John turned caught his gaze and laughed. "Hey, it's okay. I'm actually doing a research paper on serial killers. That's why there's the interest."
Chad chuckled. "Good thing, I was about to check your history."
"I'm not old enough for these killings. Not unless I started in elementary school." John grinned. "But this guy has stayed hidden for a long time, so he's got some balls."
"And that's an assumption you can't make, ever." Mack, grizzled and growling, walked toward the two of them. "This guy could be behind bars right now for another dump site of bones we've already found and prosecuted him for."
Chad stared at the rumpled detective. When the hell had he shown up? And where'd he come from? "About time you showed up. What's the matter, holiday hours for you or something?"
"I'm here. Damn middle of the night, you know?"
"Yup. Been here all the night, myself." Chad nodded toward the hillside behind Mack. "Found six sets of remains."
"All killed a long time ago." Mack snorted in disgust. "The killer could be married and have kids by now."
"And this could be one of twenty dump sites of his victims." John said enthusiastically. "Who knows how many he's killed."
Both Mach and Chad stared at the tech. He grinned and shrugged. "Hey, this is a great case."
Mack turned his back on John. "And you're taking off already?"
"Been here a long time. Meg's finished so I'm taking her back. I'll grab a couple of hours, then return."
Mack spat onto the ground and nodded. "Sounds good. I'll head over and get up to date on the case."
He turned and walked away.
Chad murmured, "I bet you will."
"You two got a problem with this case? A little territorial dispute, by any chance."
Hating that he'd let anything show, particularly with someone who had so much interest in the case, Chad shook his head. "Nope. This is Daniel's case. The original missing person's case was his case from a long time ago."
"And now?"
Chad walked over to his truck. "Now, it's bigger."
***
Meg woke up as the truck door opened. She straightened up, her brain, slow to realize she'd actually been asleep, was slow to click into their location. But she didn't recognize where they were.
"I'm going in to get some coffee. Do you want one?"
She blinked at him a couple of times, trying to shake the sleep from her eyes. "Yes, please."
He smiled and shut the door, walking toward the cafe at the truck stop. She pulled out her cell phone and checked the time. It was almost seven in the morning. Wow. If they were lucky, she could go straight to the labs. Not that she'd had anywhere near enough sleep to function at any kind of optimum level. Still she didn't want to miss anything.
She hopped out of the truck and went into the shop to use the washroom. Giving her face a quick scrub, she returned to the restaurant feeling better. Chad was in the process of paying for the drinks. She walked over, realized she was hungry again. Stepping up behind Chad, she ordered half a dozen muffins to take with them.
"Good idea. Hope several of those of for me."
Tossing him a cheeky look, she shook her head. "Maybe, after I'm done."
He scoffed. "You won't even eat one."
She chuckled. "We'll see."
Back in the truck, he drove back on to the highway. She opened the bag and handed him a muffin. She took a bite of hers. "Hmm. It's still warm."
"Good. Nights like this, we'll take our comforts where we can."
"And the sustenance as well. The nap helped a lot. I was thinking you could drop me off at the lab. I could get started with Stacy."
"Nope. You are going home. Maybe after a few hours of sleep, and a hot shower, you can revaluate where you're energy level is at. Then decide; not what's in your best interest, but what's in the best interest of the case."
"Damn." He was right. She polished off her muffin, took a sip of her hot coffee and said, "I'll text Stacy. Update her on what's happening." She brought out her cell phone and texted, Stacy, need help and need to help. We found six more victims and 4 more necklaces. Same message.
She waited a long minute, and then sent a second text. Please help me.
***
Chad watched her in concern. He took a sip of his coffee and glanced her way. She was starting to show the wear and tear around the edges. He felt like a damn mother hen.
The necklaces had changed everything.
Finding the old dump site opened the field up again to other serial killers including those already incarcerated. It was one thing to consider a friend to have killed in an accident or passionate rage. It was quite another to consider that he'd carried on killing. And if he had, why had he stopped?
"Anto again," he whispered under his breath. Could it be? He'd been a great guy most of the time. Moody but solid. He groaned. Or not. The killer could have just changed his dump site. And considering Canada was so close, he could have just crossed the border to a new life.
"I was thinking about Anto, too." She sighed and stared out the window. "Nice to have spent half my life wondering if my friends are killers."
"I hear you. Anto could have been the killer and that would explain the victims in the relatively same time period. And why the killing stopped. If we can ID the girls and find one that went missing after his accident then it would rule him out."
"Yeah, none of us girls liked Anto."
"And here I thought all of you were swooning over the brothers' accents."
Meg smiled at the silly memories his words brought to mind. "There are those. But of the two, Anto was the scary one. There was just something off about him. Even Cia didn't like him." She shrugged. "Not that we ever knew either of them much."
"I had several classes with Anto. He was not quite two years older than his brother but behind a year. So he played catch up by picking up some extra courses in my year, even though he had enough credits to graduate."
She frowned. "I wonder if that's that one guy she turned down."
