Chapter 17

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Lieutenant Gomez's radio went off, and he walked away from the booth at Vavoom's with his head cocked toward his shoulder mic, listening to the call. Wayne caught dispatch announcing a possible code 187 and slid out of the booth, following Gomez.

"ETA five minutes." Gomez turned to Wayne. "Keep your phone close."

"Will do." Wayne walked Gomez outside, staying out of his way as he hurried to his patrol car.

The code coming over Gomez's radio gave Wayne enough information to know what was going on. He stopped on the sidewalk and shoved his hands in his pockets. An unresponsive female was found in a locked car on Marine Drive and Thirty-Seventh Street. Possible murder.

Multiple sirens filled the air. The flashing lights on Gomez's car disappeared around the corner followed by another squad car. Wayne inhaled swiftly through his nose and exhaled with a grunted, "Fuck."

Thad, Glen, and Chuck flanked him outside next to the street. Wayne scratched the back of his neck. Invested in finding Megan Hillard, he hated the odds. A senseless murder only took the innocent. No one deserved that kind of fate.

"Did we hear correctly?" asked Thad.

Wayne nodded. "We can stay here and wait for Gomez's call or get as close as we can to see for ourselves what is happening. If it's not Megan, I'd like to follow the train tracks again. There's a reason why the killer picked this area. It's human nature for people to want to stay close to home."

"So, we're giving up thinking that she's alive?" Glen shook his head. "Fuck that."

"We never give up." Wayne turned to his MC brother. "But, it's time to start thinking like a serial killer."

"Law enforcement hasn't mentioned there being a connection between the two cases." Chuck latched the chain holding the front of his leather vest together. "When I brought the subject up with Gomez, he shot me down. If they have something linking the two cases, they're not letting us know."

"He told me the same thing and said if that's where we were going with our theory to let him know if we have any solid evidence supporting one killer." Wayne looked at each of them. "After we find out what is going on over on Marine Drive, think about that. We need to put the pieces together."

"I'm on the wrong side of recovery," muttered Glen. "Right now, I'd like to put a bullet in the killer's forehead."

Wayne gazed at Glen. The tension and feelings rolling through all of them had come to a head. "You're not alone, brother," he whispered.

Chuck, Glen, and Thad all nodded their agreement with his statement. If they had the opportunity to kill a serial killer, they'd all want a chance to pull the trigger.

"Give me five minutes, and I'll be ready to ride." He walked back into the bar.

Clara, obviously paying attention to the door, approached him the moment he stepped back inside the bar. He placed his hand on her hip and guided her across the room where they could talk in private.

"I'm going to ride out. I'll call you before I head to your house tonight, so you know to expect me." He kissed her lightly, holding her close. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," she said.

"Pay attention to what everyone is talking about in here as you're working." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "If they've noticed or heard anything out of the ordinary."

She leaned closer. "You mean about the missing girl?"

"Yeah." He smoothed the worry out of her eyebrow.

"Something is happening, isn't it?" she whispered.

He nodded. His relationship with Gomez meant more than friendship. The exchange of private information came out of loyalty. He wouldn't compromise himself by sharing details the public wasn't aware of.

"I'll call you." He patted Clara's ass and left the bar before she asked him any more questions he couldn't answer.

Outside, the members of Notus rode off together. Wayne led the way, putting their destination out of his mind and asking the questions about who would go after a seventeen-year-old girl and kill a seven-year-old child. The typical motivations by the abductor were different. Children seven and under were usually stolen because the kidnapper had unrealistic fantasies about raising a child as their own. In those cases, mental problems played a role in the crime. A sense of living a fantasy and unable to distinguish between reality and what they'd created in their mind. The abductor made long-term plans ahead of the crime, never expecting to be caught.

Teenage girls, if it wasn't a case of running away from home, were usually abducted for sexual reasons. The perpetrator usually went for someone young enough to manipulate, whether to keep and abuse or sell into sexual slavery. A sexual crime, possibly exported out of the country or even to other parts of the states, made it harder to rescue the victim, because the kidnappers often were paranoid and panicked, killing their victims before they thought out any long-term plans.

