Deserving of Death (CJ Washburn, PI Book 1)

by James Paddock

  Dan pulled the front door open and CJ stepped in, fully expecting to find Stella running into his arms. What he got instead he hadn’t even had the thought to guess.

  “Daddy!”

  Before CJ could even breathe Trish was in his arms. And then there was Stella and for the first time in a long time everything was right with the world.

  Chapter 38

  All six chairs around the dining room table were occupied. CJ sat next to Stella and directly across from Trish. Next to Trish sat Lisa Bowers. Presiding at the two ends of the table were Dan and Dave. They all sat back with mugs of hot coffee, remnants of eggs, bacon and pancakes littering their plates.

  “So, what’s the plan?” CJ asked after taking a sip from his mug.

  “Lay low until this guy is caught,” Dan said. “Let the FBI work the numbers.”

  “Does anyone here think that’s really possible?” CJ asked. “Are two ex-detectives, an almost ex-detective and a Tucson police officer going to be able to patiently lay low?”

  “We don’t have much choice in it, CJ,” Dave said. “The judge’s order also said that we were not to get involved in the investigation.”

  “Really, Dave?” Dan said from the length of the table. “Did the order actually say that or did the judge simply imply it?”

  “If we get involved and she gets wind of it, you know which way that split hair is going to fall. Your leave of absence could become a suspension or permanent, not to mention what it could do to my daughter’s career.”

  “Probably no more than a slap on the wrist, Dad,” Lisa said. “And my helping break this case can mean a commendation.”

  “Stick your gold star commendation on a glowing note from your lieutenant and your mother can paste it to the refrigerator where she used to paste mine,” Dave said to her. “Your chain of command won’t remember all the good stuff you’ve done. They’ll focus only on the one screw up, even if it wasn’t your screw up. You’ll become a scapegoat like your old man.”

  “Things have changed since you left, Dad.”

  Dave lifted his eyebrows and smiled at his naive daughter. “We’ve had this conversation before.”

  She glared back at him.

  CJ broke in, an attempt to break the father-daughter tension. “Agent Crane said that the perp has made a lot of mistakes. Is there anything I don’t already know?”

  “Not really. The fact that he followed you to Idaho was probably his biggest mistake.”

  CJ looked at Lisa. “Did anything come out of your meeting with Officer Kramer Friday night?”

  Lisa shook her head. “Not yet. I should hear from her this morning. She expected to be able to get into the office sometime over the weekend. If not, then early this morning.”

  “Who’s Officer Kramer? I don’t know that name,” Dan asked.

  “Krystal Kramer,” Lisa said. “She’s strictly a desk rider, works in Personnel. I asked her to poke around a little, see if there were any officers who took unscheduled or emergency time off last week.”

  “She’s a friend?”

  “Very good friend.”

  “Whatever you find, share it only with this group. I’m still not sure of your dad’s assessment of Judge Delgado’s order; however there’s no point in taking chances. If there’s anything you find out that might be viable, let me be the one to share it with Agent Stratton. Anything you do to help break this case, I promise you’ll get credit when the time is right. I’m already in the shits so let me take the heat from the judge if there’s any heat to be doled out.”

  Lisa nodded, but didn’t look happy.

  “Has the FBI developed a profile yet?” Stella asked.

  “Yes and no,” Dan said. “The basic profile is easy, a restating of average statistics. They’re figuring he is a black or white male, 25 to 40...”

  “Wait a minute.” Stella held up her hand. “I thought most serial killers were white male.”

  “That was quite true last century. Since 2000 it’s done an almost total reversal. In the nineties it was roughly 60% and 30%, white versus black. In the first ten years of this century it was more like 60% and 40%, this time black versus white. Hispanic, Asian, etcetera, almost negligible.”

  “So the FBI is thinking he’s African American?” Lisa said.

  “Not necessarily. I’m guessing they’re simply keeping all the options open. I believe they lean toward white but can’t overlook the statistics. I personally think he is white, if for no other reason than all his victims have been white.”

