by Gerri Hill
“Possible, yes. We assume he never made it there. Or if he did, he never made it inside. None of the workers recognized his photo.”
“Have they done the post on Collie?”
“Yes. Results aren’t back. Of course, we all know cause of death,” Reynolds said, his voice quiet with emotion.
“I’m still wondering how he could have been abducted,” Cameron said. “He was a large man. From what we know of Patrick, he’s small, has a slight frame. How does someone like that take control of Collie?”
“Gunpoint?” Murdock suggested.
“You have to assume it was in a somewhat public place,” she said. “Why not use your training and disarm him? That’s what most agents would have done.”
“We can only guess what happened,” Reynolds said.
“Yeah. That’s because your team can’t seem to find out where the hell he was taken.”
“Agent Ross,” Murdock warned. “We’re here to share facts and come up with a plan of action. Now, what’s going on with you?”
“I e-mailed Jason about his algorithm. He’s going to tweak it.” She looked at Reynolds. “His program pretty much pinpointed the dump site,” she explained, “but was off on naming the right trail. The trail it named was only a few hundred feet from where Collie was found, however, it was across the canyon wall.”
“Good,” Murdock said. “Have you filled Reynolds in on your theory?”
She gave a crooked smile. “We didn’t actually get that far,” she said.
“Well let’s try to go over it without getting into an argument, shall we.”
“I’ll assume then that Reynolds will be more receptive to my ideas than Collie ever was.” She stood, pacing slowly in front of Reynolds. “Our main issue has been how the hell he carries the bodies to these dump sites. While they’ve been close to the trails—close enough to be spotted, obviously—it’s still not an easy hike. The first one killed, second found—Maggie O’Brien—was up on the rim of the canyon, a two-hour trip on horseback. How did he get her up there?” She stopped, looking at Reynolds. “When we found Collie, it all made sense. He didn’t carry them. He made them walk. Were they bound and gagged?” She shrugged. “Don’t know. Collie never shared the ME’s results with me, thinking it was out of my domain. Did any have ligature marks?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t read them either.”
Cameron glanced at Murdock on the screen, eyebrows raised.
“Collie briefed me on the reports. I think he was mostly looking at tox to see if they were drugged. That was negative.”
“I’ll read through them,” Reynolds said, making a note. “Do you want me to forward them to you?”
Cameron sat back down. “No, I’ll let you do the dirty work. Not that it will help us. But my theory is he makes them hike up the trail at night where he kills them. He then hides the body, covers it. Leaves it for a few days, then returns—again at night—to move the body to the trail where he displays it.”
“Why would he do that? What’s the point?” Reynolds asked.
“Who knows? To confuse us? It’s worked so far. To screw with the timeline? To skew the time of death? Could be any number of reasons.”
“And what about these programs you’re running?” he asked.
“The more data we have, the more likely they are to be accurate. As far as when he kills, the time in between each one, that’s varied so far. If we can nail a dump site, then we would stake it out, hope to catch him as he’s taking his victim up the trail.”
“Well, that sounds promising.”
She laughed. “Yeah. But we’re talking hundreds of miles of trails, Reynolds. On foot. At night.”
He nodded. “What about the other murder sites?”
“Haven’t found them. Collie was about fifty yards from where he was killed.” She paused, amazed that they were talking about Collie so casually, almost as if he wasn’t a colleague. “Collie was a big man. Patrick knew he wouldn’t be able to move him far. He was killed uphill from where he was found. Patrick dragged him down the hill. That’s the only way we found it. The others, we assume Patrick carried them. They were all small women.” She looked at Murdock. “That just clicked with me. He targets women who are small. Ones he can carry. I wonder if that was the pattern all along. The ones he kills and leaves in the apartments, he doesn’t care about size. The others, the ones who’ve been found in rural areas, have they all been small?”
“I’ll make a note to check with the guys researching that,” Murdock said.
“What are you talking about? What apartments?”
“Jesus, Reynolds, did Collie totally keep you in the dark or what? In Dallas, Patrick murdered his women in their apartments. He didn’t move the body.”
“Oh. The serial killer theory. Collie didn’t put much credence in that.”
“Obviously not.”
“Okay. I’ve got a meeting. You two can continue without me,” Murdock said. “Reynolds? Are you okay with the press briefings?”
“I can handle it, yes.”
“Let’s tighten up on it a bit,” Murdock suggested. “We have to give some information, but because we have an agent down, they’ll understand the need to keep some data from the public.”
“Not too tight,” Cameron said. “The last thing I need is to have the media crawling all over Sedona.”
“Since the first body, we’ve stopped giving location,” Reynolds said. “We’ve been very vague as to where they’ve been found.”
“Good. But we all know if a reporter wants to know, they can find out.”
“Yes, of course, but they’re cooperating. In fact, the longer this drags on, the less crowded our press conferences have been,” Reynolds said.
“Old news already?”
“Apparently. Arizona media is still hot with it, but nationally, not as much.”
“Let’s not release COD on Collie,” Murdock said. “I don’t want him linked to these killings,” he said. “We’ll discuss that later, Reynolds. Agent Ross, thank you for making the trip down. I’ll be in touch.”
