Shadows from the Grave

by Haddix, T. L.

“Yes, he’s completely unattached,” Beth added. “Single, lonely… available.”

  “Oh.” Stacy was speechless.

  They heard a car door slam, and Jason came up on the porch. As Beth stood to go let him in, she smiled at the female detective. “You know, maybe it’s time you seduced him.”

  Stacy stopped her with a hand. “Beth, I don’t do seduction,” she said, her eyes wide.

  Seeing her worry, Beth gave her a quick, reassuring hug. “Then, sweetie, it’s high time you started. The kiss might not have done much for me, but I guaran-damn-tee you that with the attraction you two seem to have, it wouldn’t take much seducing. Gordon’s an alpha,” she said. “They know what they’re doing in certain areas if they’re good, and he’s good.”

  “Oh, God, yes, they are.” Hannah sighed, her gaze on Jason.

  Annie couldn’t hold back a laugh at the stunned look on Stacy’s face. She grabbed Lauren’s bottle of water and raised it in a salute.

  “Welcome to the club, sister,” she told Stacy, who sighed and sat back in her chair with a groan. She reluctantly laughed and raised her own glass.

  “What did you do?” they heard Beth ask Jason as she let him in.

  “I spilled coffee. What does it look like?” Jason returned. He stopped at the end of the table, holding his wet, stained shirt out from his body. “Beth, do you have a shirt I can borrow or not?”

  “It wasn’t hot coffee, was it?” Hannah asked as she stood and hurried to his side. She lifted the edge of the shirt to check him for burns, and Jason jumped, throwing a significant glance in the direction of the other women. He tugged the shirt back down and answered.

  “No, it was cold. I’m okay.”

  “I’ll get you one of Ethan’s shirts,” Beth offered. “Come with me. Take off that shirt, and I’ll pre-treat it so the coffee doesn’t ruin it.” Jason followed her into the kitchen and stopped on the other side of the island. He stripped off the wet shirt and handed it to her, then waited with his arms crossed while she went into the laundry room. The situation was too much for Annie to pass up, and she exchanged a look with Stacy and Lauren. She reached for her purse, signaling them to do the same, and pulled out six one-dollar bills.

  “Hurry, hurry,” she muttered. She waved the money in Jason’s direction as the other two women handed her more cash. Cathching Hannah’s eye, she handed it over. Jason was occupied with whatever Beth was doing in the laundry room, so when Annie let out a loud whistle, and Stacy started mimicking strip club music, he jumped, startled. He whirled around to see the four women leering in his direction, Hannah waving cash.

  “Yoo-hoo, Deputy Hudson!” Annie called teasingly. “Come on over here where we can see you better.” She punctuated her words with another lascivious whistle. When Jason flushed a dull red, they all burst into laughter.

  Hannah approached Jason, who stood frozen in place in the kitchen. The look in his eyes promised retribution, but Hannah didn’t seem daunted. Cat calls and hoots of laughter accompanied her as she eased up to him and, with an impish grin, slid a dollar bill into the waistband of his jeans.

  Annie could see Jason struggling with laughter and embarrassment. She didn’t think it was possible for his face to get any redder, but the blush intensified as Hannah tucked more money under his belt. His hand finally shot out to stop her, and he muttered something too low for the women at the table to hear. Hannah’s response, however, wasn’t as muted.

  “Oh, really, Deputy? I hardly think so. Not unless you lose a lot more clothing first.” Jason scowled and put his hands on his hips, much as Beth had earlier. When the women howled with laughter again at the resemblance, he just looked from Hannah to Beth, ignoring everyone else. Looking the opposite direction from the front door, he didn’t see Ethan, Chase, and Gordon come in with Charlie.

  Beth did, however, and her laughter grew until she was holding the door frame for support, doubled over with mirth. Annie nudged Lauren, and they watched as Chase, just out of Jason’s line of sight, pulled out his cell phone and started capturing the episode on video. Seemingly at a loss for what to say, Jason focused again on Hannah.

  Hannah raised up her hands, holding them out in front of her as if offering them to be handcuffed. “Ooh, I’m so scared, Deputy,” she said in a breathless drawl. “Are you gonna cuff me?”

