“So, do you think the burning house is still our killer?”
Atlas scrunched up his forehead. “I’m not sure about that one. I’m sort of waiting for the arson report to come back for me to make my decision. I can’t decide if that was Ben trying to hide the evidence, or if that was the killer warning us off.”
Naya bit her lip. “This guy doesn’t seem like the type to be scared by the cops.”
He raised his eyebrows.
She had a feeling she couldn’t explain. “I just think this killer is in his own little world. I think he has a mission. Because if he was scared of us, why dump in the same field, possibly while we were there? If he did see us, then he’s clearly not scared at all, but either way, he knew we had found that location and would be monitoring it.”
“I see.”
They sat in silence for a few moments staring into space.
“I guess there’s nothing to do but wait for the arson report.”
“Which means it’s lunch time!” Atlas jumped up and grabbed his coat.
“Are you ever not thinking of food or coffee?” Naya grabbed her jacket as well, she was sort of hungry as well, now that she thought about it
“Maybe when I…um well, when…. No, I guess not. C’mon, let’s go.” They were laughing as they walked out to their squad car.
Naya sighed as she unlocked her front door. Despite them brainstorming and looking over the autopsy for the entire afternoon, nothing more had jumped out at either of them. They were at another dead end. There was no fingerprints, no hairs, the killer had left no traceable evidence behind.
As she stepped in the hall and slid off her shoes, she could hear talking in the living room. She wasn’t sure if it was Vance with Kevin, or maybe Elliot and Derek, but she really wasn’t in the mood to see anyone, her mind was filled with the case and at burn out. Instead of saying hello she slipped upstairs as stealthily as she could, once there she quickly pulled on her running clothes and grabbed her headphones.
Before she headed back down the stairs, she grabbed her work pants and pulled the spare keys she had stopped to make on her way home. One for Elliot, and two additional keys for Trevor and Sebastian, or whoever didn’t have one already. She set them on the table in the hall on her way out.
She stepped silently back out of the door and locked it before anyone could notice she had even been there. Outside, she started up RunTracker and then headed to the left, her only desire was to be away from her home.
For the next hour everything stressing her out, Vance, the case, her parents coming, it all melted away as she pounded the pavement harder and harder. She had her running playlist playing, the pace of her steps syncing with the beat. She was breathing heavy and her heart thumping furiously in her chest, but she didn’t care, it felt great to let all the stress fall off her shoulders temporarily. Nothing mattered in this moment but her feet hitting the ground.
When she got back to her house she began to stretch out on the front porch, only taking the time for what was necessary to prevent injury, she was eager to go straight to her room. She wasn’t sure why, but she really didn’t feel like talking to Kevin or Vance tonight. It was unusual for her.
She quickly and quietly unlocked the door again and stepped back in the house. There were still voices in the living room and for a second Naya tried to remember which cars she had seen out front, to determine if one of the voices was Kevin or not, but ultimately, she decided she didn’t care either way and snuck back upstairs. Afterwards she texted Vance and told him to holler if he needed and that the extra keys for him to hand out were on the table by the door.
When he didn’t respond she worried for a moment, then reassured herself he wasn’t alone and that someone would call her if there was an issue. She slipped into her most comfortable pajamas and laid on her side, facing the wall.
As if she didn’t have enough on her plate lately, one of her old cases haunting her thoughts today and wouldn’t leave. The three unsolved cases she kept in her drawer at work were connected, and they were all children. Her heart hurt every time she thought about it. It had been over a year, did the pain ever go away? Naya knew that guys like the killer she was currently trying to find, those kind of guys didn’t stop until they were caught or died, whichever came first. Tomorrow was Tuesday, which meant it was about time for their current killer to act again. And there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it and it was reminding her too much of how powerless she felt when it came to her old cases.
“Knock-knock” She heard Kevin’s voice from the top of the stairs. She considered pretending to be asleep, but knew he would never buy it.
“Is Vance okay?” She asked, really not wanting to have a stupid ‘how are you’ small talk conversation.
“Are you okay?” She heard him step on the final step, which creaked, come through the doorway and cross the room to sit on the bed behind her. “I was surprised you didn’t come to check on Vance when you got home or at least look to see if he’d eaten.”
“I heard voices and assumed he was okay. I’m not really in the mood to talk to anyone, it was a long day.”
She heard some rustling and almost turned around to see what he was doing when she felt the bed shift. Next thing she knew, his arms were encircling her.
“That’s fine, we don’t have to talk.” He whispered next to her ear.
Naya felt herself relax in his embrace, and they settled into a comfortable silence. He was right, they didn’t need to talk.
He laid with her for a while, she wasn’t sure how long because she didn’t want to break the peaceful embrace to check the time on her phone, but eventually she began to drift off. Not a deep sleep, a light doze where she was still aware of her surroundings.
Kevin must’ve thought she had fallen asleep though, because she felt him shift away from her and start to put on his shoes. She found herself thinking that he truly was a gentleman.
