Sam tossed the omelet onto a plate and turned off the stove. “No, it doesn’t. I’ll check on it, ok?”
“Thanks!” Nate sounded relieved.
“Anything else?” Sam asked.
“Do you want to find out what Jewel’s favorite kind of engagement ring is?”
Sam nearly choked on the egg in his mouth. “I’m sorry, what? You’re already ready to propose?”
“Sam, we’ve been dating for almost a year. I was ready to propose a year ago.”
“I’ll run intel on her.” He took another bite.
“Great. I’ll let you go now.” He hung up the phone.
Sam rolled his eyes. Nate was ready to propose. That was the craziest thing he had ever heard. He pulled up the contacts in his phone and called Emily.
She picked up on the third ring with a “hello?”
“Emily, where are you?” he asked.
She sighed. “In my car.”
“Going where?” he asked. She was intriguing him with her vagueness.
“Listen, today’s the anniversary of Lani’s death. I’m going to the cemetery.”
“What cemetery?” he asked. If she was going to be out in the open, he was going to be there with her.
“The Rose Garden. It’s an upscale cemetery in –”
“Em, I know where it is. Promise me not to get out of your car until I’m there?”
She sighed. “I promise.”
“Good. I’ll be there in ten.” He hung up the phone and scarfed down the end of his omelet. It took him all of two minutes to get ready and into his car. He considered using the sirens on his way to the cemetery, but decided against it. He made it there in ten minutes and forty-five seconds.
Emily, true to her word, sat in her car. Her hands drummed the steering wheel nervously.
He got out of his car and walked to her window. She jumped as he knocked on it.
Regaining her composure, she stepped out and pulled her warm jacket tighter around her.
“You okay?” Sam asked.
She nodded, close to tears. “It’s just hard.”
He slid an arm protectively around her shoulder. “I know. But I’m here if you need a shoulder to cry on.”
She nodded, and if Sam didn’t know better he would have said she looked relieved. “I may need it,” she said softly.
He allowed her to lead him through the maze of headstones and a few mausoleums before stopping in front of a marble headstone with a carved-out inscription.
Sam stayed back a few steps and watched as Emily knelt beside the white lilies. They were amazingly preserved for this time of year. Emily ran her fingers over the inscription and let the tears flow.
Sam wished he could relate, but he was sure nothing came remotely close to losing a nine-year-old sister. The pain had to be unbearable.
“Sam,” Emily whispered hurriedly. It didn’t sound good.
He came forward and knelt beside her. “What?” he asked.
She pulled on a glove and retrieved the card from the lilies. She held it up ever so gently so that Sam could read it.
IT IS SO SAD THAT LITTLE GIRLS DON’T GET SECOND CHANCES. LISA FELT THE SAME WAY LANI DID WHEN SHE DIED.
Sam wanted to vomit. What kind of sick, psychotic man did this to little girls and left a note at a graveside. It could really only mean one thing.
“Emily, go get in my car.”
“What?”
“Lisa’s body is nearby. Go get in my car.” He said it firmly, but he tried not to yell.
Emily took off at a sprint and slammed Sam’s car door. He pulled out his cell phone and bent to gingerly pick up the card.
“This is Nate Wesley, how may I help you?” Nate answered his phone good-naturedly.
“Crime scene, Nate. Close to Emily’s sister’s grave. Need you over here. Bring as many as you can.”
“Roger that. Be there in fifteen or so.” He hung up.
Sam did a 360 before he returned to his car and locked the doors behind himself.
“How did he know, Sam?” asked a tearful Emily. “How did he know about Lani?”
Sam shook his head. “He’s good. Almost too good. I don’t see how he could have known. It would be hard to tie you with that case, but it’s possible.”
She held up a hand. “Sam, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Shoulder to cry on?” he asked.
She nodded and scooted closer to him.
He placed an arm around her shoulder and let her cry. He couldn’t imagine how hard it was for her to withstand this.
She settled down a few minutes later and sat up. She wiped the mascara and eyeliner from under her eyes and tried to smile.
“Thanks,” she said simply.
He nodded, noting several cars pulling into the cemetery. He recognized Nate’s car immediately and unlocked his car doors.
“They’re here, Em,” he said softly to her.
She nodded and checked her makeup in the mirror. She was obviously stressed about finding a body near her sister’s grave. He would be too, for that matter.
“Are you up for this?” he asked.
She breathed and nodded. “Yeah. I’m up for it.”
“Ok,” he said with a frown. “Stay here and let me go talk to Nate.”
She acknowledged him, so he got out of the car and headed toward Nate. He didn’t know how he was going to explain this.
“So, possible body, huh?” Nate asked.
Sam nodded. “Yep. There was a card left on some flowers over there,” he pointed, “and Emily and I both deciphered the meaning to be that there was a body close by. We’re going to need to spread out and search.”
Nate smiled and pulled out his FBI jacket. “Already got that covered. We are going to start at the tree line and make our way into those woods.”
Sam turned to look at where he was pointing. Near the back of the cemetery was a substantial remnant of trees. It looked similar to a forest, but Sam could tell it was only a mile or so thick. It looked like a great place to hide a body.
