Dead by Sunrise

by Richard Ryker

  “You the one who called this in?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I noticed it this morning.”

  “No idea who did it?”

  “Kids play over there all the time.”

  “How old?”

  “Grade school. Too young to do that.”

  Brandon had seen elementary kids do worse than tag an abandoned home.

  He wrote down his number. “Next time call me instead of the newspaper.”

  She glanced up at him. “People say the cops won’t do anything.”

  “People who?”

  She thought about it, then shrugged her shoulders.

  “The newspaper.”

  “Don’t believe everything you read,” Brandon said.

  She took a drag of her cigarette and held it in for a long time before letting the smoke escape.

  “People say it’s those vampire freaks.” She pointed a finger at him. “They drink real blood. Most of all from virgins. Like that girl on the beach.”

  Brandon didn’t see the point in revealing Lauren’s sexual history just to make a point.

  Back in his truck, Brandon peered through the passenger window at the foreboding message, More Will Die.

  Was it the work of one of the vampire-obsessed locals?

  It could be a copycat. A bored local kid, so starved for attention they’d insert themselves into a murder investigation? Or was it the killer? The strange symbol, the ominous warning, and even the public nature of the statement—Brandon had encountered those before—they were the traits of a serial killer.

  Chapter 29

  Brandon pulled up to the curb in front of his house. Emma sat on the front porch. She wasn’t alone.

  Misty waved at him and he tried to hide the disappointment. Brandon sighed. He was tired, wanted to relax and spend time with his daughter.

  “Dad! You’re finally home.”

  “What are you doing out here?”

  “I forgot my keys too.”

  “Emma—”

  “Don’t be too hard on her, Brandon,” Misty said. “You used to do the same thing.”

  If one more person told him to be easy on Emma…

  “Can Misty stay for dinner?” Emma asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brandon said. “I’m beat.”

  “Your dad’s tired,” Misty said. “It looks like he needs some shut eye.”

  “Please dad? It’s boring around here.”

  “You mean I’m boring?” Brandon said, smiling.

  He unlocked the front door. “Fine.”

  Emma rushed into the house, stopping to kiss Brandon on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  Misty stepped forward. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “It’s not a problem,” Brandon said, lying. He let Misty in the house and checked the street one more time, just to make sure no one was watching.

  “Let’s just order pizza,” Brandon said.

  “I can make something,” Misty said.

  “No…pizza is fine.”

  “You didn’t like my casserole?” she asked, casting him a playful smile.

  “It was excellent. Everything I hoped for,” Brandon said.

  “See if I ever bring you over a welcome-to-the-neighborhood dish,” she said.

  Emma returned with an armful of board games. “Which one first?”

  “I need to change. You two decide,” Brandon said.

  Brandon changed into shorts and a t-shirt and called the local pizza delivery joint. When he came back into the living room, Misty and Emma were setting up Monopoly.

  “After this we can play Risk,” Emma said. She looked to Misty. “Dad always wins.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Misty said.

  Brandon flipped on the stereo. A blast of his favorite metal band, Iron Maiden, filled the room. He turned the volume down a notch.

  “Ugh,” Emma said. “Turn it off.”

  “This is classic Maiden,” Brandon said. “Their first album. They were still on their first singer back then. Before Bruce Dickenson joined—”

  “It’s cheesy,” Emma said.

  “Your dad’s favorite back in the day,” Misty said. “I think it made him feel tough. Hard metal.”

  “I was tough,” Brandon insisted.

  “It’s still cheesy,” Emma said.

  It was midnight before Misty convinced Emma to give up on her ever-dwindling chances at winning Risk. Like Monopoly, the game rarely ended in less than a few hours. In high school, Brandon and his buddies had played games that spanned days.

  Brandon walked Misty to the sidewalk.

  “That was fun,” Misty said, turning to Brandon.

  “Yes. A little late for me, but fun.”

  “Past your bedtime old man?”

  Brandon smiled. “If I recall, you are, what, three months older than me?”

  She tapped him on the arm. “It’s not nice to ask a lady her age.”

  “My apologies,” Brandon said.

  Then, he asked a question that had been eating at him since the city council meeting, when Ted had implied Misty was no longer with Nolan.

  “What’s going on with you and Nolan?”

  She slid closer. “Why do you care?”

  Brandon leaned away.

  He’d wanted to know about Misty and Nolan because…he didn’t know why.

  “I care about the well-being of my officers,” he said, trying to mask the sarcastic smile forming on his lips.

  Misty rolled her eyes. “That’s not what Nolan says.”

  “Really? What else does Nolan say?”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  After a moment, she said, “This case is taking its toll on you.”

  “Yeah, well, that happens when you have a killer loose in a town like Forks.”

  “And they threaten to kill again,” she said.

  Brandon eyed her.

  “It was on the paper’s website. The new graffiti. More will die—”

  “Right.”

  It was hard to keep track of who knew what.

  “People are saying Ruby Taylor did it.”

  “Rumors, nothing more.”

  “You’re probably right. That’s part of living in a small town.” She paused. “Is that why you left?”

