Heron Park

by C. K. Raggio

  She’d have to check with DMV, electric companies, gas companies, property rentals and leases for each name.

  Voices yelled from downstairs, footsteps stomped across the linoleum floors. Her fingers froze over the keyboard. That had been going on all day between shifts, but still. Rick’s phone rang. What if they found her?

  He frowned and answered. “Sanders.”

  She shut her eyes, didn’t want to read his expression, almost wished she could cover her ears and make it all go away.

  “Okay, okay,” Rick said. “Really? I appreciate the help. Thank you, I’ll call you later.”

  Cassie shoulders sagged. It wasn’t Hank. She took a breath.

  “I sent some photos of the bite marks from our last victims, the molds of the paw prints from your place, and some dog hairs to a specialist friend of mine. She agreed about the animal being part mastiff.” He took a seat next to her. “The bites and the size of the prints, though, have her thinking something else. For a dog to be able to take such a large chunk of flesh off victim number two’s leg and from the size of the bite radius on all the victim’s dogs, it would either have to be part wolf or part bear. Obviously you can’t breed a dog with a bear so…”

  “She figured that out from some measurements and pictures?”

  “She’s been in the field since she was a kid. Plus, she re-ran the DNA of the hairs herself. The dog is a cross between mastiff, wolf and some other combination of crossbreeds she’s yet to figure out. She said she’d work on it. The only things we have going for us is a dog that size has a life expectancy considerably shorter than the normal ten to fifteen years. She’s estimating six to nine. Once it hits about five, it’s going to slow down.”

  Cassie leaned back in her chair. “Don’t know how much that helps us. If our guy’s been doing this for years, he’s probably bred this dog himself. Which means he likely has others.”

  “You’re right, but at least we know a bit more about what we’re up against.” He paused and stared out the window. "Phil’s coming in tomorrow. He can help you try and pare our suspect list down to people who have moved here in the last ten to fifteen. We’ll focus on that lead for now.”

  “You talked to him?” Cassie sat up straight. She’d wanted to call him, but for some reason every time she picked up the phone she lost her nerve. A part of her blamed Phil. She wasn’t sure why. “How’s he doing?”

  “Hanging in there, like the rest of us. He started counseling today. He wanted to come in, but Hank told him to take the day. He wants him to stick with deskwork for now, stay out of the field. Phil understood. I hooked him up with my guys at headquarters to help look into the Virginia victims.” Rick met her eyes. “When does your counseling start?”

  She’d forgotten she was scheduled to meet with a counselor the next morning. Counseling, she didn’t have time for counseling! She needed to go through all these names. Check all the records.

  All counseling would do right now was delay her from finding Izzy.

  “Hank said it’s mandatory.” Rick’s frown hardened as if he could read her mind. “If you don’t show you can take it up with him. He’s not sure you should be on this case as it is.”

  Cassie set her jaw. “I’m going, back off.”

  He winced and softened his voice. “I have to run back to my motel room before we meet up with Hank and the mayor. I’ll meet you at his office.”

  Cassie stared at his back. Why was he always nosing into her business? He didn’t seem the least bit fazed by Phil being drunk and falling all over. It must be because she was a woman. Sexist pig. She slammed her fist against the table and lowered her chin. Thoughts of Izzy engulfed her. She’d cried more today than she ever thought possible. Every private moment, she found herself weeping. But right now all she felt was rage. Rage at Izzy, at Rick, at Phil.

  Why hadn’t Izzy called 911 instead of Phil? Was it because Phil was already coming over, so she figured he’d get there quicker? That didn’t make any sense. Cassie shook her head. Izzy had panicked, that’s why everything had gone down the way it had. She’d made every wrong decision she could’ve. Signed her own death certificate.

  She glanced at the clock. They had to meet with the mayor in an hour. She contacted the DMV and sent them over the suspect list. They’d start with that and go from there.

  Izzy’s desk was piled with papers. Rivulets of tears rushed down Cassie’s cheeks. Would her partner ever have the chance to sit at her desk again?

