Chapter Two
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. India had been up since four a.m. As they got closer to Edenton, she glanced over at Briar. Seeing him every day in a suit and tie in no way prepared her for what she saw this morning. In a dark blue cotton shirt and blue jeans, he looked better than she realized. She could see clearly just how fit his body truly was and she liked what she saw. She sighed and had quite a struggle to get her emotions back in line.
“I called my brothers about your case yesterday,” Briar told her.
“Oh? And what did they think?”
“They can’t wait for you to get there.” Briar chuckled. “My brothers are not very subtle at times and they love a good mystery. This case intrigued them almost as soon as I told them about it.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“There are five of us. Aaron is a judge in the district court while Cade, Elliot and Quinn run the Foundation.”
“You said your brother’s work with other law enforcement offices to hunt down criminals. How do they do that?”
“My father set up the River’s Foundation before he retired. My brothers Cade and Elliot were damn fine cops on their own. Then my brother Quinn was injured in an accident. He pulled through but was left paralyzed from the waist down. For a while he was lost, he was so used to being able to do what he wanted whenever he wanted. It took him a while to relearn his limitations but Quinn’s special gift had always been the techy side of stuff. He found his own skill was in researching on a computer. My dad formed the Foundation mostly to accommodate Quinn. When Cade and Elliot joined in, the Foundation was born. They use private resources to track down and stop dangerous criminals the police can’t.”
“Are they successful at it?” India asked.
“They are the best at what they do,” Briar told her proudly. “They have a team of other people and once they get a case, they work every angle they can find.”
“And you said they wanted this case?”
Briar threw his head back and laughed. “Oh yeah, they want this case. When I told them what you told me, they just about jumped through the phone to get their hands on the files you left with me. Especially, when I told them you found a pattern of other cases similar to the first one.”
“I’m still not sure about this,” India admitted. “It all still seems like a bad dream.”
“And if it’s not? A bad dream I mean,” Briar asked quietly as he drove. “If what you saw was real, and I’m convinced it is, you were one very lucky kid. You and your friend were lucky to make it out of that warehouse.”
India shrugged. “Like I said, you don’t think about stuff like death when you’re ten years old.”
Briar turned his blinker on as they reached Edenton. Driving through the city, they found their way to West Queen Street and followed it over a bridge. Then they turned on a private drive and made their way through a gate Briar opened with a remote control. The road led them down toward the water of Edenton Bay. Coming over the slight incline, India saw several buildings, the biggest one was where he brought the car to a stop.
Briar turned and looked at her. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” Her tummy was suddenly filled with butterflies and her hands shook as she reached for the door handle. What lay ahead she didn’t know but this was a new beginning for her.
As they walked up to the front door, it opened and two men stood there waiting for them to reach them. India looked at them and then turned to look at Briar. They all had the same dark hair brushed away from their faces and all three had the same type of build. They were tall with slender but muscular builds and their facial features looked similar but she could see each man had his own differences. Where Briar’s hair was starting to silver around the temples, the other two men didn’t share his color change. One of the brothers greeted Briar warmly by shaking his hand and patting him on the back. The other brother stood off to the side and simply went through the motions.
India caught the exchange but didn’t know what to think.
Briar turned to her after greeting his brothers. He motioned for her to join them and introduced his brothers, “India, I’d like you to meet my brothers, Cade and Elliot.” He gestured to indicate each as he said their names.
Cade had his brother’s same dark hair but his had a curl to it that Briar’s didn’t. His eyes were dark brown where Briar had blue eyes. Both men had clean shaven faces but Cade had a dimple in his chin where Briar didn’t. Glancing over at Elliot, she saw he had the dark hair of his brothers and his eyes were blue like Briar’s. He too, was clean shaven like his brothers.
Elliot reached for her hand and pulled her inside. “My brother tells me you have a story to tell.”
India took a deep breath and said, “I think I do anyway.”
They came into a huge common room where five other people were waiting for them. One of them was sitting in a wheelchair and India could tell he was a Rivers brother. He had the same dark hair and blue eyes as Briar and Elliot. His upper body looked strong and if he could stand, India thought if he could stand, he’d be as tall as his brothers.
She looked at the others in the room as Elliot introduced her to his team. “India, I’d like you to meet everyone.” He waved his hand at the only black man in the room. “This is Kanan Dasher, one of the best investigators in the world.”
Kanan nodded and held out his hand to shake hers.
India smiled warmly and shook his hand.
Elliot went down the line, “This is Faith Craigen,” He nodded at the small blonde “Fallon Parker, and Jerah Cummings.” Fallon was blonde like Faith and Jerah had long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. “This my dear…” Brian paused as he looked at the whole group. “Is the best investigative team in the world. Why don’t we all sit down and talk about what brings you here today.”
Quinn wheeled forward and came to a stop in front of India. He smiled. “My brothers often forget about introducing me to new people. Hi I’m Quinn.”
India laughed. “I knew that without being introduced. Who else would you be but one of them?” She held out her hand to him.
Quinn took it and raised it to his lips.
When Quinn let go of her hand he began to wheel away, then he stopped and turned back to her to ask, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“That my friend, only time will tell,” India said solemnly.
Elliot clapped his hand together. “Ok people let’s review what we have so far on the case.”
India sat down at one of the small tables.
