Whoever had come into her house and left the picture, not only wanted her to relive the terror, they had likely taken another woman. It was starting anew.
“She could still be alive.”
“We’re going to find out.” Jordan was already on her phone. “Let’s get this to the lab ASAP. All of it,” she added with regard to the various items stuck to the fridge.
Ellie looked behind where Casey was trying to console Lori Gleason.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” Jordan gave her a shrug. “I want you and Casey to start looking around at places that still sell those cameras, and supplies.”
“There might be more than we think. They’ve made a comeback recently, haven’t they?”
“Yeah. But we have to start somewhere.”
“Sure. I got you. We’ll let you know if we find anything,” Ellie promised.
“Thanks.”
Ellie and Casey left while Jordan stayed behind to help Lori Gleason find a place to stay for a couple of days. Libby went to take the items from the fridge to the lab.
“This is bad news,” Casey stated the obvious when they were outside.
“Yeah.” They couldn’t let anything derail them now. Their plans for the future were too important. Out of the blue, the thought crossed Ellie’s mind that it might help their adoption prospects if they were married. She couldn’t think about it now. There was either a new killer on the loose, or someone who aspired to be.
* * * *
“Do you think he’s going to come back?” Lori asked when they waited outside for a friend to pick her up.
“I don’t know,” Jordan said honestly. “I don’t think so, but we want to make sure you’re safe.”
“And Judy?”
“We’ll go see her, too.” The intruder had obviously known that Lori Gleason was one of the women who had made it out of Darby’s torture chamber. It wasn’t a big reach to assume he might be aware of the other survivors.
“Please tell her I’ll call her as soon as this is sorted out,” Lori said. “Here’s Maggie,” she said as a car pulled up to the curb. “Thank you.”
To Jordan’s relief, she didn’t try to hug her again.
Fifteen minutes later, they sat in Judy Lawrence’s kitchen. The alarm on the woman’s face when she realized who their visitors were, was telling.
She, too, had heard about Darby’s declining health, but she hadn’t observed anything out of the ordinary in the past weeks.
“I work. I cook meals, I clean my apartment. As long as I do these things, I’m all right,” she said. “The group I started with Lori was a great help at first, but it became too overwhelming. I don’t handle stress very well. I’m not sure I want to know.”
“It might be nothing, but we want you to be aware.”
“Is Lori okay?”
“She wasn’t hurt. It looks like the man who was in her house wanted to scare her, but she’s staying with a friend for now. I’d prefer if you do the same.”
“For how long?” She looked away, well aware that Jordan couldn’t give her a definitive answer to that question.
“A few days, just to make sure we’re on the right track. We will find him.”
“I believe you. I guess I’ll go pack a bag. I can invite myself to my sister’s house for a bit.”
“What about you? Shouldn’t you stay with a friend tonight?” Derek asked when they were driving back to the station.
“Please. We’re talking about someone who admires a serial killer. I survived the real thing, remember? Besides, good luck to him figuring out where I stay any given night, these days.”
Derek wasn’t entirely happy with that answer, but he let it go. “So you’re closer to getting into your new house?”
“Definitely. Which is good, because when we get the visit from social services, we want to make sure there’s furniture in Ariel’s room. If you have time this weekend, you’re more than welcome to help us paint.”
“Sure. You showed it to Kate yet?”
“No, I haven’t seen her. I don’t think Ellie has. She called you?”
“No.”
“All right. Let’s see what they have on the stores and call it a day.”
By the time they left the department that night, it was too late to see Ariel or to even try a home cooked meal. A table at the Night Shift and a plate of nachos would do, though Jordan didn’t have much of an appetite. The feel of Lori’s embrace lingered. It was a confrontation with emotions she didn’t have any use for at the moment.
A handful of stores that did photo services and sold supplies, had been closed by the time Ellie and Casey arrived.
Jordan’s patience had been wearing thin in the course of the day, and she reached her limit when she saw Marcus Holmes sitting at the counter, nursing a beer and waving to her when their eyes met.
“That’s enough.”
“Not a good idea. Come on. Let it go,” Derek warned.
“The hell I will. I want to know what he’s up to.”
“Jordan. Let’s sit for a moment.”
She ignored Ellie as well and walked over to Holmes whose smile broadened when she sat on a barstool next to him.
“Detective Carpenter, what a coincidence. You like to come here after work? I noticed a lot of cops.”
“Cut the bullshit. Why are you here?”
“Why not? I’m a free man, thanks to a system that works.”
“Really. You confessed to a murder.”
He shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. “My lawyer helped me a great deal. I realized I didn’t remember all the events correctly. I found Colin…and I just blanked out for a while. A good friend of mine died, so obviously, I was under lots of stress. Maybe I just wanted to get out of there, so I said I did it, or maybe I wasn’t even sure that day. My lawyer helped me sort it all out.”
“You were friends with Colin Buck?”
“What are you saying, that guys like me can’t be friends with nerds? That’s such a cliché. I miss him.”
