by Paris Morgan
“It’s closer to the coastal line, but are there enough wooded areas with public access that aren’t beach?” I wasn’t great at reading topographical maps that told the difference between mountains or hills, sand or woods.
“If he’s going to be working in a circle…” Ryan took his pencil and drew a half moon using the divider as the highway. “It’s not a perfect circle, but if we broadened that to the other side, then it would give us the radius with Seaside as the middle ground.”
“That’s the pattern I’ve established with the missing women. He’ll start in L.A., and then a small town, and another on his way to San Francisco, until he makes the same half-moon back the other direction and back to L.A.”
“Kevin, can you put together a map that has each of these missing women on it? Use a different color per year so we can see if there are any spots he uses more than once.” I brought over the stack I’d sorted and flagged so far.
“Ryan, while he does that, help me sort through these other two stacks please.”
“Okay.” He took the most current list, and I picked up where I’d left off.
The sun was just coming up when we got the last missing woman into the computer.
“Would you look at this?” Kevin said in awe.
The map was covered in dots from each of the same places. Some years it looked like he’d tried to hold off a month or two so that a pattern didn’t become visible.
“Do you have a total number of missing women?” I feared what the total numbers would be, considering the amount of pins in the board.
“Over the course of the twenty years that you’ve been working with? About one a month, which would be about two hundred and forty, but you have to add in the extras that he did in the two larger cities. I’d say that we have almost three hundred missing women that can be attributed to this guy.”
“Whew! That’s a lot of property he would need to bury that many bodies without anyone knowing or stumbling over it.” Ryan whistled.
“I’m going to say that he’s covered his burial sites better than the ones recently discovered. That’s part of this game he’s playing. He wants us to find them, so he didn’t plant anything to cover them, but marks the trees where each woman is buried with a symbol so we know to associate them to this killing spree.”
“I just can’t believe that there are that many missing women each year.”
“That’s why he chooses those that are single, because there’s less chance of them being noticed. If they never come back to their homes, and their vehicles aren’t discovered, then nobody goes looking for them. It becomes a closed case very quickly.” I felt I was getting a better picture of our killer.
“Thank you, Kevin, for all of your hard work.” Ryan gave him a pat on the back. “I’m going to go update Gavin and coordinate with him to find the other sites he’s left out in the open for us. We shouldn’t have to hunt too hard to find them.”
“You’re going to start searching now without any sleep?” There was no point in starting out exhausted.
“No, I’m going to go have him assign teams before Agent Perez gets here. If they’re already in the field, then we can be killing two birds with one stone.”
“Okay. I should be asleep when you get in there then. I’m only going to catch a few hours, and then get back to it. We should know if we’re on the right track by then. Something is bothering me about the Tom Prings and the Spring family. Why kill only Tom Prings and not Sebastian Spring?” I mumbled to myself as I turned the thoughts over in my head.
“What?” Ryan looked back at me.
“Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking out loud. What did Tom know that made him a threat?”
“All right. Don’t start dreaming on your way over to the hotel,” Ryan teased.
I waved at him and continued through the early morning light. Could there be a family secret that the killer doesn’t want out?
Nothing was making sense in my head, and it probably wouldn’t until I refueled. There was something that I needed to figure out, but my brain wouldn’t cooperate as I laid down on the bed.
***
“My brother is dead.” Tom’s voice rang out clearly. “Follow the blood and you’ll find your killer. He was born in violence and pain.”
“Why?”
“Why was he born that way?” Tom answered my question patiently. “Every once in a while, someone is born that has to do things for themselves. They must try it, and be the best at what they do. When this happens to someone that is pure evil, the only things those around them can do is try to keep the damage at a minimum.”
Tom held up his hands. “I was innocent, but I know who did it, and they aren’t who they claim to be.”
His hands started to drip with blood that was coming from above us. “If you don’t stop them from becoming evil, it grows until you are part of their schemes, even if you try to ignore who and what they’ve become.”
“Who is he, Tom?” I cried as the figure melted away, leaving only the blood drops on the floor.
He was here. I could feel him. No, that wasn’t the killer, it was a softer presence.
A smile lit my face. Flora.
“Hi, friend. I’ve come to warn you. Those who lurk in the moments between life and death are those who hold the power to choose who lives and who dies. The one you are chasing is hoarding death. When he takes a life, he inhales their essence, converting their presence to darkness.”
“I need to find him. How can I see this darkness?” I asked, bewildered.
“You will know and learn. He wears a mask, but even those closest to him aren’t his friends. To be in his presence is to be touched by evil. You will only find death surrounding him.” Flora looked around, worried. “I must leave, and so must you. The evil is trying to get into the dream.”
She blew me a kiss as she, too, faded.
With her gone, the feeling of darkness closing in grew, but I had no idea how to leave this in-between place.
“Wake up. I have to wake up.”
An evil laugh echoed around me. “I’ll have you, my pretty little thing.”
“No, wake up!” I screamed, sitting upright in the bed.