  He looked into her eyes. She was the reason he’d left. How could he come back when they’d been together so long, Misty pregnant with another man’s baby?

  That wasn’t fair. Misty was just one of several reasons he’d moved on from his hometown.

  “Rumors and false leads are part of the job,” he said, avoiding her question. “People take one fact—like someone’s involvement in a secret group—and act as if the person had a smoking gun in their hand.”

  “Who’s part of a secret group?” she asked.

  He held up a hand. “No one.”

  “C’mon,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone.”

  He’d said enough.

  “I need to get back inside,” Brandon said. “Thanks for coming over.”

  He turned and ascended the front porch.

  “We’re taking a break,” Misty said, calling out after him.

  Brandon took the bait. “Huh?”

  “Nolan and me. We’re taking a break.”

  Brandon stopped to consider her answer. He’d asked her about her relationship with Nolan. In the moment, he’d wanted to know, almost had to know. But now, after the conversation about Nolan and the case and the rumors going around town, it didn’t seem important.

  “Ok. See you.”

  It was an odd way to end the evening, but he didn’t have much else to say. Despite the rumors, he wasn’t romantically involved with Misty, hadn’t been for twenty years. Why should it matter to him who she dated, or who she was dating but on a break?

  Whatever that meant. Sounded like something twenty-year-olds did.

  Back in the house, Emma was waiting for him.

  “Did you kiss her?”

/>   “What?”

  “You know, a goodnight kiss?”

  “Emma—”

  “Not even a peck?”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to set me up with that woman,” Brandon said.

  “What’s wrong with her? She seems nice—”

  “Your mom and I—”

  “Aren’t ever going to get back together,” she said a cold tone suddenly infusing her voice.

  “Come here,” Brandon said, sitting down on the couch.

  She fell into the spot next to him.

  “Your mom and I loved each other for a very long time. We still love each other.”

  “Then why did you get divorced?”

  They’d talked about this before, but he knew it would take time for everything to sink in. Even now, a year later, it still bothered Emma. It made sense. Brandon hadn’t fully recovered from the end of his marriage either. Tori had been all he’d known for most of his adult life. As much as they’d argued, been so different, she was the constant in his life, the one he knew, or thought he knew, would always be there.

  “I know,” she said. “It’s not simple. Adults sometimes stop getting along, blah, blah—”

  “Hey. It doesn’t change that both of us love you,” he said.

  “I know.”

  Emma yawned.

  Brandon pulled her into a hug. “You need to get to bed.”

  “I don’t have anything to do tomorrow,” she said.

  “Maybe you should ask around about work. Earn some money for a car—”

  “I’ll just hang out with grandpa.”

  “I don’t know,” Brandon said. “If it were me, choosing between work and grandpa…I’d choose work.”

  “Ha ha,” she said.

  “And,” Brandon said. “I don’t need a girlfriend.”

  “Guys don’t do good alone, dad.”

  “Says who?”

  “I read it on a relationship blog.”

  “So it must be true.”

  “Whatever, dad. Besides, if you refuse to let me live here with you and grandpa the whole year.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “She’s too busy most of the time.”

  “It’s not because you’re not getting along with her again?”

  “We’re fine,” she said. “We talked today. So why can’t I live here?”

  “We already went over this,” Brandon said. “The school here is way smaller than the ones in Seattle.”

  “Good. And I won’t have to be reminded of Mattye every time I go to class.”

  “To bed,” Brandon said, pointing to the hallway.

  “Can’t you at least think about it?”

  “Goodnight, Emma.”

  She rolled her eyes and headed for her room.

  “Love you too,” he said.

  First thing in the morning Brandon checked in with Will and Jackson regarding Adam. They still hadn’t had a chance to interview Adam now that they had the DNA evidence suggesting that both Adam and Justin had slept with Lauren.

  They had called his work and cell numbers and a deputy had stopped by his apartment. No sign of Adam.

  He’d also heard back from his team about the other individuals on Vasile’s list of coven members. Unlike Ruby, none of them had any direct connection with Lauren, and each one claimed to have an alibi for the night of her death.

  About mid-morning he got a call from Josiah.

  “Chief. You won’t believe this.”

  “Try me,” Brandon said.

  “I’ve been talking to every hardware store from here to Sequim.”

  “The spray paint?”

  “Will checked around town, but he said if I was bored I could snoop around Port Angeles,” Josiah said. Brandon chuckled. Will, the old timer, had gotten Josiah to help him investigate the graffiti—an assignment Brandon had given Will.

  “And?”

  “I found a place up in PA. They’d sold about five cans over the past month. Two of them were purchased by the same person. I even went up and verified it, checked their video to confirm the most recent one.”

  “Good work, Josiah. But get to the point. Who bought the paint?”

  “Justin Tate.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “It’s on video. And he used a debit card. Pretty stupid.”

  “Indeed. And great work on this. Pick him up. Go with backup.” Brandon searched through the case file until he found the address where Justin and Brooke were staying.

