by Rita Herron
Worse, the unsub would probably be watching the circus and gloating, adding up his body count and choosing his next victim.
* * *
AMANDA AND JUSTIN met the school’s security guard for the school at the front door and were immediately escorted out to the football stadium where the principal and football coach were keeping watch. The students who’d found the body had been sequestered in the gym with the track coach while all other students had been retained in their homerooms.
Principal Blakely looked haggard as he greeted them at the entrance to the stadium and led them over to Kelly’s body where it had been staged on the bleachers at the fifty-yard line.
Emotions caught in Amanda’s throat when she saw the young woman’s matted hair, ashen skin and eyes glazed with the shock of death. Amanda snapped on latex gloves and handed Justin a pair, and he did the same.
“Who found her?” Justin asked.
“Coach Turner came out here with the track team. The team captain, Naomi Carter, spotted her first. She screamed and everyone else came running.”
Amanda winced. “Did the students touch anything?”
“I don’t think so,” the principal said. “Coach said he shouted at them to stay back. Some of the kids are pretty shaken up.”
“Get the counselors with them right away.”
“Already done.” Blakely shook his head sadly. “I don’t understand why a killer would leave her at school.”
“To send a message,” Justin said.
“There’s a string of young women who’ve gone missing the past ten years from this area,” Amanda filled in. “We think their disappearances are related to a former student from Canyon High.”
Amanda stooped down to examine Kelly’s neck and saw the telltale markings indicating strangulation. Wide marks reddened her throat, marks that looked as if they’d been made by a belt.
“Do these look like the marks on Tina’s throat?” she asked.
Justin stooped down to examine them. “Yes. Looks like the same belt was used.”
She snapped several photographs with her camera phone while Justin focused on the surrounding area, the bleachers beside the body and the ground beneath her.
Kelly’s skirt and blouse were wrinkled, one sleeve torn, but at least her clothing was intact, and she saw no evidence of sexual assault. The ME would have to confirm that though.
“Did you check her hand?” Justin asked.
A bevy of voices sounded behind them, and Amanda realized the ME and backup officers had arrived.
“Get the officers set up to interview the students,” Justin told the principal. “We’ll need all their phones to look at pictures and contacts they’ve had since then.”
“You think one of them killed her?” Blakely asked.
“No,” Amanda answered. “But they may have caught some important detail on their cameras that could help us.”
The principal headed over to meet the county police and ME and to do as they asked.
Amanda glanced at Kelly’s hands. Her left hand was splayed open, her nails jagged as if she’d fought for her life. Hope budded. If she’d fought with her attacker, maybe they’d find the suspect’s DNA beneath her fingernails.
Gently, she stroked Kelly’s right hand, the one folded up. It was stiff, rigor having set in. “I’m so sorry, Kelly. I wish I’d found you before this happened. But I promise you, I’ll catch whoever did this and make them pay.”
She uncurled Kelly’s fingers, her suspicions confirmed. A class ring was clutched in her palm.
“Same MO,” Justin said.
Amanda snapped a picture of it, then lifted the ring, knowing immediately it wasn’t Kelly’s but had belonged to a boy.
She turned it over and peered at the inside of the band for the engraving. TS. This was Terry’s ring.
How had the killer gotten it? And why put it in Kelly’s hand?
Had Terry done so as a message that Kelly had always been his?
She bagged it for evidence, hoping they would get something useful from it.
The crime scene team approached, Lieutenant Gibbons in charge. “What did you find?”
Amanda showed him the ring. “A class ring was found in Tina Grimes’s hand that had DNA from a previous missing victim. This ring belonged to Terry Sumter, Kelly Lambert’s former boyfriend.”
“Did she keep it all these years, or did someone plant it in her hand to turn suspicion toward Terry?” Justin said, speculating aloud.
A ruckus sounded near the fence to the stadium, and Amanda saw a media frenzy pushing at the gate, cameras flashing as reporters volleyed for footage.
The sound of more cars roaring up rumbled from the parking lot, then more shouts and voices.
Principal Blakely strode toward them, visibly upset. “Good grief. The word spread and parents are starting to storm the school.”
“Get officers out there to control the crowd,” Amanda said. The crime scene techs went to work examining the bleachers and football field while Dr. Sagebrush approached the body.
The ME looked reverent as he knelt beside Kelly. “So sad to see someone in their prime taken this way.”
And so needless, Amanda thought. But she bit back the words. Her emotions were teetering close to the surface.
So she stepped aside to let him do his work while she phoned her deputy. She quickly explained what had happened and asked him to bring Sumter to the sheriff’s office for questioning.
Suddenly, shouts erupted and she looked up to see Mr. Lambert scaling the fence and running toward them.
“Oh, my God,” Amanda whispered.
A deputy was trying to catch him, but Amanda threw up a hand to warn him that it was okay. Not that it really was okay, but the last thing she wanted was the officer pulling a gun on the victim’s father and the situation spiraling out of control.
“I’ve got it,” she told the officer.
She rushed toward Mr. Lambert, blocking his view. “Mr. Lambert, I told you to wait and I’d call you.”
