by C. M. Sutter
“Close enough. Climb in and sit down. Tell me if you can reach the gas and brake pedals comfortably without reaching for them.”
Petty climbed in and took a seat behind the wheel.
“Okay, sit as though you were ready to drive away. How does it feel?”
“Sorry, but it feels fine.” Petty climbed out.
“Yeah, okay. Hey wait, check this out.” Kyle knelt and took a good look at the floor mat in the driver’s-side footwell. “Stan worked at the mall, right?”
Jack nodded. “Why, what do you see?”
“Dried mud where there shouldn’t be any. The entire mall parking lot is concrete. Why would Stan’s shoes be covered in mud?”
“They wouldn’t be,” Tom said. “Pop the trunk.”
Chapter 38
Chief Sanders had patrol units knocking on neighborhood doors to see if the residents had spotted anyone or anything unusual last night. The trunk of Stan’s car was empty, and nothing looked out of place to the naked eye, other than the mud in the driver’s-side footwell. Kyle and Dan stayed behind to dust the entire closet door, all of the doorknobs, every light switch, the garage door opener, the door handles and trunk latch on Stan’s car, and the keys found above the visor. The results would tell them if the intruder was the same person as in the Leslie McDonald murder and the Tyler Rauch abduction. Until the prints were confirmed or refuted as a match, Jack’s late-afternoon task would be to return to what he had been doing earlier—going through Tyler’s tote.
Jack checked the time as he climbed into his car—4:25. “Call me if anything is found. I don’t have a good feeling about this, Tom.”
Chief Sanders patted the window frame then pushed off Jack’s cruiser. “You’ll be the first person I call.”
Jack arrived at the sheriff’s office ten minutes later, entered the building, and approached Jan behind the dispatch counter. “Any crisis while I was away?”
“Thankfully, no, although Amber called once while you were gone. I suggested trying your cell, but she said it wasn’t urgent.”
“Good enough. Thanks, Jan.”
“You bet.”
Jack returned to his office and stared at the several piles he had created across the surface of his desk. Pictures went in one pile, newspaper clippings in another, and notes and letters in the last. His ambition was waning. He plopped down at his desk and shot off a text to Amber.
I’m back at my office. How’s it going?
She replied within seconds.
Kate and I just closed out 2004 and are moving on to 2005. The guys are much slower than we are. Billings just pulled the file for August 2008.
Jack groaned and fired off one more text.
Head back at five o’clock when the courthouse closes.
He continued separating each piece of paper from the photos and newspaper clippings he pulled out of the tote. A particular picture caught his attention as he was about to place it on the pile. Seven men posed against a building for a group photograph. According to their wedding pictures that Mary Rauch had shown Jack, the man in the center looked a lot like Tyler.
This could be the place he worked at after he completed first responder training. Too bad I can’t see a name on the building.
Jack flipped the photo over and saw the date 2006 written in pencil on the back side. He placed it inside his desk’s center drawer and continued on. The beeping tone at the security door told him the crew was back. Jack looked to his right as Kate, Amber, Clayton, and Billings entered the bull pen. He pushed back his chair and joined them.
“So, they kicked you out?”
Billings rubbed his forehead and fisted his eyes. “Yeah, and I can’t thank them enough. I think my vision just went from twenty-twenty to totally blind after staring at files all day.”
“Crybaby,” Kate said. “Seriously, guys, how can you work that slowly?”
As Clayton was preparing a comeback, Jack took over. He didn’t want a pissing match when they all needed to work cohesively. “The bottom line is, you were there to find something. So did you?”
The group remained silent until Amber spoke up seconds later.
“We’re getting down to the wire, boss. There are only a couple of years left to go through.”
Jack tipped his wrist. “I’ll go over the day with you, and then we’re wrapping it up. Horbeck and Mitch are working the bull pen together tonight, and hopefully calls will start coming in from the news coverage.”
Clayton piped in. “What we had to give them was awful vague.”
“True enough,” Jack said, “but I doubt if people would call into the tip line unless somebody questionable popped into their mind. Sooner or later, every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the county who owns a black sedan will be interviewed unless we catch this nutcase first. Okay, back to the day. Chief Sanders was alerted around the noon hour to a possible missing persons report. Actually, it’s Stan Kingsley. His girlfriend called it in.”
“Stan?” Clayton mumbled a few choice words under his breath.
“Why would Stan go missing? What has he ever done to end up on somebody’s radar?” Billings asked.
“It sounds like everyone here knows the guy,” Amber said. “Who is he?”
Jack turned to Amber and Kate. “Yeah, you newbies wouldn’t know him. Stan was a patrol deputy here until 2010 when he up and quit and took a job as a security guard at the mall.”
“Somebody would go from a sheriff’s office deputy to being a mall cop voluntarily?” Kate asked.
“He said driving all day was tough on his back. Either way, why he quit isn’t important, but what is, is the fact that he’s missing.” Jack stood and went to the back of the bull pen. He filled a paper cup with water, returned to Amber’s guest chair, and took a sip. “Sanders called me earlier to get my opinion since he had heard about Tyler going missing. He already had patrol units on site conducting a wellness check at the girlfriend’s request. The last time she had spoken with Stan was while he was driving home from work last night. Questions were raised when he didn’t show up at the mall this morning. The girlfriend got a call from the mall security office—she’s his contact on file—and went to the home during her lunch break.”
