by Ali Vali
“Are you sure?” her mother Gail had asked, reaching for her hand and trying to sound as if she cared anything about her life and what she did. Her fake sympathy was insulting. Gail’s concern should’ve come years earlier, but she’d been too busy with the martinis at the club and her wardrobe.
She stood in the doorway of her small galley kitchen and smiled at her father concentrating over the omelet he was making. This was as undone as anyone got to see him, with his hair mussed and wearing nothing but his boxers. Brian was the man she’d been trying to find all her life, and until she did, she’d stick to women. Her life was less complicated that way.
“Did you get them?” Brian asked without looking at her.
“What happened last night put Jernigan in a lockdown mood, so no. The officers have some bumps and scrapes, but nothing else is coming,” she said, moving close and hugging him from behind. “At least not yet. I’m going to give my guy a few days and then really lean into him for the rest of what we need.”
“Jernigan’s also got two fallen officers, so it’s understandable that he doesn’t want anything getting out that would compromise his investigation. You’ll have to work around it because things won’t change until they have someone in cuffs.” Brian grabbed two plates and placed a half in each. “There’s always a way around everything, so don’t worry too much.”
“You always taught us that, so I’m more annoyed than upset. Let’s eat and get to work.”
“Are you sure you’re up to it? It’s been a whirlwind week, and it’s easy to lose focus.”
“Excitement is the main ingredient of any good book. These new developments will only enhance the story.” She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, leaning back to look him in the eye and loving the way he gazed at her. “I know your feelings about the good guys versus the bad guys, but in this case you have to heap the imagination and praise on Alex Perlis.” She kissed him again when he took a deep breath to protest. “Savoie solving the case was admirable, but you have to give it to Perlis for not making it easy, not to mention interesting.”
“So did Charles Manson, but he doesn’t deserve any more praise than this asshole. He was caught, and that’s all you need to know.”
“If the killer stays free, then you’d change your mind?”
He finally raised his head and studied her, not seeming to completely understand her attitude. “Maybe, but the crime would have to be something worthy of admiration.”
“Then this might be the one to do just that.”
* * *
“Yes, sir. Last night didn’t end well, but before that, we might’ve made some progress,” Sept said as she, Nathan, and her father sat in Jernigan’s office.
Fritz sat behind the biggest desk in the department and steepled his fingers under his chin. “Tell me this will lead somewhere.”
“One thing these crimes all have in common, even when Perlis was committing them, is the order and obvious planning,” she said, knowing she had his full attention. “The victims at times might have been opportunistic, but how they were killed and why were never random.”
“He’s never talked to us, but we have got the transcript of your conversation with him the night you brought him in, backed up by your partner as to its accuracy,” Sebastian said.
“And from that talk you got the sense he was a planner?” Fritz asked, spreading his hands out. “Perlis, I mean. He’s fucking crazy, but I don’t know about a master planner.”
“Yes, sir. You have to take it all into consideration. Perlis killed not for the pleasure, but to offer sacrifices. Now we know from the evidence we’ve collected, he was trying in some bizarre way to get his wife and son back. That does make him crazy, but the way he carried out each murder was not.”
The sigh Fritz let out meant he was getting frustrated, she guessed. “What’s all this got to do with someone we’re getting ready to fry in court?”
“The crimes have the same planning and order in common, but I seriously doubt our killer has the same motives as Perlis. It’s in a way a copycat scenario, but that’s where the similarity ends.” It helped to lay it all out, even if Fritz seemed to be getting agitated. “So last night becomes important when you take it in context.”
“I’m sure eventually you’ll tell me why you think so,” Fritz said but smiled as if to blunt his push.
“The perpetrator first killed Crazy Nick, who we were looking for, and obviously he knew the killer’s identity. To cover his tracks, he blew the car with Nick inside. Sometime during the same day, Roger Breaux, our first victim’s boyfriend, was killed and dumped in the park. Later that night we know he drove Lee Cenac to the house where Perlis brought Erica. The murder included a Santeria altar, and the items left were all planned,” she said, glancing at Nathan. It was time for him to learn to speak up.
“But then he abandoned the plan and all the order,” Nathan said. “Two teenagers came up to what they thought was a great opportunity. They found a car with the keys in it and were about to go for a joy ride.”
“That’s what you think happened to them?” Fritz said.
“Both of them were by the car, and if the killer had stayed in the yard, the only thing lost was a ride out of there,” she said, and Fritz leaned in.
“So he went looking for trouble after killing Cenac?” Fritz asked, rubbing his chin.
“I didn’t say it’s a he,” she said, and he placed his hands flat on the table.
“No way this is a woman,” Fritz said, and sounded adamant.
“Nathan, show him the video,” she said, and walked him through it. Lourdes had reviewed the rest of the video feed for the entire day of the bombing, and whoever had walked to the other lot to steal the car had also driven the old car found where the bomb had gone off. “Crazy Nick drove in the other old sedan parked in the area where the bomb did the most damage.”
“You sure this is a woman?” Fritz said, pulling the laptop closer.