  “Not in my kitchen, please,” Ethan groaned, drawing Jason’s attention.

  When Jason saw them standing there, grinning, and Chase’s cell phone held up, recording everything, he cursed, a particularly virulent four-letter word. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  Before he could say anything else, Hannah grinned and sidled closer. “Is that gonna cost me extra?” She waved the remaining cash in his face.

  Jason’s patience snapped. “That does it.” He bent down and, ignoring her shrieks of laughing protest, put Hannah over his shoulder. Steadying her with his hand on the back of her thigh, he headed for the back door. “Excuse us, everyone.”

  There was a shocked silence, and then the snickers started. Stacy was the first to break, and soon they were all howling. It was too much for Lauren, who stood and hurried toward the half-bath off the hall. She had to stop several times en route to lean against the wall for support, she was laughing so hard.

  Ethan, grinning but not laughing, sighed and shook his head. He walked over to where Beth stood with the clean shirt and slid his arms around her for a tight hug. “What did you all do to him?”

  “Oh, no,” Beth said. “There was no we in this. It was all them, I promise.”

  “Ladies, for shame,” Chase scolded with a smile as he sat down beside Annie. “But thank you. I should get some good mileage out of this video.”

  “You’d better send it to yourself because you know Jason will go for your phone as soon as he comes back in,” Beth warned.

  “Already done, and you should have a copy of it waiting in your inbox, as should everyone in this room, Mom, Dad, and Joely. Oh, and Jason, of course.”

  “Of course,” Ethan drawled. “What kind of family have I gotten myself mixed up with?” Beth poked him, and he pulled her closer, looking at Annie all the while. “Run. Run very fast and very far,” he warned. “You see what just happened here? That could be you, very soon.”

  Beside her, Chase tensed. Instead of running, she tucked her arm through his and rested her chin on his shoulder. “I’m not scared,” she said. “I think I can take it.” Chase relaxed as she spoke, pulling his arm loose and putting it around her shoulders. Right there in front of God and everyone, he kissed her, and Annie knew the time for running had passed.

  ~ * * * ~

  Once Jason and Hannah returned, and things had calmed enough for everyone to eat, talk around the table turned to Chase’s interrogation. He filled them in on the details, not glossing over any of it. The one thing he didn’t mention was Hart’s accusations about his sexual experience.

  “So where does that leave us, investigation-wise?” Jason asked Gordon.

  Gordon cleared his throat before he answered. “Well, I’m not sure exactly,” he said. “I’ve been suspended.”

  There were shocked exclamations all around, Beth’s being the loudest. She shushed the rest of the group. “What did you say? I didn’t hear that right. I couldn’t have.”

  “I did a couple of things yesterday I probably shouldn’t have,” Gordon explained. “At least from the Bureau’s perspective. Detective Hart filed a complaint, probably as soon as he was back in Kentucky. By this morning, I was suspended. It’s really not that big a deal.”

  “Not a big deal?” Chase was shocked, and he couldn’t hide it. He didn’t even bother trying. “Gordon, how long have you been with the FBI, five years now?”

  “Yes, but Chase—”

  Chase cut him off. “We’re talking about your career here. That’s a big deal. Don’t try and pretend it isn’t. Damn it, it just doesn’t stop—the ripples from this case.”

  Gordon shook his head and picked up his
drink. “Look, I did what needed to be done. What anyone in this room would have done, given the same set of circumstances. And I really don’t have any regrets, okay?”

  Ethan spoke up. “I don’t understand. How is it you got suspended for defending yourself? What are we missing here?” The look Gordon shot him was full of consternation, and Ethan rephrased the question. “Or perhaps I should ask what aren’t you telling us?”

  With a sigh, Gordon explained, “I didn’t get suspended for the altercation with Hart. That didn’t help matters, but it wasn’t the primary reason. I was suspended because I revealed information to a suspect during an interview that could potentially have compromised the investigation.” He explained about the note, and what he had done with Chase yesterday.

  From beside him, Stacy grimaced. “I was afraid something like this would happen when you used that trick.”

