by Paris Morgan
“Seriously? Death by pillow? Where do these ideas come from?”
“People are dying from their pillows?” A small voice in the back of the room asked.
Lex had an ear out, and was looking around the group of adults with a tinge of fear.
Galen crossed over to him. “Hey, buddy, let’s go in the other room. The pillows aren’t hurting them, it’s the bad people,” he explained as the door shut behind them.
“There’s been a rash of mercy killings in a few of the nursing homes. Both of the ones who are dead had birthdays in the past two days. It’s a loose connection, but something to look into.” Agent Watson continued ignoring the interruption from Lex. “I want you both on a plane and out there in the morning.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll see what we can find out.”
There went my evening with Chris. At least he’d have a little warning before tonight.
“Leslie, I also discovered a notice in one of the local Craig’s List ads in the Flagstaff area for someone to take care of excess baggage. It would line up with suffocation by pillow of those who are older.” Martha slid a few printed pages across the table to me. “I couldn’t find the original poster, but you might be able to track it down easier from there.”
“Thanks.” I looked over the papers. “I know he’s recruiting them somehow. If we can link him to this, then we’re going to be one step closer to stopping this madness.”
Ryan started to leave as Galen stepped back into the room.
“Hey, I’ll wait for you out in the car.”
I nodded to acknowledge him as I turned to check with Galen. “Is he okay? We didn’t scar him for life, did we?”
“Nah, he’s going to be fine. While I don’t want him to be around this kind of stuff, there are so many things he’s seen that I can’t protect him from. I’ve just got to walk him through it and teach him the best I can on how to deal with it.” He plopped into a chair with a sigh.
“Is he starting to adjust?”
“I guess so. He listens to me, and hasn’t really caused any trouble. I don’t think that’s because he’s accepting me as his dad, but more from the fact that he’s got a good place to stay. He doesn’t want to get sent back to where he was at. His gifts were much worse in a home like that.” Galen brushed away a tear. “I should have known about him sooner.”
“You can’t beat yourself up. He’ll eventually realize that you’re on his side, it’ll just take some time.”
“Leslie, he sees things. At first, he didn’t believe me that I knew what he was talking about or thinking. He wouldn’t tell me because those other people and the psychiatrist made him think he was crazy. Poor kid, he felt so alone and scared.”
“The more you and Adam show him how it works, he’ll feel more comfortable and gain confidence.”
“I hope you’re right. This parenting rollercoaster is hard. I didn’t get the learning curve of figuring it out as he learned it. We just jumped straight in the deep end for a crash course.”
“Hey, now, I didn’t have someone teaching me either.” I tried to reassure him.
“Yeah, I just don’t want to screw things up.”
“There’s always a learning curve, but you’ll figure it out. Just trust your instincts. Between you and Adam, I think he’ll be just fine.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Galen straightened, not as overwhelmed as he had been.
“While you work on it, I’ve got to go. Ryan’s my ride, but any time you want to talk, I’m around.”
“He still isn’t comfortable with psychic stuff, is he?”
“Nope. But we can’t all jump on the crazy train. What would be the fun in that, right?” I grinned and gave a wave as I went to join Ryan.
***
On the way to my house, Ryan was exceptionally quiet. I’d sent Chris a text, but he hadn’t answered yet.
“What are you thinking?” I didn’t want to pry, but it gave him an opening to talk if he wanted to.
“Do you think your gift disappeared?”
“No. I just think it’s kind of like learning how to ski. Some days you get up and crush the slope, and then others you fall down way more than you actually stand up. It’s a learning curve. When I really need it, it’ll be there.”
“How can you say that? Nothing happened when Flora really needed us. She had to reach out to a stranger for protection,” Ryan growled out in anger.
Gently, I placed a hand on his arm. “This isn’t about Flora. It’s about Shea and the baby, isn’t it?”
Shocked, he ignored the question, but I wasn’t going to let him off the hook as we pulled up to my house.
“You’re scared. You were relying on my gift to tell us if they were in danger, and now you don’t know if you can keep them safe while we’re gone.”
“Are you reading me now?” He flung off my hand.
“Ryan, they’re going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that!” he yelled. “It didn’t keep Jesse alive. We both know that this guy can make it past the police and anyone we setup for a protection detail. There’s nothing we can do to keep them safe.” He sagged against the seat.
“Where is all this self-doubt coming from?”
“I don’t know. He’s gotten inside my head, and I’ve tried not to listen… It won’t turn off. At night, I lay there thinking of everything that can go wrong with the pregnancy. What if I give her peanut butter and she’s allergic?”
“These are normal fears that every parent goes through. We know more about the evil side of the world, but we can’t worry about everything that could happen. You don’t sit there at night thinking about what would happen if you were shot and didn’t make it home. Shea gets to worry about that. We each have different things that are important to us. We have to live each day as if it’s our last, but make that last day count like it’s the first day of forever.”
I looked at the phone in my hand where I’d told Chris we couldn’t get together tonight.