Jerah picked up a blue file. Putting on her reading glasses, she began to speak, “I checked everything Briar sent us the other day and found three additional cases similar to those India found.” She walked over to a board and with colored push pins marked each of the cases. “Thanks to the information she provided, we were able to connect the cases to our unsub.” She paused as she began putting the pins into the map. “Jenna Kramer, Boston, fifteen years ago; Tandy Allen, New Haven Connecticut, thirteen years ago; Alice Baker, Providence Rhode Island, twelve years ago. Maggie Winger, Portland, Maine, ten years ago. Jessica Mann, Calais, Maine, nine years ago. Michelle Blaine, Concord Maine, eight years ago. Rachel Cortland, Allenton, PA, seven years ago. Lynn Macken, Trenton New Jersey, six years ago. Then Rebecca London, Winchester, Virginia , four years ago. Lorna Briggs, Charlestown, North Carolina, two years ago and finally, Callie Sexton, Savannah, Georgia, six months ago.” Taking off her glasses, she threw them on the table. “In each case, the body was found but the heads and internal organs were missing. As the killings got further in time from the first one fifteen years ago, they were more pronounced.”
“Excuse me,” India broke in. “But what does that mean?”
Jerah looked at her and smiled. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m so used to talking to these eggheads I forgot you were here. Let me explain.” She pointed to the map. “We think your murder was the first one. The killer was new to his craft and while he took care, he wasn’t as well versed, as he would become in the next few years. Jenna’s body was found six years after she was buried. Her body wasn’t in as good a condition as was, say Maggie’s. The killer had gotten better at the whole process of anointing the oils to persevere the body and wrapping her in the linen by then. The later bodies were mummified better than the first few.”
“Oh okay, that I can understand.” India thought for a moment then said, “It stands to reason he would become better at his craft the more times he did it. I wonder why the Egyptian angle though? Is that a simple interest or a ritual?”
“That’s a very good point.” Fallon nodded at her. “I checked several places on the web and they give step by step instruction on how to mummify a body. It’s something he’s done with all the victims we’ve found so far, so we have to assume it’s a personal choice. The real question is what does it mean to our killer?”
“So what’s with the bright orange linen wrappings?” India asked.
“That’s due to the combination of herbs and oils he’s using,” Fallon explained. “I’ve had the original reports sent to us and the toxicology confirms the combination of herbs turns the linen a bright orange color. The original herb and oil combination isn’t known. It was a highly regarded secret by the priests who tended the dead Pharaohs centuries ago.”
India nodded. “The jar I took had Egyptian symbols on it. I didn’t know it at the time but later, I looked up hieroglyphics and recognized several of them.”
“What jar are you talking about?” Cade asked. He stood and they could see his body stiffen as if on alert.
“Oh yeah,” Briar sheepishly admitted. “I forgot to tell you, on her way out of the warehouse, she swiped one of the four jars the killer filled with body parts from Jenna Kramer.”
Cade snapped his head toward Briar and growled, “And just when were you going to mention that little fact to us? Didn’t you think we needed to know something as important as that?”
“I’m sorry but it slipped my mind. I was a little distracted by the seven murder cases I just had dumped on my desk. I thought it was more important to get started on finding the killer.”
Both men stood head to head, toe to toe and the tension radiating from them grew thick.
“Hey guys, back off,” Jerah called out.
Briar was the first to look away. He shook his head and walked out.
Moments later, they all heard the front door slam and a car engine roar to life. Then they heard gravel fly as a car squealed out of the driveway.
The room was quiet for a moment and the tension slowly faded.
India couldn’t believe Briar just left her here. But he did look upset. She let out a sigh. Obviously, there were issues here she didn’t understand.
Everyone felt uncomfortable and it was Elliot that finally broke the silence, “When are you going to let it go? Why do we have to go through this every time we get him to come home?”
“I think we should stick to the reason we’re all here, rather than air our family problems, don’t you?” Cade asked as he clenched his jaw. He turned to India and asked, “What was Briar saying about a jar?”
India looked from one brother to the others. Taking a deep breath, she repeated what she told Briar but condensed the tale, “I witnessed one of these murders when I was ten. I stayed hidden the entire time. After he left, I took one of the small jars. I hid it and I forgot about it until the other day.”
“I don’t understand something,” Quinn said. “How could you forget something like a gruesome murder?”
India turned to look at him. Taking a deep breath, she told them quietly, “I was barely ten years old and my life was abruptly changed forever and not in a good way. Three days after I took the jar, my mother was murdered in a robbery gone wrong. I was put into foster care and I moved away from the neighborhood.”
“I’m sorry,” Quinn said quietly. “I didn’t know.”
India shrugged. The pain she thought was long gone surfaced and she found she couldn’t speak for a moment.
“What happened to the jar?” Cade asked. He had folded his arms across his chest almost as if to steel himself against her pain.
India turned to him. “I buried the jar in the basement of the building I lived in at the time.” Then she shrugged. “For all I know it’s still there. Not very many people went down to the basement. It was a creepy place fifteen years ago and I imagine it hasn’t changed since then.”
Cade and Elliot looked at each other then looked at India. It was Cade that suggested, “Shall we find out?”
“What do you mean?”
Elliot stood up and reached into his pocket for his keys.
Cade answered her question, “We can get to Boston, check to see if the jar is still there, and be back in time for lunch.”
“I’ll get the plane ready,” Elliot said.
India looked from one brother to the other. “Do you really think it would still be there after all this time?”
“There is only one way to find out,” Cade replied.