The screen went dark before she could comment. She turned in her chair, facing Reynolds. “Now what?”
“We haven’t found Collie’s car. We didn’t put an APB out. We didn’t want the locals getting too involved. Our guys are taking block by block from where he disappeared off of the traffic cam. You want to join us?”
“Sure. Then you can treat me to dinner later.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Andrea filled Lola’s food bowl, then scooped up the kitten, holding her close as she kissed her furry face. She hated leaving her alone again and had a sudden thought.
“You need your shots,” she said. “Wonder if your mommy would get mad if I took you along with me?”
She put Lola back down, watching as she munched on her food. She stepped back, making sure she’d left everything the way Cameron had it. She’d actually enjoyed herself last night, especially after she figured out how to work the TV and satellite. She had been transfixed as she channel surfed through the more than four hundred choices.
She’d been a bit disappointed that Cameron hadn’t called, but she reminded herself that they were working, not dating. The fact that she was having a sexual affair with Cameron in the first place—knowing that Cameron would be leaving as soon as the case was finished—was out of character for her. Oh, sure, she’d had a few casual encounters in the past, usually one-night stands that were agreeable to both parties. But for the most part, her sexual partners were women she was seriously dating.
Like Erin.
Her eyes widened. For the past three years, Erin—and the others—had been on her mind, in her thoughts, constantly. She rarely went hours without thinking of her, much less days. Yet, since her confession to Cameron the other night, Erin hadn’t made an appearance. Was Cameron just a distraction for her? Or did her confession actually chase the guilt away? Could it just leave so suddenly that she hadn’t even noticed?
And would it return when Cameron left her?
Andrea took in a deep, heavy breath, now almost feeling guilty because she no longer felt the guilt. That thought, at least, brought a smile to her face.
She glanced at Lola, now methodically cleaning herself. She supposed she’d save the vet for another day. She wasn’t certain how she’d transport her in the Jeep anyway.
“Okay, girl, I gotta go.”
She grabbed her small backpack and the remote, taking one last look around before leaving.
Cameron had every intention of heading straight to the rig, but an hour after she left Phoenix, her thoughts were less and less on the case and more on Andrea. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she was getting much too involved with her. Brief, sexual affairs were common in her line of work. Very common, in fact. She wanted to believe that’s all this was—a brief affair that would end as soon as she left the city limits of Sedona. The fact that Andrea invaded her thoughts more than she should didn’t have any bearing.
Why, then, was she heading into town instead of the Red Rocks Park and the rig? Why was she going to Andrea instead of her computers? She hadn’t been able to add Collie’s data to her programs. That night after they found him, she just didn’t have the heart for it. Then, of course, Andrea had showed up and had been her salvation, taking her mind off of the pitiful trip through her life’s tragedies. She’d needed Andrea that night, and Andrea gave willingly, offering herself up to Cameron’s desires.
And Cameron had taken it, ridding herself of the memories that snuck up on her sometimes, the scars that reopened, the wounds that festered. Andrea took all of that away, giving herself instead.
So here she was, ignoring the practical side of her brain that said she needed to work. Instead, her emotional side was telling her she needed to see Andrea. That fact alone should have been alarming to her, but it wasn’t. She was simply satisfying a need.
This time when she walked into the office, she gave a cursory nod in the direction of the receptionist. Her eyes found Andrea immediately, ignoring the other two deputies. The smile Andrea flashed her was matched by one of her own.
“Deputy Sullivan,” she said, her mouth still flirting with a grin. “How’s my cat?”
“Lola survived the night without you.”
Cameron walked closer and just couldn’t resist the most obvious retort. “And did you?” she asked, her voice low.
“I see you’re as conceited as ever,” Andrea said, but the blush on her face was telling enough.
“True.” She took a step back. “If you’ve got a minute, I’ll fill you in. Is Jim available?”
“Yes. He’s in his office.”
Cameron followed her down the short hallway, her eyes inappropriately glued to her backside.
“Jim, Agent Ross is here,” Andrea said. “You have a minute?”
“Of course, Andi.”
He stood, offering his hand to Cameron. “I’m sorry about your colleague, Cameron. That had to have been a blow.”
Cameron nodded as she shook his hand. “Yes. You work a case, the last thing you believe is that you’ll be a victim yourself.” She sat down next to Andrea in the visitor’s chair.
“Well, Andi said you were off to Phoenix yesterday. Any news?”
“They found his car about midnight last night. They processed it this morning. I left before they were finished.”
“Where did they find it?” Andrea asked.
“It was in a paid parking garage,” she said. “They’re pulling the security tapes. It was nowhere near the homeless shelter so we have to believe it was driven there by someone else or he was under duress.”
“Are they going to relocate the operation here?” Jim asked.
“No. You don’t want all those guys in their fancy suits running around out here,” she said. “They’re going to focus on where and how he was abducted. Hopefully the security tape of the parking garage will give up a face.”
“You gotta believe that Patrick would know about the security cameras,” Andrea said.