The link tying the Morgan and Hillard cases together had no similarities, except location, timing, and they were both females. Wayne slowed down and took the exit ramp to Marine Drive. There were flashing lights off in the distance. He wondered if there was a connection between the two families. Fathers who had a working relationship with each other. Mothers who knew each other because of going to the same ballet class for their daughters. Those were questions that would need to be asked.

While the Morgan's were more open to Notus helping in the search, the Hillard family relied more on law enforcement and preferred to answer only to the detective in charge.

Wayne signaled the others to slow down before they approached the crime scene. He pulled off the road into the gravel and shut off the engine of his bike, well away from the cordoned area police had blocked off from traffic.

Already, he could tell the officers were treating the area as a crime scene, and it wasn't a simple DOA. There were six local police cars, four Oregon State cruisers, and no ambulance on the scene yet.

"What make of vehicle?" Thad lifted his hand and shielded his eyes.

Wayne squinted. "Looks like an older Kia."

At least two hundred feet away from the police blocking the road, all he could make out was the activity around the car. More sirens rent the air. Wayne looked behind him and spotted the ambulance coming. Nearing the scene, the emergency vehicle shut off their lights and sirens. The responders continued to stand around in no hurry.

The female was dead.

"It's not looking good," muttered Wayne stepping over to his motorcycle and sat down.

Death happened. There was a slim window to stop a senseless act. The times they'd been a part of a rescue would never match the times they were too late.

All they could do was wait. Each of the members of Notus dealt with the myriad of emotions that came from a crime scene. Wayne still couldn't shake the feeling he was missing an important clue. He put himself into the role of the abductor and came up with three reasons that tied the cases.

One— Both were under the age of eighteen.

Two—Both females were blonde and come from upper-middle-class families for the area.

Three— If the victim in the car was Megan, both missing persons' cases ended with murder.

A patrol car backed up and turned around, heading toward the group of Notus members. Wayne stood, catching sight of Gomez in the vehicle, and walked to the edge of the road.

Gomez slowed down and stopped beside him. Wayne remained quiet letting Gomez figure out what he was going to say.

"I'm going to Megan Hillard's residence to bring them to the hospital so they can make a positive I.D." Gomez's hand twisted the top of the steering wheel. "The chief called for a briefing afterward. There will be a news conference with media later. Probably around five."

Wayne nodded. "Will the St. John's P.D admit to the public that we're dealing with a serial killer?"

Gomez's bottom lip covered his upper lip, and he gave a quick shake of his head. "State Police took control of the case minutes ago."

Damn. With Gomez not leading, there would be no more information supplied to Notus. Wayne peered back at the crime scene. There was no way he could walk away knowing another child, another teenager, another woman could be the killer's next mark.

He tapped the top of the patrol car. "I'll be around."

Gomez cleared his throat. "Hey."

Wayne looked up. The anger and disappointment he was feeling shone back in Gomez's gaze. "Keep your ears and eyes open."

"Right." Wayne stepped away and walked back to his MC brothers.

He filled them in with the information he'd received. Chuck remained standing in front of him. Glen picked at the seam of his vest, whistling. Thad shook his head, remaining silent. Nobody made a move to leave. Normally, they rested up and returned to a normal schedule after receiving any finalization on a case. But, the victims were children. Nobody could settle without bringing someone to justice for the killings.

"I'm heading back to the house." Wayne grabbed his helmet off the motorcycle. "There's beer in the fridge."

"I'll come." Thad stepped away.

Chuck nodded. "I'm in."

Glen inhaled deeply, his chest expanding. "Fucked up situation, man."

Wayne hesitated because Glen remained beside him. "Yep."

"Rich never could get over what happened to Thalia..." Glen raised his arms and palmed the back of his neck.

Wayne's chest tightened. There wasn't a fucking day that went by that he didn't think of Rich. His friend, his brother, was one of them. He should be home, riding and bullshitting, with Notus. They hadn't stopped Rich's sister from being kidnapped, and they couldn't rescue the two latest missing girls. But, they had to remain strong. One day, Rich would come back to Notus. They'd find more missing persons alive. They all had to keep believing.