by K. J. Dahlen
Sam remembered something else. His eyes widened as he recalled the strange appearance of Cole's car. "Rob, you have to warn Cole. I thought I saw something moving in his car last night when I got into my car to come here. I didn't know what it was, exactly, but something inside seemed to be alive. Call him and tell him to check his car over really well before he gets into it."
Rob nodded and reached for his phone to call Cole. He didn't like the way this case was going. If this killer was bold enough to murder a cop in as public a place as a hospital, there might not be a way to stop him.
When Rob finished his call to Cole, he turned to find Sam arguing with Dr. Ross. "What's the problem?" Rob asked.
Sam turned his glare on Rob. "The good doctor is insisting that I stay, and I don't want to"
Dr. Ross rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "You've lost quite a bit of blood, and you probably have a mild concussion. You need to be where someone can keep an eye on you"
Sam made a face at Rob that told him to get him out of the situation. Rob chuckled under his breath and then, clearing his throat, said, "Doc, how about if we promise that if we notice any change for the worse, or we'll bring him right back?"
Dr. Ross wasn't happy about what they were suggesting, but he knew if he pushed it Sam probably wouldn't come back at all. "Stop back after you get done for the day and have that bandage changed. If it starts to bleed again, you need to get medical attention right away. You also need to rest at least part of the day"
After the physician left the room, Sam told Rob, "I don't think he cared too much for letting me go, but thanks for your help. What did Cole say?"
Rob shook his head. "Cole is very grateful to you. He was about to reach for his door handle when he got the call. He looked inside the car and found a snake curled up in the driver's seat-and not just any snake, but a cottonmouth. It's a rather nasty creature, found in the backwater areas and, by the way, very poisonous."
"Our killer is getting braver. By killing Sable he may be telling us that he's ready to move on to another place," Sam wondered aloud.
"Maybe he got rid of his witness so he could concentrate on you," Rob suggested.
"Speaking of the killer, I went back to the CD Callie brought in, and I found out what he looks like."
"What did you say?" Rob frowned.
"I said I know what our killer looks like, and I think Cole Davidson has some questions to answer," Sam said.
"Cole? What does he have to do with this?"
"Let's go back to the station and ask him, shall we? Maybe Alec will have called back. I asked him to check on Nick Granger yesterday. I need to talk to him anyway. I need to know that what's left of my family is safe. If this killer is after me, he might go after them out of spite," Sam concluded.
Rob helped him stand and assisted him out of the hospital and into Sam's car. He drove them both to the station house. Rob could tell that Sam wasn't up to working, but he was just stubborn enough not to give in to his pain. Before they got out of Sam's car, Sam reached into the glove compartment for the CD and photo from the night before. In his jacket pocket was the letter the killer had left for him.
Ian and Cole were waiting for them inside. Rob assisted Sam into Ian's office and helped ease him onto the sofa. Ian took one look at Sam and almost ordered Rob to take him back to the hospital. He held his tongue when Rob shook his head behind Sam's back.
Sam had to close his eyes for a moment once he was settled. He almost asked Rob to take him home, but he knew he couldn't give in to the pain.
Sam opened his eyes and focused his energy on the case they were working. "The killer left me a note last night. I found it on the floor of my room." He took the note out of his pocket and handed it over to Rob. "See how the capital letters form the message within the letter"
Rob, Ian and Cole read the letter and the message the killer had left. Ian nodded and then picked up another letter the killer had left for Sam. "Your partner Alec faxed this letter to us this morning. He said he talked to you about it yesterday and thought you might want to see the actual letter."
Sam took the letter from Ian and looked it over carefully. The killer had left a message in this letter as well. Sam grabbed a pen and began writing. When he was finished he reread the message. He swore and handed the message to Ian.
Ian read the message and handed it to Rob and Cole. He looked at Sam and asked, "What are you going to do now?"
Sam looked at him. "I don't have a choice."
Rob looked again at the words Sam had written on the bottom of the letter: I HAVE YOUR SON.
"I think he's bluffing," Rob told them. "You said it yourself-Alec took them to a safe house"
Sam nodded. "That's right. I'd forgotten about that" He reached for his cell phone and dialed Alec's number. Alec answered on the third ring. "Alec, please tell me Wyatt and Tessa are safe"
"Hello to you too," Alec said. "As far as I know they're fine, but if you want, I'll call and check on them"
"You do that. Thanks for sending the fax of the letter you got at the station, by the way. Did you know there was a secret message in it? I got another letter last night, shoved under my motel room door. Something in it looked odd, and I realized I had found a hidden message" Sam tried to explain. He paused a moment and then told Alec, "He got to our witness. She's dead, and so is the cop who was guarding her. He almost got me as well, but instead of killing me he carved one of his designs in my chest."
"Are you all right?" Alec asked.
"Oh, I'll live, but I need you to check on Wyatt and Tessa and get back to me right away. Be careful. If he knows you're going to check on them, he might follow you," Sam warned.
"What was the message in the letter I faxed you?" Alex asked.
"Just go and check on Wyatt and Tessa for me," Sam replied. "I need to know they are okay."
"I'll be careful," Alec assured Sam. "I'll call you back in a few minutes."
