Elusive Identities: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 1)

by Olivia Jaymes

  Pulling a sheet out paper out of the folder, Chris then handed it to her. The woman was pretty with long dark hair and delicate features.

  "Are you wanting the station to show her picture during the news? See what leads might come in?"

  Ella was sure that Galen would do that.

  "That would be great but that's not the important reason that I'm here."

  "What is the important reason?"

  Chris appeared to be having trouble finding the words for what he wanted to say. He opened his mouth and then closed it a few times before finally speaking.

  "Because you look just like her, Ms. Scott, and frankly, I was hoping you might be a relative."

  Chris Marks explained it to Ella but she still had questions. Several of them, as a matter of fact. She wasn't sure exactly where to start. Since she was extremely interested in the murder, she'd begin there.

  "This murder took place in late 1989?"

  "Not exactly," he answered patiently. He'd already said it but he didn't seem perturbed that she'd made him say it again. "That's when her body was found, or more precisely her skeletal remains. The coroner could only estimate how long Jane had been out there."

  "And they couldn't identify her because..."

  She didn't really want to say it.

  "Because her hands were cut off," Chris said somberly. "We're assuming that was deliberate to keep authorities from making any identification."

  "What about dental records?"

  "That really only works when you have a possible match. They did compare her to several missing persons but nothing came of it."

  This was the big question.

  "And you think that I look like her?"

  "I do," he replied with a nod, his expression still sober. "I think you look very much like Jane. So much so that I sought you out. Perhaps you have a missing member of your family?"

  Ella shook her head, her thoughts already racing. "I can't think of anyone. They're all accounted for. It's probably just a coincidence. I mean...this drawing looks like a lot of women if you think about it. Not just me."

  A corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. "It was worth a try. I don't suppose you could speak with your family? Ask them if anyone of your extended family has gone missing? Maybe there was someone before you were born?"

  She'd already silently decided to do that but she didn't want to raise this man's hopes. Her family was small and tight-knit. The chances of there being a missing woman in her family tree that her parents hadn't talked about all these years was remote.

  "I'm having dinner with them tonight. I'll ask them. But I don't think they're going to have a different answer than I will."

  "I appreciate you doing it then."

  "No problem."

  Standing, he hesitated as if unsure as to what to say next. "And thank you for talking to your boss about showing the drawing on the news. I'm hoping someone might recognize her or come forward with any details they might know."

  Hoping the same thing, Ella stood as well, still holding the drawing. "I really hope that we can help you with this. This case is so intriguing. I'll be honest with you, Chris, I'd like to cover this for the station if I can get my boss to okay it. Have you talked to any other reporters?"

  Chris shook his head. "I just started investigating this a few days ago and you're the first person I've spoken to."

  A rush of adrenaline ran through Ella. She was finally getting a chance to be first up at the plate.

  Placing the drawing on her desk, she pointed to the accordion file he'd tucked under his arm. "I don't suppose I could get a copy of that file?"

  So much for being optimistic. Chris Marks frowned, his gaze going to the file folder and then back to her. "I don't think so."

  "I need the story so we can report it when we show her picture."

  "I gave you the pertinent details and you wrote them down."

  Yes, she had but she'd bet money there was more in that file.

  "Listen, I can help you with this case. Reporters can get into places that other people can't, plus we have a great computer research team."

  His smile slowly widened, showing off a dimple in his right cheek. He found her amusing. "I don't think I need any help."

  "Everyone can use help."

  He regarded her steadily. "Have you ever investigated a murder, Ella?"

  "Well...no."

  "Have you ever covered a murder story?"

  Shit.

  "No."

  This time her reply came out short and terse. She was getting nowhere with him.

  "Then I'm not sure how you could help me other than publicizing Jane's picture."

  She wanted to cover this murder. Hell, she needed this.

  "I'd really like to do a story about this case, Chris."

  "I'm not stopping you," he said. "When I identify Jane, you can report on it."

  Ella's gaze turned back to the drawing, the soft brown eyes looking right back at her.

  Maybe we look alike. Sort of. Either way, I want to help this woman find a name. And maybe some justice.

  "This case could make you famous, Chris. You'd be a hero."

  She didn't know which part of her statement pissed him off but he went stiff, his smile disappearing and turning into a grim line.

  "That's not why I do this job. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other appointments."

  Turning on his heel, he strode toward the newsroom door. Dammit. He was leaving.

  "Wait," she called, running to keep up with his long legs. "Listen, I'm sorry. Whatever I said that upset you, I'm really sorry. I'm just excited about this case. It's the most interesting thing I've heard about in a long time."

  She was about out of breath when he finally stopped in the hallway.

  Damn, I need to start working out again.

  "I'm grateful that you're going to run Jane's picture but I'm not looking to make a name for myself or get any sort of publicity in that way. I just want to identify her and find the person that did this."

  Fine. If Ella wanted to pursue any sort of investigation it looked like she was on her own.

  "Okay, is there anywhere I can get a hold of you and let you know when we're going to run the picture?"

