by Robin Mahle
Minutes passed and there was only blackness on the road ahead, flanked by shadowed trees as he drove on. His head pounded and he could feel the beast try to rip its way through his gut, back into his head where it could manipulate him again. Burning and clawing and tearing its way, but Arlen pressed on. Control. It was all he ever wanted—over those who had done things to him, over those to whom he had done terrible things.
It was visible in the distance now and the smell carried through the vents of the truck. He was back at the swamp. Arlen pulled on his boots and ran to the place where she was. The flashlight shone in the water until he saw her, still tied to the posts beneath the mill. Knife in hand, Arlen stepped into the water and cut her free of the ropes. Her body was almost too heavy for him to pull from the water as it had become both waterlogged and rigid. But the desire to free himself from the damning thoughts that prevailed, forced him to find the strength he needed and, with a severe grunt, Arlen dragged the body to the muddy shore. He fell to the ground and tried to regain his breath. No time to waste; he must continue, for it would come back without warning.
He returned the body to the bed of the truck, tossing over it the tarp he’d tasked himself to destroy. His jeans were damp and muddy, but Arlen jumped back inside and drove west on the road that paralleled the swamp.
More than thirty minutes has passed and Arlen knew he would lose control soon. He had only moments before it returned and so he reached his destination and killed the engine. His vision suffered in the night hours and here, where there were no city lights and the stars and moon hid behind clouds, he struggled to find his footing.
Arlen dropped the tailgate and pulled on her legs, forcing her head to crash against the ground in a loud thud. He dragged her through the leaves and mud to the river’s edge. With a firm shove, Lizbeth rolled down the embankment and splashed into the water.
He watched her sink below the surface and cast a look at his surroundings. This was where his father had taken the family when they went camping. And this was where it had all begun.
Arlen returned to his truck, inhaling deeply to slow his pulse from the exertion and the fear that he would not finish his task. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal, smoke rising from the exhaust, and returned to the road to get as much distance as he could from the river.
He’d made it as far as Cheltenham before the headache abated, only miles from his home. It had regained control and, once again, the desire returned.
Returning to his home, Arlen slipped off his soiled clothes and put on fresh ones. In the bathroom, he splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth, and ran gel through his scalp, slicking back his locks, so that they appeared jet black.
Arlen jumped back into his truck and headed northwest to the next town over. A dimly lit sign sat atop an overhang, against the building’s rustic wood siding exterior. Several cars were still in the parking lot. A good sign. It must have been a popular nightspot.
He stepped out into the chilly night air. The front door pushed open with ease to the sounds of country music. The smoke in the air from cigarettes obscured his vision, but only momentarily. Pool balls striking one another, laughter and beer bottles clinking together. The sounds of drunk people having a good time brought a smile to his face.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and approached the bar. And that was when he saw her—alone, sipping on a fruity-red drink. He pulled out a barstool next to her and sat down.
She cast a brief look his way, but immediately turned her head.
Arlen knew his looks generally garnered second glances and he counted on that now. The bartender approached him with an inquiring look.
“Coors, thanks.” He turned to the young woman, who was trying to be demure, but he knew the true nature of women. “You look like you could use another. What are you drinking?” Arlen smiled and looked at her with a sensuality he conjured up for just such an occasion.
“Vodka cranberry.” Her eyes reflected nothing but desire now.
Arlen recognized the look immediately. “Vodka cranberry for the lady, please,” he said to the bartender without breaking eye contact with the woman. “So, what’s your name?”
FOURTEEN
The information stared back at her, but Kate couldn’t trust her weary eyesight. Had she found it? She leaned in closer, just to be sure, and raised her index finger to the screen, pinpointing the name—Westmont Junior High School. And its mascot appeared to be a giant bird, similar to the one on the victim’s t-shirt. Confirmation, however, would need to come from the school directly and that would mean reaching out to Burgess because this was his jurisdiction.
Kate immediately took to her feet and hurried to Dwight’s office. “I found something.” She held the printout of the school’s information in her hand and continued inside without waiting for an invitation.
Dwight looked on with interest while she took a seat and placed the sheet of paper on his desk. “What’s this?”
“The school.” It was all Kate could do to contain her fervor. “Westmont Junior High School—WJHS—and take a look at their mascot.” She’d printed a screenshot from the school’s website. “That sure as hell looks like an osprey, same as what’s on the shirt.”
Dwight’s lips upturned into a knowing smile. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” He nodded in triumph. “We should get Nick in here.” Upon retrieving his desk phone, he continued to study the information. “Can you come over here? Kate’s found something very interesting.”
Only moments later, Nick arrived. “So what did you find?”
Elation still surged through Kate’s body. “The t-shirt on Ariel Nadal’s body, it matches this school here.” Again, she pointed to the paper with the screenshot.
Nick picked it up and began to study both the image as well as the image of the shirt after it had been removed from the victim. “Sure as hell looks like the same school to me.” He lent his attention to Kate. “Where is this located?”
