“Derrick, I think you need to find a better class of friends. You’re just not a good criminal and I don’t know how many more times your mom is going to be able to come up with the premiums on these bail bonds.”
The lanky seventeen-year-old squirmed in the chair. “Rainey, I’m trying to stay out of trouble. I just keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Like I said, get some new friends. Now, how are you going to make this money to pay your mom back?”
“I don’t know.”
Rainey smiled. “I do. You’re coming out to my house and digging a foundation. That ought to keep you out of trouble. You got a lawyer?”
“No.”
“I’ll give your mom a number. This is your last chance, Derrick. After this, we’re done if you’re going to continue to be a low life thug. This is your fork in the road, young man. Make the wise choice. Now, let’s go over it one more time… If you don’t show up to this court date…”
Derrick answered in rote singsong, “Then you’ll come knockin’.”
“And if I come knockin’…”
“I better not run.”
“And if you run…”
“You won’t knock next time.”
“And if you give me any shit…”
“You’ll shoot my ass.”
Rainey smiled and patted Derrick on the shoulder. “Good, we understand each other. Wait here. I’ll sign the papers and they’ll release you to your mother. Sit tight and keep your mouth shut.” Rainey started away.
Derrick stopped her. “Hey, Rainey.”
She turned back around. What she saw was a scared kid, not a gangbanger. He had potential. She hoped he got out of “the life” before it killed him. “Yeah, Derrick?”
“Thanks, man. I’ll do a good job on that foundation. Just send Junior after me. I’ll do you right.”
Rainey smiled. “I know you will.”
#
Once Derrick was taken care of, Rainey took the opportunity to go over to the courthouse. The missing woman and the recent body discovery had her curious. She knew she could find out something from her old cop buddies. Rainey decided to leave her car and walk from the Durham County Detention Center to the Judicial Building. She left her weapon in the trunk of the car before she went in to see Derrick. She was not law enforcement anymore and was not allowed to carry a weapon on government property. The temperature outside had reached the low seventies and the sky was clear of clouds. Taking her jacket off, she slung it across her arm, and walked up South Mangum Street.
Crossing the railroad tracks that ran down the middle of Pettigrew Street, Rainey turned off the sidewalk between lawyers’ row and the parking garage, emerging in front of the hub of law enforcement in Durham. The mirrored windows of the huge building reflected the bright sunlight, giving the structure a golden glow. The Judicial Building was a buzz of activity. In addition to the County Sheriff’s offices, it housed Criminal District and Superior Courts, the District Attorney’s offices, Family Court, the State Judiciary Court, Superior Court, and Judges’ Chambers. It was humming with activity as usual. Rainey was glad she left her car at the Detention Center. She never would have found a parking place.
The female officer at the front desk buzzed her through the keycard lock. Rainey didn’t need directions. She and Danny had been in and out of the Sheriff’s department for weeks during the initial Y-Man investigation. The task force in that investigation included officers from all branches of law enforcement in the triangle area. They gave the profile together to a room full of officers, some of whom later saw her naked, staked out on a bed, with a Y-incision slashed across her torso. She had not interacted with them since and she had no way of knowing which officers saw her. She was too out of it to see or recognize faces the night Danny found her half-alive. When she pushed through the doors of the homicide division, Rainey instantly knew who had been there and who hadn’t. Faces went slack and turned away, before turning back with a weak smile and wave. At least three of the men in this room and one woman had seen her that night.
Rainey crossed the room, heading straight for the woman she knew witnessed her torture chamber rescue. She knew because Detective Sheila Robertson stood sentry over her in the hospital, fiercely guarding Rainey’s privacy from nosey officers who just wanted a peek at the nearly dead FBI agent. Detective Robertson took care of Danny too, making him eat and sleep, and promising to watch Rainey while he did. The sharply dressed African American woman was smiling openly as Rainey approached. Sheila extended her arms and wrapped Rainey in a hug, before pulling back and speaking.