  Reaching into the breast pocket of his light blue button down shirt, he handed her a plain white business card with black lettering.

  Chris Marks

  Law Enforcement Consultant

  JLJ Consulting, Inc.

  Serials and Stalkers Division

  "You can use that phone number twenty-four hours a day. Thank you, Ella. Now I really do need to go."

  Without another word, he turned and walked briskly down the hall before turning the corner and disappearing out of sight. She lifted the card and read it again. JLJ Consulting? Who were they? What were they?

  Time to be a reporter and get some answers.

  Chris was combing through missing persons reports when Knox plopped himself down on a chair, sliding two cans of soda on the desk.

  "I brought you a drink. You've had your head down all day."

  Biting back a caustic retort, Chris instead reminded himself that they were supposed to be working together. They didn't have to be friends but they did have to get along.

  "Missing persons reports from 1989." Chris reached for a soda and popped it open. "What have you been working on?"

  "Jared and I were researching crimes with the same MO as my serial."

  "You don't know for sure that it's a serial."

  "True, but there's something about the case. What about you? Do you think Jane was killed by a serial?"

  Did he? It was a possibility but he didn't want to make that call yet.

  "After looking through the file again, I think it's more likely it was personal," he said. "But honestly, it's too early to tell."

  "So did you meet her?" Knox asked, changing the subject. "Is she a lead in the case?"

  It took a second for Chris to realize who she was. Gabriella Scott. />
  "I don't think so. She says she doesn't have any missing relatives. She's going to get the station manager to show the picture on television, though. That might bring in some leads worth following."

  "Too bad. It would have been sweet if she'd been the clue to crack the case. After all these years and you just watch the news and solve it."

  Tensing, Chris waited for a remark about his father's prowess as a lawman but Knox didn't go there. This time. He would, though. Eventually.

  "That would have been nice but it's not going to happen like that. I'll have to actually work to solve this one."

  Knox grinned. "And I'll be there to help you."

  An image of Gabriella Scott floated through Chris's brain. She'd been eager, but he didn't need a rookie's help with this investigation.

  "The reporter wanted to cover the case. Follow us around, I guess, and see what we do, then do a story on it."

  "What did you tell her?"

  "I told her no, of course. She's never even covered a murder." Chris chuckled softly. "She said that she could get into places that I couldn't. She even touted their computer research team as something we needed."

  Knox threw back his head and laughed. "The little lady doesn't realize that we have our very own hacker. We could have her panty size and credit score in less than a minute."

  "I didn't say that to her. I just told her no thanks."

  "Technically, you can't stop her from covering this story. She can do whatever she wants."

  Chris had a feeling that Ella Scott wasn't going to give up, either. She'd had a determined glint in her eye this morning. There was something about her... She was gutsy, but it was more than that. Maybe it was the curiosity he saw when he'd explained the case. It was the same inside of himself. The need for answers.

  "That's true but she might not know that."

  But he had a funny feeling that she did. He hadn't seen the last of Ella Scott.

  Lujack, the station's research guru, handed her a small stack of paper. "There's not much out there on the consulting firm. It was when I dug into the owners that make up JLJ that's when it got really damn interesting. These guys are the real deal. The L stands for Logan Wright. You may remember his name in the newspapers not long ago. He was the one that shot and killed Wade Bryson."

  "Wade Bryson?" Ella repeated, remembering back to that story. It had been big and dramatic with lots of coverage. Of course, she'd been covering a fishing tournament that weekend. "The cold-blooded serial killer? Wait...the man that shot him was the one that put him behind bars in the first place."

  If Ella remembered correctly, Bryson had tried to kill Wright a few times.

  "The two Js in the name stand for Jason Anderson and Jared Monroe. Anderson is former DEA. He was held prisoner by a drug cartel for months and managed to escape. That's no small feat. He also broke open a double murder cold case. Jared Monroe is no slouch, either. He's put some major bad guys behind bars but keeps a low profile. They all do, actually. I had to really dig for all of this information."

  "That's...impressive."

  She'd had no idea.

  Lujack was grinning and nodding. "It gets better. That guy that came to see you this morning? He's the son of Tanner Marks, who put a different drug syndicate out of business about eight years ago and was also involved in the apprehension of Bryson. He worked with Anderson on that drug bust. He also helped put a major weapons dealer behind bars. I could go on and on about these guys. Every one of them has a long record of being a total badass."

  Chris hadn't looked big and scary but he'd certainly been serious about his job.

  "So what's a law enforcement consulting company? What do they do?"

  "According to the website, they can be hired out by small communities who may not have the resources or expertise for murder investigations and the like."

  Chris worked in the serials and stalkers division. Had Jane been killed by a serial or a stalker?

  "Thanks, Lujack. I wanted to make sure that he was who he said he was."

  "If whatever he's working on doesn't pan out, Ella, you might want to interview him and his employers. I bet they've got some great stories."

  They probably did but right now there was only one story Ella was interested in.

  Jane Doe.

