by Sable Hunter
“Oh, right.” Alivia smirked and rolled her eyes.
“Victoria will take care of you,” Savvy inserted with confidence.
“That’s right,” Saxon agreed. “She’ll guide you and make sure you know what to expect.”
Letting out a deep breath, Alivia nodded. “You’re right. I’m making too much of this. Competing is our way of being close to the action, that’s the only reason I’m…” She groaned. “…putting myself through this torture.”
Saxon chuckled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I plan on taking lots of pictures, this will be something to tell the grandkids about.”
Grandkids? Alivia cut her gaze up to Saxon’s, and he gave her a wink. Before she could ask him what he meant, there was a tap on the door.
Saxon stood about the time he heard Destry’s voice.
“Saxon! Alivia! I have something!”
Opening the door to admit his friend, Saxon slapped him on the shoulder. “Easy, Counselor, don’t stroke out on us.”
Alivia rose to meet him, her worries temporarily forgotten. “What did you find?”
Destry was all smiles. “I’m not sure what it means, but it has to be significant.”
“This is from Homeland Security?”
“Yes, but it’s not what you’d expect. We could have gotten the same thing. We just weren’t looking in the right place.” He handed Alivia a photo of a man – clean shaven, glasses, pale eyes and hair.
“Who’s this?” Alivia stared at the photo as Saxon peered over her shoulder. “He looks vaguely familiar.”
“Good question. When we did a search on that photo, this one came back as a seventy-five percent match.”
“With Johnny Raymond?” Alivia couldn’t see it.
“No.” Destry shook his head. “With Murray himself. He’s much younger, but the features are undeniably similar, even down to the birthmark over his left eye. We’re trying to figure out if he’s a relation.”
“What’s his name?” Saxon asked, staring at the picture to see if he could discern any resemblance to anyone he’d seen anywhere before. Something seemed familiar…something was tickling the back of her mind. Something…
“Did you get a big gust of wind through here?” Destry asked as he walked further into the room to sit down in a chair. He chuckled, pointing at the pile of papers that still remained scattered on the floor.
Alivia blushed. Saxon smirked. “Don’t keep us hanging, Cartwright.”
“Well, we don’t know his name – not yet anyway. The only hit we received was on Facebook. The account is registered to a Cotton Mather.”
“Cotton Mather? Wasn’t he a Puritan? The Salem witch trial guy?” Saxon mused, taking the photo from Destry’s hands.
“Yea, a real supporter of women’s rights,” Alivia muttered sarcastically. “Anything incriminating in the account? Anything personal?”
“No, but…” Destry paused, looking from one to the other of his associates, “he is included on the friends list of each of our current beauty queen contestants.”
“Oh, my God! Seriously?” Alivia grabbed the photo and walked to the window. “Come on, come on, think. Where have I seen you before?”
“You really think you’ve crossed paths with this guy?” Saxon asked her, his hand moving soothingly up and down her back. “If you think you’ve seen him here, we should review the CCTV tapes.”
“I don’t know, I can’t place him. Could we get a subpoena to track the IP address used for his Facebook account?” Alivia asked Destry.
“I already did,” Destry told her. “We should know something in a couple of days.”
Alivia felt frustrated over the timeline. “I don’t think this could be a relation. We checked Father Murray’s family situation when he first came on our radar. His parents had no sisters or brothers, and neither did he.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I guess the kinship could be more distant than that, a cousin or something.”
“Well, they say everyone has a double somewhere,” Destry offered, checking his phone. “Anyway, I wanted you to see this. I think the most telling thing is his friend status with the contestants.”
Saxon agreed, “You’re right. This isn’t a coincidence.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Oh well, we’ll just have to keep staring at the details until we see the big picture.”
“I just feel like we’re running out of time.” She met Saxon’s eyes. “In more ways than one.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” Destry sighed. “I’d feel a thousand times better if I could hear from Victoria. This is so unlike her.”