“Rainey Bell. Lord girl, you’re gorgeous. Retirement looks good on you.”
“Sheila, it’s so good to see you.”
Sheila noticed Rainey look around the room. “Oh girl, don’t let them staring bother you. You’re still somewhat of a fascination around here. They’ve all read the files. They won’t soon forget your name.”
Rainey shook her head and laughed. “Sometimes I wish my name was Jane Jones, Rainey just sticks out.”
“Honey, you’re famous. You might as well get used to it. I for one am glad to have you around. Still available for a consult sometime?”
“Anything for you, Sheila.”
“Follow me. I need to show you something.” Sheila said.
Shelia headed for a conference room Rainey recognized as the one she and the team had used before. It would be two years in May since that night, when Rainey’s life changed forever. She wondered what Sheila was about to show her.
“Does this have anything to do with the body you found yesterday?” Rainey asked, as they approached the door at the end of the hall.
Sheila pulled open the door to the room. “Yes, as a matter of fact, it does.”
Rainey followed Sheila into the room. She froze after only a few steps.
Sheila continued talking. “We put the specifics in NCIC. I’m just waiting on the results. If he did something like this somewhere else, I’m sure it will pop up. I just want to get your take on…” Sheila stopped talking when she saw the look on Rainey’s face.
Someone had taped photos on the wall, opposite the door. Rainey scanned the photos, starting at the far left. The first photo showed a large object wrapped in black plastic, with duct-taped remnants of hands the only part of the body showing. The next photos were of the woman laid out on the autopsy table. The black plastic was cut away, but still visible under the headless corpse. A long slice down her abdomen exposed what was left of her intestines. The decomposition was slowed by the coldness of the water and the plastic, but it was still very advanced. This woman had been dead for nearly a month. Her tissue was beginning to liquefy.
Rainey stared at the photos, taking a step closer. Her heart began to race. She had seen photos like this before, and it brought the memories rushing back. She looked at the hands still incased in duct tape.
When Rainey finally spoke, she said, “I’m assuming you did not find her head with the body.”
“No, we found it in the plastic with her.”
Rainey’s eyes darted to the picture of the skull further down the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.
“Did you find anything in her hands?” Rainey asked, all the while hoping the answer would be no.
Sheila answered, “Yes, we found a bible verse typed on computer paper. The plastic kept her dry, but the decomp made it hard to read. The lab is cleaning it up so we can be sure, but we think it’s Deuteronomy 32:42. We put the words we could read in a bible search engine and that’s what we got.”
Rainey could not take her eyes away from the photos. She asked, “What does that verse say?”
Sheila dug around on the table, producing a sheet of paper. She read, “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.”
Rainey looked away from the wall and focused on Sheila. She asked, “Nothing about
virgins?”
“No,” Sheila responded.
Rainey kept taking in the facts as fast as she could, weighing the information carefully. “Was there anything else on the paper, anything at all?”
“There were these smudged symbols. See.” Sheila handed Rainey the paper. “The tech drew out what he thought it looked like. He’s still processing it, trying to bring out the image more.”
Rainey looked at what the tech had drawn out. “_שִ_יחַ” A few of the symbols were missing, but she recognized it. “It says, Messiah, in Hebrew.”
“You can tell from that what it says?”
“What about a cross? Did you find one with the body?”
“Yes, it’s right here.” Sheila lifted an evidence bag from the table and handed it to Rainey. “The asshole taped it to her chest. Guess without the head it wouldn’t stay on the body.”
Rainey looked at the cross. It was just a simple gold cross, mass marketed, with no way to trace it. It was impossible that someone recreated this much detail without intimate knowledge of the previous cases, especially the Messiah symbol. Only a handful of people knew about that and one of them was locked up forever in Virginia.
