Marina scanned Reed, too, noting that this time he had only a few minor scratches. They’d been incredibly lucky.
Trudy was sad to hear that Reed’s attackers had been Anthony and Dooley. They’d grown up with Reed in the neighborhood. She explained that Anthony had recently been kicked out of the army and Dooley’s family had fallen on hard times.
Listening, Marina thought about Chelsie Hawkins and the things Reed had said about him. She’d read about his arrest for his girlfriend’s murder, but she’d had no idea that Reed was involved or that people were still simmering over the incident. Anthony was apparently angry enough to go after Reed, even if some of his anger was due to the abrupt end to his part in the lucrative drug business. Dooley had attacked her, but she liked to think that if she hadn’t shown up, he’d have let Anthony and Reed duke it out alone.
“How’s the task force coming?” Trudy asked.
Marina explained that they’d narrowed the list of potential victims but the list of suspects for the serial killer was too long. They had a lot of work to do.
“I didn’t know that you and Reed were working the task force together until I saw parts of the press conference on television,” Trudy confessed.
Marina shot him a surprised glance. She could only hope she’d kept the little pang of hurt out of her expression.
Reed looked defensive. “I didn’t want to get her hopes up. She thought we were getting serious,” he muttered.
We were until I messed things up. “We’re still friends,” Marina told Trudy. It didn’t begin to describe how she felt about Reed.
“Good. Then you can come on a double date with me, Reed and my friend, Dr. Jay McNeil.”
“Dr. Jay McNeil?” Marina parroted.
“Yes, he’s a physician at Providence Hospital. I met him through an Internet dating service,” Trudy said proudly.
“Internet dating service?”
“Well he’s too busy to date the regular way. This way he can talk to people on the Internet and meet the most promising ones in person.”
Making a determined effort not to look at Reed, Marina told Trudy she’d love to come along. Reed accepted the situation gracefully, but Marina was painfully aware that he hadn’t asked her to join him. She chatted awhile longer then said good night. Reed drove her to her car.
On the way home, she thought about Reed and all the things they’d been through in the past few days. She wouldn’t spend any more time thinking about what could have happened tonight. Instead she turned her thoughts to the serial avenger and tried to match suspects with motives in her head. Some of them had alibis for all but one night.
She had a horrible thought it was possible that all the fraternity’s victims knew each other. What if they’d all cooperated enough to take turns committing the murders?
CHAPTER 15
St. Joseph Hospital was a bustling place. Reed and Marina strode past the full emergency waiting room and the crowded lobby to stop at the information desk. An old man in a blue jacket stood behind the desk, directing people to different areas and issuing room passes for people visiting patients. With a smile, he directed Reed and Marina to an office to the left and two corridors down.
The outer room to Elizabeth Hatcher’s office was empty. Peering through the little window at the top of the soundproof inner room, they saw her talking to a roomful of women.
The women sat in a circle of chairs. Watching them, Marina wished she could read lips because Hatcher talked to them at length. A number of the women’s faces reflected intense emotion. Some hugged one another. Others cried. Hatcher continued, putting herself into her words with emphatic gestures and the play of emotion on her expressive face.
Reed and Marina hovered near the window, not wanting to disturb the flow of what was happening inside the room or to invade the women’s privacy.
Gradually the women calmed, their faces reflecting resignation, strength and hope. Marina could only imagine the message they’d been given.
The session ended. Marina and Reed moved to let the women pass. Several of the women waited to hug Hatcher before they left. Some asked questions and took down numbers.
When the room was empty, Hatcher beckoned them in. “You’re waiting to see me?” she asked, taking a long drink from a large bottle of water.
Marina nodded. “Yes, I’m Special Agent Marina Santos and this is my associate, Lieutenant Reed Crawford of the Chicago Police Department.”
Hatcher’s eyes widened fractionally. “Have you got some new information on the men who’ve made so many victims of the women I counsel?”
“I guess you could say that.” Marina dropped down into one of the chairs. “Lieutenant Crawford and I are on a task force trying to stop a serial killer who has been targeting men.”
“I really don’t think I can help you with that,” Hatcher said, taking another sip of water.
“Oh, but I think you can.” Reed moved away from the entryway and took a seat. “We’ve narrowed the list of victims down to a group of young men who attended Merriwhether University and belonged to the Alpha Kappa Epsilon fraternity.”
Hatcher looked puzzled. “I haven’t worked at Merriwhether in years.”
“The victims in question were at the university three and four years ago,” Marina explained.
“I see.” Hatcher slowly eased back in her chair. “What is it you want to know?”
“I know that you counseled groups from the Women’s Campus Crisis Center there, and the Student Advocate Office,” Marina said.