  7

  Ella couldn't wait to tell her parents all about the case she was working on. It was official now. She'd had a short, terse conversation with Galen next to the coffeemaker where she'd had to corner him. She wanted him to say that he was okay with her spending time on the case but she'd told him she would do it anyway if he said no. She'd take some of the gazillion vacation days she had saved up to do it. He'd looked like he'd wanted to argue with her but he'd simply shrugged and said fine.

  "Keep me in the loop."

  Those were the words he'd thrown over his shoulder as he and his full coffee cup walked back into his office. That meant an email every couple of days, right? That sounded reasonable. Covering dog shows and charity bake sales didn't require keeping Galen updated. He usually acted like he didn’t want to talk to her anyway.

  Once a week Ella made sure to have dinner with her parents, Will and Dana Scott. She wished it could be more but work was always crazy and she never seemed to have enough free time. Her parents, both real estate lawyers, weren't exactly sitting around doing nothing either, although Dana constantly said that they needed to slow down now that they were over fifty-five. Will, on the other hand, was a bonafide workaholic and he frequently said he wanted to work until he dropped.

  Dropping her handbag onto the foyer table, Ella rushed into the kitchen where her mom and dad were preparing dinner - spaghetti and meatballs. The smell of tomatoes and garlic hung in the air and Ella sniffed the aroma with appreciation.

  Yum. One of my favorites.

  "How's my little girl?" Will asked, looking up from a huge pot of sauce he was stirring. "Did you have a good day, honey?"

  Dana had been spreading garlic butter on thick slices of bread but she immediately stopped to pour Ella a glass of merlot. "Let the poor girl sit down and take a breath before you pepper her with questions. She probably came straight from work."

  "Weren't you covering a dog show this week?" Ella's father asked. "I saw some pictures in the paper."

  Laughing, Dana handed Ella the glass of wine. "She hasn't answered the first two questions yet."

  Everyone knew that Will Scott loved to talk and he loved asking questions even more.

  Taking a sip of her red wine, Ella sat down at the kitchen island. "I'll get to all three. I'm fine. I did have a good day. And yes, I was covering the dog show but now I have a brand-new story I'm very excited about."

  Dana slipped the tray of garlic bread under the broiler. "Let's dish up this meal and you can tell us all about it."

  When it was just the three of them they didn't eat in the dining room. They sat around the large island in the center of the kitchen with the food plopped in the middle where they could all reach it if they wanted seconds.

  "So tell us about your new story," Will urged. "What's it about?"

  Ella's smile widened and she placed her fork on the edge of her plate. "A cold case murder."

  Dana's eyes widened. "A murder? Since when do you cover crime?"

  "Since now," Ella replied smugly. "I convinced Galen to let me investigate this story. It's fascinating."

  "How did you even find out about it, honey?" Will asked. "Was this in the news recently?"

  "It will be tonight, I believe. They have an artist's rendering of the Jane Doe and they're trying to get leads."

  "Jane Doe?" Dana repeated. "I'm not following. Do they not know who the victim is?"

  "I think I got ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning."

  Starting from Chris's visit, Ella explained all about the murder and Jane, what Chris was going to do to try and identify Jane, and then hopefully find the killer. By the time she was done, Dana and Will were pale and they'd abandoned
their meal. They exchanged a worried glance that Ella didn't know how to interpret.

  This wasn't a bad thing, it was good. She was finally getting a story that she could sink her teeth into. Work she could be proud of. It wasn't that she was ashamed to cover small local human interest stories but that wasn't the kind of journalism she'd dreamed of doing back in college. She'd wanted to be Woodward and Bernstein, or something close.

  "So tomorrow I'm going to interview the detective that worked the case," Ella finished, picking up her fork again. Frankly, she'd hoped for more enthusiasm from her parents. "I'm also trying to get in touch with the man that found Jane."

  "You can't do this," her mother said, her voice choked. "You can't."

  Ah, I get it now. They're worried for me.

  "Mom, you don't need to be worried about me. It's all fine. It's not dangerous. The murder was thirty years ago."

  Dana raised a visibly shaking hand to her cheek. "You can't do this. Will, tell her she can't do this."

  Her husband, however, had taken to hanging his head, his eyes closed. Ella watched as her usually smiling and jovial father whispered something that she couldn't hear, then raised his head and reached for his wife's hand.

  "We have to tell her, sweetheart. It's long past time."

  Beginning to understand that there was far more going on here than she was aware, a shiver ran down Ella's spine and her heart shifted into a higher gear.

  Fear. She felt afraid and it was because her parents looked absolutely terrified. Like they'd seen the boogeyman or a machete-toting killer from the movies. She'd never seen her parents look like this before and it scared her.

  "What do you need to tell me?"

  The Adam's apple in Will's throat bobbed and he glanced at Dana once more before he spoke.

  "This Jane Doe," he said, his voice low and strained. "She–she could be a relative, Gabriella. It's possible."

  They'd lied. Dana and Will Scott had been lying to Ella her entire life. They'd sworn up and down it was to protect her but that was just bullshit. Right now, all she could see was that they'd done it to make life easier for themselves. So Ella would never ask them any of the hard questions.