Crossroads 4: Shot Through the Heart (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “So which one do you think she’s with?” Mosley asked him.

  “Not sure.”

  “Could be both,” Mosley replied, and R.J. was a bit surprised, but then again, ménage relationships were rampant around these parts.

  Perhaps she was with both of them. He was a little disappointed, but he knew he and Mia weren’t meant to be together. What they had was special at the time, but maybe the walls she had surrounding her heart took the power of more than one man to break down. It just sort of hurt to know that he hadn’t been the one to do so.

  * * * *

  “You’re not meeting him,” Mitch told her. She walked over to Mitch’s police SUV along with Tiegen the moment Jethro walked away.

  She looked around them, and no one seemed to be paying attention to them talking.

  “Mitch, it’s not a big deal. He just wants to talk and go over the connections with the case and the fact that these murders could be connected to Wynona’s death.”

  “He still has feelings for you,” Tiegen whispered firmly.

  “I doubt that.” She looked over her shoulder and spotted R.J. and Mosley talking to two federal agents who arrived moments ago.

  “You didn’t see him looking at your ass, drooling,” Tiegen countered, raising his voice slightly.

  She reached out and caressed his arm. “Please, Tiegen, lower your voice. R.J. isn’t like that.”

  “All men are like that,” Mitch added, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “That means you are, too,” she countered to Mitch.

  “The difference is that your ass belongs to us, not him or any other guy.”

  She took a deep breath and released it. “You heard what he said, and now with the feds involved, there’s a chance we could help find Wynona’s killer. I need to meet with him and see what I can do to help.”

  “I don’t like it. We’re supposed to hang out later and do dinner when Murdock returns from the woods,” Tiegen told her.

  She reached out and caressed his hand. “And we’ll do that. I promise. If I meet up with R.J., it will only be for a little while.”

  “Fine, but keep us posted on where you are. In regards to the case, we’re going to work with the feds to see if we can get a picture of this guy who worked in the buildings where all these women lived. R.J. said the killer left the message ‘catch me if you can’ by the victim’s car. He’s taunting the detectives and the police, and that really pisses me off,” Tiegen told her.

  “We’ll do our parts, too, and together, we’ll solve these cases and bring you the closure you need, too,” Mitch told her, and she smiled.

  “Together. I like the sound of that.” She winked.

  “Watch it, you, or we won’t make it to dinner and will go straight to dessert the moment we have you alone,” Mitch said, and she felt her cheeks blush.

  “And that’s my cue to get back to work. See you later.” She headed toward the van and prepared to leave.

  Chapter 7

  Everything was falling into place. All the players were on the scene and leaving that note for R.J. to find had been the icing on the cake. Of course he would talk to Mia, and they would make connections in the case, and she would help. She was a kind woman, a compassionate and strong woman, and would do anything to help others. But she needed discipline when it came to giving her body to men. His earlier screw-up when he’d killed out of impatience nearly got him caught. But with R.J. wanting to protect her and maybe rekindle his feelings for her, which would keep Mia away from the three men she’d spent the weekend with, R.J. would lead her right to him. He would do all the work while Peter sat back and waited for the opportunity to strike. Killing R.J. was going to feel so good, but having Mia once and for all would be the ultimate prize. He was ready as he watched the two of them talking in the café.

  * * * *

  R.J. listened to Mia as she told him what she had been up to the last couple of years and about being a forensics photographer.

  “Is that how you met Tiegen?” he asked her, and she held his gaze. He saw her cheeks redden a little, and he looked away and then back at her. He leaned closer over the table.

  “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

  “It’s complicated, R.J.”

  “Because his brother likes you, too?” he asked.

  She sighed and looked away and then straightened her shoulders and looked back at him. “I’m involved with all three of them.”

  R.J. was shocked. “All three of them?”

  “They have a brother Murdock. He’s Special Forces. I really care about them, but it’s very new. Like days new.” She smiled as she played with the straw wrapper from her iced tea.

  “I guess I wasn’t enough for you,” he blurted out.

  “R.J.”

  He held his hand up. “Forget I said that. I’m feeling sorry for myself because I let you get away. But really, you and I weren’t meant to be. What we had while we had it was special. No regrets.”

  She smiled. “No regrets. So what about you? Any love interests?”

  “No time for that with a career like mine.”

  “Speaking of careers, tell me more about this profile you’ve come up with on this killer. Why these young women with brown hair, dark eyes, and such similar attributes? Do you think it stems from this one woman, Colleen, from years ago?”

  He slid over the files, and she opened them up.

  “I keep racking my brain on this. Each victim sustains the same injuries, the same abuse, and it seems to mirror the death of this woman, Colleen. However, if she was the most important one, the woman that caused him to continue to kill and reenact her murder, then why leave her in woods to be found by detectives? Why not place her body somewhere he could revisit? It isn’t consistent with the personality of a killer set on reenacting his crime over and over again.”

  Mia looked at the files she held and stared at the pictures.