Hatcher set her bottle of water on the table. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Well, during that time two of the women you counseled attacked and severely injured a male student on campus…”
“Yes, they confronted their rapist with violence,” Hatcher explained, her voice growing sharp. “I didn’t condone or suggest they do what they did, but it happened and I got blamed for it.”
Reed set the record straight. “Didn’t one of the women in question get time in prison for what she did?”
Hatcher tensed her jaw. Her fingers curled over the arms of her chair. “Yes, but the university administration blamed me. After that they started trying to get rid of me. They said I was too controversial. Why are you bringing all this up?”
“We know that Aubrey Russell was attacked by two women. One got away and was never identified. Who was that woman?”
Hatcher was silent for several moments. “Why do you want to know?”
Rubbing her nail against the binding on her notebook, Marina explained. “We’ve been compiling a list of suspects for the serial killer, gathering information about them and their alibis. Whoever this woman is, she’s already committed violence in the past against one of the fraternity members. It’s possible that she’s found a reason to do it again.”
Hatcher eyed them suspiciously. “So you’re not trying to send her to prison for something she did back then?”
Reed looked impatient. “Our main concern is finding the serial killer. Plus, Audrey’s deceased now. It’s over.”
Marina studied Hatcher, wishing she could read her mind. “Who was the other woman?”
Hatcher frowned. Her tongue protruded slightly from between her pursed lips. “This could ruin her career,” she protested.
“If this woman is not the serial killer, then we can keep this information confidential,” Marina confided, trying to get Hatcher to open up.
Still silent, Hatcher bowed her head. Her mouth opened and closed twice.
Marina forced herself to count to ten. She didn’t want to resort to threats just yet.
Hatcher’s chest rose and fell. Her head came up slowly. She made eye contact with Marina. “It was Sherianne Gellus.”
Marina expelled a hard breath. She’d thought Sherianne Gellus was too smart to do something like this. “Aubrey assaulted her?”
Hatcher grabbed the water and took a long desperate-looking drink. “Actually, she managed to get away from that party,
” she explained. “Her sister wouldn’t leave and Sherianne wasn’t in any shape to make her.”
“We’ve already talked to Sherianne and we’re checking her alibis,” Reed said.
“Then this information doesn’t have to go any further than this?”
“It won’t,” Marina assured her, “unless her alibis don’t check out.”
Hatcher’s fingers eased on the arms of the chair. “Is there anything else you want to know?”
Marina set her notebook in her lap. “Yes. Did you keep records on your support groups at Merriwhether?”
“No more than what was required for the university to keep its federal funding. Privacy is a big issue,” Hatcher stated flatly. “Whatever I had was turned over to the university administration.”
Reed shifted restlessly. “Can you be more explicit? Did you get names? Did you have addresses and phone numbers?”
Hatcher leveled a challenging stare at him. “The women had to give names, but they didn’t have to be the right ones. They had to prove that they were students at the university, but we didn’t record anything. The names that we knew for certain were those associated with the Student Advocate Office and the court cases.”
“I see.” Reed let his shoulders drop. “I believe we’ve already seen those records.”
Marina nodded. “That’s correct.” She faced Dr. Hatcher once more. “Do you remember anyone who really stood out in the groups, someone who might still be angry enough to kill?”
For the first time Elizabeth Hatcher paused dramatically and almost smiled. It looked more like a grimace. “You’re already checking the alibis for Sherianne Gellus, and Carrie Ann is dead.”
The room got quiet. Marina actually shivered at the sound and content of Hatcher’s words. The woman had all but pointed a finger at Sherianne Gellus as the serial killer. Ending the interview, Reed and Marina left in a rush.
Back at the office Marina’s first priority was to verify Sherianne’s alibis. Tension and excitement ruled her as she checked the statement and spoke with airline and hotel staff.
It was difficult for anyone to remember specifics, given the time that had passed since the first murder, but airline and hotel records supported Sherianne’s statement that she’d been in New York when Colton Edwards was murdered. One of her co-workers even saw her let someone on their client’s staff into her room late that night.
Sherianne’s boyfriend Wyatt’s statement effectively covered the night that Elliot had been murdered. He could not recall anything specific for the October date when Aubrey had been murdered. A confidential check of the firm’s records revealed that Sherianne had actually been working on a case at the office all night when Aubrey had been killed.
By the end of the day Marina was dragging and ninety-eight percent certain that Sherianne was not their serial killer. Shoulders slumped, she sat at her desk, morosely studying the other people on the list.
“I’ve just cleared Lissa Rawlins, too,” Reed informed her. “Have we got any suspects left?”
Marina drummed her fingers on the desk. “Just Jasmine O’Leary, and I think she’s going to check out. Maybe we’ve been going about this all wrong.”
