Cody and Jilly came into the room carrying a couple of mugs and sat down in the chairs opposite them.
Cody leaned forward. “Meagan, tell us what time you got out on the deck?”
Meagan pulled her face away from Thomas’s chest and faced Cody. “I don’t know, a little after eight?”
“Did you see the body right away?” Cody asked.
“No. I tried to call my sister.” She faced Thomas. “She’s still not answering. I’m really worried.”
Thomas pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I know, babe, we’ll talk about her in a minute.”
Jilly swallowed her coffee. “What happened next?”
“I called my mother.” She addressed Thomas again. “She hasn’t heard from her either. We have to do something.”
“We will, babe. But right now, you need to focus. Just tell them about finding the body.”
“Okay.” Meagan took a deep breath and looked at Jilly. “After I talked to my mother, I was trying to calm down, so I was just sitting there enjoying the view. Then I heard a growl.”
“A growl?” Thomas said, surprised. That’s the last thing he expected to hear.
“Uh-huh.” Meagan nodded. “I turned toward the sound down the beach. That’s when I discovered two coyotes fighting over what I thought was a dead deer.”
“Then what did you do?” Cody asked.
“I ran in the house for a pan and a large metal spoon, and I chased after them.”
Thomas’s heart stopped. “What were you thinking? You could have been hurt.”
“I was thinking that the poor creature deserved better than becoming breakfast for a couple of wild animals. I also didn’t want them killing each other over it.”
Thomas kissed the top of her head. “That’s my girl, always fighting for the underdog.”
Jilly set her mug down and began taking notes. “Then what happened?”
“I ran after them. It took awhile before they heard me banging because of the snarling and barking, but once they did, they ran off into the woods.”
“Good thinking. Because of you, the crime scene is relatively preserved. God only knows how badly things could have gone. Especially if the coyotes had dragged her into the woods and eaten her,” Cody said.
“Thanks for the visual,” Meagan said.
“Sorry.” Cody cringed.
“Any more questions?” Thomas asked.
Cody looked at Jilly.
Jilly tapped her pen against her leg. “Can you think of anything else that might help? Did either of you hear or see anything in the night? Your room faces the water.”
“No,” Thomas answered.
“Nuh-uh,” Meagan replied, shaking her head.
“What about you, Cody? Your room faces the water as well,” Thomas asked.
Cody glanced at Jilly, then back at him.
“No. We got in pretty late, or early, depending on your point of view. We were at Jilly’s because of the h–” Cody looked at Meagan and kept the word head to himself. “I mean, working.”
“Gotcha,” Thomas said, letting his brother know he understood he had been about to say head. He was thankful he didn’t finish the thought.
Meagan had a similar experience last year and he didn’t want her to start having nightmares. Again. Although, finding a headless body just might bring it all back anyway. Or worse, give her new ones.
The doorbell rang.
Jilly stood. “I’ll get it. It’s probably someone looking for the crime scene.”
“Thanks. I’ll be along soon,” Cody said.
Once she’d left, Thomas faced his brother. “I think Meagan and I should go home today.”
Cody nodded in agreement.
“No!” Meagan pulled out of his arms and stared at him. “We have to find Bridget. I’m not going home until we do.”
“Babe, we don’t even know where she is. Staying here is not going to change that,” Thomas said.
Meagan jumped off the couch and turned on him.
“She’s been kidnapped! Can’t you do anything?”
“Kidnapped?” Cody stared at his brother. “I thought you said she ran off with some creep.”
“Yeah, well–”
“She did, but there’s extenuating circumstances.” Meagan interrupted. “He’s a pedophile, an abuser, and a con artist. He hung up on me and I haven’t been able to reach my sister since yesterday. I’m afraid he’s done something to her.”
“What does a pedophile want with an adult woman?” Cody asked.
Meagan blew out a breath. “She has two beautiful young daughters, that’s what.”
“Are they with him now?” Cody asked.
Meagan’s hands fisted on her hips. “Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The night Bridget met Samuel, she showed him a picture of her two girls, ages nine and seven. They are so stunning that people stop my sister on the street to comment. One man gave her his card if she ever wanted the girls to model. They have long blonde hair and big blue eyes, a pedophile’s dream.”
“Okay, just calm down, Meagan,” Thomas said.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. This is my family we’re talking about.” Meagan slapped her hand on her chest.
Cody scratched his chin. “All right, maybe you should start from the beginning.”
Thomas peered at Meagan and saw her glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I had Shadowhawk run a background check on the suspect through NCIC.” Thomas focused on Meagan and explained, “The National Crime Information Center database. It’s a computerized index of criminal justice information that links all law enforcement agencies.”
“So we can put Bridget in that database?” Meagan asked.
“I think Cody should answer that question,” Thomas said nodding toward his brother.
Cody looked to Thomas. “Maybe you can fill me in on what your partner found out.”
Thomas explained everything they’d learned regarding Reverend Samuel Charles Miller. “With this guy’s history, I think I can safely say she may be in danger. What do you think, do we have enough?”