Alivia could see the worry on his face. “Have you checked with her family or her employees?”
“Yea. No one’s heard from her.” Destry rose and went to the door. “I think I’m going to nose around her hotel room and see if I can find anything that might tell me where she could’ve gone.”
“Is her car still on site?” Saxon asked.
“I don’t know. Good point. I’ll find out.” Destry opened the door and stepped into the hall. “You two sleep well. We have a full day tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Victoria will be back soon,” Alivia assured him. “She won’t leave me in the cold; she knows I’m depending on her to get through this.”
* * *
A few hours later, Saxon lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. Alivia lay nestled in his arms, her head on his chest, her breathing even and peaceful. He stole one kiss from the top of her hair, promising himself that he’d propose soon. There’d been no right time tonight, and tomorrow would be too chaotic. Just as soon as this ordeal was over, he planned on taking her someplace special to pop the question.
A muted whirr drew his eye to the sitting room. Savvy sat in the shadows silently, plugged in, and going through updates. He smiled, knowing his life with Alivia would be anything but normal. This realization didn’t faze him, normal was highly overrated. The woman lying next to him was his perfect match. He couldn’t wait to begin their future together. As images of their life together formulated in his mind, he pushed aside any doubt that she could possibly want something different. They were made for each other, and he was hopelessly in love. Now, all they had to do was catch a serial killer, and all would be well. He sighed and closed his eyes, praying the odds against them weren’t insurmountable.
Sleep came and with it came dreams.
Saxon was running through the woods, trying to find Alivia. Strings of black beads hung from the trees, and he kept hearing chanting in the background. The roar of a jaguar overhead caused him to stumble, and he fell into some kind of bottomless pit, and all around him there were swirls of light circling him as he fell…and fell. “God!”
Alivia touched Saxon’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re just dreaming.”
“What time is it?”
“Three.” Sitting up to rub his eyes, he noticed Alivia was propped up on pillows reading Murray’s journal. “Can’t sleep?”
“No, I keep trying to put the puzzle pieces together.”
“Any luck?” He shivered and grabbed his hoodie from the end of the bed, slipping it over his bare shoulders.
An answer hovered on her lips, stalled by the sight of him. Even in the dimly lit room, the man stole her breath. The scruff of his jaw was so sexy, and the play of his muscles as he pulled on the jacket made her nipples tingle. “Uh…maybe.” She shook her head to clear her mind. “Listen to this. James interviewed Murray while he was working at the boy’s home. James asked Murray if he regrets becoming a priest.” She wiggled in the bed, bringing her legs up to cross beneath her. “This is what he said,” she began to read, No, I don’t. A life of simplicity and denial has given me great comfort. In fact, I detest people who can’t control their libidos, and I hate societies obsession with people’s appearances, especially women.
“I’m sure there’s more to it, but that goes a long way to explaining why he targets beauty queens.”
Alivia nodded. “Right. Li
sten to this.” She cleared her throat and began to read some more. “My greatest regret is not having a family, not leaving a legacy, not having someone to mold in my image.”
“Someone to mold in his image…huh.” Saxon lay down next to her, placing his arm across her thighs. “How about plastic surgery? I just saw an article the other day where some poor woman went through dozens of operations to look like Angelina Jolie. In the end, she looked like some macabre cartoon caricature of what she intended, I think. Sad, when you think about it. And stupid.”
Alivia’s mind was spinning. “You’re thinking Johnny Raymond changed his appearance as well as his name.”
“Possibly.” Saxon nodded. “They were both nuts.”
“Damn, this makes some weird kind of sense.” Alivia shut the journal. “But what’s the next step?”
Saxon picked up the papers and laid them on the table behind him. “Sleep, that’s the next step. Destry will pull some legal strings to get the IP address from Facebook, and then we’ll go catch the son-of-a-bitch.” Turning back to her, he urged Alivia down and under the covers. “For now, let’s just get through tomorrow, and trust this will all work out.” He leaned over to kiss her. “Have faith, we’re solving this riddle. I promise.”
