Every one of these guys did the exact same thing. Mindless dummies, all of them. Yet they considered themselves the superior males of the species.
Please.
These college boys did nothing but screw around, drink, and waste their parents’ money. Useless, every single one of them.
Fury blurred his vision. He blinked hard, inhaled, and held the air deep in his lungs. He couldn’t wait to kill him.
The target stirred and groaned as if he felt the attention.
The threat.
He gave the man another short zap for good measure, not enough to completely incapacitate him again. This one was just for fun. He chuckled at the spasm of the guy’s body.
Dancing like a puppet, and he held the strings.
He waited until the man came to. Then he rolled him to his back and slapped his cheeks.
His victim moaned. His eyes fluttered.
“That’s it. Wake up. This won’t be any fun unless you see it coming. Get up!”
The target sputtered and blinked, his eyes quickly focusing. Effects from the stun gun were short-lived. If he’d used drugs, his second option, the man wouldn’t be ready for action for a long time. This way, the whole business was over and done in one night. Unlike the soon-to-be dead man, he didn’t have time to screw around.
His victim’s eyes were clear now. He tried to sit up. Confusion lowered his brows as he tugged at his bound hands.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
The man’s gaze snapped up. Confusion shifted to fear. “What’s going on?” His voice trembled.
Who’s the alpha male now, pretty boy?
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he began. He gave him a step-by-step account of the upcoming evening. “Now get up and walk inside.”
“What? No. You’re crazy.” The asshole’s head was moving in a slow, disbelieving shake.
“You’ll do it or die right now.” He showed him the gun. “Or I’ll zap you again and drag you inside. Your choice. Get up!”
“No.” Belligerence lifted the target’s chin.
He should really wait until the asshole was completely recovered. It would be more fun to have him alert and scared.
But his patience had run out. He wanted—needed—to start.
He lifted the pistol and stun gun and moved them up and down as if they were on a scale. “What’s it going to be? Make your choice.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It was dark before Bree was ready to leave the scene at the Grey Lake Inn. The medical examiner had taken both bodies back to the morgue. The dive team packed up their equipment. Bree, Matt, and two deputies had walked the bank of the lake, searching for any additional evidence in the tall weeds and ice. They’d collected every bit of trash they found. Every piece of evidence would be examined, but at this point, nothing appeared to be relevant to her case. They made their way back to the inn’s parking lot.
“Where do we go from here?” Todd asked. “The search warrant for the house where the four boys lived came in.”
“I want the roommates, Christian Crone and Dustin Lock, picked up and brought to the station for questioning immediately.” Bree shivered. She hadn’t been the one to go into the lake, but she was chilled down to the marrow of her bones. “I’ll meet you there. We’ll have deputies search the house while we’re interviewing the subjects.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Todd walked away.
Bree and Matt hurried for her vehicle. She cranked the heater to full blast and headed down the private lane. “I have to call home.”
Tonight would be a very late night.
She explained the situation to Dana, then talked to both kids. Matt made his own calls, asking his sister to look after his dogs. They set their phones down at the same time.
“We think those bodies are Eli Whitney and Sara Harper, correct?” Bree asked.
“Yes,” Matt agreed.
“That means we were wrong about everything. Neither Eli nor Sara killed anyone.” She reached into her console, looking for an ibuprofen for the headache behind her eyes, but she came up empty. “Our entire case has changed. We no longer have a single, very personal homicide. We have a triple murder with a killer on the loose. Since we know the murder cases are related to the burglaries somehow, I need to call Detective Dane. I’d like to get her to work with us. I suppose I’ll have to clear it with the Scarlet Falls police chief first.”
Bree had made a point of introducing herself to the police chiefs in her jurisdiction soon after she took office. But she’d been so swept up in her own department’s issues, she hadn’t seen any of the chiefs since. She dialed Stella Dane first. After Stella agreed, Bree made the call to the SFPD chief.
Before she could put down her phone, it buzzed. “That’s Dr. Jones.”
“That’s fast,” Matt said.
“She promised to do the autopsies tonight, but they can’t be complete.” Bree checked her watch. It was six o’clock. The ME had left the scene several hours before, but each autopsy would take four hours. It was unlikely the autopsies would be finished before midnight. Everyone would be working overtime until the case was solved. A triple murder with a killer still at large took precedence over everything else. She answered the call. “Yes. Dr. Jones?”
“We have confirmed the identities of both victims. The male is Eli Whitney,” Dr. Jones said. “I already had his medical files here, so the comparison didn’t take long. As you suspected, the female’s fingerprints matched those of Sara Harper. I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m finished with the autopsies.”
“Does Detective Dane already know about Eli Whitney?” Bree asked. “Eli’s missing persons case belonged to the Scarlet Falls PD.”
“Yes,” Dr. Jones said. “She said she would do the death notification. Do you want to notify Sara Harper’s family, or do you want me to do it?”
“I’ll do it.” Bree wanted to see Earl Harper’s reaction in person.
“Thank you.” Dr. Jones ended the call.
Bree set down her phone and glanced at Matt. “Did you hear?”