Changing my mind, I texted him.
Leslie: Never mind. I don’t want to go without seeing you. Can you make it if I cook dinner?
Chris: Just got out of court. I’m in.
Leslie: Great. I’ll get started.
I got out of the car, but leaned back in.
“Ryan, you have a choice. Live in a world of what-ifs and never enjoy what you have, or go home and hug your woman. Plan a future with her and the baby. Feel your new baby kick and live in the now.” I collected my thermoses. “I’ve got a hot date waiting for me. Have a good night.”
Slamming the door after me felt satisfying, but I hoped that something I’d said would get through his head. Life was too short to not take advantage of what it offered.
***
I’d said goodbye to Chris as he dropped me off at the airport early the next morning. When I got through security, Ryan was already pacing on the other side.
“You didn’t get any sleep, did you?” I accused in a motherly fashion.
“Not much, and I won’t get any on the plane.”
“I’m going to have to start giving you sleeping pills for flights.”
He fought back a grin as he growled out, “You ain’t getting me on no plane.”
“That was closer to a seven on the impersonation scale. Mr. T did it so much better.”
“Yeah, well, let’s hope our plan comes together and we can get a head start on this thing.”
We arrived in Flagstaff about the same time as we’d boarded the plane. The time difference worked out, and we got the rental car they’d ordered and were headed to the first nursing home before 9 a.m.
Agent Watson had called ahead to let them know we were coming. The director, Jennifer, was more than willing to help us find out what had happened.
“Thank you so much for coming. We’re just mystified as to how this could have occurred.”
“Do you have cameras?” Ryan asked, taking a seat next me in front of the desk.
“We do have cameras, but they went offline when the death occurred.” She cringed at the confession.
“How did you discover him?” I leaned back, giving the appearance that I was relaxed.
“Every morning we do rounds when we change out the staff, such as room checks, and start helping the residents get ready for breakfast. Jeff went into the room, and when his patient, Mr. Robin, didn’t respond, he went to shake him.
“That sounds worse than it is, but Jeff hit the call button and checked for his pulse. 9-1-1 was called, and no one noticed the pillow on the floor until it had been determined that Mr. Robin was deceased. While he was here for medical reasons, there weren’t any major problems that would have caused his death.
“The coroner did an autopsy because it was unusual, and determined that he was smothered. That was when we discovered the video feeds had been cut.”
“You didn’t notice anyone hanging around when it was the middle of the night?” I frowned, because I would have known if someone was there. “Aren’t the doors locked after ten at night?”
“They are locked, but family are able to come in and out with the same codes as are used in the daytime.” She looked at the desk and folded her hands. “I really hate to have to admit this, but we have a pretty high turnover with employees, so there are always new people working. It makes it more difficult to tell who should be here and who shouldn’t.”
“Did Mr. Robin have anyone that was mad at him?” Ryan asked the obvious question, but couldn’t see any reason that someone would want to kill an older man.
“Oh my gracious, no. He was a sweet man. There wasn’t any family close to him here, and he didn’t want to start having health problems with no one able to help him out. I can’t think of anyone who had problems with him,” she hastened to assure us.
“Do you think this has anything to do with the death at the other nursing home facility?” I questioned.
“Ah, we prefer to be called retirement homes. We didn’t even realize there had been a similar incident until we got your phone call.”
I was highly skeptical of that because it was a small industry, and rumor were always the first thing to spread quickly.
“Can we see the room where the incident took place?”
“Certainly. If you’ll follow me.” She rose and came around the desk, waiting for us to get up.
The resident’s room was empty and awaiting its new occupant. I took a look around at the layout of the halls, and how easy it would have been to enter the back door and leave just as quickly.
“How often do you check in on the residents?” Ryan tested the window, but it was locked, and only led out into an inner courtyard.
“After they’ve been put to bed, we encourage an hourly bed check. If there aren’t any incidents or problems, it can be two hours in between look-in times. Some residents require more and others less, depending on the reasons that they’re here in our facility.”
“Hmm, I see,” I muttered, unimpressed with the way they ran their business.
“Well, thank you for showing us around. If we have any further questions, we’ll get back to you after we talk to the other retirement home.”
I shook my head as we walked out. “Can you imagine choosing to spend your last good years in a place like that?”
“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, confused.
“Living somewhere that has so many rules, and people watching you all of the time.” I shivered. “Not for me. I would rather have someone come to my house if I needed help versus being a ‘resident’ or ‘guest’ in a retirement home.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when I go to choose your future retirement home.”
“Whatever. I’m younger than you, so I’m totally going to help Shea put you away for keeps.”
“Only be a couple of years. In dog years, we’re the same age.”
Stopping in my tracks, I looked at him, shocked. “Dog years means you’re much, much older than me. Each year of ours is seven years in dog years. So three years would mean that you’re twenty one years older than I am.”
He looked embarrassed, “I’m totally putting all the blame on not having had any coffee this morning. My brain isn’t thinking straight yet.”
