Page 50 of Ghost
This guy had been making the rounds for a minimum of four months. If he was working alone, it was probably longer than that. Jack was still blaming himself for leaving Sam at the hospital with Jingles the night she was drugged. Thank God Jingles was at the bar with her, so she hadn’t fallen victim like Aspen.
Jingles had gotten Sam to the hospital as soon as she started to feel the effects. Why we didn’t think to have her sit with Gunner to make a sketch, I had no fucking idea. We could have gotten this fucker months ago.
“Does anyone recognize him?” Declan asked.
“He looks familiar, but I can’t quite place him.” Deputy Blackwater walked closer to the screen, scrutinizing the image.
“What is it?” Cash asked.
Cash seemed to be lucid today. Maybe it had something to do with Aspen being attacked. He might be acting like an asshole to Ryder and everyone else in the club, but he was like the rest of us when it came to a woman being attacked.
“I don’t know.” Blackwater shook his head.
“There’s definitely something familiar,” Jingles confirmed.
“I bet we’ve all seen him at the bar or in town. We just didn’t know who we were looking for until now,” I added as I stared at the picture on the screen. I couldn’t deny there was something about the man that was familiar.
“Dec, you said you found another body?” King asked, moving our focus from the man on the screen.
“Yea, another body found on the Powell Ranch. Before you shit a brick, I asked them not to tell Win. I know you trust him, and Grayson does, too. But I can’t have everyone knowing what is going on. Not yet.”
“So, is this guy only killing certain victims or what?” Blade asked.
“I don’t think it’s the same guy,” Dec explained. “The second body I found was a female, brunette. She had that in common with the first victim. She was also twenty-three. Whoever is killing these women is beginning to develop a pattern, but it doesn’t match the rape victims. The rapes have no pattern. They are a crime of opportunity. Some of the women have blonde hair, some red, as well as brunette. That leads me to believe these are two separate crimes. Whoever is killing these women is planning the abductions. Whether he is killing them on purpose, I don’t know yet. So far, the elements have killed both victims. Powell’s cattle trampled the first woman. The second woman fell from an outcropping of rocks. Like she had climbed up there and lost her footing.”
“Except she was naked,” King surmised.
“Except she was naked,” Dec confirmed.
“The first UNSUB is methodical. He appears to be planning everything, including their deaths. Though, we are still unsure if their deaths are intentional, or if they are getting away and succumbing to the elements. The second UNSUB is sloppy. He’s never assaulted a woman at the bar before. Aspen was different. We hoped finding her in the bathroom meant she hadn’t been raped. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The previous rape victims were all led from the bar and taken somewhere else, then dropped at a secondary location where they woke up alone. That theory was due to the lack of evidence found at the scene they said they woke up at,” Blackwater expounded.
“One goddamn psycho isn’t enough; we need to have two.” Nav shook his head. “Do we have anything at all? I need something to dig into if I’m going to find anything.”
“I have the two victims’ names. I want you to dig into them. See if there is anything that connects them. There has to be a reason the UNSUB is choosing them. Whoever they are, they are taking their time. Two bodies in four months doesn’t make a serial killer. But if I was hedging my bets, I would say this was just the beginning.” Declan looked around the room before continuing, “Aside from the mayor, the men in this room are the only ones who have all the facts.”
“Not the other officers?” Gunner asked.
“No. The others know the facts of the case, but no theories. I have been in law enforcement long enough to know that anyone is capable of this shit.”
“So, what makes him so trustworthy?” Gunner asked, motioning to Blackwater.
“You got a problem with me because I’m friends with your girl? She’s like a fucking sister to me. I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you have. If I wanted her, I’d have had her.”
“You’re screwed, Gun. That fucking ‘like a sister’ shit ain’t fucking real.”
“Fuck off, Cash,” Blade growled.
Jesus Christ with these two.
“What the fuck did you just say to your VP?” Cash sneered, standing from his seat. Blade followed, slamming his hands on the table. I braced myself to launch over the table if they came to blows.
“Sit your asses down,” King demanded, but neither moved.
Cash and Blade just glared at each other over the table.
“NOW GODDAMMIT!”
Blade sat first, never taking his eyes off Cash. Something had to give. Cash was pissing everyone off. It was a fragile fucking fuse ready to blow without notice.