  “What else are they saying?” Dave said.

  “He likely comes from a broken or very dysfunctional home, a victim of mental and/or physical abuse from one or both parents. He may be the oldest or only child with an average to above average IQ.”

  “Aren’t all serial killers above average IQ?” Stella said.

  “Another fallacy let loose on us via Hollywood. Script writers put in what draws the viewers, and the viewers don’t want their serial killers to be average. In actuality the medium IQ of said killers is close to 100. People often bring up Ted Kaczynski as an example, who was in the 165 range, or Bundy in the 130s. They don’t know or have forgotten about Watts at 75 or Pirela at 57. The IQs run the gambit. All that said, however, my belief is that this particular killer is, in fact, on the intelligent side. He has to be to pull off something like this. He’s calculating and fast on his feet.”

  “His big mistake was going after me,” CJ said. “If he’d left well enough alone we’d be looking anywhere but at someone in uniform.”

  “You mean the FBI would be looking,” Stella said. “If he’d left well enough alone we would not be sitting here, hiding away like a bunch of frightened rabbits.”

  CJ put his hand on hers.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  “It’s okay.”

  Dan lifted his mug to his lips and found it empty. “I’m getting a refill. Anyone else?” No one followed him to the kitchen so he returned with the pot, poured where the desire was indicated and sat back down. “So, the way I see it he had more than just a motive of opportunity.”

  “What do you mean?” Trish asked.

  “I don’t believe this individual would have taken such a risk to only direct suspicions at someone else. Let’s face it, we had no leads whatsoever. What would be the return for the risk?”

  Trish looked at her dad and then back at Dan, shrugging her shoulders.

  “I suspect that means you can’t think of one. Well, I can’t think of one either. Every action a killer makes has a motive and this guy’s motive to target your father has to be personal, so personal that he’s willing to take additional risks.”

  “Therefore, he knows me,” CJ said, “thus, I know him.”

  “Either you know him, know of him, or have crossed his path in some way in the past. Whatever it is, he may feel he has a vendetta against you. It could be as simple as you writing him a traffic ticket back when you were a cop, or entering his home on a domestic disturbance call, or maybe his brother’s home. Whatever it is he’s carried that anger all these years and then you pop up on his kill. Not only would that further piss him off, but he would see it as an opportunity that he could not pass up. Because it was so spontaneous, he had no time to plan, to think it through, thus the mistakes. He may be good at not leaving evidence, but purposely leaving false evidence may have been beyond his experience.”

  “If he’s a cop,” CJ said, “then likely the scenario examples you just presented didn’t happen. I don’t recall ever having official dealings with another cop or his family in all the time I served on the force.”

  “You never pulled over a cop on his off duty time for anything?”

  “Nope. I know others who had but I was never so privileged. I did pull over the mayor once but he talked his way out of it.”

  “Really?”

  “I was green and he was real nice about it. What can I say?”

  “Well, I’d given him a ticket just for being a
politician,” Dave said.

  Everyone laughed and then the table went quiet. After a time Dave said, "What about after you went into the private sector, CJ. Ever piss someone off in your PI duties?"

  "There are a few husbands, but the only one who comes to mind who's a cop is Ralph Bunko. What do you think?"

  Dave grinned. "Boy, would that be a gas." He then shook his head and became serious. "We're looking for an intelligent cop. Bunko would be the first one I'd cross off the list."

  The table went quiet again. After a time CJ looked at Lisa and said, “Maybe you ought to call Officer Kramer. That’s the biggest thing we need to know right now. Who took time off?”

  Lisa shook her head. “I’d rather not call her at work when I’ve no idea who she might be with. Don’t want to get her in trouble. She promised she’d call as soon as she found something. If she found nothing she’d call no later than this morning.” She looked at her watch. “It’s just after nine now. If she doesn’t call before ten, I’ll call her, how’s that?”

  “Fair enough.” CJ looked around the table. “So, what do we do if she turns up anyone worth taking a closer look at?”