“Then maybe we need to stop for coffee before we head to this new retirement center,” I offered easily. “Then we can look at it with clear eyes and see what your future home is going to be like.”
He waved me off as we consulted the map, looking for the other retirement home. If we found a place to stop for coffee, then it wouldn’t be a waste of time.
The director of this retirement facility was named Steve. He didn’t seem to appreciate our visit in the slightest.
“Can you tell me again why you’re here to look into this death? The police have already spoken to everyone, and haven’t charged anyone.”
“Steve, we believe this may be connected to a larger killing ring. Sort of a ‘murder for hire’ group. We’re trying to link a Craig’s List ad to the victims and see if there is anything that points to our suspect,” Ryan explained patiently.
Some days, I was so thankful that he was my partner, because I didn’t have enough energy to deal with idiots.
“Can we take a look at the room where your resident lived?” I cut to the chase, while Ryan asked his questions as we walked toward the back of the building.
Mr. Albertson’s room was only feet from the exit, and the camera facing the door had been sprayed over so that no one could see who had entered his room.
“None of your staff noticed that the camera wasn’t working?” I questioned suspiciously.
“During the middle of the night is when we get caught up on some of the things that get overlooked during the daytime. The aides get the laundry put away, furniture gets moved, and floors are mopped to help keep our residents from falling during the more active hours. We have the cameras in case something happens, but no one really monitors them. If a call light goes off, then the nurse or aide can take a quick glance without having to race to that room immediately. It helps to figure out who needs them the most when more than one light goes off at the same time.”
I nodded, getting the feeling that most of the time the cameras weren’t even recording.
“What were the night staff working on when this happened?” Ryan walked around the room, inspecting it thoroughly.
“The usual. Thursday nights, we generally try to get everything squared away before the visitors start to arrive on Friday and Saturday. Families that come to visit expect the home to be spotless, and we strive to make sure that happens. We want to assure them that their loved ones are being looked after with the utmost care.”
“Yeah, how’s that going for you?” I snickered with sarcasm.
“Today, not well. We’re trying to find out what happened first before we have to release a statement to the family.”
“I’m pretty sure that this is the work of someone other than our suspect. We’re looking for women victims who were born on the same day they died.”
“Mr. Albertson would have been eighty-five if he had survived the night. I can’t tell you about the other dead man, though.”
“We appreciate your help. If you think of anything else, please let us know.”
Steve just stood in the doorway, watching us make our way back to the front door.
“Do you get the idea that Steve is only worried about appearances and could care less that a resident died on his watch?” Ryan held the door open for me to pass through.
“If we looked closely, I’d bet we’d find a bunch of violations. The employees also don’t clean very well because the floors were sticky,” I half-heartedly suggested.
“I think we’re looking at the wrong set of murders. These are male victims, and they’re much older than what our killers normally target.”
“We still need to find who put the ad on Craig’s List and see if we can tie this all together.”
***
Hours of following leads to find the poster of the Craig’s List ad got us nowhere, and we checked into a hotel because there wasn’t a flight out until the next morning.
A call in the middle of the night put our flight off because there had been another murder.
We arrived at a new nursing home, only to find the police conducting interviews.
“Do we know what happened?” Ryan asked the lead officer as he pulled out his ID.
“Not yet.” He nodded to the poor aide sobbing in the lobby. “She went in to check on him, and found that he wasn’t breathing. I’m pretty sure she didn’t have anything to do with it, but we’re going to check out her story.”
The aide he was referring to was so broken up about Mr. Yoshi that she was going to have nightmares for weeks.
Ryan and I walked around, noticing the same similarities with the exits being in close proximity to the rooms of the victims.
“Would you be able to find out when Mr. Yoshi’s birthday was?” I asked one of the workers politely.
“Oh, I don’t have to look, it’s today. Pity, too. He was going to be ninety, and the local news was going to cover the event. Now, I guess it’ll be a different kind of news story.”
I stepped outside.
“Either the Zodiac Master is messing with us, or this is the new month’s method. But it feels more like a copycat than the real thing. What do you think?”
“I agree. He’s done a lot to throw us off the trail before, but having another person doing the killing to lead us away from the actual killer is a bit much. It’s too dramatic.”
“There’s no doubt this is a serial killer, but it’s not ours.”
“Ready to head back to the hotel and get some sleep?” Ryan leaned against the wall. “There’s no way we’re going to make our flight now, and we’ll have to settle for a later one.”
“Yeah, we might as well. No point in hanging out here when we’re not going to find out anything more than what we already know.”
***
Chapter 5
Chris
Things had been going so well with Leslie, and I hoped that we could have a future at least as friends, if not as something more. It had been a long week, and I’d had to get a few witness statements at the precinct in the not so nice part of town. It was late as I walked back to my car, and I always paid attention to my surroundings, but the figure in a hoodie stepped in front of me, seeming to come out of nowhere.