  Cassie couldn’t be in the office anymore; she needed to go somewhere. Help look for Izzy. The boys could handle the mayor on their own. She’d go to the park and see how the search teams were making out.

  Putting on her coat, she walked to the door. She pulled her phone from her pocket. The screen was blank. Shit. When had she charged it last?

  She massaged her temples as she made her way down the stairs and into the lobby. Officer Haggard was working the front desk. His black mustache was sprinkled with crumbs from the sandwich he most likely had hidden under the counter.

  He gave her a sad smile. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  Cassie glanced out the doors. The parking lot was brightly lit. A gust of wind rattled the glass. Nobody was in sight, they were all out patrolling. Looking at Haggard, she realized she was all alone with him. She didn’t think he was their guy. He was overweight, slow moving and had to be in his mid-forties. But still. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

  He brushed bits of white bread off the front of his uniform. “If you won’t let me walk you, then at least let me watch you from here.”

  She shrugged. “Fine, thanks.”

  Cassie thought of her dead phone and wanted to rush to her car so she could throw it on the charger, but the parking lot was icy. The plows had pushed the snow into piles that towered over the car hoods. Someone could easily be hiding behind one. She wished she’d moved her Jeep closer. Earlier the building had been overflowing with activity, and she’d parked in the bum fuck end of the lot.

  A chill scurried up her backbone and she picked up her pace, sliding her boots through the slush so she wouldn’t face-plant. She scanned the lot, worried for a second when she didn’t see her Jeep. She passed a drift and found it on the other side.

  Crap. Haggard wouldn’t be able to see her anymore.

  She slid her key in the lock. Heavy stomps of running footsteps sounded behind her. She dropped her keys and whipped her gun from her belt.

  “Why aren’t you picking up your phone?” Rick yelled at her. He didn’t seem fazed by the gun in her hands as he grabbed the keys off the pavement.

  “It died.”

  He made his way around her and jumped in behind the wheel of her Jeep. “They found a body.” He turned the key and revved the engine.

  Cassie lowered her weapon, realizing for the first time how badly her hands were shaking. She slipped on some snow and stumbled around the truck, sliding in beside him. “Please, tell me. Is it her? Is it?”

  Rick eyed her, his lips drawn in a line. “I don’t know. I rushed over here when nobody could get a hold of you. Get your head on straight, and call Hank back.” A glimmer of worry flashed across his face. “Cassie, I know you want to stay on this case, but if you break now they’ll take you off.” He held out his phone.

  She pushed her emotions deep down, dialed and hit speaker. “Hank, we’re on our way.” She bit back the sob threatening to escape.

  “It may not be her,” Hank said. “Peggy’s husband from the diner called. Peggy’s been missing for three hours. I’ve known that woman for years. It’s not like her to leave and not tell anybody. Especially if she has a restaurant full of customers.”

  Cassie glanced at Rick, hope surging through her. Then she mentally slapped herself. How could she wish something like that? She leaned her head against the window. “We’ll be there in ten.” She hung up and handed Rick back his phone. “What do you think?”

  He pushed down on the gas. The tires screeched a
nd spun in the snow. He didn’t answer her.

  CHAPTER 22

  Cassie slumped down in her seat, staring out the window. Did their guy go after Peggy? Why would he do that? It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t his type. Or at least, she hadn’t been his type so far. The woman probably just got stuck in the snow somewhere.

  All of her optimism extinguished as they reached the park. Hank pulled into the lot at the same time. They didn’t need to trek into the woods this time. The yellow caution tape was up only a football field away, by the lake under the willow trees.

  An egret flew low, its graceful wings flapping over a figure on a bench. Its shrieking call haunting. At first glance it looked to be someone bundled up in winter attire, staring at the frozen water. Closer inspection showed a jacket way too large for the body’s frame, and pants saturated in bloodstains. The smell of bleach overpowered the frosty air.

  Cassie struggled through the deep snow behind Hank and Rick. Please don’t let it be her. Please.

  Officer Ryles stopped them. His face red, his eyes drenched in tears. “I’m so sorry. It’s Izzy.”