“I can have her name and all the pertinent information added to NCIC. Why don’t you get me the license plate number of the RV. Actually, all the info you have,” Cody answered.
“You got it.” Thomas left the couch and jogged toward the stairs.
After watching his brother leave, Cody addressed Meagan. “Why don’t you give me her cell phone number and I’ll put a trace on it.”
She ran over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much. I’ll write it down for you now.” She took off toward the kitchen.
Cody stood and started to go outside to meet Jilly, then realized he wasn’t fully dressed. He’d just gotten out of the shower when he heard Meagan yell, so he’d grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped them on.
Meagan ran back in and handed him a slip of paper.
“Thanks,” Cody said. “I’ll get on this as soon as I can. Try not to worry. From what Jess told me, this guy probably hasn’t done anything to your sister at this point. We’re just going to take proactive measures. Okay?”
“Okay. Thanks.” Meagan beamed at him.
“Why don’t you make a big pot of coffee? There will be a lot of people coming by soon.” Cody wanted to get Meagan focused on something other than her sister’s well-being.
“Sure. I’ll fix breakfast too.”
“Just for you and Jess. You don’t have to feed the entire crew.”
“What about you and Jilly? Aren’t you hungry?”
“We’ll eat when we can, but at this juncture, I can’t say when that will be.”
“No problem. I’ll put some French toast and bacon in the oven to keep warm for you.”
“Thanks.”
Cody could almost taste that breakfast now. He’d burned a lot of calories last night, err, this morning. He’d better hurry up and get out of the house before she started cooking the bacon. He didn’t know if he’d
have enough willpower to tear himself away once the aroma permeated the air.
Jilly would kill him if she found him feeding his face instead of helping her with the investigation. He ran up the stairs. Damn, what a woman. His brother was right, he had met his match.
Cody stripped off his jeans and started over. As a representative of the FBI, he had to dress professionally at all times. He snagged a pair of boxer briefs and threw them on, then continued with his pants and shirt. He slipped on his shoulder holster and was standing in front of the mirror above his dresser when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Cody said without turning.
Jesse walked in and placed a folder on the dresser top in front of him. “Thanks for doing this. I know how busy you are.”
“No sweat. Anything for family. You know that.” Cody slipped a tie around his neck and knotted it.
“Technically she’s not family. Yet,” Jesse said.
“As an extension of you, she is. And speaking of family, when are you two getting married?” Cody grabbed his shoes and sat on the end of the bed to slip them on.
His brother sat next to him. “She’s a little gun-shy with all she’s been through.”
“What, she thinks you’ll turn out to be a serial killer too?” Cody chuckled.
“Well. . . ”
Cody stared at his brother. “No shit?”
“No.” Jesse shook his head. “Not that. She’s had some really bad luck in the love department, not just the serial killer. It seems like every man she’s ever dated has had one thing or another come up and bite her on the ass. So, she says, she’s just being careful and waiting until the honeymoon phase is over.”
“For what? To see if you turn into a werewolf? Hell, I can answer that. Yes. Just lose your favorite baseball mitt and the fangs come out.” Cody finished with his shoes and went to the closet to get his jacket.
“Ha ha, very funny. You had no right to borrow it. Not only was it my lucky mitt, but it was the middle of baseball season.”
Cody stared at him, surprised. “Jesus, I was seven. You act as if this happened last week.”
“There’s no statute of limitations on something like that.”
“Oh, brother.” Cody went into the adjoining bathroom to find his brush. He’d run his fingers through his hair when it was wet and it dried that way.
“Tell me, have you forgiven Annie for burying your GI Joe and forgetting where she put it?” Jesse said.
“Pfffft, of course. Ancient history.” Cody thought back, and remembered he had been pretty pissed.
“Okay, what about when she took your baby turtle and let it go in Laguna Lake?”
Cody turned on him. “Hey now, that’s hitting below the belt. I loved Leonardo. You can’t compare a live pet to a baseball mitt.”
“Ha, that’s right. I forgot, you named him after that stupid cartoon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
“Leo was not just any Ninja Turtle, he was a courageous leader. A fierce fighter.”
Jesse laughed. “Whatever. You get my point.”
Cody ignored him and went over to the wall. He pushed and a panel receded to reveal a safe. He punched in the code.
“Back to our conversation. How long is this honeymoon phase supposed to last?” Cody slipped his Glock into the holster.
“Hell if I know.”
“So if she never pisses you off enough to show your alter ego, you could go on like this indefinitely?”
Jesse scratched his chin. “Crap. I never thought about it that way.”
His brother looked thoroughly depressed. Cody had to think of a way to pull him out of it. He slapped him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, bro, leave it to me.”
Jesse’s brows furrowed. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll just explain what an asshole you really are. That ought to speed up the process.” Cody grinned before he left the room.
“Fuck you!” Jesse shouted after him.
“You’re welcome!” Cody yelled as he galloped down the stairs.
TWENTY-TWO
Cody stepped off the deck and headed toward the crime scene. The closer he got to the water, the more his feet began to sink in the sand. A breeze picked up the scent of the decomposing body and he got an unpleasant whiff.
