“Cord?” she asked.
“Yes, it appears to be the same in the other pictures, but since I didn’t get to examine victims one through three, I can’t be one hundred percent. Working off a picture puts me at a huge disadvantage.”
“Was she beat up like victim two?” she asked.
“No. From what I read in the reports, she matches the same wounds found on the first victim.”
That substantiated her beliefs.
Elizabeth let them in on what she suspected. It was time to get everyone on the same page.
“There’s a reason Mirel’s murder was more violent, and I’m willing to bet money on it.”
Chris was curious.
“Why?”
“I believe she knew him and let him into her home.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
She told him, and the rest of the team her suspicions. The angle of her body, the way she had a gun upstairs and was trying to reach it in the big old bear, and how she wasn’t in her pajamas but her workout gear.
“Wow,” Tony said. “The police missed it.”
She wasn’t shocked.
That brought her to the mob part of this.
“People see what they want to see. I see the facts and use them. We are dealing with a police department that has some serious issues. The mob has rats on the squad, and they’ve been trying to stonewall me. I just have to figure out why.”
They knew she would.
Elizabeth was tenacious.
“Was she sexually assaulted too?” Elizabeth asked as she took a bite of her lunch.
“You’d be one hundred percent correct. It was violent, and there was sodomy. He wasn’t gentle.”
That made her mad.
No one had any right to force their will on someone.
NO ONE.
“Is the rape escalating?” she asked. It was part of the profile she was working on in her head.
If it was escalating, that meant the killer was losing control.
“Yes. With victim one, it was just rape. On victim four, we have rape and sodomy. Someone is losing control.”
Yeah, that usually happened.
“Please tell me he left some sperm, a pubic hair, or something behind,” she stated.
And this was the part she was going to hate.
Chris shook his head.
“NOTHING.”
“How is that possible?” she asked, “How is it possible to not leave anything behind? I’m sitting by you and you have three of my hairs on your shirt right now.”
Oh, he didn’t get them from sitting by her.
He was pretty sure it was the physical contact.
“He’s likely shaved and keeps his hair short. I once had a case where the killer did a full waxing. All that was left was the hair on his head.”
Well, that sucked.
“He’s likely using a condom. Most men suit up before sex, and killers almost always do anymore. With DNA becoming more and more popular to solve murders, long gone is the chance of letting the sperm loose and still getting away with it.”
His hand touched her thigh, and it reminded her that they’d just partook in really hot sex, and he’d definitely left trace.
She flushed.
“Fingerprints?” Elizabeth asked, trying to stay focused, but she was pantiless, wet from the sex, and Chris was so damn close she could smell him.
“We’ve checked all the scenes. There are prints, but family, the victim, and that’s it. We had a bunch of smudges on doors and windows, but they aren’t readable.”
One of the techs raised their hand.
Well, raised their food.
“Agent, we did find one at Debbie’s home. The results just came in before we started eating. I haven’t updated the report yet.”
“Okay, and?”
“It belongs to her landlord. It’s on the door leading into the bedroom.”
Well, it was something.
She’d add him to the list.
“What’s his name?”
The tech flipped through the information.
“His name is Israel Shields. He’s forty, he’s been arrested before, and he has a history of violence. He’s got a rap sheet.”
“Noah?”
He was closest to the computer, so he pulled the man’s name up, and it appeared on the screen.
“He hates cops,” Noah stated.
“Yeah, he does,” Chris agreed, “so when you go to kick his ass, be careful, or I’ll get mad.”
Tony choked.
Elizabeth stared at him.
“Are you okay?”
“I pictured Chris getting mad. It was funny. I once saw him sternly tip below twenty percent in his anger. It was harsh.”
Even Chris laughed.
Yeah, she got it.
Chris rarely got upset, unless someone screwed with remains. The man was chill, and that worked because she was far from that.
Opposites attract.
That was for damn sure.
Elizabeth went back to the case.
“So, the killer crept into her room, caught her in the bed, raped, and then killed her?”
“Well… about that…”
She looked over at Chris.
That couldn’t be good. It never was when he said it that way.
“What?”
“There was no pink tissue at the site of the rape. So that means there was no blood flow during the act. She was already dead.”
Somehow, that made it a million times worse.
“Christ Almighty. Someone needs a come to Jesus talk about his bad behavior. Now he’s raping corpses? Well, hello, escalation.”
Yeah, that was bad.
“That says a lot about the cuckoo I’m chasing,” Elizabeth stated.
Alex, from his spot not far away, agreed.
“Maybe you should get a profile, Elizabeth. Maybe it will help.”
“Well, I would, but it’ll take time. If we look at the pattern of bodies, the first victim had two days before she was followed by a next victim. Same with three. Now we’re closing the gap. They are coming quicker. That means we have very little time to find this killer before another woman dies.”
He got it.