“I did. We have IDs.”
She parked behind the station. Her phone buzzed. She read the text message aloud. “Stella says she’ll be here after she performs the death notification. She wants to know who she can call for Mrs. Whitney.”
Matt scrubbed a hand down his face. “My sister will know who to call, or she’ll go there herself. Cady Flynn.” He read off her phone number.
Bree texted it to Stella. “I’m probably going to work through the night.”
“Same.” Matt’s eyes hardened. “This is going to break Mrs. Whitney. I will find out who killed Eli.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the help.” Bree climbed out of her vehicle. “I need to check in with Todd and Marge, then we’ll go notify Earl Harper.”
“OK.”
They went into the station.
Marge followed them into Bree’s office. “Alyssa is still at the motel, but she isn’t happy about it. She saw the news about the bodies found at the Grey Lake Inn. She’s upset.”
“I’ll call her. Three people are dead, and we’re still not sure how Alyssa is mixed up in all this. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Brian had been dead before Bree caught the case, but if Bree had done things differently, could she have saved Sara or Eli? Only the ME could say.
“You’re going to have a long night.” Marge frowned. “I’ll order a platter of sandwiches. Anything else?”
“Hold on.” Bree dialed Alyssa’s motel room phone. When the girl answered, Bree said, “It’s Sheriff Taggert. I need to give you some bad news. We found Harper’s body today.”
Alyssa gasped. “I knew it. When I saw the news footage, I just knew it was Harper.”
“I know this has been hard on you,” Bree said. “Her real name is Sara Harper.”
The line was quiet for a few breaths, then Alyssa said, “I’m scared.”
“I want to keep you safe, which is why I want you to stay put
in your room with the deputy outside. Don’t contact anyone.”
“There’s no one for me to call even if I had my phone.” Alyssa sniffed. “I don’t like it here. This room is claustrophobic. I feel trapped.”
“We’re doing everything we can to find this killer, Alyssa. Hang tight, OK?”
“OK.” But Alyssa didn’t sound convinced.
Bree pressed “End.” She looked up at Marge. “After you order those sandwiches, check in with the deputy watching Alyssa every thirty minutes.”
“Will do.” Marge left the room. Matt didn’t sit down. He walked the floor in front of her desk.
Bree sank into her chair, still wearing her coat. She couldn’t get warm. She grabbed the case files. “I need ten minutes to review my notes on our previous interview with Earl before we go to the Harper place.”
But she didn’t want Earl to hear about his daughter’s death on the news. The ME wouldn’t release the names until next of kin had been notified, but these things had a way of leaking to the press.
Bree consulted her short list of suspects. The top two names were now confirmed dead. “In my mind, Earl Harper is now the most prominent suspect. He has a history of theft. He and his daughter didn’t get along. He even said she stole from him.”
Matt paced the length of the room. “He seemed angry about that, and the amount of facial damage makes these murders feel like rage crimes.”
“But Sara’s face wasn’t damaged.”
“Maybe he couldn’t do that to his own daughter. That would explain why the bodies look different.”
“But why would he have killed Eli and Brian?” Bree asked.
“They were both involved with Sara.”
Bree rubbed her eyes. “He refused to take off his glove when I asked. So, we don’t know if he has a mark on his hand.”
Matt lifted a shoulder. “He wouldn’t cooperate in any way. But he’s a jerk. Hard to say if he’s hiding something or just being himself.”
“The brother didn’t seem smart enough to mastermind a crime,” Bree said. “Was that an act?”
“He felt genuinely stupid to me, but that doesn’t rule him out in my opinion. These murders feel more brutal than genius. Plus, his criminal record means we need to keep him on the list.”
“Rowdy was wearing gloves too. We couldn’t see his hands.”
“True.” Matt stopped to stretch his back. “Could either he or Earl have been the man who jumped you at the cabin?”
Bree thought about his body type, and the way Earl had swung the sledgehammer. He was a hard man in emotional and physical terms. “He’s certainly strong enough.”
“Maybe it was a family project. Both Earl and Rowdy could be involved.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Bree looked up. “Come in.”
Todd entered the room. “A deputy picked up Dustin Lock. Christian Crone wasn’t home.”
“Where is he?” Bree’s belly went cold.
“That’s the thing,” Todd said. “No one knows.”
Bree stood and rounded the table. “Where’s Dustin?”
“Interview room one.” Todd moved aside as Bree walked past him into the room.
Dustin Lock looked like Todd had dragged him out of bed. He wore sweatpants and a university T-shirt. He’d shoved his bare feet into sneakers, and his hair was mussed. A winter jacket was draped over the back of his chair.
His expression was stunned as she entered the room. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
Bree introduced herself and turned the chair next to him around to face him. “Brian was murdered. We found another body in Grey Lake today. The medical examiner has identified the body as Eli. There was also the body of a woman in the lake near him.”
Dustin’s face paled. “Is it Sariah?”
“Yes,” Bree said.
“Eli is dead?” His eyes were blank, as if he wasn’t fully comprehending the situation.