Kate asked why she waited so long.
“Apparently, she had tried his phone several times, but it always went to voicemail. She couldn’t leave work until lunchtime. That’s when she found his car in the garage, the newspaper still on the driveway, and his cell phone sitting on the coffee table. Everything was at the house except the homeowner. The patrol officers found suspicious footprints leading around the house to a bathroom window at the back. They also found food wrappers in a guest room closet. That’s when Tom called back a second time and needed Forensics at the scene. Kyle and Dan are probably still there.”
“It sounds like somebody sneaked in and was waiting for Stan to arrive home,” Amber said.
“That’s the consensus, and we doubt that a random house was chosen. Nothing appeared to be missing except Stan. A typical burglar would take out everything they could carry and do it quickly. They certainly wouldn’t stick around and wait for the homeowner to show up.”
Clayton put a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “So Kyle and Dan are there to print the house?”
“And the car. Kyle noticed muddy shoeprints in the driver’s-side footwell.”
Kate added her opinion. “That doesn’t fit somebody walking from the building to a vehicle parked at the mall. Everything is paved.”
“Correct. Anyway, I’m sticking around until I hear what Kyle comes up with on the prints. My gut is telling me that they’re going to find the same prints they found in Leslie’s house and Tyler’s Tundra.”
“What about a piece of mail?” Billings asked.
“Only bills, but if the prints do match, it’s probably just a matter of time before a letter arrives there too. We have to find the connection.”
“And when we do, we find the perp,” Amber said.
Kate and I drove home in silence. I was sure we both had a million thoughts going through our minds. Who was this madman, and what was he trying to prove? How could we connect the dots and apprehend him? I let out a deep sigh.
“You sound the way I feel,” Kate said.
I turned in to the driveway and pressed the garage door opener on my visor. The door lifted, and Jade’s Mustang was in the garage. “Jade’s home?” I handed Kate my phone as I pulled in. “Did I miss a call from her?”
Kate checked my call log. “Three voicemails earlier and two texts in the last hour.”
“Oops. She must have called when we were at the courthouse, and I had the ringer silenced. At least now we have a third party we can bounce this case off of.”
“Yeah, unless she’s sick of talking shop and just wants to veg out.”
I laughed as we climbed out of the car, and I lowered the overhead. “Jade has two modes—sleeping or working. She doesn’t have a ‘veg-out’ mode. Even when we sit down to watch TV, she usually just falls asleep.”
We walked in, and as usual, Spaz ran to Kate. I gave him the evil eye while she petted his back. I entered the kitchen then peeked around the corner—Jade was sleeping on the couch.
Kate looked over my shoulder. “Yeah, she’s toast.”
Jade sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Who’s making toast? That sounds good. Can I have peanut butter on mine?”
I chuckled. “Sure, Sis, but give me a minute to get my holster off. Sorry I missed your calls. I had the volume off all day. They frown on cell phones ringing in the courthouse, you know.”
“That’s a fact. No worries. I was just giving you a heads-up that I was coming home. We caught our killer, and now he’s behind bars.”
“I wish we could say the same.” I hung my coat on the coatrack then opened the refrigerator. I pulled out the loaf of bread and popped two slices into the toaster. Kate grabbed a plate from the upper cabinet, got the peanut butter from the pantry, and set them on the counter.
“Only one plate?” I asked.
“It’s for Jade. We aren’t eating toast for dinner, are we?”
“Humph, I guess not. Grab some soup, then. It’s quick and easy.”
Jade joined us in the kitchen, gave us each a hug, then took a seat at the table. “Go ahead. You said something about not catching your killer?”
The toast popped up, and Kate spread peanut butter across both slices. I watched as the peanut butter melted on the hot bread. Kate handed the plate to Jade while I emptied the can of chicken dumpling soup into a saucepan. I turned the burner on low and took a seat.
“We can’t catch a break on the case we’re working on,” Kate said. “Threatening letters have been mailed to each victim’s house, but by the time they arrive, the person is either dead or missing. The letters have come from Montgomery, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee.”
“Multiple suspects in the mix?” Jade bit into her toast and rolled her eyes. “Damn that’s good.”
I smiled. “Even better with coffee.”
Kate continued. “We think it’s the work of one perp who’s been traveling north on I-65. Just today another person living in town was reported missing. That fell on the shoulders of Chief Sanders, but he called Jack anyway for advice. He heard about the man we’ve been searching for who went missing Tuesday night.”
Jade got up and began digging through the pantry.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I know we have a jar of instant coffee in here somewhere. Your suggestion made me want some with my toast.”
I waved her away. “Go sit down. I’ll make a pot of real coffee.”
Jade returned to the table. “There was a reason he was traveling north on I-65. Obviously, if he’s the actual killer or kidnapper, then he’s already here. The letters were sent in advance as he headed our way. That gave him a several-day window to drive back to North Bend.”
