Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  The impulse to make sure I was shielded was strong, but I wasn’t going to lose Lex’s trust.

  “The person you all have been chasing is trying to distract you from your goal. He’s laughing at you. He ordered Leslie’s boyfriend killed, and has you all chasing your tails looking for a pillow killer.”

  “Lex…” Tears filled my eyes. “I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through, honey, but this is important. You can’t let this man into your thoughts.”

  “Oh, I won’t. He doesn’t think I’m important, so he doesn’t pay attention when I watch him.”

  “You watch him?” I felt scared again. “Lex, he kills people who get in his way. Why do you think he had me out for weeks? I get visions, and can tell them where to look for his minions. We don’t want you to get hurt, not after your dad went to all this trouble to find you.”

  “Don’t worry. I can cloak myself and he can’t see me. He’s not psychic himself, but he is open and can sense things. I’ll be all right.” He patted my hand to comfort me.

  “That’s not reassuring, but okay. Any chance they’re going to let me go home or have some food today? I’m starving.” I placed a hand over my stomach as it started to growl.

  Lex started laughing.

  “That’s not polite,” Galen corrected, “but it is funny.”

  “No worries on my part. I’m sure my body has been doing all sorts of stuff while I wasn’t in it.” I leaned toward Lex to whisper, “You can tell me later, when these two yahoos aren’t around.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Do you have a TV at your house?”

  “Yep, and I’ll let you pick what you want to watch if we can get out of here.”

  Lex grinned and shot for the door before his dad could stop him. “I’ll go tell the nurse she’s awake.”

  “I swear, that kid is going to keep me on my toes for the next ten years.” Galen went to follow him. “I’ll just make sure he doesn’t try to flirt with the nurse.”

  Suddenly, I was alone with Adam.

  “Hmm…” I started, just as he said, “Well…”

  “You go first.” I nodded at him.

  “When I got your message, it seemed to make the most sense that I come to your aid, but then I had to find out where you lived. It was dark, and I was so worried I’d be too late. Then I found you, and were out, so I sat there watching over you until morning.” He ran a hand over his face. “I’ve never felt more like a stalker before, but I was hoping that you would be okay with me being there.”

  “You’ve been here since they transported me, haven’t you?” It warmed my heart that someone I’d never met had cared enough to watch over me.

  A blush crept up his cheeks. “Someone had to make sure that you were okay. Galen and I took turns. It couldn’t just be anyone because of your psychic skills, and we’re pretty sure we have a mole in the organization.”

  “Thank you.” I placed my hand over his. “I’m glad it was you.”

  “It doesn’t weird you out that I inserted myself into your life?” Adam ran his finger over the back of my hand, sending a chill up my arm.

  “Not at all. You took care of me when I couldn’t. There aren’t many men who could or would take the time to watch over someone when they were the most vulnerable. Maybe now that I’m conscious, we could go on a date sometime.” I watched his reaction to see if I’d misread the situation.

  A smile filled his features, highlighting a few lines on his face. “That would be nice.”

  The door burst open as Lex came barreling into the room.

  “Aw, yuck. You guys were going to kiss, weren’t you?” He wiped his hand against his lips in disgust.

  “No!” we both said in unison.

  “You might not have done it, but you both were thinking about it. Can you keep those thoughts to yourself, please?”

  Galen followed, snickering. “We’re going to have to work on this etiquette thing. I couldn’t agree more, though. Get a room, please.”

  “The doctor is on his way in, and we’ll leave the two of you alone. We’re going to go find something to do besides sitting in a conference or hospital room.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to do that,” I apologized.

  “Oh, it wasn’t a problem, and I’d rather help out a fellow psychic stay safe. Besides, it was fun watching my brother worry.” He poked his brother in the arm.

  “Yeah, just wait until it happens to you,” Adam growled.

  “You two need some time to get to know each other in the waking world, and we’d just be in the way.” He tipped a fake hat toward me. “It was nice meeting you. We’ll see you around.” Galen pushed Lex toward the door.

  “Uncle Adam?”

  “Yeah, Lex?”

  “Don’t leave her alone. There’s strength in numbers.” His little face was so serious.

  Adam was still holding my hand, “I won’t,” he promised.

  “Okay, ‘cause I think you’d make an awesome aunt.” He ducked out the door before any of us could respond.

  “Wow. Talk about speed dating, huh?” I giggled nervously.

  The doctor saved us from an uncomfortable silence when he arrived.

  “How are you feeling, Ms. Martin?” he asked as he checked my vitals.

  “A little weird the first few minutes after I woke up, but I’m seriously hungry right now.”

  “Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?” He flashed a light in my eyes, checking the dilation.

  “It was the 4th, and there are always lots of fireworks. They give me a type of PTSD. I took a sleeping tablet, just a Tylenol PM, and then next thing I knew I was here, and it was three weeks later.” I wasn’t about to tell him that I’d taken it to sleep through other people’s PTSD.

  “That was what Adam told me. You’ve been helping him on a case and he went to check on you, but you didn’t wake up. He was afraid someone had poisoned you or something. We ran tons of tests, but couldn’t find anything wrong with your blood work.”