“Search quickly. I’ll stay in my car with Emily until you find the body. She doesn’t need to be the one to make the discovery.”
“I agree,” Nate answered. “While you’re at it, why don’t you tell her that you love her?”
Sam chuckled. “Maybe I will. Oh, on that subject, Jewel likes simple, round-cut diamonds. You’re welcome.” He turned and marched back to the car.
Emily was wringing her hands by the time he got back in.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He locked the doors again and turned to face her. “They’re going to do a quick search for the body through the woods. Hopefully we’ll find the girl there. If not, we’ll find somewhere else to start. You and I are staying in the car until Nate calls or radios us that they found her. Capisce?”
She nodded again. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been so rude lately. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
He nodded. “No problem. I completely understand.”
She looked at him, obviously relieved that he forgave her. “My dad pointed something out to me on Thanksgiving.”
Sam was intrigued. “He did? What was it?”
“He pointed out my true feelings. The ones I’ve been trying to hide for a long time.”
Sam wanted to ask what they were, but he knew better than to push her.
“Sam, I think…I think I really do…like you.” She glanced at him nervously.
Sam couldn’t hide the smile that played on his face. Like was one step away from love. And he definitely loved Emily. He had loved her for just about forever.
“You’re not mad?” she asked.
“Em, are you blind?” he asked. “I’ve been in love with you since I met you. Let me know when your like turns to love, ok?”
She nodded. “I’m not blind,” she said defensively. “I simply chose not to see it. It’s kind of like selective sight.” She leaned back into the seat.
S
am could have jumped for joy. Finally, there was a breakthrough in this relationship. Emily had finally realized that she at least liked him. This was good. This was progress. This was a miracle.
“Sam, this is Nate. Do you copy?” The radio buzzed at them.
Sam picked it up and pressed talk. “Yep. Got something?”
“We found her. You can come over or send Emily on to the lab. We’re going to need her to run evidence for us.”
Sam looked at her questioningly.
“You go look. I’ll stay in the car,” she answered. “I don’t think I can take seeing another dead girl.”
Sam nodded. “I’ll be back, ok?”
She just sat still.
He exited the car and locked her in. She would thank him later, he was sure. Locked cars always seemed safer. To him, at least.
He jogged the whole way into the woods. He spotted Nate standing a few feet behind the crime scene tape and ducked under it himself.
The sight wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it was better than the apartment. The smell wasn’t nearly as bad, either. It was obviously newer than that crime scene.
The little blonde girl, Lisa, lay half-buried in a pile of leaves. Her head rested against the tree and there were bruises on the base of her neck. She had obviously been strangled.
“There’s something off about this scene,” Sam stated.
Nate smiled. “That’s what I thought, too. Look at this.” He walked toward the body and pointed to the ground.
Sam noted the small drag marks. They were too small to be her feet. Obviously they were finger marks.
“Was she alive when he buried her here?” Sam asked.
Nate shrugged. “It would make sense. The leaves are disturbed; her finger marks are on the ground. Maybe she wasn’t all the way dead when he left her. Sometimes asphyxiation can occur after the fact. Maybe she suffocated from a crushed trachea after he left.”
Sam peered closer. “Nate, is that blood under her fingernails?”
Nate squatted down to see. “I think we may have DNA. Again.”
Sam nodded. “I’ll get Emily back to the lab. You send the evidence with the forensics team. Hurry it up, will you?”
Nate nodded. “Thanks for the Jewel intel, by the way.”
Sam merely rolled his eyes and headed back to his car. By the time he reached it, Emily was fast asleep in her seat. He smiled and silently slipped into the car. She obviously hadn’t slept much the night before. He didn’t blame her for wanting a nap.
He was halfway back to the FBI building before Emily woke up and looked around.
“Where are we going?” she asked, stretching.
“The lab. You have evidence to process. Maybe some DNA.”
She smiled. “He made a mistake? With DNA again?”
“It’s possible that the girl scratched his face or arm. She has blood under her fingernails. It’s a long stretch, but it’s possible.”
“All things are possible to him that believes,” she quoted to him.
He laughed. “Need a ride to church tomorrow?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I would rather ride with someone than alone. Besides, I haven’t been to church in ages. It would be nice to have a friend with me.”
“I’ll be at your house at about eight-thirty. Don’t be late.”
She nodded.
Sam watched a plethora of emotions cross her face. Starting with panic and ending in relief. Maybe it was time that she hand her life back over to God. He knew it would be hard for her, what with a stalker and a serial killer who knew her past. She would have to push past that, but when she did she would be glad. God would get her through all of this.
He escorted her all the way to her lab and then left her alone, as she usually requested. He hoped she found something to ease her mind.
Emily turned on the instruments in her lab and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She always worked better when she didn’t have to mess with her hair. She pulled up the DNA database and waited for the samples to arrive.
Her search on the whereabouts of Gerard Fairfax wasn’t yielding much. His last known address had been torn down last year, and his credit cards weren’t turning anything up. Cash was incredibly hard to follow. That wasn’t getting anywhere, and yet she still felt she needed to know where Lester was.