  “Pass the names over to Stratton and his goons,” Dan said. “Tell him we have reason to believe they took sudden time off during the Idaho mess. Let them investigate for more details, such as use of a credit card to make an airline reservation. That’s the kind of thing they’re good at.”

  “What if Stratton wants to know how we got the names?” Lisa asked.

  “I’ll give him the friend of a friend dance,” Dan said. “Like I said, Lisa, let me take the heat.”

  Stella stood. “Well, I can’t just sit here.” She started stacking plates. Trish joined her and then before long everyone was crowded into the little kitchen.

  “Men! Out!”

  As the three men backed out of the kitchen a cell phone went off. Like Larry, Moe and Curley, they stuck their heads back in. It was Lisa’s phone but upon looking at it she shook her head at them and said, “Husband.”

  They went into the living room and sat down.

  “What are you guys going to do?” CJ said.

  “What do you mean?” Dan asked.

  “Shifts. Do you have a schedule as to who’s with me when?”

  “To be truthful, with Stella and your daughter we might be overmanned. The two of them have flat out stated that they have no intentions of leaving your side. We may be able to release Lisa after she receives the call. Let’s face it; she has a regular job to report to. The rest of us don’t.”

  “I don’t think she’s going to like that,” Dave said. “She’s fully engaged with this now. Told me she was ready to take personal time.”

  “She wants to be in on the collar,” Dan said.

  “Wouldn’t you if you were a rookie?”

  “Damn right! But I’d think she’d be closer to being part of that if she was on regular duty rather than being stuck down here in friendly family neighborhood la-la land.”

  “You don’t like this neighborhood?”

  “It’s nice, sure, but I’ve gotten lost both times I came here. Wouldn’t want to live where I’d have to light off my GPS in order to find my way home.”

  “There’s a club house, fitness center, water park, lake stocked with fish, miles of hiking and biking trails.”

  “You sound like a damn realtor. You getting a commission?”

  There came the distant tone of Lisa’s cell phone again and they went silent, heads turned toward the kitchen entryway. After a few seconds Lisa appeared, heading for the dining table, one hand pressing the phone to her ear, the other digging for her notebook and pen.

  She sat and opened the notebook. “Okay, go ahead… Greg Wilston. Right.” She wrote for a time, adding a line of bulleted points. “Okay, next… Santo Montez.” Again she wrote then said, “Okay... Tommy Clark.”

  CJ rose from his seat and walked over to her.

  “Days they took off?” she said into the phone. “Okay. Anything else?”

  CJ said into her ear, “Ages.”

  Lisa held up her hand, nearly poking CJ in the eye with her pen. “Yeah. I’ll keep you updated. Let me know if you hear anything else. Thanks.”

  When she put the phone down she looked up at CJ. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. I’m not the rookie you guys seem to think I am.”

  “My daughter’s never been a rookie,” Dave said as he and Dan each took a chair at the table. To Lisa he said, “So, what have you got?”

  She looked up a CJ again. “As soon as you are all seated I’ll tell you.”

  Like an obedient puppy, CJ sat.

  Stella and Trish appeared and took the remaining chairs.

  “First of all, Krystal says that the FBI has already been going through everything, but she has no idea what they’ve found. They’re being very closed mouthed. She came up with three names on her own, however. Greg Wilston, Santo Montez and Tommy Clark, ages 28, 39 and 26 respectively.”

  “I know Montez and Clark,” Dan said. “Can’t say I know the name Wilston.”

  “Do you know them well?” CJ said. “I don’t know any of them.”

  “Fairly well on Montez, not so much on Clark. It’s more like I know of Clark because I’ve seen him around. I think he’s friends with Bunko. Other than that, I know nothing about him. Montez is solid: Family man, teenage daughter and son, twins I believe.”

  “That and he’s Hispanic knocks him out of the profile,” CJ said then turned to Lisa. “Why did Krystal flag him?”

  “He took emergency time off at the same time you were in Idaho. His wife’s mother had a serious car accident in El Paso, didn’t think she was going to live.”