“I have to see her,” he cried. “It’s my little girl....”
“I know, and I’m so sorry,” Amanda said softly.
She pulled him into a hug and let him sob on her shoulder, her own chest aching with grief and guilt.
* * *
JUSTIN DIDN’T DO emotional scenes and had to admit that Amanda was handling it well. Although he noticed the slight shiver in her body. The man’s outburst was definitely weighing on her.
Sympathy for her registered. She knew the victim personally and felt responsible because she was the local sheriff. Everyone was looking up to her, counting on her.
She probably viewed today as a failure.
But she’d inherited this mess and he’d make sure she knew it wasn’t her fault.
She coaxed Lambert back near the gate, and Justin watched as the ME examined the body.
“The MO consistent with Tina?” Justin asked.
“Belt marks look the same width.” The doctor peered at him over the rim of his glasses. “But your killer didn’t keep Kelly long.”
“He’s escalating, wants to show off, taunt us with the fact that he hasn’t gotten caught and that he’ll keep killing until we stop him.”
Shouts near the gate made him jerk his head up, and he saw Lambert still arguing with Amanda, so he strode toward them. Someone had to defuse the situation. The media were taking pictures left and right.
“Mr. Lambert, I’m really sorry for your loss,” Justin said as he coaxed him beneath the awning of the snack stand. “But right now you need to go home. Call a friend or family member to stay with you. Someone who can offer you comfort while we investigate.”
Lambert’s anguished look turned to anger that he directed toward Amanda. “You said you’d find her. I came to you for help and look what happened.”
Amanda’s hurt look tore at Justin. He understood about grief and anger, but Amanda didn’t deserve this.
“Mr. Lambert,” he said
, his voice turning to steel. “Sheriff Blair did everything in her power to find your daughter, but Kelly’s disappearance is related to a string of missing-persons cases that has spanned a decade. She has already made more strides in this investigation than your former sheriff.”
Amanda gently took Mr. Lambert’s arm. “Please go home, Mr. Lambert. I swear that I’ll find the person who did this and lock him up.”
She gestured toward the officer who’d been chasing Lambert earlier, and he escorted Lambert toward the exit. Justin saw the feeding frenzy of reporters and parents converging and silently cursed.
But another deputy stepped up to intervene and push them back so he headed over to the principal, who was talking with one of the crime techs.
“Excuse me, Mr. Blakely,” Justin said. “Are there security cameras outside the school?”
The principal nodded, although his mouth thinned into a grim line. “We have a few, but not as many as we should, and I think a couple are broken.”
Unbelievable with all the school shootings these days. “I want to look at all the feed of the parking lot and area by the stadium for the last twenty-four hours.”
Justin gestured toward the crowd in the parking lot. “It’s possible that our killer is in that crowd right now watching the commotion. He’ll get off on our reactions and the drama.”
Because he enjoyed inflicting pain and suffering on the town.
* * *
THE VIDEO FEED was all set up so Suzy Turner could watch the commotion. The reporters running to the school for the story. The students in upheaval.
The parents worried and racing to protect their spoiled offspring from the ugliness of the world.
Except they were hypocrites.
Those same parents allowed their teenagers to bully others. To taunt the weaker and berate the less intelligent and to shun the less attractive as if they were lepers.
Suzy Turner was one of them.
When the cameras finally showed Kelly Lambert’s dead body sprawled on the bleachers, Suzy would know what her future held.
Not parties and bragging about her looks and money to her classmates.
Oh, she thought she was popular and that everyone loved her.
But they were a fickle lot. They’d quickly forget her just like they’d forgotten the others.
Chapter Twelve
Amanda and Justin approached the local news reporter, deciding they needed to gain control before the press made things worse. Parents and families were becoming increasingly agitated.
Amanda stepped up on one of the platforms on the outer edge of the stadium. “Folks, I need everyone to listen.”
Angry voices shouted at her.
“Was there a teenager killed here this morning?”
“Who was murdered?”
“Why won’t you tell us anything?”
“Are there shooters in the school?”
Amanda waved her hand. “Please listen. There was no school shooting, and no students at the school have been injured. Nor do we believe they’re in danger.”
“Then why is the school on lockdown?”
“A body was found!”
Amanda’s hand shot up again. “This morning when the staff and students arrived, they did find the body of a young woman. She has been identified as twenty-seven-year-old Kelly Lambert, who was reported missing two days ago. Miss Lambert was not killed on the school grounds, but rather whoever murdered her left her body on the bleachers.”
“Why leave it at the school?”
“Do you think one of the students is responsible?”
“Is the killer in there with our kids?”
Amanda shook her head. “We do not believe any current student at Canyon High is responsible or that the killer is inside the school. However, some students did see the body and we’re keeping everyone contained until we can investigate. Your children are only being questioned in case they saw something pertinent to the case, and only with adult counselor supervision.” She forced a calm firmness to her voice. “Now, I urge you to go home and go about your day. I promise you the students are safe and sound.”
“What if you’re wrong and the killer is in the school?” someone shouted.