“About fifteen miles from the Saint Marys River in Westmont, Florida – Baker County.” Dwight had been the one to suggest Kate make the trip and her instincts had proven what they both considered—that it wasn’t a coincidence these bodies were turning up on the Florida side of the river. And it was in Nick’s expression that convinced her further that they were on the right track.
“I think you ought to visit Deputy Burgess again. He’s going to be very interested in what you’ve uncovered,” Dwight began. “With the lead from Agent Lyons and now this, I think we’ll have to take a two-pronged approach. Nick and I can handle the missing woman in Georgia and I think because you’ve already developed a relationship with Burgess, you should handle that end of it.”
“Sounds good to me.” Without hesitation, she jumped at the opportunity. It was exactly what she’d wanted—to run on leads independently, as an equal member of the team. This wasn’t training anymore; this was the real deal and success or failure meant lives could be saved or lost. “I can be on the first flight in the morning.”
“Nick?” Dwight asked. “What do you think?”
“I think we’ve got a solid plan.”
“Okay.” Dwight slapped his desk. “Kate, go ahead and coordinate with Burgess and get your flight booked.” He glanced at the time on his phone. “It’s getting pretty late. After you get that done, why don’t you call it a night?”
She began to rise from the chair. “Are you both heading to Atlanta, then?”
The two senior agents exchanged a glance and then Dwight replied, “Yes. I’ll keep you posted and you do the same. Good night, Kate.”
“Good night.”
» » »
It was going to be a long night because the odds of Kate finding sleep would be slim and none. Ideas continued to fill her head and she just couldn’t shut them down. Burgess was on board with meeting with the school tomorrow. She needed local law enforcement with her to suppress any panic on the part of the administrators. No one in the Bureau wanted to call this w
hat it was. No one outside of those who’d read Myer’s report had uttered the term “serial killer” yet. And that was not a phrase she intended to use with the school officials either. It was too late to quiet the press, however. Someone had leaked information and they had already begun driving fear into the public’s mind. Kate suspected it had come from the Atlanta office. They’d called him the Blackwater Killer. No one else knew that was the name of the investigation. It was near impossible to keep these things quiet for long. Fortunately, much of the forensics data was kept from them and she prayed that would thwart any copycat killers.
Kate began to think about her old friend, Marc Aguilar, who would never let her off the hook. If she knew anything, he’d insist on the scoop. He’d turned out to be a damn good reporter and last she’d heard, he was interviewing with the networks. It was only a matter of time before she spotted him on one of the national evening news broadcasts.
A knock sounded on her door, jolting Kate back into the moment. A quick check of the time showed it was approaching eleven p.m. Her legs tingled when she stood, having had them folded beneath her on the couch for too long. It could only be one person and Kate wondered why he had chosen now to arrive. He’d avoided her for much of the past two days. She guessed he was finally ready to talk about what really happened.
Nick stood on her porch and his appearance was skewed by the fish-eye lens embedded in the door when she peered through it. Kate pulled away, releasing the dead bolt and pulling open the door to the fresh, cool breeze outside. “Come on in.” She stepped aside to allow him entry. He was ready to talk. She could see it in his demeanor. “Can I get you something to drink? Have you even had any dinner?”
“Thanks. I’ll take a drink, if you’ve got anything. I’m not hungry, though.” Nick hoisted his blue dress pants and squatted onto the couch, perched at its edge. “I figured you’d still be up. I know how you get when a theory takes hold of you.” He turned his head as she approached with a drink and unveiled a half-cocked grin. “Thanks.”
Kate sat down next to him, waiting. She would not ask any questions; only listen.
“Everything all set for tomorrow?” He brought the drink to his lips.
“All set.”
“Good. Good.” His shoulders finally dropped and a deep sigh escaped. Nick began to shake his head before turning to Kate. “She’s sleeping with Jack Lyons.”
“Oh my God, Nick. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me this when we spoke earlier?” This was not what she had expected. She figured the breakup had been a result of the internal investigation and now anger was growing, and it was directed toward Georgia.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to make myself say the words, I guess. And we were at the office, and well, anyway, I’m telling you now.” He groaned. “You know I worked with that asshole? Yep. Can you believe that shit?” He tossed back the rest of his drink. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“Did she tell you this?” Kate was hesitant to say anything provocative. It was clear Nick was hurting.
“Didn’t have to. The son of a bitch called me and practically told me himself. Saying how he’d asked her to profile the Blackwater unsub. And, you know, the funny thing is, I asked her if she knew him. She just glossed over it. Saying nothing.”
Kate felt at a loss for words. She was angry with Georgia and didn’t understand how she could have done this to him. Especially with all that had been going on with the Corbett raids and his administrative leave. It was like she was kicking him while he was down.