  “Definitely out. That leaves Clark and Wilston. What did she give you on them?”

  “Wilston is married, but in the middle of a divorce. No children. Wife moved to Phoenix.”

  “Could be the trigger that set him off to start this killing spree to begin with,” Dan said.

  Lisa continued. “He took sudden time off Wednesday through the end of the week to go up to Phoenix to try and save their marriage. He doesn’t want the divorce. Works the day shift.”

  “Doesn’t fit, if you ask me,” CJ said. “Next.”

  “Tommy Clark. He’s the only one I actually know. He and I started as rookies a couple of months apart. Worked a few scenes together. A bit intense if you ask me. He’s not married. Took time off Wednesday, August 1st, due to sickness, said he’d gotten food poisoning. He works days. His regular days off are Thursday and Friday. He reported to work as usual on Saturday.”

  “Did he see a doctor?” CJ asked.

  “Krystal said there was no indication in his file that he visited a doctor or an urgent care.”

  CJ sat back. “Food poisoning is an easy excuse when someone wants time off for some other reason. He’d have been able to fly to Idaho on Wednesday, kill Maria Rodston, then fly back on Thursday. When he found out I was back in Tucson he’d have had plenty of time to kill the last victim Thursday night or Friday morning. Since he works days he easily qualifies for all the other murders.”

  “And he’s friends with Ralph Bunko,” Dave said. “I already like him for this.”

  Dan held up his hand. “Let’s not go racing down the Tommy Clark track just yet. All the right timing in the world doesn’t tie him to any murder scene, and knowing Bunko means nothing. Bunko’s not a bad detective, he just made a mistake and his damned pride got the best of him.”

  “At my expense,” Dave inserted. “Maybe he’s not a bad detective, but he’s not a good one either.”

  “In any case,” Dan continued, “it doesn’t mean that everyone he’s associated with is in his league. Officer Clark might be one fine cop.”

  “How do we take a closer look at him?” CJ said.

  “Like I said, we pass him to the FBI.”

  “From the sound of it they likely already have his name, are probably doing a check of his credit cards to
find out if he’s spent anything on travel to Idaho. If he’s smart, though, he’d have used cash.”

  “He’d still have had to give his name and present a driver’s license,” Dave said. “There’d be a trail.”

  “Exactly,” Dan said. “It’s a fairly easy check when you have access to all the airlines’ databases.”

  CJ nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it then. Check with Stratton and see if they’re already investigating these guys, especially Tommy Clark.”

  “I’m still really liking Clark, too,” Dave said. “Any way we can put a tail on him, attach a GPS to his vehicle maybe?”

  “We can’t do anything,” Dan reminded him. “If they need to watch him closer, the FBI has sophisticated surveillance techniques. We have to trust them.”

  “Have you been drinking, Dan?” CJ said. “Since when have you started saying trust and FBI in the same sentence?”

  “Since they came to their senses about you. Stratton and Crane both seem to be a cut above the rest.”

  “Well, damn. My best friend has gone over to the dark side. Next thing you know he’s going to become one of them. Probably already has a job offer, a half a dozen bureau approved dark suites hanging in his closet.”

  “You’re very funny, CJ. I’m just recognizing where the strengths of our assets are.”

  “Or is it without them you’d still be sitting in the nosebleed section, suspended until the cows come home.”

  Trish laughed. “Nice mix of metaphors, Dad.”

  “Just saying it the way I see it.” He looked at Dan. “Make the call to Stratton. Let’s get this ball rolling, or at least give it a little push.”

  Chapter 39

  “Have you checked in with your mother?” CJ and Trish sat alone in the living room. Stella was taking a nap and Dave was in the dining room poring through a newspaper. Dan had gone off to meet with Stratton and Crane while Lisa took off for parts unknown. It was just shy of 11:00 a.m.

  “Not yet,” Trish said.

  “She’s going to be worried about you.”

  “All this crap going on and I haven’t heard from her once; not even a voice mail or text. That doesn’t sound like worry to me.”