The Bait

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The Bait Page 12

by Carol Ericson


  “Weird characters?” she asked.

  He responded that there was a user who had sent out a few private messages about committing murder and the rules you had to follow to avoid capture.

  Kyra stared at the blinking cursor. Rules? Both Cannon and Fisher had mentioned something about a rule before they’d died. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she asked Toby Dog why she in particular should be concerned about this member.

  His answer made her take another swig of wine. Apparently, this poster had multiple usernames, and Toby Dog thought she might be the same member under another name.

  She asked him why he’d think that.

  When his answer came, she rubbed her eyes and read it through again.

  Because one of the usernames he used was Laprey.

  Chapter Ten

  Jake finished reading the final report on the CCTV footage on the most recent dump site, just as Fiona put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher.

  He snapped his laptop closed and said, “That wasn’t so bad, was it? And don’t pretend your mother doesn’t make you do chores at home. She already filled me in.”

  “Was that when she was telling you to keep your new girlfriend away from me?” Fiona threw him a look that was half challenging, half fearful.

  His hands clenched, and then he took a deep breath through his nose, blowing it out through barely parted lips. “Does Kyra’s past really worry you? She killed a man in self-defense. She killed a man, not only to protect herself but a younger child in the home. Yeah, she’s no stranger to violence, but some kids don’t have it made—like you do.”

  Fiona had the self-awareness to look ashamed, or at least she’d dropped her bold gaze. “Actually, Mom’s the one who freaked out when I told her. I think it’s kind of badass.”

  “Language, please.” Jake folded his arms. “So, you are the one who told your mother. I thought it unlikely that she was reading the LA Confidential blog up in Monterey.”

  “Well, you’re both always telling me not to keep secrets.”

  Should he confront her with the Jazzy Noir page and wipe the smug smile off her face? His personal cell phone rang, saving him from making a decision. Even better, the call was from Kyra.

  “What’s up?”

  Fiona made a show of opening the refrigerator and studying its contents.

  “I made a discovery tonight.” Kyra sounded breathless, which made his pulse jump.

  “What kind of discovery?”

  “I think Laprey has been on Websleuths, and I think he may have been in touch with the copycats.”

  The blood rushed to his head, and he squeezed the phone. “How do you know this?”

  “Because I’ve been scrolling through Websleuths myself.”

  He should’ve known, but a thrumming excitement replaced any irritation he felt. “Start from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”

  He scribbled notes on a pad of paper as Kyra told him about using the name Laprey to create an account on Websleuths and the private messages she’d been exchanging with people on the site.

  When she finished, he asked, “What kind of rules was this person spouting off?”

  “He didn’t say, exactly. The whole thing spooked him, and he didn’t want anything to do with that poster.”

  “Did he tell you some of the other names this user had?”

  “LA Guy was one of them. Card Sharp was another. Get it? Card Sharp.”

  Jake got it. “We need to question this Toby Dog, Kyra, but don’t tell him anything. I don’t want to scare him off. He may not want to get involved. I’m going to have IT trace him and those usernames he mentioned. When we get in touch with Toby Dog, I want it to be a surprise.”

  “Jake, I’m sorry I went behind your back on Websleuths and then didn’t tell you.”

  “I thought we were past all that. You still don’t feel as if you can trust me?” His gaze shifted to Fiona, huddled over her phone, and he got up and sauntered to his window on the city.

  “I absolutely trust you. You know it’s my nature to be secretive. To hold back one little bit of myself.” She took a drink of something. “It’s a process.”

  If he couldn’t share her with his daughter, Kyra had every right to hold back. “I get it, but I’m glad you understand the importance of sharing those secrets when it could be someone’s life or death...maybe even yours.”

  “I may have messed things up, though. If Laprey is on Websleuths and he’s had contact with the copycats, he will have seen my username. He’ll understand that we must know about that site.” She smacked something, and he hoped it was a table and not herself. “I could’ve just ruined that option for you.”

