Chapter 8
Detective Casey
“Severe bruising on the face and neck.” My head tilted, taking in the girl’s battered body sprawled on its side. Her legs were spread, one raised toward her chest. I crouched, moving the glow from the flashlight along her back. “Severe lacerations. More bruising. She was struck with something…thin…and a lot. Some look old, others new.”
Squinting my eyes, I moved in closer, bringing the light to her hips, and then lower.
“Whatever he beat her with, he did it all the way down to the backs of her knees. There’s considerable damage.” My head shook as I twisted my lips. “I’m going to make a wild guess from the bruising, she was sexually assaulted. Jesus.”
Diego crouched next to me.
“She fits the description of Melanie Ways. The long, dark wavy hair, skin color, freckles, build. Her eyes are missing. All three girls had green eyes.”
“I knew you’d catch that too.”
“I don’t want to say it.”
I raised one of my eyebrows. “You never do. Let’s not say it out loud just yet. Maybe she’ll be the only one.”
Diego stood, groaning as he rubbed his hand over his bald head. “Ignoring facts isn’t going to help us out, Casey. We both know what we’re about to get into. Three girls. And the Adams’ girl was taken by force. She’s not just some runaway. Shit’s about to hit the fan. I can feel it. Dammit, I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“What are you talking about? You have another good twenty years of this ahead of you.” He laughed sarcastically, and I rose, feeling my own age sinking in. Diego was a good ten years older than my thirty-seven, but after what I’d been through, I sure as hell felt older.
“Anna arrived about five minutes ago.”
“Oh yeah?” I glanced down the alley toward the cruiser and police tape. “How did you know that? You wouldn’t be able to see her from here.”
Diego gestured with his head to a group of officers standing a few feet away. “One of them told me she’s asking for you. I thought I’d let you finish up before I said anything.”
“Thanks.”
I took off, heading down the dim alley. The sun would be rising soon. It had to be close to five by now. How long had I waited for her to return? Hours… Was she only just now leaving Boston Marks’ hotel room? The thought turned my stomach. I was never good at handling jealousy. Although I knew nothing probably happened between them, I couldn’t ignore the possessiveness or love I still felt for her.
A small crowd of people were gathered as I rounded the turn. Despite all of them, I only saw one person. And it was immediate. Blonde hair was pinned back, and she was wearing a pair of slacks and a white blouse. Natural makeup defined her beauty. There was no ponytail or jogging pants. She was working, plain and simple.
“Detective.”
Anna lowered the coffee from her lips, rushing toward the sidewalk as I headed closest to the building. One of the officers let her pass at my nod.
“Braden,” she breathed out in a fearful tone. “Say it isn’t her. It’s not Lucy Adams, is it?”
I scanned the crowd before staring into her brown depths. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”
“This is for me. Not the news station. Please.”
A deep exhale left me as I shook my head. “It’s not her, but it might be soon if we don’t find this person.”
“A serial killer then?”
“I didn’t say that. You need more than one body to call it that.”
“You know what I mean. Braden, be honest with me. Was it one of the other girls? Were they…tortured?” She swallowed hard, wiping back the bangs escaping the pins. “How bad was it?”
“Bad. Let’s just leave it at that. This wasn’t a random act of violence. He took his time.”
“God. Boston. He’s already so upset over this. Once he hears about this girl, he’s not going to take it well. We have to find Lucy and the other girl.”
Anna’s brows drew in at my silence, and I couldn’t control the pang of jealousy at his name. She eased the extra coffee forward, momentarily calming me. My frowned deepened as I took it. Instead, I put my focus on her. There was care concerning me. It was in the expression she held as she stared up. It took me a moment to force out the two words I knew I should be saying.
“Thank you.”
“No thanks required. I figured you were tired. And I know how often you camp out in front of my place. You need to get a good night’s sleep.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“I’m fine, Braden. Really. I can take care of myself.”