A forensic team member entered the room and set a few evidence bags on the table.
Emily smiled at him, signed the chain of evidence sheet, and went to work. She pulled the DNA so she could get it running in the system, and then focused her attention on the other pieces.
She held up a baggie with a piece of dark brown fabric in it. Possibly the killer’s, but there were always hunters in those woods. She knew that for a fact. She had seen them and heard their guns going off more than once. If you asked her, it was wrong to hunt so close to a cemetery.
After testing everything for DNA and anything else that might tell them something about the killer, she swiveled her chair over to her desk and watched the screen look for DNA matches from the skin under Lisa’s nails. So far, there was nothing. This was so frustrating!
Her in-office phone rang and she answered it curtly.
“Emily, dear, this is Dr. Emerson, the medical examiner.”
“Hello, Doctor. What can I do for you?” She asked, still slightly preoccupied.
“I have a technician bringing you some tissue from our young victim. Her trachea was not crushed, but she definitely died from asphyxiation. Her trachea was inflamed beyond belief. I believe this is your area of expertise.”
She smiled wanly, knowing that the doctor couldn’t see her. “Of course. I’ll figure it out.”
“Thank you, Emily.” He hung up.
She laid the phone back down and sighed. So much work, so little time. On top of all that, she had to attend church tomorrow. She had promised Sam, after all.
She didn’t have to wait long for the technician to bring her the samples. She went to work on them right away. It didn’t take too long to go over the pictures of the inflamed trachea and find what she was looking for.
She emailed doctor Emerson, asking for pictures of the bruises on Lisa’s neck, and pulled up the information she had found. Thirty minutes later, she was practically running to Sam’s desk.
“She wasn’t strangled,” she said, almost with a smile.
Sam looked up from his desk and raised an eyebrow. “But we saw the bruises ourselves.”
“I didn’t say there weren’t bruises. I said she wasn’t strangled.”
Sam tossed down his paperwork and looked at her cock-eyed. “Would you care to explain the bruises?”
Emily smiled. She thought he would never ask. This was going to be so satisfying.
“Lisa’s full name is Lisa Marie Fisher. She is from Ohio. Her cause of death was, in fact, asphyxiation.”
“So, she was strangled.”
Emily shook her head. “You’re not listening. She asphyxiated, but she was not strangled.”
Nate wheeled his chair over to the desk. “Spill. How did she die?”
“Lisa Fisher has Bronchial Asthma. She’s allergic to several things.”
“What things?” Nate asked.
“Shrimp, sunflower seeds, lilies. Anyway, she also had Epiglottitis. It was caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b.”
“Emily, can you speak in English, please?” Sam asked.
She rolled her eyes. “On top of having asthma, she had the most common influenza bacteria. Epiglottitis is a condition where the epiglottis – which, by the way, is the flap that keeps food from entering your airways – is inflamed and doesn’t work right. It quickly results in complete obstruction of the airway and is highly deadly. Sam, do you remember what kind of flowers were at the gravesite?”
He nodded. “Yeah, lilies. Why?”
Nate raised a hand. “I know, I know, I know!”
Emily nodded to him. “Nate, you may answer.”
“Lisa was allergic to lilies.”
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“True. She didn’t know she had Epiglottitis. I would suspect that the killer didn’t either. He was going to kill her, but when he put her in the car with the lilies she had an asthma attack. Since her airway was already partially blocked, the asthma attack completed the blockage and she suffocated from that.”
“This still doesn’t explain the bruises,” Sam said quietly.
“That’s the best part,” Emily said with glee. She tossed a picture onto his desk. “Take a look at this. The bruises aren’t actually on her neck, they’re below it. Whoever the killer was, he tried to resuscitate her. The bruises are from a failed attempt at cardiopulmonary resuscitation.”
Nate gave her a look.
“CPR,” she clarified.
He made a silent O with his mouth and nodded.
“Ok,” Sam said with a nod, “I’ll buy it. Why did he try to resuscitate her, and why the note at the grave?”
“Well, the note is self-explanatory. He was planning on killing her anyway. On the other hand, I have no idea why he would try to resuscitate her. Her natural death worked to his benefit, so why try to revive her?”
“How did she get this guy’s skin under her nails?” Nate asked.
Emily shrugged. “It’s speculation, but maybe he was nearby while she was choking, trying to help her. People tend to scratch and grab when they’re panicking. Either way, it helped our investigation.”
She hoped the DNA was in the system. That would make it so much easier for all of them. If his DNA was there, then they could find and arrest him. She prayed one more time that it was.
“It’s a plausible theory,” Sam said again. “I always knew you’d find something. You better get back to work.”
She smiled genuinely and raced back to her lab. If the rest of the day was this promising, she would be the happiest girl on earth.
ELEVEN
Sam pulled into Emily’s driveway and contemplated the situation she had laid before him the night prior. It made sense once she had explained it, but not now. There were too many variables. The evidence all supported her theory, but it still didn’t make sense. Why would a killer try to resuscitate his victim? Unless, of course, there had been a third party. It was so confusing.
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