  “Don’t worry about that now. I’m going to get Brandon working on tracing the IP address of Toby Dog tomorrow morning, so we can find out what he knows. In the meantime, stay off the site. Don’t delete your account, just in case the other Laprey gets the brilliant idea of contacting you.”

  “I promise. I’m done with Websleuths.”

  “Unless Laprey messages you. Then you’re going to respond to him.”

  “If he does that, I’ll contact you first.”

  Jake stared into the night and traced a finger across the glass. “More and more, I’m beginning to believe Laprey is connected to the copycats. I don’t know if he’s egging them on or if he’s also a killer. He knows about you, and that’s some kind of sick side game for him.”

  “I don’t like being someone’s sick side game, but I may have destroyed any chance to nail Laprey by diving in without thinking.”

  “Don’t keep beating yourself up. We’ll get him.” He ended the call and tapped his phone against his chin.

  Fiona cleared her throat behind him. “Can I have the rest of this ice cream?”

  “Go for it.”

  “Everything okay?”

  He turned toward his daughter as she reached into the freezer. Did she care? She typically didn’t ask him about his work, and Tess wouldn’t be too happy if he answered truthfully. “All good.”

  “Can I stay with Lyric this weekend?” She spooned some ice cream directly from the carton into her mouth.

  Jake sank down in front of his laptop again, ready to do more digging into Websleuths. “All weekend?”

  Waving the spoon in the air, she said, “I’d go out there Friday after school and come back on Sunday.”

  “I’ll call Mrs. Becker first.”

  “She already said it’s okay.”

  “Then everything should check out.”

  “Looks like you’re gonna work some more, so I’ll get that last set of algebra problems done.” She grabbed the laptop from the coffee table and swept upstairs.

  Jake stared after her. Fiona must’ve been desperate to get away from her mother, or the whole thing was a ruse so she could visit Lyric. She sure hadn’t come here for him.

  Maybe like a high school kid with his parents out of town, he could sneak a few nights with Kyra. It wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on Kyra right now. Laprey’s actions marked him as more than a merry prankster, and with every passing day he was getting closer to Kyra...and more threatening.

  * * *

  THE FOLLOWING DAY, Jake and Kyra crowded into Brandon Nguyen’s small office on the first floor of the station, where Brandon had four different monitors running, one of them displaying the Websleuths site.

  Sitting next to Brandon, Kyra jabbed her finger at the screen. “That’s him—Toby Dog. He’s the one who warned me about this other user.”

  “As I already established a rapport with the admins of this site, it shouldn’t be a problem for me to get the details on Toby Dog and track him down through his IP address. If they want a warrant...?” Brandon cranked his head over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at Jake.

  “Let me know. I’ll be in an
d out of the station, so text or call when you have something.” As Jake squeezed out of the office, his phone rang and he plunged his hand in his pocket to grab it.

  “J-Mac, it’s LaTonya in Dispatch. Call just came in for a dead body out in Topanga Canyon.” She lowered her voice. “I can tell you right now from the details I heard, it’s Copycat Three.”

  “I appreciate the heads-up, LaTonya. I’m sure it’s going to be maximum activity up at the task force.” Jake pocketed the phone and told a waiting Kyra and Brandon the news. “Another body.”

  “Just gave me even more incentive.” Brandon swiveled his chair back to one of his computers and started tapping the keyboard.

  As they walked upstairs, Kyra said, “I’m going to follow you and Billy over. Can you text me the location when you get it?”

  “I will.”

  Ten minutes later, Jake and Billy were hauling tail to the dump site in Topanga. Jake didn’t bother checking the rearview mirror to see if Kyra was following them—she had as much riding on this case as anyone.

  When they arrived, the LA County Sheriff’s Department had cordoned off the area, and two deputies were talking to a couple with a dog prancing around their feet.

  Jake nodded toward the scene. “Couple out hiking with their dog, and the dog made a gruesome discovery.”