“Listen to me going on.” He looked at Kate again, his face masked in regret. “I’m sorry. I know you aren’t having an easy time of it right now and then I just burst in…”
“You hardly burst in, Nick.” She placed her hand on his knee. “Besides, after all you’ve done for me, all the times I threw myself a pity party, you were there to pick me up again. Look, you didn’t deserve this and I’m so sorry this has happened, but you know—you’re my best friend and I don’t want you to think that, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t be here for you. Just like you’ve been there for me more times than I can count.”
He placed his own hand over hers and looked in her eyes. She saw his pain, his anger, and regret; it was all right there, swimming in his dark brown eyes.
“You’re an incredible woman, Kate, and I know that, lately, I haven’t said so often, but please don’t ever forget that you should be proud of how far you’ve come.”
This was bringing too much to the surface and Kate struggled to keep her eyes from stinging. “Can you believe it’s been almost a year? It just doesn’t seem possible, does it?”
Nick raised his hand and placed his open palm gently on her cheek. “A lot has happened in that year. You’re not the same woman I met in California. But even then, I knew who you would become.”
Kate pressed her hand onto his and closed her eyes, a rogue tear falling down her cheek. “Thank you.”
Silence consumed them both as each seemed to deal with his and her own pain. Different, but the same—loss.
Nick soon cleared his throat. “I’m sure you’d like to get some sleep, seeing how you’ve got an early flight.” He began to rise from the couch.
“Stay. Just for a little while. Look, I know you haven’t eaten. I think I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge. I mean, how could you turn that down? Come on; we’ll talk. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to be sleeping anyway. You said so yourself.”
“Okay. I’ll stay for a little while.”
» » »
The dawn had only just emerged when Kate’s alarm dragged her from a wine-induced sleep. While it had been a late night with Nick, it was what they both needed. They talked and even laughed a little. She couldn’t recall a time when they’d felt so close to one another, even after her entire life had been turned upside down. They each needed the other’s shoulder and each had willingly acquiesced. Nick wasn’t the type of man to open up easily, but he did last night and she was so very glad he’d stayed and glad they both eventually found sleep. Although she knew how uncomfortable her sofa was and wondered just how much sleep Nick might have gotten.
In the small bathroom adjacent to her bedroom, Kate snatched a few tablets from the bottle in her medicine cabinet. The water warmed in the shower and, when the steam rose from behind the curtain, she was ready to step inside.
She began to consider the events that needed to take place today upon her arrival back at the sheriff’s office. Burgess had set up the meeting with the school and then they’d head back to his office to figure out just how important a lead this was going to be. There were still a lot of variables here, but this was a good start.
The shower helped to sharpen her thoughts and Kate continued to dress while the case churned in her head. On her way down the hall, she inhaled the pleasant aroma. “Good morning. Thanks for making the coffee. How are you feeling?”
“Not bad.” Nick poured the black gold into the mugs. “How do you take it?”
“Cream, two sugars, please.”
“You don’t have much time. You want to take this to go?” Nick asked.
Kate glanced at her phone “I suppose I’d better. Listen, stay as long as you need. You know where the shower is if you want to jump in.”
“Thanks, but I’ll head out with you and get cleaned up at my place.” Nick sipped on his coffee. “Guess I should make this one to go too.”
Her car was parked in the drive and she pressed the remote to open it while Nick continued on to his own car. “I’ll touch base with you after I arrive.”
“Sounds good. Have a safe flight.”
She waited for him to pull away, feeling confident that the night had done him some good too.
» » »
A small delay in her flight forced Burgess to push the meeting with the school administrators out an hour. And when Kate finally arrived from Jacksonville, she had no time to get a rundown on who would be at this meeting. It wasn’t unt
il they made their way to his patrol car that she’d had a chance to ask. “This meeting is just with the principal, is that right? I’d rather not include the district until we know more.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Burgess nodded. “It’s just the principal for now. He understands what we’re dealing with and has no intention of instilling panic in the community.”
“Good. I don’t want anyone thinking there’s a killer out there targeting that school or any other school.”
“Got it. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Is there anything else you need to discuss?”
“If it turns out that we’ve got a definite match, we’re going to need student names.”
Burgess turned south along the single-lane road. “From how many years back? That could be a lot of information and I suspect we’ll need a warrant for that type of thing.”
“Agreed, and you’re right, it’ll be a lot of names. I know where I’d like to start, but let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”
“Understood. This is it up ahead.” Burgess pulled into the school’s parking lot and stopped in a space in front of the building marked “Administration.”
“You ready?” Kate asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” Burgess grabbed his leather folder. He waited for Kate to get her laptop bag, then locked up the cruiser. “Looks like it’s starting to cool down—finally.”
It seemed he was trying to fill the silent stroll to the building with benign small talk, but Kate didn’t mind. “Sure is. I actually considered turning on the heat last night, but I held off.” She turned to him. “It’s that San Diego blood in me, I guess. Haven’t taken to the cold yet.”
The trivial chitchat that brought about a comforting laugh between them eased the anticipation that had been building on the drive over. It was Kate’s first time at the helm and it was Burgess’ first time assisting on a serial killer investigation. The nervous release was necessary.