Amanda tensed. What if she was wrong? No...the killer/kidnapper was now targeting women in their twenties, not teenagers. “Again, we do not think that is the case. Kelly Lambert was left here sometime during the night. The killer was long gone before the students and staff arrived.”
But even as she tried to reassure the crowd of restless concerned parents, she wondered if that was true. She didn’t think the killer was inside, but what if he’d waited around to see them find Kelly’s body?
* * *
JUSTIN’S GAZE SCANNED the group as Amanda addressed them. Some asinine reporter had been talking to parents and onlookers, stirring up suspicion and panic by asking questions that were off base.
Everyone was restless and imagining the worst, but hopefully Amanda’s reassurances would calm them. He saw doubt on many faces though, as if they weren’t convinced she was telling the truth.
Principal Blakely took the microphone next, also urging parents to go home. “Folks, we have policies in place for situations like this, and we need your help. As Sheriff Blair stated, your kids are not in danger. If, however, any one of them suffers emotional duress as a result of today’s events, we will be offering counseling services.
“Classes are resuming as normal, although sports activities and practices will be cancelled for the day. Buses will run on schedule, as well. Rest assured that if anything changes we will contact you.”
He stepped down and began to move through the crowd, personally shaking hands and chatting with individuals until some of the panic settled and individuals began to disperse.
Justin studied the group, his senses honed for anyone who looked overtly nervous, someone filming the pandemonium, someone on the run.
“You did a good job,” he told Amanda as they wove past a set of older folks, probably grandparents of some students. The small cluster looked worriedly at Amanda, then bowed their heads in whispers and finally clung to each other as they walked toward the exit.
Justin took Amanda’s elbow. “Let’s study the footage from the security cameras. Maybe something will stick out.”
They walked together to the school guard, who escorted them to the security station inside and showed them the surveillance cameras. One camera was situated on each of the corners of the building with two more covering the gym and football stadium. The emergency exits also had cameras, but the angles were poor.
Unfortunately two of the cameras overlooking the entry points to the stadium had been broken.
Probably by teen pranks, the security guard said. They had been out for six weeks. The principal was waiting on budget approval to have them repaired.
But after surveying the films of the night, they found nothing. No one dragging a body into the stadium. Meaning the killer knew where the broken cameras were.
They moved on to look at the feed of the media and crowd gathered outside.
“What do you see?” Justin asked.
Amanda rubbed her temple. “A town full of concerned parents. I can’t blame them. If my child was inside the school and I didn’t know what was going on, I’d be anxious, too.”
Justin covered her hand with his. An innocent gesture of camaraderie but one that made him want more. “We will find out who did this.”
“I still think we should warn the classmates returning for the reunion.”
“Then we’d tip our hand,” Justin reasoned. “Right now the perp has no idea we’re on to him.”
“But that’s just it. We’re not,” Amanda said, her voice riddled with frustration.
Justin squeezed her hand. “Yes, we are. We know he has a reason for targeting your female classmates. Reisling’s father looks good for the crimes. And he has enough money to pay someone to alibi him if needed.” He drummed his knuckles on the table
as he searched the feed. “Do you see Reisling or his father in the crowd?”
Amanda leaned closer, searching. “No.”
“Anyone else look out of place?”
“I know a few of the folks but not all of them,” she said. “Wait, there’s Suzy Turner’s mother.”
“Who’s Suzy Turner?”
“Another classmate,” Amanda said. “She looks upset. And she’s talking to the principal.”
Amanda’s phone buzzed, and she snatched it up. “Sheriff Blair.”
“It’s Principal Blakely. Mrs. Turner is here and says she has to talk to you.”
“I’ll be right out,” Amanda said. She disconnected, then turned to Justin. “Keep looking at the feed. Let me go talk to Mrs. Turner.”
He nodded, but a bad premonition hit him. Kelly Lambert had been taken two days ago. And now she was dead.
And Mrs. Turner looked panicked.
Had the unsub taken another victim?
* * *
AMANDA RUSHED THROUGH the hallway and outside to the roped-off area around the bleachers, her heart hammering as Suzy Turner’s mother rushed toward her. “Amanda,” the woman cried. “I’m scared. I can’t find Suzy anywhere. I think she’s missing.” She glanced at the crime scene tape. “When I heard a body was found here, I was terrified it was her.”
Amanda’s chest constricted. “No, now tell me what happened, Mrs. Turner. Why do you think Suzy is missing?”
“Because she was supposed to come to our house for dinner last night,” Mrs. Turner said. “She always comes on Thursday nights. Ever since her father got sick, she never misses a week.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know your husband was ill,” Amanda said.
Tears glittered in the woman’s eyes. “He has Alzheimer’s. Early onset. Suzy didn’t like to talk about it, but she knew her time with him was limited, so she wanted to see him while he still remembered her.” Her voice broke on the last few words. “You have to find her. I can’t lose her, too....”
Amanda squeezed Mrs. Turner’s hands. “When was the last time you saw or spoke to her?”
“Yesterday morning. She called and said she’d pick up dessert for that evening. Then she...didn’t show.”