  Gordon shrugged. “I couldn’t not use it. Aside from the fact that Chase is my friend, this ridiculous witch hunt Hart is leading is derailing the investigation. Whoever did commit the murder is getting away with it every day we spend focused on Chase, and the chances of them getting caught are getting smaller and smaller.”

  “Do you think what you revealed was enough to get this guy off Chase’s back?” Charlie asked. Everyone who had seen the altercation at the courthouse shook their heads.

  “No, no way,” Jason said. “That man practically had blood in his eye. He’s not finished by a long shot.”

  Lauren’s cell phone rang, and when she answered it, her gaze shot to Charlie. “How bad? No, you’re right. Okay. Is she upset? Okay. We’ll meet you there,” she said as she stood up. She ended the call and turned an apologetic look to Chase.

  “Ava fell and hurt her wrist. Mom thinks it’s just a sprain, but they’re taking her to the ER, just in case. I’m sorry, everyone, but we have to go.”

  “Don’t apologize, for goodness’ sake,” Chase told her when she hugged him. “Go take care of Ava.”

  Beth walked Lauren and Charlie to the door. “Call and let us know she’s okay?” Charlie promised he would, and they were gone.

  “Let’s get this table cleared, and we can move into the living room,” Beth said as she came back in.

  Hannah stood up and spoke. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to call and check on my own offspring.” She headed to the front porch to make the call, Jason watching her every step.

  Chase stopped beside him and bumped his shoulder. “Are you ever going to work up the courage to ask her to marry you, or are we going to have to do it for you?” Activity in the room paused as everyone waited for Jason’s answer.

  Stacy took advantage of the silence to remark on Chase’s question with a casual tone. “Yeah, that’s something we’ve all been wondering down at the department. I think I overheard Bert from CSU say that if Jason didn’t make his move soon, he was going to ask Hannah out himself.”

  “That’s not funny,” Jason muttered. “Bert had better keep his distance. Maybe we need to have a little talk.”

  Jason’s frown grew when Stacy laughed, and said, “Oh, that is truly priceless. I remember you saying something very similar about a year ago when Bert was dating the one woman… what was her name, again? Tammy? Tracy?” Jason had been one of the biggest ladies’ men in the department until he met Hannah, so watching him fall so fast and hard had been entertaining, to say the least.

  Jason glanced over his shoulder to make sure Hannah was still outside. “If you must know, I’m planning to ask her Friday night,” he confessed in a low voice. “So can you all please lay off the teasing for a few days?” When Beth squealed with delight and grabbed him in a hug, Jason rolled his eyes. “Beth, she’ll hear you,” he warned, trying to quiet her down.

  “Okay, okay,” Beth said. She planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be good. I’m just so danged happy for you.”

  Ethan tried to steer the conversation back to the investigation. “So what can you tell us?” he asked Gordon. “How do we fix this?” Hannah returned as he finished asking his questions.

  “The only way to fix it is by figuring out who the real killer is,” Gordon said. “The DNA will help when it comes back, but until then, or if it’s too degraded to use, we’re out in the cold.”

  “When will it be back?” Stacy asked.

  “Any day now, I hope. Because of the escalation, we were able to get a rush put on it,” he said. “In any event, I brought copies of the case files we know this guy is responsible for, as well as the ones we suspect him of. I thought we could take a look at them, see if we can come up with something.”

  Beth’s eyes lit up. “Ohh, I’ll get the big paper out,” she said. She headed for the office, and Ethan groaned.

  “You have something against the big paper?” Chase asked.

  Ethan nodded. “She makes lists when she’s having trouble with something, or when she needs to lay something out. I come home some days, and there are huge sheets of paper all over the house with these weird lists on them. I forgot about it one night and came down here for water. Next thing I know, I’m flat on my back. I damned near killed myself, sliding around on a sheet that had ended up on the floor.”

  “I know you aren’t still complaining about the other night,” Beth scolded as she came back into the room carrying a huge notepad and easel.

  “I’ll have you know my back is still hurting from that,” Ethan responded.