That was debatable, but I didn’t want to argue. I took a sip of the coffee, changing the subject. “Being there, inside our home, it was nice. Looks the same. You still have our pictures up. I thought you might have taken them down.”
Anna’s gaze dropped. “I thought about it. I just couldn’t. How’s Bullet?”
More sadness came at the thought of the puppy we’d gotten together. He wasn’t much of a puppy anymore. The Labrador mix was half the size of her now.
“He’s good. He’s with Joe, my neighbor. He watches him when I work or get called out.”
“You know you could bring him to me. He’s mine too.”
“Anna.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of Bullet when you’re not able to. I’m better than you think I am. And stronger.”
“I’ve never doubted your strength. Not once.”
“Then stop.” Her voice lightened at the end. “You’re burning yourself out. If you’re determined to watch out for me, do it from my couch. At least then I know you’ll be sleeping.” Her hand pushed into her pocket only to come to grasp mine as she held the key between our palms. “Those are my conditions if you plan to keep this up. And you should know, Boston will make a plea for Lucy today. I thought you should hear it from me first, if you haven’t from the captain already. Boston asked if it was okay last night, and I told him yes. He wants to do everything possible to help find her, and I can’t deny him this.”
Again, words wouldn’t come, nor would warnings. All I could do was nod.
“Detective Casey.”
I glanced to the officer not a few feet away, then turned back to Anna while I put the key in my pocket. “I have to go. Be careful. Oh…and Bullet would love to see you. The door to the left of my apartment. Joe knows who you are. I’ll inform him to let Bullet go with you whenever you come by.”
At my step back, Anna’s hand surged forward to settle on my arm. “I know how hard this is for you. It’s hard for both of us. Our past …” she trailed off, heading a different route. I knew how mad she got when talking about it. “We may never be back together, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
Another step back on my part. “We were never really good friends, Anna. We didn’t have enough self-control for that. I don’t. I can’t. I want to be more than friends.”
The buzz of voices from the growing crowd spun around in my head, but I heard nothing. Nothing but my own voice echoing deep within my mind. Why? Why? So many why’s. Why would you love someone you couldn’t have? Why couldn’t my heart let her go? She wanted me to. She wanted us to be over in that way, even if she was nice enough to offer me her couch. That wasn’t love, though. Not the kind I wanted. Not the kind I was hoping she was implying earlier.
Diego slapped against one of the officer’s shoulders as he passed, heading to meet me as I entered back into the alleyway.
“Look up and tell me what you see.”
My eyes rose, scanning the tops of the buildings. I was about to say nothing, until my next step brought me just past a fire escape.
“Camera.”
“Yes. It’s to the owner’s apartment upstairs from his shop. Supposedly, his place got broken into twice from that window right there a few months ago. He put up a camera just in case. He’s getting dressed now.”
“Excellent. You think there’s a chance it was recording when the body got dumped?”
Diego shrugged, losing some of his spark. “I don’t know. It was months ago, and if all he wanted to do was scare off any amateurs, the camera might have done the trick.”
“That’s my fear. Anything else?”
“No witnesses so far. No one saw anything. There are the traffic cams. They may lead somewhere.”
“Let’s hope.”
I took another drink of the coffee, continuing to take in the surroundings for anything we may have missed. No note. No weapon. No witnesses. Just a body with a statement that made up for all three. Her missing eyes. What did that say or mean? Maybe this wasn’t a serial killer. Maybe it spoke of her seeing something she shouldn’t have. Maybe she was a witness to a crime. Or perhaps it was more intimate and she had her sights on someone she shouldn’t have. The possibilities were endless. If I knew anything, I knew I’d get to the bottom of it.
****
“Wait, wait. Go back.”
I leaned over Diego’s shoulder, pointing toward the man in black as he dumped the girl’s body from over his shoulder. He was wearing black pants, a black sweatshirt, and a ski mask. The quality of the camera wasn’t very good, but it didn’t stop the small speck of light that reflected. We’d been going over the footage for what I was sure was hours. So far, nothing. Nothing, but this.