The room was dark, but light was streaming in through the crack in the drapes from the window.
I raced over and threw open the curtains, drinking in the sunlight. I wanted to chase away all forms of the shadows that had been in my dreams.
The lock clicked, and I was about to dive for my gun when Ryan entered.
“Um, everything okay?” He held up a coffee as a peace offering.
“Yeah. Bad dream.” I brushed my hand across my face without wincing at my stitches. “Thank you.” I took the coffee he offered and sat on the edge of the bed with my knees pulled up to my chest.
He took in my protective position. “That bad, huh?”
I nodded, clutching the coffee in my hand. “What time is it?” I asked, wondering if Ryan had even slept at all.
“It’s a little after two in the afternoon. I came in last night, or rather this morning, but I could only sleep a few hours. I kept wanting to find out how the hunt was going.” He gestured to the coffee. “I figured if you were going to wake up to hear what we discovered, then you might want coffee to get your brain going.”
“Oh yeah, sure. What did they find?” I took a sip and tried to calm the tension running through my body.
“They found two more burial sites on the other side of the highway. They looked in a few of the places, but when they walked up to the first one, it was obvious they’d found one of them. If anyone was looking, you could find them. Now, we just have to find his last one before he finishes his mission.”
“Um, about that…I dreamed about Tom.” I was going to leave out anything to do with Flora unless I had to, because Ryan was already a sceptic, and this was pretty unbelievable.
“He knew who the killer was, or rather, who the killer is.” I took another sip to help calm my nerves. “I think he was
related to Tom, or had something to do with the death of his parents and brother.”
“But his brother was declared dead years after the parents’ death, wasn’t he?” Ryan raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, but I think the brother died when they did. Whatever happened, it’s a family secret. One that the killer was afraid Tom might tell us of, and he couldn’t take that chance.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“I’m going to go over to their county records office and search the deaths of Tom’s family. Maybe the papers will have a report as well. Something happened, because Tom felt guilty for not stopping the killer. He was innocent, but by keeping quiet, he felt condemned.”
“How can you be sure that it wasn’t just a dream?” Ryan’s voice was laced with skepticism.
“Well, it felt real. I could feel the evil coming into my dream and trying to overpower me.”
“That’s why you were standing in the window, trying to get rid of the darkness.”
“Yeah, but how did you know that?” I frowned. “It sounds like you’ve had a similar dream.”
He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t a dream. More like a presence of evil. I can’t escape it since Jesse’s death. It follows me around. That’s why I don’t sleep very long. It makes me restless.”
“I’m so sorry. I was hoping that we could catch this guy and get some answers to find the Zodiac Master.”
“Well, the day’s not over yet, and we have records to check. Ready to face Agent Perez?”
“Nope. Which is exactly what I’m not going to do. I can find out what I need over at the records office before I have to be in the same room with her.” I grinned. “Sometimes, old files are a welcome relief.”
“Chicken,” Ryan teased.
“You bet. I can take her if I need to, but I don’t really want to.”
“I’ll say it again—chicken. Let me know when you want to go to battle.”
“You know, chicken does sound good. I wonder if the diner has something on the menu with chicken in it?”
The door shutting on Ryan’s retreating figure made me laugh.
He had brought more light into the room than the sun had. Today was the day we were going to get the bastard. I could feel it.
Chapter 11
Ryan
The phone rang with a strange number, but considering that I was in a room with FBI agents, I answered. Because last time I hadn’t answered, I’d lost a good friend.
“Yes?”
“Ryan, its Flora. Do you know where Leslie is? Can you see her right now?”
“Oh, hey, Flora. Um, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her in a while. She was looking up some records.” A sinking sensation hit my chest as I waited for Flora to confirm it.
“The killer has her. She’s alive right now, but at dark, he’s going to send her out to hunt her, and you only have a few hours to save her.”
While I totally didn’t believe in psychics, Flora somehow had a connection with our killer, and had good information that had already helped us. I couldn’t lose Leslie either, not so soon after Jesse. “We’ll find her. I’ll call you when I know something. Text me if you learn anything else that might be helpful.”
“Ryan, this is why you were meant to be her partner. You can save her, but you have to hurry. He’s going to enjoy hunting her for the fun of it, and not because of her birthdate. Go.” Flora had hung up before I could even push the button to disconnect us.
“Agent Perez, we have a problem! Leslie’s missing! He has her!” I shouted to get everyone’s attention.
“Detective Boxe is gone? But wasn’t she here just a few minutes ago? Does anyone know where she could have gotten to? Did she drive or walk?” Agent Perez motioned for everyone to get moving as she came over to me.
“Why do you think she’s gone and that the killer has her?” Agent Perez directed her furious gaze to me.