  Billy had the door open before Jake even stopped the vehicle. He called back over his shoulder. “Let’s see if he took the bait from LA Confidential.”

  Jake parked the car and strode up to the deputy and the couple.

  Deputy Vega introduced himself and the couple. “This is Timothy Beauchamp and Skye Duncan. They were hiking and the dog found the body.”

  The young, bearded man slung his arm around the woman and said, “We didn’t see a thing from the trail, although I guess if we were looking that way we could’ve. Gus, our dog, took off running. We thought he’d spotted a squirrel or something, but when he wouldn’t come back to us, I went over to take a look. Sh-she had...”

  Skye crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders. “We had to drag him away by the collar and snap on his leash. I—I hope Gus didn’t disturb the crime scene or anything.”

  “Why do you say that?” Jake looked past their shoulders at Billy, who was coming out of the trees, shaking his head.

  Timothy said, “He had something in his mouth when I grabbed him. Maybe it was just some trash or something.”

  Jake studied the ground at their feet, the dog still panting and straining against his leash. Jake scratched Gus behind the ears. “Did he drop it or eat it?”

  “He must’ve dropped it.” Timothy turned in a circle, his hiking books crunching the twigs and leaves on the ground. “I don’t see it, and I don’t think he’d eat anything that wasn’t food.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll have a look.” Jake turned to the deputy. “Can you finish taking their statement? And I need you two to stick around.”

  Skye tugged at Gus’s leash. “Can we walk away from here a little so Gus will settle down?”

  “Sure.” Jake patted the dog’s head. “Good boy, Gus.”

  He tromped down the trail in his wingtips to meet Billy, stationed beneath a big maple tree, its leaves just starting to change color. “What’s wrong? Not Copycat Three?”

  “Oh, it’s our boy, all right—queen of clubs in the mouth, severed finger and missing underwear.”

  “Then why the shaking head?”

  “He didn’t leave a communication for you. He didn’t take the bait.”

  Jake glanced back toward Gus, who was barking as Skye led him down the trail. “Maybe he did. The dog got to the body first and took something away from the scene.”

  “Just great.” Billy pointed up toward a ridge. “There’s a road up there. I think he dumped the body from up there, climbed down and set the scene. No way he hiked in here with a body slung over his shoulder.”

  “Good call. We’ll take a look at the road for any evidence. Strangulation?”

  “Looks like it to me. I’m wondering how he’s getting these women to come with him. No sign of drugging like with Jordy.” Billy brushed a twig from the shoulder of his jacket with his gloved hand.

  “The cars of Juliana and Carmella were found near clubs in Hollywood, unfortunately in lots with no cameras. He must be intercepting them outside the clubs. Both bodies showed high levels of alcohol. He’s taking advantage of their inebriation, probably not hard for him to maneuver them into his car. Strangles them there and dumps them.” Jake squeezed past Billy toward the body. “We need to get a few people at those clubs.”

  Jake yanked a pair of gloves from his pocket and pulled them on, flexing his fingers. He crouched beside the body of the young woman, her long brown hair neatly arranged over her shoulders. Textbook Copycat Three.

  He murmured, “How’d he get you to go with him?”

  “J-Mac! I got it!”

  Jake looked over his shoulder to take in Billy waving something white above his head. He rose to his feet and approached his giddy partner.

  Billy held out the crumpled, sticky envelope with Jake’s name on it. “The dog must’ve had it in his mouth. There’s a little drool and a little tear, but he didn’t rip it open or destroy it.”

  Jake pinched the envelope between two gloved fingers, his breath hitching in his throat. He flipped open the unsealed envelope and slid one finger inside to retrieve the single sheet of paper with the same block letters in ballpoint pen.

  He read it aloud to Billy. “‘I’m more than a copycat and you’re’—spelled Y-O-U-R—‘going to find out how much more. I have my own rules.’”