Letting out a long breath, Alivia settled herself next to his big, hard body. “Okay, we’ll just get through tomorrow and keep our eyes open.”
Kissing her eyelids, he chuckled. “For now, keep them closed.”
“Yea, I need my beauty sleep for the contest.”
“You’re beautiful enough, but you do need your rest.”
Alivia smiled. “Keep the compliments coming. I just might have to keep you around.”
Saxon pulled her into the shelter of his arms. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.”
* * *
“How are things, Adam? Everything going according to plan?”
Adam rolled his eyes, glancing at his watch. Six in the morning. He didn’t have time for this shit. “Yes, Josephine, I have it all under control.”
“Marvelous! Well, I know this is your area of expertise, but I can’t stay away. This is our most exciting drive yet. I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’m pitching in.”
Adam Curtiss froze, his teeth gritting together. “You’re coming to the pageant?”
Josephine Weber laughed. “I’m almost there! I’m an hour out of town. I’ll be there before you have your first customer of the day.”
Hit by the unwelcome news, he began to rub the stigmata over his eye, the Mark of Cain, his father called it. “You don’t have to help me. I have everything in hand. Why don’t you just enjoy the festivities?” A hint of desperation crept up his spine. He didn’t like when his plans went awry.
“Nonsense. I’m sure there will be times when I can pitch in, give you a break. I know the Dallas branch sent you a tech to help out, but another pair of hands will come in useful, I’m sure. We can take turns attending the competitions, that way we’ll both have a memorable time.”
Adam pressed his lips together and pulled on the end of his beard – hard. The pain almost brought tears to his eyes. “Fine. I’ll be expecting you.” He hung up the phone, his hand going back to the mark on his forehead. Touching it gave him comfort. “Christ!” What was he going to do now? She’d snoop around, find the bodies, find the fertilizer and it would all be over. “Hell, I’ll probably have to kill her too.”
This was fast getting out of hand. The smart thing would be to move up his schedule, the sooner he finished all this, the better. His plan had been for the whole thing to blow at the finale, right when the crown was being placed on the new winner’s head. Now, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. Every moment that passed seemed to offer some new problem. For one thing, there were too damn many cops crawling around. The only thing he had going for him was the fact he was invisible. No one paid any attention to his sort, he was there to serve, like a piece of furniture.
Striding to a mirror, he stared at his reflection, no longer seeing Johnny Raymond. He was a new creature, a new creation. Adam Curtiss. “When you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” Soon, he would lay aside this garment of flesh and take upon himself the eternal robe of the chosen. For long moments, he gazed into his own eyes, his spirit connecting to the one who’d gone before, receiving guidance and wisdom. Only a noise from outside broke the trance, and he blinked back to reality. “Be right with you,” he called to whoever was darkening his door. Having worked through his plan, he felt better. Adam knew what his next step would be. Taking the dead bodies and dumping them, then making sure they were found quickly would divert police attention elsewhere, leaving him free to carry out his mission.
“I was made in my father’s image, and I must be about his business.” He ran a hand over his face. “Whatever it takes, you’re doing what must be done.”
* * *
“Victoria, where are you?” Alivia moaned. Time had arrived to take her place in the dressing area. The rehearsals for the dance number had been rigorous and demanding. She was exhausted. How did these girls do it? Alivia had to wonder if they were all high on something.
“Don’t worry, Miss Hart, I’m here to take care of you. These preliminary rounds are tedious, but we’ll get you through them. Since you’re in the first group, tonight is your swimsuit competition. Afterward, you’ll have a break to change, and then you’ll compete in the talent competition.” Lola Nabors spread out her tools. “Ms. Kraft gave me good instructions. I’m going to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.”