  “Maybe it’s not the first kill, or the one he’s trying to get his hands on to perform his acts and live out his fantasy with. Perhaps these were just women who resemble the specific woman he’s really after?”

  “We’ve thought about that, too, which makes this investigation and finding this guy even more difficult. He hasn’t screwed up yet. Hasn’t left a fiber, any DNA, no mistake we can catch.”

  “Well, you didn’t get the result back yet from the crime scene today. That woman had a lot of blood under her nails. Perhaps she was able to scratch the killer and got some of his blood and skin under there?”

  “Maybe. I suppose we’ll know soon enough. Getting a clear picture of this maintenance guy or custodian or whatever he was could help, too.”

  “Yes, I would like to see him and maybe it would trigger a memory from the old apartment.”

  “That would help. You seem to be handling discussing Wynona’s murder investigation well.”

  She took a deep breath and released it. He stared at her and couldn’t help but to absorb her beauty and the way the buttons on her white blouse were undone low enough that he could catch a glimpse of her cleavage and breasts. He forced his eyes back to hers. She was taken, in a relationship with three men, and it obviously was serious.

  “I guess because of my profession and because I really want to be able to help find her killer and have some closure finally. To think that this guy who is killing all these other women could be Wynona’s killer, too, is crazy. I want him caught. I know you do, too, and obviously you’re getting close if he’s leaving a message like the one he did for you.”

  “Most likely it’s because I was the one on the case with Wynona and then the other ones more recently. The detectives from Colleen’s murder investigation have moved on and are in a new department. This is even more motivation to catch this killer.”

  She glanced at her watch. “I should probably head out.” She’d begun to pull together the files when his cell phone rang.

  “Seriously? Okay, send it through and then patch th
at picture to the surrounding departments. He had to be seen somewhere nearby and close to where the last woman was taken. Keep me posted.” He disconnected the call and looked at Mia.

  “Mosley is sending through a picture of the guy they think was the maintenance worker in all the other cases. Your boyfriend Tiegen was able to get it. Apparently he knows someone that used to be an owner of one of the apartment buildings and he kept files of employees and I.D.’s on record from years ago.”

  She smiled. “Great. Let’s take a look.” She stood up then slid into the seat next to him.

  He inhaled her perfume. “Still wearing the same perfume?” he asked, and she smiled.

  “You know I love it.”

  “I remember it well.”

  Their gazes locked, and then his phone beeped. He winked, and she smiled as he pulled it up.

  “Here, what do you think?”

  * * * *

  Mia looked at the picture. There was something vaguely familiar about the man. He looked a little older, and she was certain she had never seen him at the apartment building where she and Wynona lived.

  “Familiar?”

  “I think so, but not from our apartment building.”

  Slowly she started to remember the scene from when her parents had passed and she was coming and going to the apartment before she moved out. It was scary and had been a crappy neighborhood.

  “Mia?” He covered her knee with his hand.

  “I remember him. Oh God, R.J., he didn’t live in the building that Wynona and I rented an apartment in. He lived in my old apartment when I lived with my parents.”

  “What?”

  “I remember the night I was out late from work and I was looking into getting another place, somewhere closer to college and in a better neighborhood. When my parents passed, this guy from social services was there. I was like nineteen, and you know, I couldn’t go into any kind of foster care or anything, but he was trying to act helpful. He gave me the creeps, and one night when I came home late, he was there. He tried to get me to go out to grab a bite to eat when this guy, the one in the picture, intervened. He told the guy to get lost.”

  “This guy in the picture?” he asked and looked at her strangely, his eyes squinted.

  “Yes. It was like he knew the guy’s intention. He watched me go up the stairs and made sure I got up into the apartment safely, and then I never saw him again. The following weekend I moved out.”

  R.J. ran his hand over his mouth.

  Mia started getting some crazy ideas and thoughts running through her head.

  “Mia, we could have been wrong about this from the start. Perhaps it wasn’t Wynona he was after, but you instead?”

  “Me? Oh God, you think so? You think he meant to take me that night and because I worked late and Wynona was drunk that he grabbed her instead?”

  “I don’t know, but it seems to make sense, and if that’s the case, he’s somewhere nearby. He could try to go after you next and maybe he threatened me, left that note for me because he knew we were romantically involved.”

  She covered her mouth and pulled out her phone.

  “The guys. I have to tell them. They could be in danger.”

  “You call them and explain what’s going on. I’ll drive you to their place while I call Mosley. We’ll get this guy, Mia. We’ll get him together.”

  * * * *

  Mia called Tiegen’s phone first. She rambled on about what was going on as she got into the unmarked police cruiser with R.J.

  “We’re heading to your place. Be on guard, Tiegen. This guy could want to hurt you guys to get to me.”

  “Jesus, Mia. We’ll protect you. We’ll get our friends to assist, and we’ll find this guy. If he’s anywhere in Wellington, Portland Place, or Yarland, we’ll find him.”

  “Okay, Tiegen, I trust you guys. I know you’ll keep me safe,” she said. She ended the call and she gave directions to R.J.