It was after eleven, and the sun’s heat had not been kind to the waiting corpse. No one was taking pictures. No one was collecting evidence. At least someone had marked off a large portion of the beach with tape and a few uniforms guarded the site.
Other than that, there was no one else around. Pissed, Cody located Jilly and strode her way. “What the hell’s going on?”
Jilly glanced at him. “The CSU will be a little while. I guess they got another call while they were processing my house. The coroner should be here any minute.” She stared back at the ground.
“I was just searching the area for evidence. I’ve only marked a couple of things so far.” Jilly bent down and set a numbered placard on the sand.
After she stood, she turned to him. “Why do you think the killer left her body on the beach, but her head in my bed?”
“Sharing the wealth?”
She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
“Maybe he couldn’t get into my house. It has a state-of-the-art alarm system and three people staying there. That’s a triple threat. Anyone could get up in the night to get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, or be a light sleeper.”
“So the killer’s not sophisticated enough to bypass an alarm and/or knew several people were staying there. That tells us something.”
“Yes, it does.” He crouched down to investigate the body. “It doesn’t look as if he had time to torture her, does it?”
Jilly cocked her head. “Besides the fact that he cut off her head?”
“Well, yeah. I’m certain she was alive when he did that and then bagged the head in plastic immediately. That’s why there was so much blood on the sheets.”
“True, plus there’s no evidence he killed her in my house.”
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Cody looked up and saw the coroner heading their way carrying a black satchel.
“Hey, George, how’s it going?” Cody said.
“You mean, after I had to leave my half-eaten breakfast sitting on the table at Grizzly’s, then walk through your house to get to the scene while smelling bacon cooking the entire time?” George growled.
“Uh, sorry about that.” Cody turned to Jilly. “Do you think you could have one of your men go out front and direct people to the scene so they don’t need to traipse through the house?”
She blew her bangs up. “Dane was supposed to be taking care of that. Where the hell is he?” She stormed off.
George set his bag on the ground and extracted a pair of latex gloves before he squatted beside Cody.
“I hope this body belongs to the head we found last night.” George encircled her wrist with his hand and gently tugged, there was no movement. “She’s still in rigor, so it’s possible. Won’t know for certain until I get her back and do some tests, blood, fingerprints. DNA takes too long.”
“Jane Wheaton is a school teacher, so her fingerprints should be on file,” Cody said.
“Good, that makes things a lot easier.” He took out a capped pen and lightly touched the edge of the severed neck.
“I guess we won’t know if she’s had any bones broken until you x-ray her?” Cody said.
“Nope. She’s pretty stiff, but I don’t see any bruising or any obvious signs of abuse. She’s been mauled pretty good, but the cadaver is in far better condition than the other victims I’ve seen. She should be able to tell us a thing or two,” George said.
“God, I hope so,” Cody replied.
Chimes tinkled and Cody glanced up to see Jilly heading their way. She took out her phone and looked at the screen. “Can I use your computer? Jane Wheaton’s cell phone records just came through.”
Cody sto
od. “Yeah, follow me.” He led her back into the house and showed her to his grandfather’s study. “Make yourself at home. Coffee?”
“Please. And could you swipe me a couple of pieces of bacon? The smell is killing me,” Jilly said.
“You and me both.”
Cody found Meagan and Jess chowing down at the table. His stomach grumbled. As he poured the coffee, he scanned the ingredients on the counter. “Dang, girl, did you make that French toast with sourdough bread?”
Meagan nodded while she chewed. “Mmmm.”
“Man, I ate some made that way when I was in San Francisco and I swear it was the best I’ve ever had.”
Meagan swallowed. “Help yourself. I made plenty.”
Cody opened the oven and snagged a slice, and began eating it with his hand. “God, that’s good.” He took another bite as he made his way over to the table, snagged a handful of bacon with his free hand and tossed it on a nearby plate.
Then he shoved the rest of the toast into his mouth. He went back to the counter and tried to juggle the cups with the plate of bacon.
Meagan ran over. “Let me help you.” She snatched the plate before it landed on the floor.
“Fanks,” Cody said around a mouthful.
Meagan chuckled. “Don’t mention it. Really. You’re spraying food everywhere.” She followed him to the office and set the plate in the middle of the desk.
Jilly grabbed a piece and took a big bite. “God bless you, you’re a saint.”
“I can make you each a plate.” Meagan glanced from Cody to Jilly. “I mean, what would it hurt?”
Jilly stared at Cody with her brows raised. “We do need to go over these phone records.”
Cody nodded. “And we’ve already seen the body.”
Jilly stood. “But you don’t need to fix our plates, Meagan. That’s really sweet, but we can do that ourselves.” She walked around the desk as Cody got out of his chair. She quickly stepped in front of him, blocking the open doorway, and raced down the hall.
“Hey!” Cody chased after her, snagged the back of her shirt and tugged, then took the lead. He felt a weight at the back of his legs and he flew forward. Jilly had tackled him to the ground.
“Not fair.” Cody yelled. Jilly scrambled back up and took off running. He snatched her foot as it passed and she collapsed with an oomph. She didn’t move.
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