I nodded. “Our problem is we don’t know who the suspect is or why he’s targeting certain people. It’s like he has a hit list of sorts.”
“Not of sorts, little sister. The man definitely has a hit list, period. What’s Jack’s take on this?”
I shrugged. “He’s frustrated. He even called the prisons in Alabama along the I-65 corridor to see if any inmates were recently released who had an axe to grind. The perp may have been heading north to exact revenge on somebody who wronged him in the past.”
“And?”
“And no luck.”
The coffee was ready, and I poured three cups and placed them on the table.
“Yum. Thanks, Amber.” Jade had saved her last slice of toast to enjoy with the coffee. “So what’s the scoop on today’s missing guy?”
I responded. “Only that he used to be a deputy when Jack was, and now he’s a mall security guard.”
“Stan Kingsley?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows him except Amber and me.”
“Nah, I don’t know him as a friend. He left before I started with the sheriff’s office, but I have chatted with him once or twice at the mall.”
“It doesn’t look good, Jade. There were muddy shoeprints leading through his backyard and over a windowsill into the bathroom.”
“Sounds like a situation I came across on my first assignment with the FBI. That’s how prowlers, or worse, gain entrance into homes. People forget to latch their windows and don’t give it a second thought. Next thing they know, there’s somebody standing behind them.”
I shuddered. “You’re creeping me out. Thank God for our security system.”
Jade stood and went to the alarm panel. She sighed. “It’s only going to protect you when it’s set.” She pressed the code into the system and set it then gave me an eyebrow raise. “Don’t get lazy about that when you come in or out.”
“Sorry. It won’t happen again.” My cell phone rang and made me jump. The image of a shadowy figure standing behind someone in their own home still had me wigged out. I glanced at the wall clock at the same time Kate and Jade did.
“Calls after nine o’clock aren’t normally good news,” Kate said.
I looked at the screen. “It’s Jack.” I hit Talk. “Hey, boss, what’s up?”
“Kyle just called me with an update. The prints found at Stan’s house match the ones from Tyler’s Tundra and the rose leaves from Leslie’s house. We’re dealing with the same person in all three cases. We know how Leslie ended up, and I damn well don’t have a good feeling about Tyler or Stan, especially with the evidence found at both scenes.”
“Have you heard anything from Sanders about the neighborhood knock and talks?”
“His patrol officers didn’t get anything from the neighbors. With the downpour that night, nobody had a reason to be staring out their windows, and visibility was next to nothing, anyway.”
“Okay, is there anything you want us to check into tonight?”
“Nah, just letting you know the latest. Mitch and Horbeck have a few names written down that came in from the tip line. They’re checking to see if any of those people have priors. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
“You got it, sir. Good night.” I hit End Call and set my phone on the table.
“I got the gist of that. Same prints at Stan’s house as were found at the other two scenes?” Jade asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. Three people now, so doesn’t that qualify the perp as a serial something or other?”
“Serial killers are defined as someone who has killed three or more people, but we don’t know that the missing men are dead. The FBI can’t get involved at this point.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “Hopefully we’ll get through all of the court case files tomorrow. There has to be a connection between those victims and the perp.”
Chapter 40
I backed out of the garage at seven forty-five, hit the remote to close the overhead, and listened to Kate as she said she was confident we would app
rehend the perp that day. The process was the same every morning. It was reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day, but next week, Kate would take over the driving. That would disrupt my feeling of same shit, different day—I hoped.
“You seem to be in a funk this morning, girlfriend. What’s up?” Kate patted my shoulder as I shifted into Drive.
I shrugged. “My patience is wearing thin, I guess. There are three families and loved ones who want answers we don’t have. We’re no further ahead than we were on Monday, and today is Friday.”
“But even Jade admitted some cases never get solved.”
I turned out of our subdivision. “I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Yeah, and Jack probably feels even worse, but this might be our lucky Friday.”
Kate tried to give me a reassuring smile, but I wasn’t convinced. We needed a miracle.
Ten minutes later, I parked in our lot, and we met up with Mitch and Horbeck as they exited the building.
“Any good news overnight?” I asked.
Horbeck spoke up. “Jamison called and said he missed a twelve-point buck by inches just before dusk.”
I chuckled. “That is good news for the deer. Anything else?”
Mitch rubbed his furrowed forehead. “Nah, a few names came in on the tip line of sketchy people with black sedans. Only one person lived in Washburn County, though, and it was Brad Livingston.”
“Brad Livingston, the accountant? Why is he considered sketchy?”
“Who knows? Somebody didn’t get as much money back as they wanted on their tax return. Anyway, we cleared him,” Mitch said.
“Good enough. Take it easy, guys.” Kate and I continued on. We entered the sheriff’s office and exchanged a few pleasantries with Jan and Peggy behind the dispatch counter before I tapped the code into the security pad. Jack, Clayton, and Billings were already seated at their desks when we walked into the bull pen.
“Good morning, guys,” I said as I took my seat.
They grunted a reply.
I looked at Chad and Adam. “Guess it’s back to the courthouse after our morning update. At least we’ll finish the files today. That’s a good thing, and it should tell us if we’re on the right track or not.”