  Billy snorted. “At least we know not to look for a grammar stickler. Guess you touched a nerve naming him Copycat Three.”

  Jake tapped the edge of the envelope against his palm. “There’s that notion of rules again. The other two killers mentioned something about rules. Cannon was frantic about breaking rule number four. They’re definitely connected by something...or someone.”

  “I hope Copycat Three does start following his own rules, because the rules they’ve all been following so far have allowed them to kill several women—and that’s gotta stop.” Billy whipped a plastic bag from his pocket and held it open for Jake to drop the note inside.

  That was the last minute the two partners had to themselves as hordes of CSI personnel descended on the site. Jake conferred with the techs before setting them loose on the crime scene to collect, photograph and bag the evidence.

  Jake wandered back to the trail, which was clogged with more people, including lookie-loos and the press. His gaze tracked right to Kyra, her head together with Megan Wright’s from KTOP, her cameraman in tow. Kyra had probably given Megan the go-ahead, but the press was going to find out, anyway. The news station had people dedicated to listening to the radio calls of law enforcement.

  When Kyra saw him, he lifted his hand and pointed to his car. She gave Megan a quick word and made her way up the trail to meet him.

  He leaned against his vehicle, peeling off his gloves. “LaTonya was correct. It’s Copycat Three.”

  “No ID on the body?”

  “None, but they’ll fingerprint her, and Billy will go through the sad task of reviewing any missing women. It won’t be long before they identify her.” He shoved the gloves in his pocket. “He left me a note.”

  Kyra’s shoulders sagged as if she’d been holding her breath. “What did he say this time? Was he mad?”

  “Lashed out. Said he was more than a copycat and he’d show me.” Jake scratched his chin. “Mentioned rules.”

  “Rules? Again?” Kyra grabbed the strap of her purse and sucked in her bottom lip. “They’re all following rules from someone. They’re following rules from Laprey. They must be. It’s all originating from that website.”

  “It’s crazy, but if Copycat Three i
s ready to go off on his own, maybe that will give us more opportunity to stop him. Think about it. Jordy Lee Cannon broke a rule by knowing his victims, and Fisher left a fingerprint on that tape. If Copycat Three wants to forge out on his own, let him.”

  “Forge out from whom or what? It has to be Laprey directing these guys, but why?”

  “To create an army of serial killers.” He touched her arm. “I’m going to talk to the couple who called in the body and touch base with the CSIs.”

  “I’ll head back to station. Oh, and I got a text from Quinn. He wants to see us tonight. Can you make it, or do you need to be with Fiona?”

  “Fiona’s going to her friend’s place after school, which reminds me. I need to call the mom.” Jake pulled on another pair of gloves to ready himself for the crime scene. “Did Quinn text you before or after he heard about this third murder?”

  “It was before, so I’m sure he’s even more eager now to see us.”

  “So am I.”

  * * *

  KYRA DROVE TO the station with a million questions in her head. Who was giving these killers their marching orders? Was it someone too afraid to do the killing himself? Did he get off on the power while he protected himself? There would have to be some crime the police could charge him with. You couldn’t just run around and encourage people to commit murder, give them advice, egg them on.

  How would this mastermind know what rules to follow unless he had committed murder himself? Had he already committed murder? If Laprey was the one behind these killers, he most likely murdered Yolanda, the homeless woman, and Sean. He was a killer.

  When she got back to the Northeast Division, she had emails waiting for her from Juliana French’s mother and more support from her former clients. If only Jake’s ex-wife believed she was some kind of hero instead of some undesirable to be kept away from her daughter.

  Kyra kept an eye out for the surge of activity that would indicate members of the task force had returned from the crime scene. They’d go through all the familiar steps—trying to identify the murder victim, locating her car, her home, her friends, her family. Jordy Cannon had been a fool to break that rule about knowing the victim. Usually murder victims did know their killers, and once law enforcement cast a wide enough net, they usually caught their man...or woman.

 

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