  No! No! No! “Are you sure?” Cassie stared over his shoulder. “How do you know? You could be wrong, he takes their heads.”

  Ryles frowned. “He didn’t take hers.”

  An arm pulled Cassie into a protective embrace. She shoved it off and ran forward, slipping and sliding in the snow. It can’t be. It can’t. This couldn’t be Izzy.

  “Cassie,” Hank said behind her.

  She kept going. She had to see for herself. The heavy winter coat surrounding the body on the bench was dark blue. A pink scarf blew in the breeze, revealing pale skin covered in bruises and puncture marks. Cassie took a deep breath and stepped around the bench.

  Short hair matted with blood stuck to the victim’s cheeks. Cassie shut her eyes for a moment, hearing the murmurs of Hank and Rick coming up behind her.

  Izzy’s eyes were half open, her chin jutting out with her lips parted. The urge to feel for a pulse came and went in a flash. Izzy’s eyes were empty, her skin tinged gray. She wasn’t unconscious.

  Tears pooled in Cassie’s eyes, her vision blurred. She tried to blink them away, making them cascade down her cheeks. Her partner was really gone.

  A car screeched into the parking lot behind them. Phil jumped out, his voice echoed. “Is it her? Please, God, tell me it’s not her?” He ran forward. Hank ran to meet him. Cassie couldn’t move.

  She wanted to help Hank, but her legs wouldn’t work. She placed a tentative hand on Izzy’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. I promise you.”

  Rick stepped beside her. “I’m so sorry.”

  Cassie turned and watched Phil fall to his knees. Two officers grabbed him under his arms and brought him toward an ambulance. Hank trudged back to them.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Cassie asked.

  Hank shrugged, but his eyes stayed on Phil as he disappeared into the ambulance. “The paramedics will give him something to calm him down.”

  “What about you guys?” Rick glanced from Cassie to Hank. “I could call the mayor for you, get more detectives down here.”

  The thought of someone else taking over for them made Cassie’s blood cold. “No. We owe it to her to take care of this.”

  Rick nodded and turned back to Ryles. “Who found her?”

  “We keep three officers here. They mostly keep an eye on the shoreline, but we have one that stays closer in, near the entrance. He patrols the deer trails every two hours. He saw headlights entering the lot when he was about a mile inside the woods. It took him fifteen to twenty minutes, plodding through this deep snow to get back. By that time the car was gone. He saw her, radioed the other patrolling officers when he caught sight of the blood.”

  Rick’s eyes widened. “So nobody’s patrolling the shoreline right now?”

  “They weren’t,” Ryles answered. “I just sent a few men back over that way.”

  Rick stared into the woods, toward the trail. “Have they checked in yet?”

  “No.” Ryles took out his radio. Before he could say anything static filled the air. “Go ahead.”