“Right there. Watch when he turns. Something falls out of his sweatshirt. A necklace or something.”
The man turned, and my finger thrust toward the screen. “Freeze it and zoom in.”
“Already on it.”
Diego worked the mouse, enlarging the picture to center around the necklace.
“What is that?” he mumbled, getting closer.
“A cross? A…letter?” Squinting didn’t help. I put my hand on my hip, shaking my head as I straightened. “My best guess is a cross, but I can’t be sure. It’s small. Too small. Start it over. Let’s watch again.”
I pulled out my phone, hitting the number to the other lead detective working the case.
“I was just about to call you, Casey. Y’all got anything?”
My head shook at Detective Wade’s question, even though he couldn’t see me. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t bank anything. Looks like he’s wearing a necklace. A cross or some sort of symbol or letter. It falls out of his sweatshirt when he puts the girl down. What do you have?”
“We’re at the store across the alley from you. A truck. Light colored. It stops, and he gets her out of the bed. Plates are covered. Nothing distinguishing about it. The model is common. Could be a work vehicle, might be personal.”
“Shit.” My lips pressed together as Diego began replaying the video. “Call me if you pick up anything else. We’re about to wrap up and head back to the station.”
“Sounds good. We got this. Y’all go home and catch some sleep.”
“Will do.”
I hung up, only to yawn. It was as if his words had my exhausted body ready to shut down. I grabbed the coffee, downing the rest of the cold liquid.
“Nothing else. I’ll make a copy and we can analyze it later. I can barely concentrate on what the hell I’m seeing. I knew I should have passed on DJ’s party.”
A laugh left me before I could stop myself. Diego threw me a glare as he continued pressing buttons.
“Big night?”
“Don’t, Casey.”
“I just figured you learned from last year. You were sick for three days because of the drinking challenge. Officer Reilly’s parties aren’t something you attend if you plan to work the following week.”
A humph followed, but he remained silent as he finished up. When he stood and we began walking out, his tone dropped.
“Pretty girls. They’re worth the hangovers.”
Another laugh shook my chest. “You never learn.”
“No. If they’re that good looking, I don’t ever want to.”
A familiar voice had my feet slowing. I looked over my shoulder at the television. Our captain was walking away as his place was taken on the podium.
My name is Boston Marks. This is my girlfriend, Lucy Adams. She was taken yesterday. I’m begging anyone out there who has seen her, please contact authorities. I’m all she has. And Lucy…she’s all I have. I love her. I’m begging you, please, if you know anything, come forward.” A pause. “Lucy, baby, I love you. I’m going to find you, I promise.
Boston’s jaw reflexed repeatedly as tears raced down his face. Seconds went by before he took a ragged breath.
If the person who did this is watching, I’m asking you, please let her go. Please. Lucy doesn’t deserve this. She’s the kindest, sweetest... Let her go…right now…or so help me, you will wish you had.
“Son of a bitch,” Diego breathed out. “There’s a side of loverboy we haven’t seen. Did you see that, Casey? Sent chills down my damn spine. That look. Those eyes…I don’t know about that one.”
Anna was suddenly in the frame just off from the side of the stage. My stomach twisted as I followed Diego out. “Boston Marks isn’t the one we need to worry about, it’s this killer. The look he had, I probably sported the same one when Anna was taken. He wants the woman he loves returned. He’s a fighter, and that’s what you saw.”
“What I saw was a man threatening the life of whoever took her.”
“He’s emotional. I was the same way. If it weren’t for you calming me down, Lord knows what would have come from my mouth.”
“You’re not like that, though.” He paused as we headed down the stairs and out the front door. “That…Boston…he’s not like you. There’s something inside him. I can feel it. I felt it from the first moment I saw him. I don’t know, Casey. It’s something I can’t shake.”