“It would explain the drag marks at each scene. We need to talk to Gavin again, and if my hunch is right, it’ll explain how the victims are led to the altars. Perlis carried the women to his altars, but this guy doesn’t have enough brute strength.” That theory had been on her mind since seeing the flattened grass at Lee’s scene and with the two police officers after Bonnie Matherne’s scene.
“If you’re right about what?” Sebastian asked.
“The victim has to be unconscious for the perpetrator to torture and kill her in that way. If we can find out what this woman is using and it’s not something anyone can buy on the street, then we can narrow down where and who she got it from.” If it was some kind of controlled pharmaceutical, a hoodie and sunglasses would never be acceptable at point of purchase. She would have had to show her face.
“How did this guy know all the particulars of these crimes?” Sebastian asked, and she didn’t know.
“I need more time to answer that question, sir. That’s one thing I can’t guess about,” she said. Suspicion usually got you somewhere, but speculation without proof wasn’t a smart move in front of her bosses.
“Sept, I’ve got two dead cops. You remember that, don’t you?” Fritz asked the question like she’d just come out of a coma and didn’t know what was going on around her.
“Yes, sir. That has been on my mind since it happened, and I realize the need to solve those cases is paramount,” she said, meaning that with her entire being. She wanted to avenge whoever had killed the new father. Both men had children, but one had a six-week-old daughter when he’d been murdered.
“I’ve got to stand in front of the cameras and have whoever’s listening believe this city is safe,” Fritz said, and she and Nathan nodded. “Get back out there and find this bitch, if it is a woman. At this point I don’t care if it’s a talented monkey—I want them in cuffs or in a body bag. We understand each other?”
“Yes, sir, perfectly,” she said as she stood and shook his hand. Nathan did the same, and she smiled at her fat
her on the way out.
“Where to, partner?” Nathan asked.
“Let’s go see George, and then we’ll go to the coroner’s office. We’ve got too many hunches and not enough evidence.” She slowed before they walked out of the building and grabbed Nathan by the arm and pulled him to a stop.
Nicole and Brian Voles were on their way in, and he had what appeared to be the same file under his arm as when they took him to the first murder scene. It was obvious Nicole had done research for her book, but she was curious if Brian’s file contained Nicole’s outline of the crimes, or her and Nathan’s notes, which were not public. If it was a copy of the official case file, she was going to burn Nicole and whoever had shared it with her.
“Think they’re back to give us more shit?” Nathan asked as they stayed out of sight.
“I think they’re here to fish and to gloat. At least that’s going to be Nicole’s job.”
Nathan turned his head and stared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That bitch kissed Keegan last night, so your job until she leaves town is to keep me from causing her any physical harm. If I get suspended, then I do, but if the opportunity presents itself, I’d appreciate it if you lost your eyesight for a few minutes,” she said as Nicole and Brian sat down.
“If you get suspended, I’m going to be off with you,” he said, bumping shoulders with her. “I’m planning to get a few shots in myself.”
“Thanks, partner.”
“You’re my family, Sept, which means Keegan’s my family too. No one messes with that while I sit back and let it happen.”
“Keegan was right. You’re a keeper, Nathan,” she said as she texted her father and warned him what was waiting for him and Fritz in the lobby. “Come on. Let’s go out the side. I don’t have my temper under control just yet, and this place is crawling with witnesses if I go postal on that bitch.”
They ran into a few people they knew before they got outside, but mostly it was the folks Fritz had working on the fallen officers’ case. The ride to George’s was quick, but the parking lot was full when they arrived, so Nathan parked on the street a block away. It was too beautiful a day to be thinking of all the gruesome shit they were about to see, but that was their fate for the foreseeable future.
“Who you dating these days?” she asked, realizing she very seldom if ever asked Nathan anything personal. While they were on desk duty, she’d found out he was an only child to parents who really wanted him to become a doctor, but Nathan had never outgrown his cops-and-robbers phase.
“Judy Rollings,” he said, smiling. “She’s a beat cop in the Bywater. While we were on desk duty she came in a few times, and I worked up the courage to finally ask her out.”
“Why don’t you invite her to dinner one night at Blanchard’s? I’ll check with Keegan on a good time, but if we can swing it tonight, let’s do that.”
“Really? Judy would love that, and it’ll score me some points,” he said, punching her arm.
“You know my girl loves to cook, and the chef’s table in the kitchen is a treat. That’s especially true if someone sends their food back a bunch of times.” She laughed at those memories. It was the only time Keegan had proved how well she cursed.
“Let me know and we’ll be there.”
George was still running prints when they got upstairs, and Jennifer stood next to him taking notes on some stuff he had on the other screen. “Hey, do y’all have time for a run-through of what you have?”
“We’ve been waiting for you,” Jennifer said as George got up.
“Once you get your briefing, we’ll head downtown to bring Jernigan up to speed,” George said. “First, the prints we found on the scrap of paper were from two different people. One’s in the system and the other one is unknown.”
“You’re starting with bad news? You’re killing me, Uncle George,” she said, and George smiled.