Jordan ordered a beer and turned to Holmes again. “With Jeffrey Bishop…his pseudonym was obvious. Why do you call yourself The Knight online?”
“Why? You don’t think I have something to offer to women?” he asked with a wink.
“Let me ask you one more time. Why are you here? You noticed that there are lots of cops. Some of us wonder why you’d choose this place. Some, I’m sure, don’t like you here.”
Holmes laughed. “You’re not threatening me, Detective, are you? Because that would be a bad move, and I think you’re smarter than that. Don’t you want some answers before Darby dies?”
“You have answers? Good. I’m going to need them. There’s been an incident that would seem to hint at Darby, but he’s wasting away behind bars. You being such a big fan of his, you’re the closest person for me to look at.”
“Am I now? I’m afraid you might overestimate me. Yes, we pulled that little stunt with Colin, having him talk to Darby and report back to us. It was pretty exciting. Think of it as kids trying out an Ouija board. I mean, a real life serial killer, who has the chance to hear directly from someone like that?”
“Oh yes. It’s a real trip.”
“It’s like watching the tiger from the other side of the glass, hoping it won’t break. I understand it’s different for you. You were in there with the beast.”
Jordan thought his metaphor was completely off, and insulting to a beautiful species.
“Mr. Donovan claims that Colin never talked to Darby. Darby, however, says he did. Who’s telling the truth?”
“Hell if I know, but then again, it’s not really my problem, is it? Maybe Colin lied to us. Maybe Darby lied. You should ask him…since we can’t ask Colin.”
Jordan knew she should have left it at that. Something else bothered her. It might have been wiser to let it go, for her sake, but she couldn’t afford to overlook anything, not with Darby involved.
“In your fan c
lub, you talk about the women a lot? You get off on that?” She couldn’t bring herself to say “victim.”
“Please, let’s be nice. We were mostly interested in the psychological aspects of what drives someone like him, but yes, we thought of the profile of the victims as well.” There it was. “The ones who died, the ones who made it out? You did. You tell me, Detective, was it mere luck or something else?”
“Stay away from Lori Gleason and Judy Lawrence. And me. Otherwise you might not enjoy your freedom for long.”
Jordan picked up her beer and went back to the table. Ellie cast her a worried look.
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. Did anyone order something to eat? I’m starving.”
* * * *
They turned in soon after arriving at Ellie’s apartment, anticipating an early workday. Ellie lay awake, aware of Jordan sleeping restlessly next to her. It didn’t seem like the night terrors they both had experienced at one time or another, so she decided to let her sleep, still deeply disturbed by yesterday’s events. It seemed like the new generation of instant cameras were available everywhere. There was no point in freaking out the city by releasing the picture…but they needed an ID on the woman, potentially reported missing. A woman tied to a chair in a basement like Darby’s.
They might not be able to save her.
She finally admitted defeat, dressed and powered up her laptop.
What she found after browsing a few sites, made her groan in frustration. On the website of a local newspaper, there was an article, with the picture of the unknown woman front and center.
By the morning, they were going to be swamped with calls from panicked citizens before the doors of those stores she needed to visit, even opened. Ellie recognized the name on the by-line, the woman who had waited for her outside the department after she’d saved mother and daughter from a burning car.
Who had given this to her?
Ellie flinched when a floor plank creaked. Jordan was standing in the doorway.
“Do I want to know?”
“It will be hard to avoid. The picture will be all over the press by the time we are at work.”
Jordan hid a yawn behind her hand. “Maybe it’s for the better. Someone’s bound to have seen her.”
“Someone leaked this to her. This kind of picture is not meant for a front page.”
“You’re right.” Jordan started preparing the coffeemaker before she sat next to Ellie. “But…There is something strange about it. The whole set-up.”
“You think Holmes and his friends are behind this?”
“He was trying to make me believe they’re not out for murder. Maybe he was telling the truth, I’m not sure yet. Let me have a look.”
“You’ve looked at it from every possible angle. There was nothing to identify the person or the background.”
“Yeah. Hm.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“That’s because we’re having breakfast at four in the morning.” Jordan shuddered. “Well, at the moment that’s better than sleeping. I wanted to make sure Lori and Judy were out of harm’s way…This might not be what we think it is.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Okay.” Ellie got up to take two cups and plates out of the cabinet. “I guess we have to wait until later. Maybe we’re lucky and someone remembers the woman. Meanwhile…Have you heard anything from Valerie? Or Phelps?”
“No. I hope that was the end of it, and we’ll be able to move forward.”
“Yeah. It’s funny,” Ellie said as she poured coffee for the both of them. “I always thought I’d have kids at some point. I just didn’t think they’d come half grown up already.”
Jordan pondered her words for a moment. “Kids? Plural?”
Ellie laughed. “It’s not something we have to decide right now. I’m happy we’re doing this with Ariel, and that she wants to be with us.”
“Yeah, me too. I get the feeling that whatever else will change, getting up in the middle of the night to talk cases, won’t.” Jordan seemed to have something else on her mind, but when she didn’t continue, Ellie said, “It will be great. I don’t expect it will always be easy, but you know that already. It’s all going a bit fast, but that’s the way it is, and so far, we’ve been doing okay.”