Odds were not in their favor.
“We’re going to have to go with my gut and let me profile this one. He’s going to be white, twenties to thirties, maybe up to forty, and he’s going to be a stalker. So he’s going to be patient.”
They all made notes.
“He’s acting like he can’t get caught, and that might be because the mob is all over this. He’s being ‘protected’, but I have no idea why. Is it someone who works for O’Banion, or is it someone who is just lucking out with all of this? The mob man hates cops too. He could just be riding us.”
“Uh, speaking of which,” Alex stated.
He pointed at the TV screen, and their leak of a reporter was on it.
Chris turned up the volume.
They all listened.
“Jesus Christ!” Chris stated. “You just painted a bull’s-eye on yourself! O’Banion is going to lose it.”
He stared at her, wanting to say so much, but he couldn’t. They weren’t alone.
She could tell he was upset.
“Think of it this way. I blame O’Banion, and if he comes at me, everyone will know why. He’s not stupid. He won’t take a shot right now. He’ll think it through.”
That was the ONLY thing keeping Chris from a stroke.
Gently, she squeezed his hand when no one was looking. It was the only way she could reassure him.
It was only a matter of time before her boss called—she knew it. Gabe was going to shit a brick.
“Thank you, Chris,” she offered, and she wasn’t talking about his autopsy report. She was talking about his willingness to have her back and trust her.
That trust was precious.
She knew what she was doing.
“Elizabeth, it’s my pleasure. Now
, on a different note, well, actually, it’s mob related. Noah and I have something, and we figured you might enjoy this.”
Well, that intrigued her.
“What?”
“The trace on the gun came back.”
She got downright giddy over that.
“Oh, if you tell me you found something that can put the squeeze on O’Banion, I swear to God I’ll kiss you.”
“Promise?” he teased.
“Give me the dirt.”
He pulled up the report. On the screen, he pointed to the information.
“Your gun carrying madman, the one you shot in the leg, was carrying a gun that was tied to other homicides. He used his own gun—and didn’t file the serial number off. I guess he didn’t expect to lose it to a girl.”
She laughed.
“Well, that will teach him. This gives me something fun to use against O’Banion. I’ve got him.”
Yeah, that was enough to put O’Banion in a bad position. If he wanted to play ‘protect the killer’ she’d let him. Only, she was going to be offering him a deal. Keep the game up, and he was going down. Let her have the killer, and maybe this asshole, and she was going to let the mob task force do the battle.
“Who did it belong to?”
“Tommy ‘The Greek’, also known as Tommy Chontos. He’s one of O’Banion’s helpers. The FBI has been watching him, but they couldn’t pin anything on him as of yet. They think he’s been doing some very dirty deeds.”
She knew what that meant.
Elizabeth pulled out her phone and called Gabe. She was going to have to hope he wasn’t watching the news—until after she hung up.
He answered on the second ring.
Elizabeth put him on speaker.
“Gabriel Rothschild, Deputy Director,” he said.
Well, he sounded calm.
“Hey, it’s me.”
There was a pause.
“What did you do now? Have you seen the media? I was just about to call you and tear you three new ones.”
She played confused.
It was in her best interest to not tell him she pointed the mob right at her.
Then he’d get all bossy and big brother-y.
“What?”
“The media is screaming that you’ve pinned this on Michael O’Banion.”
She laughed and downplayed it.
“Well, I guess that we can’t trust Alex O’Malley. I gave him fake information, and he went with it. Elizabeth’s gut—one, O’Banion the dick—zero.”
“That was dangerous, Elizabeth. Do you know why you can’t keep a partner? No one wants to die in your crazy fest. What the hell were you thinking?”
Alex raised his hand and gave her the ‘I told you so’ look.
Ironically, he was there at her side anyway.
Christ!
He hoped he didn’t die.
“Before you flip your shit, I have good news.”
He paused.
“Like ‘get O’Banion in a net and throw him in jail’ good news?”
“Yes. I now have proof that his wise guy is involved.”
She told him about the gun, the bullets, and the information Chris and Noah pulled.
“Okay, well, you can’t stroll up to O’Banion and tell him. You need to bring in his lackey.”
Gabe saw his plan working.
If they could get Tommy ‘The Greek’, they could put the squeeze on O’Banion. If the man talked, they might not even need to put O’Banion in witness protection.
“You need him alive.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“Well, I have his home address. I’ll go over…”
Chris looked like he was going to have a stroke.
Alex objected.
“Boss, I think we should pass this to the task force in Boston. We can help them do the capture, but since this is their jurisdiction, it should be theirs.”
He agreed.
“Ass kisser,” Elizabeth muttered.
Elizabeth LaRue was a little too cowboy for her own good, and he spent most of their time as partners trying to keep her alive.
That never bode well.
She was a runaway train.