  “Sir, we need you down here, now.”

  ~~~

  Armed with flashlights, they made their way to the shore. Cassie shivered as the wind picked up. Her only warmth emanated from the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Walking away from Izzy had been so hard. She’d tried to hold her emotions in check, but the tears kept coming.

  She and Rick followed behind Officer Ryles and Hank as they exited the trail onto the beach.

  Ryles paused. “Oh, shit.”

  Two officers stood on either side of a female body, chasing away the seagulls. The small breakers of the bay rose around the lifeless form. The birds had already done a job at the gaping hole in her neck, where her throat had been ripped out. A gull took to the sky, a chunk of flesh hanging from its beak. Two others squawked and flew after it.

  Cassie didn’t need to get much closer to see that it was Peggy. The older woman was naked. Her sagging breasts were covered in crisscrossing knife slices. They looked nothing like the precise slashes that the killer usually inflicted. These were jagged. Not deep at all, like the killer used a dull serrated piece of steel. These pathetic lacerations were not the work of their guy. At least not his normal work.

  Long strands of seaweed tangled in her gray hair. Her nose was smashed flat against her face and bruises lined her cheeks. Small cuts, probably from her struggle, outlined her once smiling face. The most disturbing thing about her was the black sightless holes where her eyes once were. They gaped upward at the silver moon.

  “Ryles,” Hank said. “How long were the patrols away from the beach?”

  “An hour at the most.”

  Hank ran a hand through his hair. “How could our guy do both of these woman? Is that even possible? Please tell me on top of everything we don’t have a copycat.”

  “It’s definitely not our guy’s work,” Cassie said. “This was a rushed job. Our guy doesn’t rush. Her body was just thrown from a boat to the shore. Look at the depth of the water. About two feet out, it’s just deep enough for a small boat. He tossed her and took off. The knife cuts are all wrong too.”

  “You think he’s trying to throw us off here?” Hank asked Rick.

  “I agree with Cassie.” Rick scratched his cheek. “This isn’t our guy, but look at the throat. That sure as hell looks like an animal ripped it out. The gulls couldn’t do that amount of damage.”

  Hank’s eyes widened. “So you are thinking a copycat.”

  “No. How would a copycat know when our guy was going to drop by the park? How would he know the shore was clear for him to come and toss Peggy here?”

  “He wouldn’t, unless someone told him.” Cassie couldn’t wrap her head around everything. She thought about what Rick said when someone tried to break into her place. It was like their guy had depended on someone else, that’s why it hadn’t panned out for him. That’s why she was alive right now instead of her partner.

  Had their guy taken on a student? Someone to help confuse the case even more?

  The eyes. Surprisingly a rational calm came over Cassie. “Why would he take Peggy’s eyes?”

  Rick stared at the body a moment. “Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have. Maybe if our guy did take on a groupie, he’s trying to have his own fun. Make his own rules, trying to stand out against our guy.”

  Cassie swiped her hair away from her face and zipped her jacket up to her chin. “Why now?”

  Rick motioned for them to walk a few steps away from the body. “I think whoever killed Peggy is the same person who was outside your window, Cassie. Our killer has somebody else besides his dog. A disorganized person, and definitely not as slick.”

  “Why would he do that?” Cassie asked. “Why would he share with somebody who may get him caught? I mean if we can find this guy, we could probably find our killer.”

  Rick shook his head. “That
’s what we need to figure out. This person could be somebody that he’s known for a long time. That he trusts. A friend. A family member. Maybe our guy doesn’t even know he’s doing it.”

  Hank took out his phone. His tears leaving crystalized streaks on his face. “I’ll call the mayor. I’m sure he’ll want to be there when we tell Izzy’s family.”

  Her father especially would be heartbroken. Cassie wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I don’t think I can handle this right now. I can’t see him.”

  Hank bounced a curled knuckle against his mouth. “Me either, that’s why we’ll have the mayor go along with Ryles. We’ll speak to Peggy’s husband and question the people who were at the diner when Peggy disappeared. Maybe somebody saw something.”

  They left Peggy’s body with the two officers who found her and headed back to the first scene. To Izzy. Cassie still couldn’t believe the body on the bench had been her partner. Numbness crept through her nerve endings. She welcomed it, not wanting to feel the pain right now. Or ever. But she knew it would come, and it would hit her hard and fast. She just hoped she’d be able to keep it from destroying her.

  ~~~

  After speaking with Peggy’s husband and getting a list of people who were at the diner, Cassie and Hank went back to the precinct. They sat at their desks, not saying a word to each other. They’d decided that Rick would sit in on the autopsy. Neither of them thought they’d be able to handle it.

  Everything seemed to be spiraling out of control and Cassie had a hard time concentrating. Izzy’s face, frozen and lifeless, was the only thing she could see.

  Hank’s low voice brought her out of her head. She hadn’t heard his phone ring. He hung up, placed it on the desk, his eyes glued to it. “Cass, Rick doesn’t… shit… Izzy’s body from chest to toes was bitten.”

  A fog took hold of Cassie’s body. Her hearing seemed to clog, like she had water in her ears. “More dog bites?”

  Hank sat deeper in his chair, still not meeting her gaze. “No, the bites were human.”