilled through the speakers, a mother’s urgent request to call her, a message that would sadly go unanswered. She pulled the tape and bagged it to listen to the rest at the lab. With any luck, maybe their perp had left a message and the phone records would lead them in the right direction.

Processing the scene took a few hours. She collected tiny fibers along with skin from underneath the victim’s nails for further analysis. She didn’t need the cigarettes in the ashtray to tell her the victim was a smoker. Her house reeked from it. Her clothes, even the walls, held a dull yellow tint. She bagged the discarded butts. The contents of her purse lying spilled on the floor would hold clues to her identity. Her fingers skimmed over the driver’s license, turning it over in her fingers as a vision hit, pulling her mind to an unknown place. Their victim, dressed as a waitress, was smiling down at a table full of men. Her low cut blouse was missing a button. Abby’s attention was drawn by the light shining through the window as it sparkled off a trinket lying between the swells of her breasts.
A locket
. She dismissed the scene as she always did. What she wanted were the facts she could prove.

Henry must have seen the faraway look on her face and decided it was time to bring her back to reality. He was one of the few besides her family that knew her secret, touching objects in her job was essential. She figured it wouldn’t take him too long to figure out something was off when she was zoned out. “Abby, isn’t your sister’s wedding tomorrow?”

Abby sighed, remembering her sister Emma’s own escape from a deranged lunatic not too long before. She was happy Emma had come out of the attack unscathed and elated that she’d found love in the process. Her lips curved at the thought. “Yep, tomorrow at three o’clock.”

“Why are you here today?”

“I only planned to come in for a few hours.” She shrugged. “I’m just going to collect evidence. I won’t have time to start processing it before Emma’s next crisis hits. If I don’t keep busy, Emma will drive me crazy.” Abby smiled for the first time since arriving.

Her sister Emma might be a nutcase like her, but she had been fortunate to find true love. Even the crazy ghost, Momma Mae, that up until recently only Emma could see, had shown herself to Abby’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. Jake had been a godsend in saving Emma from her deranged ex-boyfriend and ultimately winning her heart. Abby shivered at the memory of Emma’s abduction. They all had a lot to be thankful for and to celebrate.

Abby took the last of her pictures in the living room and rounded the corner to the small bedroom.
What the hell?
A unique symbol had been drawn in blood on the wall above the bed. A five-pointed star-shaped pentagram surrounded the initials RD. It couldn’t be that easy. The RD didn’t stand for their victim. The name on the driver’s license was Sara Johnson.

“What the hell does the RD stand for?” she mumbled, and snapped a few more digital pictures.
What is this sick bastard trying to tell us?

“Not sure, but Jones and I will finish up here.”

“Thanks, Henry. I’m heading back to the lab, and I’ll call you after the wedding.” She discarded her gloves and bagged them too. Her heart was heavy as she exited the apartment with her camera still attached around her neck and stopped. The curious onlookers stood in the courtyard, enthralled by the unknown. She snapped their pictures, several people in the group at one time, before putting her lens cover back on.
If you’re here, I’ve got you
. Abby only hoped the killer was stupid or deranged enough to have stuck around to be included in the shot.

****

He stood in the shadows watching the police mill around. His lips tilted up in a smile as he turned to leave, only stopping when a little brunette leaving the slut’s apartment caught his eye. She aimed her camera toward him and others standing around. They wouldn’t find anything he hadn’t wanted them to. They never did. He grinned and turned his head and body to avoid the shot. He had some planning to do before his real target showed up and he knew it wouldn’t be long.

****

Back at the lab, she logged and stored the evidence to be processed. The pentagram drawing stayed heavy on her mind. She just couldn’t shake the fact it was important and vital to the investigation. With a digital copy of the mysterious pentagram in hand, she grabbed her things and left the lab. Her sister's frantic wedding call about her dress had interrupted her, so she was heading home early. Something wasn’t right; she shivered. She’d missed something and knew it. She balled her hands, partially crinkling the pictures grasped between her fingers. She headed down the hall toward the one man she knew could help. Ted was the smartest man she knew. He was bound to be able to make some sense out of this mess. Ted had been instrumental in helping track down her kidnapped sister and was one of the reasons Emma was still alive.

Abby found him in the hall with a can of soda in his hands. “Hey, Ted, can you do me a favor?”

“Two in one year, miracles never cease.”

He was like an extended part of her family. The snide comments were expected. “Smart ass, can you run this picture through your database and see if you hit on anything? I have a feeling this isn’t the first time this perp has killed.”

He took the picture and squinted his eyes as he did his visual perusal. “Five star pentagram, Ancient Greece, Wiccans, Star of David, magical, five wounds of Jesus, a symbol of faith to many Christians, a way to summon the elements for others. Many symbols for good and evil, depending on the beliefs of the person who drew it.” He looked up and pulled in a breath.