“Now don’t you start echoing the media on this,” Reed warned in a testy voice.
Glancing up, she made eye contact with him. His were a little red and had dark circles underneath. He looked exhausted. They hadn’t gotten much sleep lately. “Sorry,” she mumbled, “I was just thinking that maybe we should be looking for people who couldn’t get into the fraternity or maybe guys who were jealous of the victims.”
“No.” Reed raked a hand through his hair. “I like the other idea. Lissa killed blank. Sherianne killed blank. Jasmine killed blank.”
Marina sighed. “We can’t prove that Lissa knew any of the other women. She didn’t go to Merriwhether and she’s only been in Chicago for a few years. I just told you that I’ve all but cleared Sherianne. We must be overlooking something.”
Reed shrugged. “Well something had better break soon. We’re being pulled in to help provide protection for Gerry so we’re going to lose task force time. If the serial avenger is someone we haven’t thought of, someone close to all of them, then our protection will be a joke. I’m not losing another one of them to this killer.”
“Me, either,” she replied, racking her brain for ideas. She and Reed had been working hard to solve the case. A fresh perspective would probably show them some things they hadn’t thought of. Her fists clenched. Much as she hated the prospect, it was getting to the point where she would have to go to Lowell Talbot for help. The man was brilliant, but she and Reed were good, too. Marina pitted her own professional pride and feelings of competence against the knowledge and experience behind Talbot’s brilliance. If someone else died before she and Reed caught the killer, could she live with herself? One more day, she promised herself. If they didn’t find the killer or more leads, she’d go see Talbot.
CHAPTER 16
Seated at a table in his favorite restaurant, Gerry Chandler ate his sandwich and tried to pretend he didn’t see the undercover cop watching him from two tables over. The surveillance was for his protection and he appreciated it, but after a week he was tired of being watched. Privacy was a thing of the past. In addition he hated having to call the surveillance team whenever he was ready to leave work so that they could tail him. He almost wished the serial killer would make a move on him and get it over with. Almost.
He checked his watch. He needed to leave in the next ten minutes to make it back to work on time. With the cops tailing and watching him, even his work as an environmental analyst was difficult these days. His coworkers who knew he’d gone to Merriwhether had also noticed the increased activity around him that often featured cops in uniform, and put two and two together.
His associates had asked a number of questions he couldn’t answer due to task force requests, and the gossip was ridiculous. His boss, Mona, knew the details. Who knew that a few college frat parties with some stupid chicks would lead to threats to his life? Grinding his teeth in irritation, he signaled the waitress for a carry-out bag.
Walking to his car he tried to lift his spirits with the only bright spot in his week. The pay at GTC was okay, but he knew he deserved better. In an effort to see how much he was worth, he’d submitted his résumé to a number of companies and some headhunters. Now he had an interview tomorrow with a brand-new company, Federated Environmental Development—FED—and his prospects looked good. For once he would be able to get in on the ground floor of something and maybe snag a critical role.
Opening his car door, he smiled. He didn’t plan on telling Federated Environmental Development anything about there being a serial killer and needing law-enforcement protection so tight that they followed him into the restaurant bathroom. He just wished they’d hurry up and find the crazy bitch that had already killed four men.
Gerry turned the key in the ignition and let his gaze sweep the area. People were going about their business, but he still recognized a few undercover law-enforcement people. As long as he stayed away from women for a while and under task force protection he was safe. Taking off, he assured himself that he didn’t have a thing to worry about.
In an unmarked C.P.D. vehicle Reed and Marina drove to Gerry Chandler’s apartment. As Reed had predicted, new mayoral and police department initiatives made it necessary for them to become a part of the surveillance team on Gerry Chandler. For the day, their assignment was to tail Chandler, who had a job interview and half a day of work scheduled. Once Chandler completed his interview they’d tail him to work and be free to chase leads until he got off work.
“I’ve never heard of Federated Environmental Development,” Marina remarked from the passenger seat.
Reed shot her a quick glance. “You mean, you haven’t seen it on the financial pages of the newspaper?”
“No and I couldn’t find them on the Internet, either.”
“It is a new company startu
p. It may be a while before they show up on the financial pages, looking for investors,” he reasoned. “Maybe they’re not as far along as they want Chandler to think.”
“That would be my guess.” Marina resumed looking out the passenger window.
Three doors down from Chandler’s condo, Marina called to let him know they’d arrived. Minutes later Chandler hurried out of his upscale condo. His black power suit provided a nice contrast to his red hair and green eyes.
They tailed him to a tall building downtown and watched him enter. Since it was unfamiliar territory, Reed got out and followed Chandler into the building while Marina stayed in the car watching the entrances. He even managed to get on the polished-brass-accented elevator with Chandler and several other people.
A Serial Affair Page 14