Sheila continued to talk while Rainey surveyed the photos again. “The M.E. said the victim was on her knees for some time, just before she died. There was evidence that she was bound, possibly to a tree. He found bark in her hair and abrasions to her back consistent with his theory. She was sexually assaulted with an instrument, no semen present. It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but there was a lot of violence perpetrated on her. She had two cracked ribs. She was alive when she was decapitated by a long slender blade, possible a sword or machete. She saw it coming.”
“Dammit!”
“What, Rainey? What do you see?”
“I see a copycat serial murderer. There’ve been no more bodies with similar injuries?”
Sheila looked surprised. “No, this is the only one.”
“You haven’t located them yet, or he’s just getting started. Do you know who the victim is?” Rainey said, reaching for her cell phone.
“We’re pretty sure it’s Lisa Jones. We’re waiting for the DNA results, but there was a tattoo on her shoulder. She designed it herself, so it’s unique enough to use for an initial ID. The Doc could see it, even with the decomp. She went missing from Chapel Hill about a month ago.”
Rainey dialed a number and held the receiver to her ear. She continued to pepper Sheila with questions. “The missing girl from Durham, are there any similarities between her and this victim?”
“I looked into that and yes, same personality and body type, and more importantly, they were both lesbians.”
Rainey was shocked by this new information, but did not have time to react. A voice on the other end of the phone got her attention.
“Rainey Bell, how the hell are you?”
“I’m fine Danny, but we have a problem.”
Danny changed to a more serious tone. He knew her well enough to recognize the anxiousness in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m in the Durham County Sheriff’s Office looking at autopsy photos. I think they have a serial killer and he’s a copycat.”
Danny seemed relieved it wasn’t something to do with Rainey personally. The worry left his voice, replaced by his investigator tenor. “What makes you say that? Who’s he copying?”
“I’m looking at praying hands duct taped together and they found a bible verse with Messiah in Hebrew drawn on it.”
“Son of a bitch,” Danny exclaimed.
There was no doubt in Rainey’s mind who was involved. “You need to toss Dalton Chambers’ cell. He’s talking to someone.”
Danny paused for a second. Rainey heard the hesitation in his voice when he finally spoke. “Uh, Rainey, they moved Chambers to Central Prison, in Raleigh, three months ago. They’ve decided to prosecute him for the kidnapping, in case something goes wrong in Virginia with his appeals. So far they’ve kept the move quiet. They are going to arraign him on the sixteenth. I was going to call you before the media broke the story.”
“Fuck, Danny. You didn’t think I needed to know a psychopath that promised to have someone kill me was in my backyard?”
“I’m sorry, Rainey. I should have told you. Look, I’ll get to Raleigh as soon as I can. Should only take me a couple of hours. I’ll call you if I find anything. Does Durham want to make my involvement official?”
Rainey looked at Sheila, who was staring back, open-mouthed. “Do you want this to be an official request for BAU help?”
The words shot out of Sheila’s mouth so fast and loud, there was no question how she felt. “Hell yeah! Bring the cavalry if you have to. We’re in deep shit here, if I hear you right.”
Rainey returned to the phone. “Yes, make it official… and Danny, plan to come by the house when you’re done at the prison. I think we need to talk.”
Chapter eight
Rainey stayed with Detective Robertson for an hour more, relaying what she knew about Dalton Chambers. Sheila was familiar with the news stories, but not the facts. There were differences in the murders, but only someone talking to Dalton would know so many details. Since there was no trial, the Messiah signature was never made public. The lesbian angle was a new twist, but Rainey hoped that had more to do with the new killer than Dalton’s fantasy. He preferred virgins. This UNSUB obviously had a thing for lesbians. The fact that Rainey was in a relationship with a woman did not escape her attention. If it wasn’t the UNSUB’s preference, then the question was how much did Dalton know about her life now?