“I think I’m going to faint.” She sat down in the chair to have her hair and makeup done. This was more complicated than she anticipated. The truth was, she’d rightly been paying more attention to the investigation than the pageant. Victoria had given her an itinerary to study, but she’d barely looked at it, counting on the other woman to guide her through. “So, there are two days of preliminaries, with three groups, each taking part in two of the categories – swimsuit, talent, interview, and evening gown.”
“That’s right, each time the field is narrowed, so the herd is thinned from fifty-two girls to fifteen. Here, drink this.”
Lola gave her a bottled water, and she opened it, taking a sip. “Thanks.” She closed her eyes and tried to relax, practicing a bit of meditative breathing technique. “Count your breaths,” she whispered.
“Alivia! Alivia!”
Alivia’s eyes popped open, and she stared in the mirror to the chaotic scene behind her. “Who said my name?” She kept looking until she saw Josephine Weber pushing through the crowd. “I just wanted to say hello.”
“Hello!” She smiled at the unexpected guest. “I didn’t know you were coming, Josephine.”
“I didn’t either, it was a last-minute decision. I can’t let Adam have all the fun.” She stood to one side, intrigued by Lola’s quick, precise movements. “Looks like you’re getting the full treatment.”
“Yea, this is wild, isn’t it?” The room was overrun with contestants and their makeup artists, all hurrying to perfect the look needed for their first appearance before the cameras and the live audience.
“It sure is, so exciting. What preliminary rounds do you participate in today?”
“Swimsuit and talent. Due to…circumstances, I think they’re compressing the time frame. There are two sets of preliminaries tomorrow, in the afternoon and the evening.” She wouldn’t come out and mention the investigation, the obvious police and security presence said enough.
“The talent competition is my favorite part,” Josephine said, studying Alivia’s face in the mirror. “You look marvelous. I always knew you were beautiful, but what this lady is doing really brings out your eyes.”
Alivia groaned softly, “Something I can’t duplicate, I assure you. I’d have to have plastic surgery to do what this woman can do with a brush.” She marveled at how Lola had been able to emphasize her cheekbones and make her eyes look bigger.
Josephi
ne laughed. “Oh, you don’t need to do that. I know many people do, but some regret it and go too far.” She leaned down to whisper to Alivia. “Don’t tell him I said so, but I think that’s why Adam wears a full beard…”
Her comment was cut off by a voice coming over the loudspeaker that set off a bevy of butterflies in Alivia’s stomach. “Attention! Contestants, only thirty minutes until showtime!” She was about to walk out onstage in a teeny-tiny bathing suit. Heck, she could count the number of times she’d been to the beach on one hand! “Please, God, don’t let me trip in those five-inch stilettos.” As much as she dreaded the eyes of the world on her body, it was knowing Saxon would be watching that made her the most nervous. Why, she didn’t know. He’d seen her in far less numerous times.
“Oh, you’ll do fine.” Josephine checked her watch. “I’m going to go check in on Adam and let him know I arrived.” She winked at Alivia. “I told him I was coming to help out, but I’d much rather watch the show.”
“Thanks for stopping by,” Alivia told her sincerely, her eyes still scanning the mayhem in the mirror, searching for Victoria’s familiar figure. “You haven’t heard from Ms. Kraft this morning?” she asked Lola.
“Nope.” Lola outlined Alivia’s lips. “A little unusual, if you ask me. This pageant is one of the joys of her life. The woman would have to be dead to miss it.”
A cold chill ran over Alivia’s body. “Don’t say that.”
Lola laughed. “Stop it. Ms. Kraft probably had some type of emergency with that big company she runs. The only thing you need to be worrying about is making sure that bikini bottom of yours doesn’t ride up.”
“Oh, gracious,” Alivia groaned. “Victoria gave me something to make sure that doesn’t happen, and I left it in my room.”
“Butt glue? Right?”
“Something like that.”
“Don’t fret,” Lola assured her. “I have some in my kit. I’ll help you get everything situated. Come on, let’s get you in that bikini and get this show on the road.”