  Justin Tate, the kid who denied any interest in vampire lore, was potentially the one who’d painted the ankh—and the warning about more murders.

  Brandon read the address to Josiah.

  “Question,” Brandon said. “Was Justin alone in the video from the hardware store?”

  “Just him.”

  “Got it.”

  Justin had motive—he didn’t want Brooke to discover his affair with Lauren. Now, it appeared he was the one behind the recent bout of graffiti.

  And the bite mark on Lauren’s neck was clearly done by someone interested in the vampire subculture. Or at least trying to hide behind the veil of suspicion the bite—and the graffiti—would create.

  The most recent graffiti had included the warning, More Will Die. What reason would Justin have to paint those words if he wasn’t the killer?

  Half-an-hour later, Josiah called back.

  “He’s not there.”

  “What about the girl?”

  “Brooke was there with her aunt. They both said Justin went out last night and never came back.”

  Why run now? Had Justin committed another murder?

  “Now what?” Josiah asked.

  “Send out an ABP. Is his truck missing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. At least we know what he’s driving.”

  Now he had two suspects missing. Adam and Justin. Both men had slept with Lauren the night she was murdered. Both men had motive. And one of them—Justin—had sent a message to Forks that Lauren’s murder wasn’t the last.

  Chapter 30

  Early that afternoon, Brandon received notice that they’d found Justin’s truck a few miles outside of town. He’d been headed north on Highway 101, away from Forks. A quick scan of the area revealed Justin’s body, hanging from a homemade noose tied to the lower branch of a big leaf maple.

  Nolan had been the one to find the body.

  Brandon arrived just as Josiah pulled up behind him.

  “You call the coroner?” Brandon asked.

  “Not yet,” Nolan said. “Didn’t know if that’s what you wanted me to do?”

  It was basic procedure. Even Nolan should know that. Nolan’s passive aggressiveness better not have screwed up his crime scene.

  “Call her now.”

  Nolan left and Brandon studied the body from a distance. Justin’s feet were about four feet off the ground. His arms were unbound, his head tilted to the right, held in place by the rope that led to a branch less than a foot above.

  Long brown dreadlocks covered his lifeless eyes.

  “You think he did this because he felt guilty about killing the girl?” Josiah asked.

  “No,” Brandon said.

  “Then why?”

  “Don’t assume that the obvious answer is the right one.”

  “Someone killed him?”

  Brandon edged to the left, keeping his distance from the body.

  “There,” Brandon said, pointing at a deep laceration just behind Justin’s right ear. The blood had spilled down his neck and onto the back of his t-shirt.

  Nolan returned. “Coroner’s on the way.” Then, noticing what Brandon and Justin were looking at, “Damn. Who did that?”

  “Good question,” Brandon said.

  “Hey,” Nolan said. “Check this out.”

  He strode over to a clump of weeds not far from the tree.

  “A shovel.” He bent to pick it up.

  “Don’t,” Bra
ndon warned him. “I want the techs to get here and document everything.”

  Nolan stepped back carefully.

  “Who would want to kill him?” Josiah asked.

  Brandon updated both on the DNA evidence found on Lauren’s body.

  “Adam might have killed him for cheating with Lauren.” Josiah said.

  “Possible,” Brandon said.

  “That means he could have killed Lauren too.”

  “What about the woman?” Nolan said.

  “Brooke? Again, possible. Justin was her boyfriend, and Lauren was cheating with him.”

  “Not the girl,” Nolan said. “I meant old Ruby from the gas station. I heard she wanted Lauren dead…her friends too. Because they were going to turn her in.”

  Brandon gazed up at Justin’s body. Like Lauren, too young to die. His eyes narrowed as they caught on two puncture holes, just above the noose.

  He moved to the side for a better look.

  “Damn.”

  “What?” Nolan asked.

  “Another bite mark.”

  Josiah hooked his thumbs in his duty belt. “I bet it’s someone connected to that vampire cult.”

  Nolan nodded. “What about Ruby, she into that stuff?”

  Brandon’s better judgement told him not to mention what he’d learned about Ruby’s involvement with Vasile, because people would freak out and assume the worst. But he didn’t like hiding information from his officers.

  “There’s evidence she’s connected to a local vampire coven,” he said.

  “Like what, blood suckers?” Nolan asked.

  “Not necessarily. I had a talk with their leader. Ruby was on the list of names he gave me.”

  “See, this is what I’m saying,” Nolan said, pointing a finger at Brandon. “She’s our murderer. Ruby’s got motive—we already knew that. Now we find out she’s one of those vampire freaks—”

  “Just hold on,” Brandon said. “Let the crime scene techs do their work first, then we can decide what to do next. In the meantime, we need to talk to Adam and Brooke.”

  “And Ruby,” Nolan said.

  “Yes, and Ruby.”

  Brandon would wait for the coroner. He sent Josiah to check in again with Port Angeles for any sign of Adam. He told Nolan to go find Brooke and take her down to the station. Under no circumstances should he reveal anything about what had happened. Brandon hoped to gauge Brooke’s reaction to the news of Justin’s death.