“Elizabeth is going to sashay herself to the commissioner’s office, and tell Max Bronson he’s up early for his mob task force job. Aren’t you?”
She sighed.
“It looks like I am.”
“You can help them, but this has to be theirs. I’ll call ahead so the meeting is ready, but I’ll let you hand him the evidence. Have the gun and paperwork ready to transfer jurisdiction.”
Shit.
This didn’t make her happy.
“Once they pull him in, you’re back on this case, and you’re going to wrap it up. You’re in the media again, and that’s never good. My boss isn’t a fan.”
Oh, she was aware.
“What if the mob is tied to my case?” she asked. “They’re running hard interference, and that’s an issue.”
He was aware.
Gabe had a plan for that too. It needed to be handled the right way.
“Just do what you need to do. The rest will fall into place. I guarantee it.”
“Okay, Gabe.”
“Good. Keep me notified.”
She hung up.
“Well, you heard the man. I’m heading to the commissioner’s office. Get the gun ready for transport. We’re going to pass it off to a police precinct that’s full of mob rats. How could this possibly go wrong?”
“Then what are you doing?” Chris asked.
“Heading back to the hotel. I’m going to pull out the whiteboard and begin going over all of this.”
“I’ll help,” Chris offered.
Tony volunteered too.
“Alex, you and Noah can join us.”
Alex would, but he and Noah had something to handle. Gabe had just messaged him, and they were going to be making sure they had all the files ready for the Boston police.
“We’re going to be doing paperwork. We’ll be a few rooms away if you need us.”
That worked for her.
They had a sex video to watch anyway.
This was going to be interesting.
She hoped Tony was ready to join them on this trip down Perversion Lane.
Then again, who was she kidding?
He’d offer to bring the popcorn.
But first, she had something that had to be taken care of before anyone headed out.
Elizabeth was covering her bases.
“Noah, can you get the doctors back to the hotel? I don’t trust that O’Banion is not going nuts over this. If anything happens to them, heads will roll.”
Yeah, theirs.
They had precious cargo in transport—her boyfriend.
Chris ran his fingers down her back in reassurance.
Also, because he was scared shitless.
He was in danger, but he worked in an office. Elizabeth was wearing a target.
A mob target.
And that just sucked.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
Saturday
Late
Afternoon
Police Department
When she got there, Detective Bronson was waiting for her downstairs. He was going to give her a personal escort upstairs to the meeting.
She hoped he wasn’t going to ride ass over them refusing the police help. She had enough on her plate with this killer and now a mob mess.
“Hey!”
She shook his hand and introduced her temporary partner to him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I was home and called into a meeting.”
She’d give him a heads-up.
But first…
“Are you pissed my boss kicked you both off this?” she asked.
“No. I get it. You are chasing a serial killer, and honestly, I’m gearing up for this mob task force.”
“This is about that.”
“Really?” he ask
ed, hopefully.
“Yeah, it is. We caught a big break, and because you played fair with me, you’re about to get one too.”
He grinned.
“Hell, yeah! That makes up for the case tenfold. I’m glad I’m such a decent guy.”
She appreciated his willingness to let her do her job. In cases like this, she didn’t mind playing backup to a team if they were willing to play nice.
Feds weren’t all bad.
They were misunderstood.
When you answered to the taxpayer and the president, you couldn’t screw around. You had to take your job seriously.
“What did you get?”
“A way for you to take down O’Banion. Maybe.”
He led them upstairs.
“I can’t wait.”
At the commissioner’s office, they headed in. Inside, the commissioner was there, as was the captain, and Patty O’Brien.
Levi made the introductions.
“Captain Billy Anderson, this is Agent LaRue. Apparently, she has something to share with us.”
Elizabeth shook his hand, and she didn’t miss that there was some tension in the room. No one was happy she was there, and she didn’t blame them.
Well, she was about to make it better.
Or try to.
She pulled the sealed evidence from her messenger bag and handed it to Detective Bronson.
He was already smiling.
“You’re going to want to log this as evidence.”
“What is it?” Patty O’Brien asked. “Did you find a gun and want us to do your job now?”
She laughed.
“Are you always this douchey? Or do you have to try and be one when you’re met with someone smarter than you who doesn’t have a dick?”
That shut him up.
“Children,” Levi stated.
Elizabeth let it go.
She wanted to get back to the hotel to deal with that video.
“Last night, I was approached by Michael O’Banion’s thugs, forced to talk to him, and then had to defend myself. That gun was taken by me, from his buddy Tommy ‘The Greek’.”
They all stared at her.
Oh, yeah.
They knew what it meant.
“Yeah, and when I had my team run it, ballistics matched a few open homicides. That, my friends, is your way to catch O’Banion. He was there, Tommy was carrying that sidearm, and he’s likely the one leaving bodies all over your town.”
Dawn of Evil_FBI Flashback Page 33