Chad took his gaze off the road briefly. "How would that play out with the necklaces?"
Meg stared at him, seeing through the tunnel of time so long ago. Answering slowly, she said, "I never really knew him. I only met him through the group and I was always with you." What she didn't add was that she'd had eyes for no one but him. She'd been so lost in love she'd not even noticed other men. "When did he die?"
"Five years roughly after Cia went missing, I believe. I'll have to check my notes."
"Five years and seven victims in that time? That's possible," Meg said.
Chad glanced over at her. "But remember the killer might not have stopped killing, he could have just moved."
"True enough. We should check the surrounding areas," Meg added, thoughtfully, "Who knows what we might find."
"A couple of dog teams are coming out. They'll do a sweep of the area. The next dump site could be a state over."
"And then there could be no more."
"Let's hope so." He glanced over at her. Her head was back, her eyes closed. Reaching to his dashboard, he put on the country radio station and kept the volume low. With any luck, she'd sleep the rest of the way home.
"It has to be one of us." She turned her head toward him, her eyes bare slits. "You know that. He hates me."
There wasn't much he could do but acknowledge the truth. "I know. Every time he killed one of the girls – he was killing you."
"So..."
"It's most likely going to be one of our friends." He pounded the steering wheel in frustration. "But those girls didn't die because of you."
"Really?" She narrowed her gaze at him. "It's me that this asshole is killing in his head. It's not just Cia on my shoulders now. All seven young women have lost their lives because of me."
"No," he snapped. "This is on him, not on you. You are not responsible for the horrible things people do because of their emotional issues. Maybe Cia's death could have been a crime o
f passion – the one that started all of this – but the others – no way."
He reached across and gently clasped her fingers. He gave them a squeeze. "You have to keep this in perspective. Otherwise this, more than anything you've gone through so far, will destroy you." He took his eyes off the road for a long moment. "And that we can't have. There are people who need you. Janelle needs you. I need you."
Her fingers tightened on his, making him smile.
There, he'd said it again. Just in case she hadn't gotten the message so far. That she hadn't responded didn't matter. She had to be mixed up and confused. It could be a long time before she was ready to try another relationship. He had to be patient. After all, he'd already waited seventeen years. What were a few more months?
"Thank you," she whispered, the utter weariness in her voice making him wince. At his questioning look, she added as her eyes drifted closed, "For being there."
***
Just like old times. Chad and Mags are back together. That pissed him right off. Then everything pissed him off these days.
That dump site for one. Who'd have thought that spot would get found?
On one hand, he was ready for those remains to be found and dealt with. As long as they were dealing with the part that didn't involve him.
On the other hand, he wanted to keep his secret. And maybe go back to his little hobby. Just with a difference. He'd spent a lot of time building his little hideaway. Just in case.
He'd be really pissed if they found that.
CHAPTER 19
Meg dragged her sore aching body into her house as Chad unloaded her bags.
"Shower, then to bed. A couple of hours sleep and you'll be as good as new." Chad took the bags to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the kitchen. "This is nice."
"It was my brother's house. It seemed like a good idea when I needed a place to move in to."
He nodded. "Sorry about your brother. I don't remember him well, but I remember that he was always a happy guy."
That made her smile. "So true, Darren always saw the sunshine in life."
"You have a lot of that, too."
She shook her head vehemently, and then put a hand to her temple at the pounding from the movement. "No. I might have when I was younger, but it's been a long time. I'd have said I was balanced now, but I realize a lot of that was a front. I was waiting for closure to move on with my life."
"It's happening." He turned to leave. "I'm heading out."
She trailed behind him, all too aware that he had to be as tired as she was, if not more so. She'd managed to sleep on the way home. "You're not going back to the site right away are you?"
"I'll go home and sleep for a couple of hours, then drive back." He stepped out onto the front porch. "Are you going to be okay?"
She smiled. "I'll be fine. I admit I want to rush to the lab and I'm jealous you are going back out there. I need to take another look around, but I'm also needed in the lab."
She glanced at her watch. "Janelle will be home this afternoon, too. So shower, sleep, then lab and family."
"Good. I'll check in on you in a few hours." With a final wave, he walked out the front door. She watched until his truck drove down the block and turned the corner. Then, with a wide yawn she headed upstairs for a hot shower, wanting nothing more than to collapse in bed.
***
Hours later Chad stopped by his office to check through his email and messages. There was a message from Josh.
He dialed the number and waited for Josh to answer. While waiting, he checked his phone. Unfortunately, there was nothing new on Stephanie.
And neither was Josh answering.
Then he tried Bruce. He might or might not be in town, but Chad wanted to connect in some way. They usually talked every couple of weeks.
When he'd left the office yesterday, Daniel was supposed to contact the remaining four males from the original camping trip. Had he? And if he had, had he learnt anything new?
Josh should have come in for the interview yesterday. And that was probably what the calls were about. He called Stacy, but she wasn't answering her phone. Then why would she? She'd be in the lab working on the evidence that had been shipped in.