Rainey was barely present during the discussion with Sheila. Her thoughts were on not going into a panic. She could feel it beneath the surface and it frightened her. The panicked feeling was a new experience for Rainey. The closest she had ever come to the sensation was the drive to find Katie, after she was kidnapped. Not even during her own attack and recovery did she ever feel so out of control. Katie was the common denominator. Rainey wasn’t with her, she wasn’t sure Katie was safe. She had to leave. She had to find Katie, now!
She excused herself. “Sheila, I’ve told you all I know at this point. You need to wait and see what Danny comes up with in Chambers’ cell. If he’s communicating with someone locally, you should find out fairly soon. Until then, if he’s really a copycat, you have a partial profile to work with. It should be enough to get your investigation rolling. I’m sure Danny will call you the minute he knows anything and the rest of his team should be here soon.”
Sheila wrinkled her brow, questioning Rainey, “You don’t want a piece of this? I can get you on as a consultant.”
Rainey took a deep breath, trying to quell the growing anxiety threatening to overwhelm her. She exhaled slowly, and then said, “Right now, I have a much bigger problem to deal with.”
Sheila tilted her head to one side, looking even more puzzled. When she spoke, the concern for Rainey showed in her voice. “You know this lesbian angle is not by chance. There are no coincidences. You taught me that. What could possibly be more important than finding the man that may have been sent by some maniac to kill you?”
Rainey started for the door, saying, “I have to go tell Katie that a piece of crap I put away is probably trying to have me killed. How do you say, hey babe, another serial killer is after me, how was your day?”
#
On the drive home, Rainey tried to think how she would tell Katie about this new development in their lives. Rainey resigned from the FBI last summer, telling Danny, “I know what I want to do with the rest of my life and chasing serial killers is not on the list. I’m going to spend my time being happy, with Katie.” Rainey spent the last nine months doing just that, being happy. So blissful, in fact, that she began to think that maybe the life she led before would fade away someday. She knew now it would never be possible to forget. The lids on her mental boxes, where Rainey compartmentalized her life, began to fly open. Her worlds were crashing into one anothe
r. There would always be serial killers and sexual sadists coming out of the woodwork, some who knew her personally. As Katie said earlier, Rainey was paranoid, but it was for a good reason.
Rainey brought Katie into this world of constant threat. Now, she had to protect her. Rainey did what she could, teaching Katie how to use the weapons in the house, always reminding her to be vigilant and cautious, but none of that would stop a determined killer. If Dalton’s minions were coming after Rainey, Katie was in real danger. Rainey really didn’t want to tell Katie that part. It was hard enough keeping Katie from freaking out over the bail bonds business. They agreed that Rainey would call before she went to apprehend a particularly dangerous skip, and then call Katie back when the capture had been completed. It was the least she could do to keep Katie from worrying every minute. It minimized the amount of time Katie thought Rainey’s life was in danger. With the turn of events today, that was a luxury Rainey could no longer grant. They were both possible targets of a serial killer, again.
Rainey thought about sending Katie away, somewhere safe. Maybe Katie and her mom should go to Europe for a while. At least, until Danny caught this latest UNSUB. The lid on the box where she kept the foreboding thoughts slid off. Those thoughts were the voices in her head that told her she should never have brought Katie into this sphere of twisted killers. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel in an uncharacteristic loss of control.
“Fuck!”
Out of the box flooded the feelings she ignored, the warnings she dismissed. In the beginning, Rainey’s instincts told her dragging Katie into this life was a mistake. Ernie knew what kind of business they were in and exactly what kind of people might be coming after Rainey. Mackie chose the life long ago. Katie had only discovered the enormous stresses of being in a relationship with someone like Rainey after she fell in love. It had been Rainey’s responsibility to tell Katie what she was really getting into. She had, up to a point, but she was also afraid to tell Katie too much. Rainey selfishly had not wanted to lose Katie, so she held a substantial amount of information back, stuffing those feelings in the little mental box, and putting it away. She told herself that she could keep Katie safe. Rainey didn’t know if that was really possible anymore.
R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights Page 12