The next fifteen minutes seemed to take forever. Everyone waited for the phone call in silence. Finally, Sam's cell phone began to ring. In his hurry to answer it, Sam almost dropped the phone. "Well, are they okay?" he asked.
"Sam, I don't know what to say." Alec didn't know how to tell him what had happened. Wyatt was missing; Tessa and the two cops guarding them were dead. "He's gone"
What do you mean, he's gone?" Sam demanded. "Gone as in missing, or gone as in he's dead?" He could barely speak as he waited for the fateful news.
"I'm sorry, he's missing," Alec clarified. "Tessa and two cops are dead. Wyatt is missing. There were signs of a struggle, so whatever went down, your killer didn't just walk in there and snatch the boy"
"How could you let this happen? You told me you were going to take them to a safe house"
"How the hell do I know how it happened?" Alec exploded. "I did take him to a safe house. I personally picked out two of the best cops I knew to watch over your son and your mother-in-law. I even went over there and had supper with them last night after work" Alec paused to catch his breath. "He must have followed me over there"
"He must have left here in time to follow you over to the safe house. Then he came back here to finish off Sable and went back to kidnap Wyatt," Sam reasoned. "Man, he didn't sleep at all."
Alec was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "I assumed this creep was in or around Baton Rouge. I wasn't expecting him to be anywhere near here. He got to your son because I was sloppy. I'm sorry. I screwed up, and now I have to tell Sally Carter and Meg Keller that their husbands won't be coming home"
Sam felt a moment of regret for his friends. "I'm sorry, man, but a killer has my son"
"I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to blow up at you. What can I do to help?" Alec asked.
"Did you find Nick Granger?" Sam asked.
"He is on the missing list, but his neighbors aren't too worried. He's often gone for weeks at a time. There's still no word on Paul Moran. What are you going to do about Wyatt?" Alec asked.
"I don't know. I'm su
re I'll hear from him again. I'll let you know when I find something out." Sam ended the call. He looked at the others. "That monster has my son. He's killed my mother-in-law and two cops Alec sent to watch over them"
"You said earlier that you found out what he looked like from Callie's CD," Rob reminded him. He wasn't trying to distract Sam, but they needed to know who or what to look for.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, I know what he looks like. Didn't you find it odd that three strangers all claimed that they knew you, Cole? I know I did." Sam picked up the CD and the photo from the sofa beside him. Handing the photo to Rob, he waited for their reaction.
Rob looked at the photo, then handed it to Ian. Ian looked at it and handed it to Cole. After Cole viewed the damning photo, he looked at the other three. "This is not a photo of me"
They all saw the similarities, yet there were subtle differences. Both men had the same square face shape, but the man in the photo had a scar above his left eyebrow, and his eyes looked cold and dead.
"Do you have a twin brother?" Rob asked.
"No, I'm an only child," Cole stated. He sighed heavily, and finally he knew he had to admit what he'd been trying so hard to hide. "But I do have a first cousin who is often mistaken for my twin."
"Excuse me?" Ian interjected. He was astonished by this news. Cole had known this killer all along.
Sam made a low growling sound in his throat and looked as if he was ready to spring at the other man. Rob had to put his hand on Sam's shoulder to stop him. When Sam glared at Rob, Rob just shook his head. "Give him a chance to explain before you punch him."
"It's complicated, so bear with me" Cole ran his hands through his hair while he considered what he would tell them about his family. He knew what he was about to say wouldn't look good in any light, but he had to try to make them understand. "My father has an identical twin brother, Ethan. They married identical twin sisters, Emily and Joyce. My parents had me, and Ethan and Joyce had a son they called Tucker. We were born in the same month about three weeks apart. I'm the younger one. Tucker and I look very similar and have always been mistaken for twins."
"So the killer has a name, Tucker Davidson," Sam murmured as the rage inside him grew.
"He prefers to be called Tucker Briggs," Cole told them.
"Why?" Rob asked. He looked at the photo again and found the resemblance a little unnerving.
Cole sighed again. "Twins do everything together. They work together, play together, eat together-they even sometimes think together. Our two families were like that. Tucker and I weren't twins, but that somehow escaped our parents. When Tucker started going out of his way to stress his individuality, they didn't know how to deal with him, so they ignored him until he became a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Ian asked.
"When he was a boy he would cause trouble just to get his parents' attention. Just little things, mind you, but it was enough to get attention focused on just him. When he got a little older, he began setting small fires. No one really got hurt, and the fires were never out of control, but he was" Cole paused in his story.
"What changed that turned him from a prankster to a killer?" Sam asked, already fearing the worst.
"Ethan and Joyce had another baby. Tucker was about fifteen when his mother got pregnant. This time they were going to have a set of twins. Everyone was so excited about the babies that they forgot all about Tucker's little problem. Things got really bad there for a while."
"What pushed him over the edge? What made him a killer?" Sam demanded.