  “Poor baby,” Annie said with an impish grin. “Beth, you’ll have to make sure he gets some extra attention tonight.”

  When she just grinned, Chase looked at Jason. “It’s almost worse than knowing your parents have sex, you know?” Jason shuddered and agreed. When they all gathered in the living room, the mood quickly changed to somber as they settled in to work on the case.

  “Let’s do this, people,” Beth said. “Gordon, start us out. I’ll write down the pertinent stuff.”

  “Okay. You all know there is speculation that Kiely was killed by, and was in fact the first victim of, a serial killer. This guy is operating in the Ohio River Valley and the Midwest.”

  Annie raised her hand, and Gordon pointed at her. “Does the killer have a nickname, or do we just call him ‘the killer’?”

  “Actually, law enforcement tries to avoid giving suspected serial killers nicknames. It can cause issues during the investigation, causing investigators to narrow their focus and miss clues,” he responded.

  Beth grimaced. “Yeah, unfortunately it’s usually some hotshot reporter or cop who’s looking to make a career who comes up with the nicknames.”

  Gordon continued with what they knew. “So this guy is probably a white male, age thirty to fifty. He has above-average intelligence, and he’s able to slip in and out of society at will, apparently on all different levels. We know that because no one stood out at the Bledsoe’s fundraiser as being out of place. He probably has had at least one long-term relationship, but chances are that it has failed, and failed spectacularly. If he was married, the divorce probably made headlines, at least in his little realm.” Gordon paused while Beth finished writing the list, and Ethan broke in with a question.

  “What about his professional life?” he asked.

  “That’s a little bit of a gray area,” Gordon answered. “We know he has transportation over a wide area. That would fit with him being a truck driver or a regional traveling salesman, but this guy is full of ego. If he is a salesman, it’s likely in a job where he’s near the top of the food chain. This guy doesn’t play well with others, but he can hide it well enough to get by.”

  Beth paused, tapping the end of the marker against her chin. “What other professions would fit the ego and the traveling?”

  “What about a regional pilot?” Hannah asked, and they all looked at Gordon.

  “Could be, I suppose,” he said, “but it just doesn’t feel right. Good suggestion, though. Maybe a highway construction worker?”

  “Maybe this will help.” Beth reached beh
ind the tablet for a foam board with a map of the Midwest attached. She put it on the front and grabbed a jar of push pins. “Where all do you have confirmed kills for this guy?”

  “Prepared much, sis?” Jason teased. Beth wadded up a loose piece of paper and tossed it at his head.

  Gordon pulled a file out of the box he had brought in from his car. He read off the locations and, for every victim, Beth placed a red pin. When she finished, she stood back and studied the map. There were eight pins total, in cities and towns in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and even one in Tennessee. Most of the pins were located around fairly large towns or major cities, but not all.

  “It’s not enough,” Beth mused. “The suspected kills?” She added a yellow pin in Lexington for Kiely, and Gordon told her about four more. Two were in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, very near the Indiana border, another was in Kentucky, and the fourth and final victim was in Illinois. Again, the body had been found very near the Indiana border.

  Ethan grunted and sat forward, a thoughtful frown on his face. “That’s… interesting,” he said, not taking his eyes off the map. “How sure are you that these are all his kills?”

  “Actually, I’d be surprised if there aren’t a few more out there,” Gordon said. “There weren’t any murders for over two years after Kiely’s, which is part of why we think she was his first. Then there was the first one in Cincinnati. Another year goes by and the murder in Terre Haute. They come pretty regularly after that, until about a year ago. He went into a little bit of a frenzy in the Cincinnati area then, and the profilers at Quantico say it’s probably because he had some sort of a stressor around that time. Why? What are you thinking?” he asked Ethan.

  “I’m not sure,” Ethan replied. He stood and moved to stand in front of the map. No one spoke as he moved his hands around the pins.

  “So, Kiely is killed first. Then he goes to Cincy, then Terre Haute. He heads out to Carbondale, Illinois next. After that, though, every kill is within what, a forty-five minute drive from the borders of Indiana? Do you think that’s a coincidence?” Ethan asked.