“True. But maybe, at this point, he doesn’t care. Or maybe he thought it would be days before the car was found.” She shrugged. “And it was.”
Andrea nodded. “Well, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you. We don’t know how he chooses his trails. He could use a map—a trail map—but that doesn’t really give you a true picture of the trail.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I think he checks them out first. In the daylight.”
She stood, her brow drawn tight. “That never occurred to me. You think he does reconnaissance?”
“I do, especially if he’s hiding the body for a couple of days. You can’t do that at night and know what’s visible and what’s not during the day. In Collie’s case, he had to know he wouldn’t be able to carry him, so he didn’t hide him as far.”
“And he made sure the body was uphill of the dump site,” Cameron said, nodding. “It makes perfect sense.” She grinned. “Good job.”
“But does it help us?”
“I haven’t entered the latest data yet. I’ll do that and run the algorithm again tonight. We can take the top two hits, do our own reconnaissance.” She turned to Jim. “If we find a suitable trail, then we can do a stakeout.”
“My guys?”
“Or me and Andi,” she said. “No vehicles. On foot, hiding off the trail.”
Jim looked at Andrea. “Any of the guys fit that bill?”
She shook her head. “Randy would be no help. He’s terrified of mountain lions.”
“Mountain lions? You have mountain lions here?”
“Of course.”
“Now you tell me.”
“They prefer deer and elk. You would be a third choice,” Andrea teased.
Cameron returned her smile then realized Jim was watching them with interest. She motioned out the door. “What about those two guys? I didn’t recognize them.”
“Michael has been on vacation, back yesterday. Antonio, well, he’s new. Haven’t got a good feel for him yet,” Jim said. “Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that my guys are inferior, Cameron. They’re not. But they’re sheriff’s deputies in a small town. They’re not trained for the kind of stuff you’re needing.” He looked at Andrea. “She is.”
“I understand. I would need a couple of them to be on standby, at least. If we’re going to stake out a trail and happen to get lucky, we’ll need backup.”
“That we can do.”
“Well, I should—” The beeping of her phone interrupted her and she glanced at the caller, seeing Reynolds’ ID come up. “I need to get this,” she said. “Ross,” she answered, moving out into the hallway.
“Got DNA back. It doesn’t match.”
“What the hell? Doesn’t match what?”
“Doesn’t match the semen.”
“Hang on.” She moved back into Jim’s office, switching the phone to the speaker mode. “I put you on speaker, Reynolds. I’ve got Sheriff Baker and Deputy Sullivan with me.” She turned to Andrea. “The DNA under Collie’s nails didn’t match the semen.”
“You’re joking?”
“No, ma’am,” Reynolds said. “That’s not to say we didn’t get a hit on it.”
“What’d you get?” Cameron asked.
“It matched the DNA belonging to John Doe.”
“John Doe?”
“As in John Doe from the Dallas case,” he said.
Cameron shook her head. “Not possible. He’s dead.”
“I realize that.”
“Oh, my God,” Andrea said. “Do you know what that means?”
“Holy shit. You’re right,” Cameron said. “Are you sure, Reynolds?”
“Just passing on the report, Ross. Tox came back clean, but you were right on the ligature marks. His wrists were bound. I went back on the other reports. All had evidence of ligatures except the hooker.”
“Okay, I gotta call D
allas. I’ll be in touch.” She snatched up her phone, her eyes meeting Andrea. “I can’t believe this.”
“Me, either,” she said, her fingers flipping through speed dial on her own phone.
“What’s going on?” Jim asked.
“We think—hang on,” she said. “I need to speak with Agent Hunter. This is Agent Ross.”
“Casey O’Connor, please,” Andrea said as she paced across the room with her phone.
“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Jim demanded.
“I’m sorry, Agent Hunter is unavailable,” the voice sounded in her ear.
“I’ll try her later. Thanks,” she said, disconnecting. She looked at Andrea. “Any luck?”
She shook her head. “Please ask her to call Andrea Sullivan. I’m the deputy who called her about the Patrick Doe case,” she said. “She has my number.” She glanced at Cameron. “She’s doing an interrogation.”
“What the hell is going on?” Jim asked again.
Andrea looked at him. “They’re twins.”
“Identical twins,” Cameron said.
“There’s a third person,” Andrea said.
Jim looked from one to the other. “What are you talking about? I thought you already knew they were twins.”
“Not identical. The semen found in Dallas, when it didn’t match John’s, was assumed to be that of Patrick, his brother.”
“When we got the same semen match here,” Cameron said. “It pointed to Patrick.”
“But now we have DNA that matches John Doe. That can’t be, of course, since John is dead,” Andrea said. “The only possible way would be because Patrick has the same DNA.”
“Identical twins share the same identical DNA,” Cameron explained.
Jim’s brow furrowed. “So you’re saying Patrick is not the killer?”
“We’re saying there’s a third person involved.”
“With similar DNA to be a relative. Or a sibling,” Andrea said. “Wait a minute. Do you think there’s another brother?”
“I want to read the Dallas file more thoroughly. And I’d like to speak with them again.”
“Detective O’Connor sent me a very detailed file, more than the FBI database had. You want that?”