  “I can’t believe this is happening. Wynona and these other women could have all been killed because this guy wants me.” Tears filled her eyes. R.J. was taking the back roads. It was dark out, and the only lights were those of the headlights on the car as he maneuvered the tricky, winding roads.

  “Don’t think like that. We’ll get this guy and we’ll all keep you safe.”

  Mia gasped as something hit the car and R.J. began to lose control.

  “What the fuck?” he exclaimed, and then the vehicle jerked again as another car slammed into it, sending R.J.’s vehicle into some trees and down a ravine.

  “Mia,” R.J. yelled out as the car tumbled over and then slammed against something hard.

  She smelled the smoke and the distinct scent of transmission fluid as her head throbbed. Her arm ached terribly. She was bleeding, and her vision was fuzzy.

  “R.J.?” she whispered and tried turning, but she was upside down in the car, the blood rushing to her head. The inside of the car was in complete darkness.

  She heard moaning and looked over to see him there. He was unconscious, and blood oozed from his head and his nose. It was her who moaned, and it echoed. She reached around her seat, trying to gain her strength and the cognitive ability to help when she heard a creaking sound like someone opening the damaged door on R.J.’s side and then the sound of gunshots as someone shot R.J. She screamed and then heard the moaning and grunting, and a moment later arms reached in and unbuckled her belt, making her fall forward and slam against the floor and dashboard of the car. Her gun was pulled from her hip. She shoved against the hands.

  “Let go. Get off of me.” The blood from her head wound filled her eye, making it difficult to open it and see. She was blinded by it, and the person pulling her out knew it.

  “Let’s go, Mia. It’s time,” the voice said and dragged her from the car, over the broken glass and onto the ground. She heard phones ringing and buzzing. She grabbed for what she could, her nails and hands getting cut on the broken glass, and it hit her. Could this be the killer? The guy who might have killed Wynona and the others?

  She screamed for him to let go, and he struck her. Once, twice, before lifting her over his shoulder.

  “We’re going, Mia. You’re mine, and our new life together begins now.”

  Mia struggled to remain conscious, and as she fought to get him to stop walking up the embankment, he stumbled a few times but then continued, determined to get her away from the car. As he stopped, the light appeared from the back bed of a truck and large utility box. She pushed his hands from her body and tumbled against the bumper then onto the ground. She screamed out in pain as she stumbled backward on her hands, but she moved erratically, dizziness impeding her ability to escape. A moment later he hauled her up as if she weighed nothing at all and dropped her into the metal box. ,She barely fit into it. She shoved against him, begging to be let go. He slammed his fists against her body, forcing her inside. She was losing focus and strength.

  “Hey, is everything all right?”

  She heard the voice, sensed the headlights, and then heard the gunshots. The sound of tires squealing and then the sounds of a crash echoed behind them. She shoved her arms upward, but her body and her head were so weak. She knew this was her last chance to get away. But he was too fast as he slammed the metal top down on her arms, sending jolts of pain through her bones and flesh. She cried, and he shoved the top closed. She screamed in terror and fear and then heard the rumble of the engine and felt the motion of the truck moving. This was it. She was going to die, and her last thoughts were of R.J. and her men, who would find her dead and then have to investigate her homicide.

  * * * *

  It took them less than five minutes to arrive on scene. Murdock ran along the road past the many police cars, paramedics, and other responders with Tiegen and Mitch. Mitch had been speaking with Jethro and others in the department when they got the call about the car wreck and someone being shot at.

  “Where is she?” Tiegen yelled to the other officers as he got closer to the
wreckage.

  “She’s gone, Tiegen. Someone pulled her from the car,” police officer Danny Voight told him.

  It didn’t take them long to figure out that the killer had caused the accident. R.J. was rushed to the hospital with two bullet wounds, one to his shoulder and one to his chest plus a head injury. It didn’t look good. Seeing all the blood at the scene, it appeared that Mia had been dragged through the glass and had sustained injuries as well.

  “So this guy pulls up in a car behind the truck and notices him carrying a woman and placing her into the back of the truck in some kind of utility box. He questions what’s going on, and the guy turns and shoots at this guy, who puts his car in reverse and slams into the telephone pole. Somehow, he gets away and can’t go any farther than about a half a mile down the road, where he stops and calls 911,” Officer Dan Voight told them.

  “Jesus. He stuffed her in a fucking box,” Murdock stated angrily and ran his fingers through his hair. His brothers Mitch and Tiegen were gathering up the detectives and trying to secure the scene. In a matter of minutes, calls were coming in about this guy Peter Fayen.

  “Murdock, Mitch, the feds got something.” He held the phone to his ear. The others gathered around them.

  “He was seen in town yesterday. Near the hardware store in Wellington. He told the clerk that he and his wife were on their honeymoon and that they were going to live their first year in a cabin in the woods and would live off the land.”

  “Fuck,” Mitch said.

  “Any indication of where this fucking cabin is?” Murdock asked.

  “Not a clue and he didn’t say and the store owner never asked,” Tiegen told them.