“I know this is going to sound crazy, and I didn’t believe it when it happened two months ago, but there’s a psychic that’s been getting visions, I guess. Anyway, she just called and said that he has Leslie. We only have until dark before he starts hunting her.” I could see the disbelief in her stare. “I know it’s crazy. She knew the name of the last killer, and there wasn’t any connection between them. They were states apart, and yet Flora pointed us in the right direction. If it means listening to her to save Leslie, or ignoring it and having another dead body, I’m going to follow the psychic even if it goes against all my training.” I went over to where the maps were laid out.
“She would do the same for you, even though she doesn’t like you. She wouldn’t give up on you just to prove a point.” I wasn’t going to waste any time trying to convince her.
“Where was the last area that Detective Boxe was looking at as potential burial sites?”
A hand shot up from the back of the room, and a mousy woman with glasses moved toward us as everyone gave her room. “She was looking at two different properties: one owned by the Spring family, and another by the Urban Energy Company. They’re in opposite directions, and I have no idea which one she went to check out. She said she’d call if she found something.”
The woman looked as if she was about to cry. “You did good, Agent…?” I left the question open.
“Martha Tubbs. I can track her phone for you if that’ll help,” she suggested, eager to help.
“That would be great, Martha. If we can narrow down our resources, that would be a huge time saver.” I’d taken over, but Leslie was my partner, and I didn’t care if the FBI liked it or not. “Agent Perez, I would recommend that we send a few agents to the other site, but concentrate our efforts on the direction that her phone went in just in case this guy tries to outsmart us.”
She nodded her approval. “Let’s load up and be ready to move out as soon as we get the ping. You make sure that you put a vest on and stay in contact with me, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ve got it!” Agent Tubbs yelled. “She went toward the Spring property instead of the Urban Energy property.”
That made sense since she’d been looking at records, trying to find a connection between Tom and the past.
“You heard the woman, move out. Agents Diaz, Philips, and Jones, you’ll take the Urban Energy property. The last two killers have been linked with the company, and we don’t want to be misled when someone’s life is at stake. Load up.” She’d put aside whatever problems she had with Leslie, and was doing something to help find her.
“I’ll drive,” Sheriff Turner volunteered. “I know these back roads, and can get us there much faster, even though it’s in the next county.”
“Let’s just pray that Detective Boxe can stay out of the killer’s path until we catch up.”
A mad dash through the countryside brought us to the edge of the property lines. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and gathered around Agent Perez.
“Just because this is the property line, doesn’t mean that this man won’t cross them. He’s a killer, and lines don’t bother someone like him. Remember that there may be another woman or two out here with Detective Boxe. Only take a shot if you’re sure that you have it. We want them alive, and we don’t want to hurt one of our own. Be careful. Friendly fire won’t help either.” Agent Perez picked up the rifle that they handed her from the back of one of the vans.
“There’s a small cabin in the middle of the property that I’m sure has been his base of operations. He may have her there, but I think we both know that he’s going to try hunting her first.” I’d done a quick study of both properties, and it seemed the most likely scenario.
Two hours of traipsing through the woods later, we’d found no sign of Leslie or the killer. It was getting dark, and the woods got darker earlier than other places.
“How could we have missed them?” I questioned as each group regathered at the vehicles in frustration.
“We didn’t. We’ve searched this area thoroughly,
and our other group came up empty as well.” Agent Perez made sure that everyone was back before ordering them to pack it up. “Where else could she have gone in connection with Tom Prings or the Springs’?”
“They’re at the Spring Mill. That has to be where he took her. We didn’t notice it because it’s owned by the family and not by him. There were tons of little out buildings, and a huge wooded area that connects to a forest reserve.” I knew as soon as the words formed that we were on the right track.
“It all used to belong to the Spring family, but as times changed, they sold off portions of it, and the forest reserve was an easy way to keep other big businesses from grabbing it all up. The back of his land is also on the other side of the reserve,” Sheriff Turner explained. “We should’ve put that together sooner, but I just didn’t think it could be one of the Spring boys. They’ve always been such good citizens.”
“Which is why you’ve never had any reason to suspect them of being serial killers,” Agent Perez assured him. “Let’s hope this is where they’re at, because otherwise, we’ll have to wait for daylight, and another psychic call before we set out on a wild goose chase.”
I ignored the dig at my information. If Flora hadn’t called, it might have been hours, or even the next morning before we realized that she was gone. I didn’t care, as long as we found her in time.
Chapter 12
Leslie
I’d been running for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes.
When he had noticed me headed out to the Spring Mill from the newspaper, he’d followed me. He knew the territory much better than I did, and had been able to get ahead of me to cut me off.
There had only been a slight sting of warning when the dart hit me, causing my body to collapse to the ground. I couldn’t move as he’d searched my pockets for my cell phone, keys, and gun.
“You won’t be needing these for the game I’ve got planned for you. The Zodiac Master may have given me strict instructions about killing only those with an Aries birthday, but you’re worth breaking the rules for.” He chuckled as he pulled my body up and slung it over his shoulder, leaving me to hang limply, upside down. I was still conscious, but I couldn’t move or control my own body.