Cole dreaded telling them this part of the story. "Like I said, we were fifteen, and we were in chemistry class when one of the school's big mouths, a guy named John Orland, found out about the twins due to be born any day. He started teasing Tucker about having a reason now for his being such a wimp, and that he would have to be sure and teach the new babies how to follow in their big brother's footsteps" Cole ran his fingers through his hair again. "You have to understand something. When Tucker found out that the babies were coming, he was furious. His sense of self deteriorated after that. He felt invisible, and John's words pounded that home. Tucker looked to me for help against John, and I just pretended I didn't hear what was being said. Shoot, John had half the school afraid to walk on the same side of the hall as him. Tucker and I were only fifteen."
"What happened?" Rob asked.
"Tucker went over to his chemistry lab table and began mixing chemicals together while the teacher was giving us our assignment. I was his partner, but I wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, I was listening to the teacher. The next thing I knew, Tucker walked over to where John was sitting and threw a formula in his face. I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream the way John did that day. Whatever Tucker had mixed up had done the trick. The solution burned John's face so badly that he ended up in the hospital. He barely survived the attack"
"Is he alive today?" Ian asked.
Cole shook his head. "No, he couldn't live with the way his face looked after the solution was washed away. It took most of his face. John ended up committing suicide a year or so later."
"What happened to Tucker?" Sam asked.
"Rather than go to jail for assault, he ran away. Our parents tried to find him, but when Tucker makes up his mind about something, he doesn't often change it. He felt he had no place at home, and the only time I've spoken to him since then, he made it very clear that he wasn't coming back."
"What tipped you off that he might be the killer?" Ian asked.
Cole took a deep breath. "It was the design he left on his victims. When I was about seven or eight, I had a dog. When he died, Tucker and I were devastated. Tucker sat down the day we buried the dog and drew the design for the headstone. It was so cool back then. We had his dad burn it onto a piece of wood we used to mark where the dog was buried.
"Now he uses that same design to mark the people he kills," Cole stated.
"I don't get it. As far as I can tell there's no set pattern-it's all a bunch of lines and squiggles," Rob said.
Cole shook his head. "You don't know what you're looking at. Look, I'll show you" He went over to his briefcase and pulled out one of the photos inside. Then he went over to the one-way glass and held up the picture. The reflection on the glass showed exactly what Rob said it would: a bunch of squiggly lines and curves. Cole reached for a marker and began connecting the lines.
The pattern that began to emerge showed a headstone of sorts with a name inside. The name was Paula. She was one of his first victims. So not only did he torture his victims, but he marked each one with their own headstone.
"Why wasn't this information ever revealed? Why did you keep it a secret?" Ian demanded. He didn't know what he was going to do about this latest turn of events. It seemed that both men had a personal reason for hunting this killer, and that could be either an advantage or a disadvantage. Ian knew that Cole's story didn't show him in a good light, but his willingness to try to stop his cousin could. They would have to wait and see what developed next. He glanced over at Sam and saw the hatred in his eyes. Ian had to wonder if the hatred was for Cole or for his cousin Tucker.
Cole laid the photo on Ian's desk. "I kept hoping that I would be the one to find him. If I could, then maybe I could get him the help he needs. He is still family."
"He has my six-year-old son. Will he kill a child?" Sam asked.
"He hasn't yet, but I don't know what he's capable of anymore" Cole spoke frankly. He needed to gain back the trust his story and his connection to the killer had lost.
"Does anyone in the FBI know about your connection with this killer?" Ian asked.
Cole nodded. "My boss, Clayton Conway, knows. I had to tell him when I figured out it was Tucker we were looking for. He was going to pull me off the case, but I told him I was the only one who could find him. I told him we grew up together and that no one knew him better than I did. Clayton agreed to my staying on the case, but he told me that he was going to watch me closely. He insis
ted that I check in with him on a regular basis."
Ian nodded and stared at Cole. "As long as your intent is to stop him, not assist him, I'll hold off on passing judgment, but now you've got two people watching your every move. If I have any concerns about either of you, I will yank you both off the case"
Ian reached for the phone. "I'm calling the boat patrol to see if they've found anything yet. Maybe we'll get lucky."
As the morning slid into afternoon and there was still no word about Wyatt, Sam felt as if he was going crazy. He still felt very weak, and he drifted in and out of sleep. He wanted to be out on the street pounding on doors, at least making an effort to find his son. Instead he was stuck in the station, waiting for news. He had already decided that the waiting was the worst. As a cop, he could handle the searching, because he knew that maybe around the next corner he might find what he was looking for. But waiting while others searched was enough to drive him insane.
Alec had called back, and Sam had had nothing new to tell him. Sam asked Alec to send him the rest of the files they had on this killer. As long as he had to wait, he figured he might as well do something. The files had been e-mailed a couple of hours before, and Sam was already going through them. He had printed out the documents and photos so the monitor wouldn't strain his eyes.
He was on the Robin Myron case. The first two cases hadn't really told him anything new, or at least he wasn't seeing anything new. When he opened the Myron case, though, a photo fell out. Sam reached down to pick it up and had to stop to catch his breath. The picture was of his wife. It had been snapped at the Fourth of July picnic just two weeks before her death.
Chloe was sitting on the merry-go-round in the park near their home. She looked so relaxed and carefree, and the love for him in her eyes slammed his heart, crushing his senses.