Jordan gave her a grateful smile. “What about you? Do you have any other interviews planned?”
“Not at this moment, no. I know something will come along.”
“I have no doubt.”
At this point, there was no room for any.
* * * *
As Ellie had predicted, there were lots of worried calls to the police department, and some harsh criticism for the newspaper. When Jordan walked past the desk where Libby Marshall was diligently fielding calls, the officer gestured for her to stay.
“I think we have something,” she said, and Jordan picked up the phone.
“This is Detective Carpenter.”
“Yes, my name is Pam. I think I know who the woman in the picture is.”
“You know her name? Can you tell me when you last saw her?”
“Um, a minute ago. It’s my roommate Tara.”
“Pam, where are you?”
“I’m on campus right now. Tara is in the shower.”
“Is she all right?” Had Tara made it out of the place where she’d been held, by herself, and told no one?
“Yes, I think so. I…I think she hasn’t seen the picture yet.”
“Make sure you stay with her in your room. I’ll be right there.” Jordan hung up. “Great job. Please find Derek and tell him to meet me there,” she told Libby, handing her the address Pam had given her, before heading out.
Whatever the verdict, apparently the woman in the picture was alive and physically unharmed. That was a big victory for the day.
Chapter Fifteen
“They gave me a thousand bucks, said it was for a horror movie. All I had to do was sit in the chair, and they put some make-up on me, fake blood. I had no idea they were going to use it that way!”
“Okay. Who are they?”
Tara Rhett was indeed unharmed, and shocked once she discovered that the picture she’d taken had initiated a search for a missing, possibly murdered woman.
“A bunch of guys and a girl making an independent movie. I thought it was a bit creepy, but I’ve done similar stuff before, and since the girl was with them, it seemed okay. They had it all set up professionally…”
Jordan looked to Derek, and he shrugged, no more inclined to understand why anyone would think this was just fine. If anyone wanted to use Darby’s scenes to create a movie, they had pretty questionable tastes in the first place—but as long as no one got hurt, it wasn’t up to her to judge.
However, someone had made sure they believed a crime had been committed, and that person had invaded Lori Gleason’s house.
“We are extremely glad you didn’t get hurt. Can you tell us a little more about them? What they looked like, how you found them?”
“It was online,” Tara said, to no one’s surprise. “They had an ad on MadMarket, saying they were looking for an actress to shoot stills to promote a horror movie, and to use in a trailer. I assumed it was something in the early stages.”
“Where did you shoot those scenes?”
“I can show you. It’s not far from here.”
The day was just getting better.
* * * *
None of them was surprised when they arrived at the location to find an empty building. Jordan had expected something like that. She hoped that the crew they’d brought with them would be able to uncover hints as to who was behind the “horror movie.”
Tara shrugged. “They even paid for my food on top of the money. Really, I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.” Her eyes widened, as if the thought had only now occurred to her. “You guys aren’t going to charge me with anything? They lied to me.”
“We’r
e aware,” Jordan assured her, looking around the vast empty space of the warehouse. Someone had obviously cleaned up.
The ad was long gone from the website where Tara had found it, and getting information on the poster would take time, if they ever succeeded. Jordan was still optimistic. There had to be something. The initiator of this scheme had been cocky enough to walk into Lori’s house. He would make a mistake.
She saw one of the crew members bag a long dark thread.
“Do you remember anything else?”
Tara was silent for a long time. Jordan had almost given up on getting an answer, when she said, “Actually, yes. They used a really old camera, not one of those you can buy everywhere today. My Grandma had one of them.”
“You didn’t think that was strange?”
“Actually, no. They told me they were going for the feel of the old-fashioned slasher movies.”
It was something that might help them shift the focus. Hopefully, soon, Judy and Lori could go back to their homes and lives, and so could the rest of them. She excused herself when her cell phone rang.
“Kathryn, I’m at work. Is something wrong?” she asked, barely managing to keep the impatience out of her voice. Talking to her birthmother always put her into that state, though she had gotten better lately.
“Oh no, sorry about that. I just wanted to know if you asked Ellie yet?”
“Why?” This time, the irritation came through.
“You’re my only child, and exciting things are happening in your life.”
No kidding.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kathryn said. “She’ll say yes.”
It was questionable whether she could trust in Kathryn’s judgment in general, but Jordan had to grudgingly admit she had a point. Ellie would say yes—and Jordan was nervous about asking her.
“I hope so. Look, I have to go.”
“That’s okay. Let me know if there is any news?”
“I’ll call you,” Jordan said without committing to anything specifically. There was one way to get over her reservations—make it as soon as possible.
* * * *
Some of the pieces were finally coming together.
In the same online marketplace where Tara had found the horror movie ad, Paul Burton, a photographer, advertised vintage cameras and supplies. Ellie called the number, a cell phone, and Burton agreed to meet her at his studio.
Intentions (Carpenter/Harding Book 6) Page 12