As quietly as he could she heard him leave, even skipping the step that had creaked as he came up. She could hear hushed voices in the hallway and wondered if he was talking to Vance. That was the last conscious thought she had before she finally did fall into a deep slumber.
CHAPTER 16
MARK
Tuesday morning.
It was time.
He had hoped that Alia would go for a run yesterday, but when it hadn’t happened he knew today would be the day. It had to be.
This was going to be difficult. Much more difficult than the others.
But he had a plan.
He propped his door ajar, waiting to hear her leave her apartment. Since it was morning, he had a couple of false alarms as other people left for work. Finally, he heard a door and when he peeked out was rewarded with Alia looking beautiful in her designer running wear.
Perfect.
She jogged lightly down the stairs and he moved over to his computer, quickly accessing her phone through the Bluetooth connection again. Modern technology made this almost too easy.
He watched as she stretched just outside the door then headed west. He watched as the line on his screen turned around corners and sped up across street crossings. Yes, he liked technology, a lot.
After what seemed like forever to his building anticipation, her line began to head back towards him. He pulled out the rag he had ready and dipped it in the ether solution, once she came back into view and began stretching in the same place she had stretched before her run, he knew it was time and quietly slid out of his apartment. He left the door propped open with another rag, that way he wouldn’t have to worry about trying to open it with his hands full.
He stood in the hallway and looked around, this was the only part of his plan he hadn’t perfected yet. He hoped what he had thought of would work. He briefly glanced down the stairwell, which was in the center of the building, to see if there was any busy bodies loitering. There didn’t appear to be any. He smiled. This was much more exhilarating than normal.
He heard f
ootsteps coming up the stairs, this was going perfectly.
He stayed by the opposite wall until he heard her feet reach the third level. Then he began to amble towards the staircase.
He stepped to the side to let her pass, and she smiled at him.
As she looked back in the direction of his door he made his move. Grabbing her from behind and putting the rag over her mouth before she could scream, she started kicking violently and he held her securely while she squirmed, careful not to be too close to any of the walls or doors. He didn’t want her foot to make contact and alert anyone to what was happening under their noses.
It seemed to take forever for her to fall unconscious, his adrenaline racing at the possibility of being caught. As soon as she was completely still dead weight in his arms, he dragged her to his door and brought her inside. He set her on the table he had set up, went back to close the door and slid the lock into place. He closed the curtains then turned to Alia’s unconscious form. He would have to be quick.
He pulled out the solutions he would be testing this time and expertly filled up a few syringes. He injected them into her calf muscles one after another.
Then, his active participation done, he sat back in his chair to observe, waiting to see if anything happened. He was worried that she might wake up, so he had taken extra precautions to tie her down, but chances were, even if she woke up, she wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.
With a smirk he pulled up the notes app on his phone and began typing the patient’s condition and his observations.
He was such a brilliant scientist.
CHAPTER 17
NAYA
She was driving to work the next morning when the call came in. She answered over her car’s Bluetooth.
“Detective Largusa.”
“He got another one.”
Naya groaned and felt herself press the gas pedal a little harder. “Send me the details, I’ll meet you there.”
“Alia Larson, she lives on the third floor of a building on Blake Street. Her boyfriend called it in. I guess she is really religious about her running routine and he says that she was due back at eight, and it’s now nine.”
Naya thought it was a bit premature, but she also knew that this fit their guy’s M.O. A text with an address came through and she clicked it, it opened in her GPS and she pushed the button to redirect.
“I know, it’s too soon to be sure she was taken, she’s only an hour late, but he was adamant that she was never late. And he said he keeps trying to call her phone and it’s been shut off. He says she never shuts it off while she runs because she listens to music and tracks her run with it.”
“And there’s no possibility her phone could have died?” Naya took the next corner a little too fast, but she recovered and pressed the gas even harder, her department issued light flickering on her dash.
“He says she was religious about charging it and that it, and I quote, ‘straight up wouldn’t happen’. I’m telling you; this kid gave 9-1-1 a rough time.”
“How old?” Naya turned onto Blake Street, heading towards the tall building up ahead, which she felt instinctively was the one Atlas was talking about.
“Twenty-five, her and the boyfriend have been living together for two years, says they were about to get married.”
“Damn. This guy is all over the map. The only thing we know is that he likes female runners.”
“There has to be a reason…” Atlas thought aloud. “I see your car. Park on the curb next to me.” She saw him waving, she pulled towards him and parked where she was told.
“Wow, this is a fancy building.” She said as they walked into the lobby.
He nodded. “I think it’s one of the few affordable high rises in the downtown area. Mostly because it’s so old and the neighborhood, normally these kinds of apartments cost thousands a month.”