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.” Dustin dropped his head into his hands. “What’s happening?” His voice was high-pitched and panicky.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Bree said in a calm voice. “Where is Christian?”
Dustin lifted his head and chewed on his thumbnail. “I don’t know. I texted him, but he didn’t answer.”
“Was he supposed to be home tonight?” Matt asked.
“Yeah,” Dustin answered. “We were going to play Call of Duty.”
“Where was he today?” Bree asked.
Dustin dropped his hand. “He had a class this afternoon. It was supposed to end around five thirty. Then he was coming home.”
“Where was his class?” She poised her pen over a notepad.
Dustin gave her the name of a building.
Bree wrote it down. “Does he usually walk or take university transportation to class?”
“Depends. His class is across campus. In the summer, he’ll ride his bike, but with the snow, he usually walks or takes an Uber.”
Bree froze. “An Uber?”
“Yeah.” Dustin nodded. “Especially if it’s cold.”
Bree turned to Todd. “Put out a BOLO and send a couple of deputies over to the university to look for Christian. Call his cellular provider. Tell them it’s an emergency and we need to find his phone.”
In life-threatening situations, the search warrant requirement could be bypassed to access cellular location data.
With a nod, Todd rose and left the room.
Bree had a sick feeling deep in her belly. “Dustin, is there anything you can tell us about where Christian could be? Friends, girlfriend, family he could have stopped to see . . .”
Dustin shook his head. “Christian’s family is in Florida, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend right now. Of the four of us, he’s the one who’s usually at the house.” Dustin swallowed. “He should be home.”
“Where were you all day?” Bree asked.
“I had two classes, and I had lunch in the student center in between.” Dustin wiped a hand across his face. “I got home about a half hour before the deputy came to the house.”
“Did you use your meal plan?” Bree asked.
“Yes.” Dustin looked around the room. He seemed lost.
Bree had only graduated college thirteen years before, but it felt like much longer. Had she ever been this young? “Do you have a card to swipe?”
He nodded.
“Do your professors take attendance?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Bree ripped a piece of paper from the back of her notepad. “I want you to write down your movements for the whole day. Give us names, places, times, and the numbers of anyone you came into contact with. Also, give me a list of people Christian hangs out with and their phone numbers if you have them. Any information you have about Christian’s schedule would also be helpful. No detail is too small at this point.”
“Am I in danger?” Dustin shifted his seat on the chair.
“I believe so.” Bree was honest. “But you are safe here, and this is where I want you to stay for now. Is that all right?”
With a short exhale of relief, Dustin breathed. “Thank you.”
“Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”
“No, ma’am.” He picked up a pen and began writing.
Bree and Matt got up and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Todd met her in the hall. Bree jerked a thumb at the closed interview room door and explained Dustin’s assignment. “Verify his movements throughout today. Also, see if you can find out from the university if Christian attended his class today or used his meal card.”
Todd’s gaze drifted to the closed door. “Do you think he killed his friends?”
“Honestly, no,” Bree said. “I can’t think of a motive, and he seems genuinely shocked and afraid.”
“Two of his roommates are dead, and the third is missing. He’d be stupid if he wasn’t scared,” Matt said.
Bree agreed wi
th a nod. “That’s why we’re not letting him out of our sight. We don’t have any free deputies to babysit him, so he can stay right here.”
Logically, Dustin would be next.
“Let’s go see Earl Harper,” Bree said. “It’s always interesting when your next of kin is also your prime suspect.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Matt stared through the windshield at Earl Harper’s place. He needed a shower, fresh clothes, and a toothbrush, but he wasn’t going to get any of those things anytime soon.
Bree offered him a mint.
“Thanks.” Matt took one and popped it into his mouth.
The property looked ominous in the dark. The only light shone from a window on the side of the bungalow. Earl hadn’t left the porch light on for visitors.
“Let’s do this.” Bree parked her SUV near the house and grabbed her flashlight from the console. Matt took his own out of his pocket. They got out of the vehicle and navigated the icy front walkway. The dog barked behind the house. Bree jumped, then slipped.
Matt reached for her elbow. “You OK?”
“I’m fine,” she snapped and shook off his hand. “Sorry. That was rude.”
“It’s all right.” Matt knew it wasn’t personal. The dog had her on edge.
They climbed the two concrete steps onto the stoop and flanked the door. Bree knocked.
No one responded for a solid minute. She knocked again, louder this time. Another minute passed, then heavy footsteps approached the door. A curtain next to the window shifted. Finally, the front door opened, and Earl Harper stared down at them from a one-step height advantage. Standing in the middle of the open doorway, he crossed his arms and tucked his hands into his armpits. Was he cold?
Or hiding the backs of his hands?
“May I speak with you, Mr. Harper?” Bree asked.
Earl looked over their heads and scanned the front of his property, as if verifying no other law enforcement was present. “What do you want?”
“I’d like to come inside,” Bree said. “I’d rather not do this in public.”
“Too fucking bad.” Earl shook his head. “Say what you’ve come to say.”
Bree cleared her throat. “The body of your daughter, Sara, was found today in Grey Lake. I’m sorry for your loss.”
See Her Die Page 21