His phone rang. Mack.
"Are you coming back?"
"Yes, just catching up with things at the office. What's going on there?"
"Just lots of legwork still to be done. The techs have finished and are packing up. The weather is getting ready to start pissing down again."
"Not good. We've been hampered by bad weather since we found the first set of remains."
"True enough."
"Did you talk to Josh yesterday?" Chad asked abruptly.
"Yep, I did."
He volunteered nothing further. "And the other three?"
"Couldn't get a hold of Bruce and Tim is in Switzerland. He's going to call me tomorrow."
"Okay."
Mack said abruptly, "You know it's one of you."
There was the dig he'd been half expecting. "It's not me and not Meg nor Stephanie. Anto is dead, so that leaves four males."
"I can count." Mack's voice was cool, hard. "And there are still 5 males."
Shit. "Are you back on that track again?" Chad snapped, anger flaring into life. "I've spent my life trying to solve this case. For the last time, I did not kill Cia."
Silence.
"Yeah, I hear you." This time there was a lightning of his tone.
Chad closed his eyes and tried to pull back the hot rage. It was an old accusation that no matter what, he couldn't escape from the suspicion of being involved. Wrong place at the wrong time – it had just ruined his life.
"So, what about Pero?" He kept his tone neutral.
"I'm still trying to track him down. No one has heard from him in years." The disgust in Mack's voice made Chad smile. Being family, Mack had a better chance of getting in touch with him. From what Chad understood, the Novak brothers hadn't been all that friendly with Bruce's extended family, as it were.
"I've left a message with family members."
"Right." Like that would work. As the less well known of the group, he and his brother had come under suspicion as much as the others. Then, the car accident that had taken his brother had sent him to hell and back physically. The last thing he'd want was to go back to that painful time in his life and talk with the cops again.
Hell, anyone could understand that.
"I'll call him," he offered.
"You do that. But I want to be there when you talk to him. Bring him in and let me know when." His voice hardened as he added, "Got it?"
"Got it." Chad ended the call, getting some small satisfaction from the childish move. He walked to his board and checked his notes on Pero's contact information. He dialed and waited. Nothing.
No one had heard from Pero in years. Not since the accident. Several had gone to see him at the hospital but he'd been in bad shape. His recovery had apparently taken years.
Chad had seen him around the same time, but Pero hadn't wanted company. He'd been angry and grieving and hurting in a big way. Broken pelvis, shattered face from going through the windshield and that had been just for a start. Pero had also lost his brother and his father in that accident. He'd lost his mother years earlier.
After that, they'd lost track of each other. Like the rest of the group, no one wanted to stay in contact. It was uncomfortable yet addictive at the same time. No one else knew what they'd been through. No one else understood. The connection was something they wanted, but at the same time, they didn't want as it was a reminder of a horrible time in their lives.
So some, like Meg, ran as far away as they could get and others, like Stephanie, couldn't get away. No matter how far, or how much they struggled, the same issue always kept bringing them back – to this.
***
Meg woke up achy and tired. She'd slept for hours – hours when dead bodies and dead friends ran screaming through her mind. Waking up to a film on her
skin and a pounding heart hadn't been nice.
She sat up slowly, hating the bone deep weariness. Just that little movement brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel by bedtime tonight. Moving carefully, she stepped into a hot shower and let the water run over her sore muscles. She only had three hours until Janelle was out of school. She'd hoped for more but she'd slept the time away.
Feeling more refreshed, she dressed quickly and decided to forgo coffee. She'd pick one up on the way to the lab. But she needed food. The last of the muffins had been left in Chad's truck. She hoped he was enjoying them. Her stomach growled. She opened the fridge, removed the cheese. She cut herself a decent slice and then chose an apple to go with it.
Within minutes, she was driving to the lab to meet Stacy. Her visitor's pass got her through to Stacy's office, which of course was empty. Under the same circumstances, Meg would be in the lab, too. And Stacy was just like her. There was a spare lab coat hanging on the back door of the lab door. She put one on and stepped into Stacy's domain.
"About time you showed up." Stacy's cheerful voice called over from the far side of the room. "What is this, summer holiday hours?"
Meg laughed. "I could use a holiday, so if you're offering..."
"Ha, I'm planning a trip to Belize in the fall, if you want to come along." Stacy was involved in a six way puzzle of bones as she laid out the skeletons. "Come, give me a hand. I'm going to be all day putting these pieces together."
"It's quite a mess, isn't it?"
"Yeah, to say the least. It's so much easier if you find one skeleton at a time." Stacy walked over to the fourth table in the row of six and laid down a femur below a broken pelvis.
"You've done well so far." Meg walked over to study the various partial sets of skeletons laid out on the tables, and felt overwhelmed with sadness. "This is really terrible."
"They always are. Don't just stand there." Stacy nodded toward the bags and boxes on the table. "Get busy."
***
Killer Romances Page 144