  “I guess a Tylenol PM wouldn’t show up on the tests, huh?” I tried to make light of the situation.

  “Well, you appear completely normal. I don’t see any reason you can’t go home, but make sure that you don’t take anything that would make you sleep over the next few days.” He wrote a few things on his tablet. “I’m assuming that you’re going to be watching her for any problems?”

  “Yes, sir,” Adam hastened to assure him.

  “I figured. Well, I’ll tell the nurse that you’re free to go home. If you have anything out of the ordinary happen, come back immediately.”

  I nodded that I understood, happy to be able to get out of here.

  “Good luck.” He walked out, leaving us in peace.

  “Do I have any regular clothes?” I looked around the room, hoping that I didn’t have to wear the hospital clothes home.

  “Oh, yeah. We put them over here for you for when you woke up.” He moved over to the cabinet, reluctantly releasing my hand.

  “Thank you. I have one more favor to ask.”

  “Sure.” Adam scanned my face, looking for any problems.

  “Can you make sure I don’t fall on my ass when I get out of bed?”

  He chuckled. “I think that can be arranged.”

  I pulled the covers off and slid my legs to the edge of the bed. Taking his hand, I put my weight on my feet, hoping that they still worked after not doing anything for the past few weeks.

  With only a slight weave, he steadied me, holding my arm as I scooped up my clothes and made my way to the restroom.

  Alone in the bathroom, I realized that while my brain had been asleep for a while, my body hadn’t been. I wasn’t in any position to feel sexy with hairy legs and teeth that desperately needed to be brushed. I was so glad that we hadn’t kissed, because that would have been a terrible first kiss.

  The shower felt wonderful, and I used the packages of hygiene products to freshen up. Feeling halfway normal, I heard Adam in my head.<
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  “Doing okay in there?”

  “Yes, and that’s going to take a little getting used to.” I opened the door to see him standing nervously next to the bed.

  He inhaled quickly, and before I knew it, he’d snaked his arm around my waist.

  “I wasn’t going to fall over,” I whispered inches from his lips.

  “I know, but I couldn’t wait any longer.” He bent a little more until our lips touched.

  Fireworks went off in my head. I could hear what he was thinking as we kissed, making it much more intimate than I’d ever imagined possible. He wasn’t the first one to kiss me, but he was the first one that connected with my soul.

  “Welcome back.” He pulled back, a smile teasing his lips.

  “I should go away more often if that’s the kind of greeting I’m going to get.”

  “Not until we have more time to get to know each other. Let’s get you some food and back home.”

  I gave a shiver from the anticipation in his voice. If we’d connected with just a kiss, then I couldn’t even imagine what would happen when we did other things.

  “You got it.” I threaded my fingers through his.

  Chapter 7

  Ryan

  Incredulous didn’t describe my expression as Leslie walked over and pulled out a backpack from the closet. She pulled out a flip phone and sent a message to someone.

  “When he responds, we’ll have to go meet him at a special place. He can have a few phone calls made, and then John Reed will be picked up. They can put him in a cell somewhere under his other name, and then we’ll go over and have a talk with him.”

  “Who is he?” I asked.

  “Oh, I can’t mention it out loud.” She waved around the room, letting me know there might be bugs present.

  We’d tried to have our homes cleared out, but that didn’t mean they weren’t put back or we had overlooked some. We had a leak, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “Let’s just say that I’ve dabbled with technology enough to know that our guy brought us a mother lode of information. I’m going to use the least charge I can that will take John Reed hours to get out on bail, but not before he has to be in a filthy cell waiting to talk to us.”

  “Leslie, are you sure that you want to go down this road?” I wasn’t questioning her motives, but I didn’t want her to do anything that she’d regret when she wasn’t upset over her boyfriend’s death.

  She gave me a tight smile. “It will all be legal. Then, when he goes home, we’re going to have a court order issued to trace his phone. My guy has been working on this without involving the FBI. We’re completely legal, and it should piss the Zodiac Master, a.k.a. Henry Stevens, enough that he’ll do something.”

  “Shouldn’t we inform Agent Watson about this?” I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was going to backfire on us.

  “Of course we can. After we’ve got the information we need.”

  “Where do you want me to be?” Shea hadn’t batted an eye at Leslie’s plan, and knew that I wouldn’t leave her to back up my partner unless she was safe.

  “Flora’s with Adam, and they can work with Galen to make sure that you’re good while we’re doing this.” Leslie picked up her regular cell phone.

  “Hey, Adam, how’s Flora?” She didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. “She’s awake and he’s at her house.”

  “Oh my gracious,” Shea exclaimed. “That’s so exciting.”

  “Look, Adam, we’re about to do something crazy and dangerous. I don’t know if you heard about my boyfriend yet, but he’s dead. We need someone to stay near Shea and make sure that nothing happens to her.” Leslie nodded for a few minutes. “Got it. We’ll be over there shortly.” She swiftly ended the call.

  “We’re taking you to his house. He’s on his way back there now,” she informed us, loading a few things into her backpack.

  “I’ll feel better with Flora and Adam.” Shea hefted herself off the couch. “But first, I’m going to have to use your restroom. This little thing doesn’t like to share with my bladder.”