“One print belongs to Nicholas Newton,” George said.
“AKA Crazy Nick.” Jennifer frowned. “We don’t have a hit on the other one yet, but we’re still trying.”
“Bad news bit number one,” she said, and Nathan shook his head. “What else do you have that’ll totally ruin my day?”
“The note was clean, as usual, but like the first one, it was handwritten. Not that this helps us in any way, but maybe once we have someone in custody, we can compare handwriting.” George handed them a copy but left the original on the table.
We offer up a prayer to Ochosi,
The great god who has mastered the art of tracking and killing its prey.
Stop fighting and searching for what you’ll never find.
Surrender and I’ll gift you with a quick death.
It’s your only way out.
You can’t protect your own, and I will take them one by one.
There can only be one warrior.
“That’s quite the option.” Sept reread it for the fifth time. “But I’m not much on surrender,” she said, and George put his hand on her shoulder.
“The car was the same dead end,” Jennifer said. “We checked like you wanted, and Lee Cenac was in the front passenger side. Nothing from the interior indicates a struggle of any kind.”
“I hate to ask you to go over it again, but check the car one more time for any sign of a narcotic or other medicine that would knock someone out.” She placed a copy of the scrap of paper they’d recovered and the note side by side, but it was clearly not the same handwriting. “Was Roger Breaux, Bonnie’s boyfriend, in the trunk or in the back seat?”
“Back seat,” George said. “We lifted prints from the back and found your missing witness. You might’ve needed to talk to Breaux, but the cops got plenty of chances before that.”
“Rap sheet?” Nathan asked.
“As long as your arm,” George said. “And that’s all we have. We’ll have more once I hear from the bomb squad and the feds’ bomb guys. It’s weird that someone would mix so many crimes together.”
“What was he picked up for?” Nathan asked.
“Mostly petty stuff like shoplifting and minor drug offenses,” Jennifer said.
“How did he get involved with someone who’s killed eight people in a considerably short period of time?” she asked. “He probably got more money than normal for Bonnie, but once she was murdered, he should’ve hit the road.”
“Unless the killer convinced him he was an accessory,” Nathan said.
She nodded. “Or the money was too good to pass up, and after all, Bonnie was already dead.”
“Chloe is always saying that money or sex makes people lose their minds,” Jennifer commented, and Sept nodded again.
“See if there’s anything else in the car. Tear it apart if you have to.” She reread the note. “We’ll meet you at the impound warehouse, but I need to talk to Gavin first.”
“It’s on Broad, along with the cars involved in the bombing at the Hilton,” George said, and she and Nathan stared at each other. “Call the bomb squad and make sure you include the feds. Do it now,” she shouted. George got on the phone and started making calls, so she called her father and asked who was closest to the warehouse. “Make sure all they do is clear the scene, and don’t go near the car. I was wrong about the two kids and why they were killed.”
“What are you talking about?” Sebastian said.
“Not now, Dad. Make the calls, and I’ll meet you there. Get everyone out of the building, and I’m serious about doing it now.”
George shouldered a bag as he barked into the phone. The entire lab staff seemed to be on alert, and they were all going to the same spot. “Everyone who knows anything about bombs is on their way over there, so tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Let’s get over there, and I’ll give you my theory. If I’m right, we don’t have much time.”
Nathan concentrated on the drive and made it across town in less than twenty minutes. The alphabet of agencies was present as they pulled up, and she was su
rprised to see Anabel Hicks at the front of the perimeter they’d set up. At least the building was still in one piece, and every person who was stationed there was safely on the street.
“Hey, Sept,” Anabel said. “They’re ready to go in, so you want to give us a rundown on what you’re thinking.”
Sebastian and Fritz joined them and pointed to the tent that had been set up. “Let’s move in there, so no one from the media takes off with this more than they will already,” Fritz said.
“What’s going on?” Anabel asked once they were all inside.
“There’s a bomb attached to the car we towed from the scene last night. I just don’t know where,” she said, and they all stared at her like they wanted more.
“Is this another attempt to kill more cops?” Fritz asked.
“No, sir,” she said and stopped when the combined bomb specialists entered the building.
It took over fifteen minutes before one guy came out and reported they’d found a device close to a full gas tank. “We set up electronic blockers to keep whoever set it from detonating it,” the FBI agent said. “Good call, Detective.”
“How’d you know?” Anabel asked.
“I didn’t until George mentioned what other cars were housed here, and then it hit me. Perlis was able to keep killing because he and George, along with their team, worked the scenes. He could clean up and collect any mistakes or missed evidence he left behind before it made it back to the lab. We have no evidence he ever did that because he was talented at leaving a clean scene.”
“At least he was good at something, the bastard,” George said.
“True,” she said, giving George a sympathetic smile. “Whoever has taken up where Perlis left off found a way to do the same thing, even though they’re not part of the department. Think about it.”
“You’re right,” Nathan said. “The room where you got hurt was to cover up Bonnie’s kidnapping, the Hilton was to cover up Crazy Nick’s murder, but the ones from last night don’t make sense.”