“Thanks” she said, throwing her purse over her shoulder and heading toward the parking garage to deal with Emma and her wedding issues.

Chapter 2

John’s graduation a few months before had left her feeling older than thirty-six. Her son was all grown up now, a man by society’s standards; however, he would always be her baby. Single and alone were the cards she’d been dealt, but she had her fallbacks. Abby loved the thrill of hunting the bad guys and had her family and friends to keep her company. Still, she felt lonely down into her core and had a void she couldn’t figure out how to fill.

Abby glanced in the mirror one last time. Her tired, bloodshot eyes stared back at her. There wasn’t enough makeup in the world to hide the puffiness that had made a home under her eyes. The long hours and stress from work showed on her face. Many nights she’d brought her work home with her unable to sleep until the victims rested in peace. It was a wonder John hadn’t grown up mentally scarred by some of the pictures she had left on the dining room table during his life.

She liked helping people, making them feel safe by taking the bad guys off the street. Her hopes and dreams had taken on an entirely new shape after her dad's murder the need for justice propelled her into a profession she hadn’t ever thought of entering. Forensic investigation was now her passion. She absorbed everything, and she never got enough to satisfy her curiosity. The truth fueled her. She thrived on the in-your-face facts she could prove, refusing to use the nonsense visions her gift gave her. The damn thing had let her down enough when she had needed it most.

Abby grabbed the old brush on the dresser and clutched it close to her heart, closing her eyes. Images of her mother’s face appeared behind her eyelids. Abby watched her mother’s stunning blue eyes sparkle as she looked through the mirror at a ten year Emma, as she ran a brush through her long brown locks. Emma looked just about ten years old and was missing a tooth as she smiled back. That was why Abby had kept the old brush. It was the only link she still had to her mom to bring back memories long forgotten.

Abby opened her eyes back to reality. Her son, John, was propped up against her doorframe, offering her a sad smile and a nod of understanding. John’s beautiful blue eyes and deep-set dimples instantly triggered memories of the man she had once loved. Abby pushed those thoughts back to the recess of her mind now focusing on the man that stood in front of her. Her son was the one man that had been a constant in her life unlike the man that had helped create him.

“Mom, we’re going to be late.”

“No, we’re not. Your Aunt Emma is never on time, so we’ll still be early.” Abby’s lips tilted up.

“You’re forgetting that Jake is always on time. She wouldn’t dare be late to her own wedding.” John rolled his eyes, a gesture she had seen all through out his life.

Her brother-in-law might be new to the family, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d realized how special her sister was from the first time they’d met, and Emma had fallen hard for him. It was only fitting they get married and live happily ever after.
Someone in the family should.
Abby and her siblings owed Jake everything for saving Emma’s life from the psychopaths set on revenge. Abby sighed, coming out of her thoughts. She straightened her mauve bridesmaid dress and walked toward her son.

John pushed off from the doorframe, standing up straight. “I’m riding with the silent giant, but Butch is in the living room waiting to take you. He knows you need to be there early.”

“Briggs would kill you if he knew you called him that.” She chuckled.

“Nah, Aunt Claire said I could.” Her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Jake, had assigned Briggs to her older sister, Claire, during the whole Emma fiasco while their brother, Mike, helped Abby track down the killer.

Jake’s coworkers were like extended family now. Their secrets had been exposed during the kidnapping. It was refreshing having friends you could be yourself with, flaws and all that didn’t judge.

“Okay, baby, I’ll see you there.”

John pulled her into a warm embrace and placed a kiss on her forehead. “You look beautiful, Mom.”

A tear trickled down her cheek. She had been extremely lucky her son had grown into a good man, during his early teens it had been touch and go until he grew out of his defiant stage. “Thank you, baby.”

Butch called from the living room, “Let’s go, princess. Jake will have my head if you’re late.”

Abby applied the last coat of pink-tinted gloss to her lips and sauntered out of her room, giving a little twirl to show off the dress she had helped pick out.

Butch was silent, and his eyes twinkled with his mouth parted. She enjoyed the brief shock on his face. The man that had once scared her stood like a vision of a Greek god in her living room. His black tuxedo stretched over taut muscles that Abby had seen up close and personal only months before when Butch had been tasked with babysitting and keeping her safe. Of all of Jake’s friends, Butch was the one she felt closest to and felt a connection with.

“Well, aren’t you handsome?” Abby said. Butch picked up her hand and placed a gentle kiss on top of her gloves.

“You look beautiful, Abby. Remind me to thank Emma later for making you wear that dress.” He smiled. His eyes traveled the length of her body and back up, stopping at her cleavage. She chuckled.