  Once Shea was out of hearing, I confronted Leslie.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Nothing. It’s time to take this fight to his family. Someone that he cares about will keep him from doing anything to someone we love again. We probably can’t keep John in jail, but it will show that we’re serious about what’s going on, and we’re not going to take his crap lying down.” She placed an extra gun and ammo into her bag.

  “And if this does the opposite?” I questioned. “What if he comes after us because you piss him off?”

  She placed a hand on my arm. “We’re not going to let that happen. My friend won’t allow that.”

  “How come you’ve never mentioned this friend before? Is it the same guy that helped me out with that other stuff?” I wanted to leave Kevin’s name out of it in case she wasn’t paranoid.

  “No, it’s not him. I might have mentioned this guy before, but he’s a specialist in his field. I’ve done a few things for him over the years, and it’s time for him to pay them back. Hell, at this point, when I tell him what’s happened, he’d probably offer to do it for free.”

  Shea came back into the room, so I dropped it, but I wasn’t comfortable with this any more than I had been with the emotional aspect of grief earlier.

  “Ready?” Leslie asked Shea as she pulled on her side holster.

  “Yep. As long as it’s less than thirty minutes to the next potty, I’m good.” Shea grinned.

  We left Shea’s car and took mine over to Adam’s house. Before we left, Leslie demanded that we put all of our electronics in the Faraday bag.

  Adam’s house was off the books, and she didn’t want to take any chances by bringing the bad guys to his door.

  I couldn’t believe that she’d talked me into this.

  Her phone dinged, and with a smile, she read the text and replied.

  “I told him it would be an hour before we could be there. He’ll be ready.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “I hope this guy can talk some sense into you.”

  Leslie laughed. “Not likely. At this point, Mr. Zodiac guy had better be glad I’m a cop and want to stay one, or I’d be going all rogue on his ass.”

  “If this is staying inside the law, then we are so in trouble,” I moaned as we approached the neighborhood Adam lived in.

  The door opened as we pulled up, and Flora ran out, wrapping Leslie in an embrace before I’d even turned the engine off.

  “Guess I’m not going to get any solidarity from this group.”

  “Honey, as long as it’s legal, just let her be. We all want to be able to do something to help her along.” Shea took a little longer to get out of the car.

  “Well, this isn’t my idea of how to do things, but the normal way hasn’t been working, so…”

  “Exactly. Let her have a chance and see where it will go. You never know what can happen, and this might just be what it takes to win against this monster.”

  “Ryan, you getting out of the car?” Adam joked from where he was surrounded by the others.

  “Yes,” I mumbled, getting out and walking around to help Shea ease out.

  Once everyone was inside, Leslie took charge. “We’ve got a meeting with my friend who’s got some dirt on Mr. John Reed. When he’s taken in for questioning, it should bring the Zodiac Master out of hiding.”

  While she was explaining her plan, I noticed that Adam and Flora had taken a seat next to each other.

  “What’s up with the two of you?” I interrupted her grand speech.

  “Who, us?” Adam coughed nervously. “We kind of hit it off.”

  She’d been about to give me the evil eye, but turned her attention to the new couple.

  “Oh my gracious. You two thought you could keep this hidden from your best friends?”

  “Well, no.” Flora blushed. “We just hadn’t had a chance to tell everyone yet.�
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  “That’s so exciting,” Shea gushed with happiness.

  I stared at them in confusion. What just happened? Here Leslie was, all sad or mad because of her boyfriend, and now she was happy?

  “It’s pretty normal. Girls always go mushy when someone falls in love, no matter how miserable their personal lives are at that moment,” Galen explained to help me sort out this craziness.

  “I forgot that you can read what I’m thinking.”

  “No worries. I try to stay out of most of it, but your face kind of said it all.”

  “No, that we’ve got that out of the way, can we get back to her harebrained scheme?”

  “I’ll have to apologize for my man Ryan. He wasn’t happy with the way things were going, but when faced with mushy-gushy love, he’d rather face killers.” Galen slapped me on the back with a grin.

  “You’re right. I just forgot with all of the good things happening.”

  “Adam, can you watch over Lex if I go with them?” Galen inquired.

  “Yep. Special protection house right here,” Adam chuckled.

  “I think I have the jist of it, Leslie. Let’s go get this put into place.” Galen was on his way out the door before anyone could say anything.

  Next thing I knew, we were standing outside, next to my car, with Leslie asking for my keys.

  “Will somebody start telling me what’s going on?” I scratched my head as I threw her the keys.

  “Just make sure you follow my lead and everything will be fine,” Leslie assured me.

  Which didn’t reassure me at all. I was blindly going somewhere because I trusted my partner, and would back her up even if I didn’t like how we were going about it.

  A short time later, we pulled up at the Dallas Police Station. This wasn’t where I thought we were going to meet her informant.

  She waltzed in, but took a turn downstairs toward the basement.

  Galen just shook his head and motioned me to follow her.

  I shrugged and didn’t ask questions.

  We passed the IT Department and continued on down farther.

  After a few twists and turns, we ended up next to the records department at a door marked ‘storage’.