The door had been unlocked for them but there had been a security pad, and Naya surveyed the lobby she noticed there were also security cameras in plain sight, though the lobby itself seemed unmanned. She assumed the security cameras were probably monitored off-site by a contract company or that the building was owned by another company that monitored all their properties from a central location. Naya pointed them out to Atlas.
He nodded. “I’ll request the tapes.”
Behind the lobby was a hall with a single freight elevator, and behind it was an open doorway to a staircase that went up to the residences. Atlas pressed the button for the elevator while Naya walked over to the bottom of the stairs and looked up, she noticed that the stairs circled and stopped at every floor, she could see all the way up to the top.
“Damn. This elevator is taking forever.” Atlas complained.
Naya looked around and noticed the lack of an additional elevator. “One elevator for an entire building?”
“Yeah, but these old buildings usually only have one elevator shaft since elevators were expensive to build at the time.”
“What floor?” She placed her foot on the bottom step.
Atlas looked down at his phone. “Third.”
“No problem.” She started up the stairs and heard Atlas follow her lead shortly thereafter. They reached the third floor in no time.
“I bet she takes the stairs a lot.” Atlas commented as he noticed her door was only a few down and to the left from where they came out. He knocked on her door.
The officer who had answered the boyfriends call opened the door and after they flashed their badges, he motioned them inside.
Just as before, Atlas talked to the officer while Naya walked into the kitchen where the boyfriend was standing, his eyes wide in thought and red rimmed.
“Hello, I’m Detective Largusa.” She held out her. The young man looked at her, lost for a moment, when he recovered, he hastened to shake her hand almost stumbling as he did so. He was an absolute mess.
“Justin.” He said and leaned on the counter behind him. “I know you all think I’m nuts, but this is not like Alia. She’s a smart girl, she knows how dangerous running alone is. That’s why she always tells me exactly when she will be back.”
Naya nodded in sympathy. “I understand. Does she always run the same route?”
“No, almost never. I mean she has favorite routes, but she always changes the exact streets in case anyone’s watching. She even changes up the days. She runs two to three times a week, either Monday or Tuesday, then Thursday or Friday, and sometimes a run on the weekend. And she does it at random depending on her work schedule. She tries to be as unpredictable as possible.”
Wow, Naya had to admit, this girl had done everything right when it had come to running safety. The guy they were looking for must have some other way of finding these women. Naya was beginning to think that maybe he was a runner himself who was meeting them and running with them.
“Did she ever run with anyone?” She pried.
“No, never.” Justin didn’t hesitate. “I wanted her to. But running was her safe space. She liked the alone time.”
Naya wondered if perhaps their killer was an attractive young man and that maybe these women didn’t want to tell their significant others they were running with him. Then her mind snapped back to Julia Charles and she realized that the theory didn’t fit that narrative. Julia would have probably mentioned it to her parents she was running with an older man. Unless he perhaps looked like a high school or college kid, but that seemed improbable, and she still might’ve said something.
The more Naya thought about it, the more she was sure that there had to be a personal connection she was missing. How could this guy abduct so many women so easily, and without leaving a trace?
“Was she a fast runner?”
Justin nodded. “Average, but fast enough, that’s why I was generally okay with her running alone as long as she took precautions, she can speed up pretty randomly as needed and that’s why I didn’t think anyone would ever really be able to catch her if she ran into problems.”
Atlas
came up behind Naya, placing an arm on her shoulder. “Justin, my colleague Officer Bartel will be staying here with you if you need anything.” He grabbed a card out of his pocket. “Give us a call if you think of anything else, or if she comes back after Bartel has left.”
“Where are you going?” He challenged.
“To go look for her.” Atlas answered in a calm and collected tone, which Naya knew was to diffuse him.
“Oh okay. Cool. Find her, please. She’s my whole life.” He turned and leaned his elbows on the counter and covered his face. It was clear he was trying to hide his emotions from them.
Atlas nodded and took Naya’s wrist to lead her out of the apartment and give the young man some privacy. Once they were out, he glanced around the hallway. It looked like there were six apartments on each floor.
“Generally, I would say we should canvas, beginning with the neighbors, but that is just going to take too long here.”
“Agreed. Let’s head out to the street.” Naya concurred and they jogged down the stairs and out the front door.
“So, like the others, she’s a smart runner. No typical path, runs at random times…” Atlas said, and Naya mirrored his frustration.
“I don’t care what Brody wants, I think it’s time he held a press conference and warned female runners in the area.”
Atlas nodded. “I think he might already be on it. After all, he called me while I was on my way to work this morning, and he sounded just as frustrated as we are.”
“Good.” Naya grumbled as she looked up and down the street. “Now how is he getting these girls? None of them make the typical mistake predators capitalize on where they run the same path at the same time.”
Atlas shrugged, but when he spotted a corner store imbedded in the building to the right began to beeline for it. Naya followed.
Before going in he stopped and looked up at the eave, looking for cameras, Naya did the same and noticed that there was one pointed at the door. Maybe that could help.
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