QR Code Killer

by Shanna Hatfield

  Unable to eat anything, she wasn’t having any better luck digesting the plans for her father’s funeral service. She stood up and would have left the table but her phone rang and all eyes turned to her. She was carrying both her old and new phones. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was the new phone.

  “Hi, Tom,” Maddie answered.

  “Maddie, I’m so, so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you are in right now but I wanted you to know your hunch played out.”

  “It did?” Maddie asked, her interest piqued. “What did you find?”

  “Just two blocks from the library there is an art gallery called Aphrodite’s Palace. It’s all high end art with quite a swanky storefront. The manager there said the business is owned by a man named Jude Johnson. Isn’t that an interesting coincidence?”

  “Yes, it is. What else did you find?”

  “According to the store manager, our Mr. Johnson prefers to not be seen and rarely comes into the gallery. He communicates through emails sent directly to the store manager. She and one other employee work there. The gallery is only open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Why do you suppose they have such short hours?”

  “So as not to disturb someone’s violent nocturnal activities taking place out of the back of the facility. Who would suspect one of Seattle’s most wanted criminals would own an upscale art gallery in a ritzy neighborhood?” Maddie said, finally feeling like they had an honest, real lead into capturing Zeus. “How fast can you get a search warrant?”

  “I should have one in the morning, so hang tight,” Tom said.

  “As soon as the funeral service is over, I want you to take Aunt Lena somewhere safe until this is finished,” Maddie said. “The guys won’t leave but I would feel better about her being safe.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Maddie. I’ll be there for the funeral and will personally escort her.”

  “Thanks, Tom.” Maddie was feeling more like herself. If she could keep her focus on the facts and on the case, she wouldn’t have too much time to dwell on what had happened to her dad. On the fact she would never hear him call her cupcake again, smell his cheek scented by Old Spice, or be engulfed by one of his bear hugs.

  “I’ll call you in the morning. You let me know if you need anything,” Tom said, disconnecting the call.

  Maddie sat back down at the table and took a drink of tea. “That was Tom. They found an art gallery owned by the same man we think is sending the QR Codes from the public library. We think he and Zeus are quite likely one in the same. Tom is getting a search warrant for the gallery in the morning.”

  “But what will Zeus do?” Lena asked. “Every time you start to get close to finding something, he… he...” Lena broke down in tears. Danny, who was sitting next to her, put his arm around her shoulders and let her cry.

  “I think we should have the service day after tomorrow and get Lena out of here,” Danny said, looking around the table. “John, you’ll make sure the story the local press receives is that it was a farming accident, nothing more?”

  “Will do,” John said. “What else can we do to help? Mollie can set up a dinner for the family, do anything you need help with.”

  “Thanks John,” Maddie said, patting his arm. “We haven’t even thought about calling the rest of the family. I guess we better do that right away. Will the funeral home be able to pull everything together in time?”

  “I’ll speak with them in the morning,” John said, getting up to leave. “If you need help with anything, day or night, call me.” John gave Maddie’s cheek a kiss and squeezed Zach on the shoulder before letting himself out the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  It seemed like half the county was in attendance at Ethan Weber’s funeral. Maddie and Zach flanked Lena, all three sitting quiet and solemn in front of the casket with the rest of the attendees gathered behind them. Family members had arrived and, along with friends and members of their church, the number well exceeded four hundred in attendance.

  Erik stood to the side, wearing dark sunglasses like most of the crowd, battling his own roiling emotions. This was too much like the day he laid Sheila to rest, a beautiful blue sky overhead with temperatures that made it uncomfortably warm to be dressed in a jacket. Trying to keep his own painful memories in check, he turned to watch Maddie as she struggled with her composure.

  She tried to keep the tough-cop façade in place at all times, but she was a tender woman who had suffered more pain and loss than most people could fathom. He honestly didn’t know how she held herself together so well. Today, she seemed more composed than Zach, who was struggling to keep from breaking down. Erik could see his chin quiver, which in turn made Maddie’s face turn an even paler shade of white. Lena sat between them, openly crying, swiping at her tears with a hankie that had been soggy half an hour ago. Without thinking, Erik stepped forward and handed Lena a clean, dry handkerchief from his pocket. She took it with a grateful nod and Erik stepped back again.

  He might be a simple farmer, but his mother insisted he learn to carry himself with good manners. He never went to a funeral or a wedding without a spare, pressed handkerchief in his pocket.

  John, Danny, Tom and some of Maddie’s friends from work were positioned around the perimeter of the crowd, keeping an eye out for anything remotely suspicious. No one knew who Danny was and none of the crowd thought anything was out of the ordinary to have the sheriff attend the funeral of a good friend.

  Maddie wore a simple black dress with a fitted black jacket that hid the gun she carried in a shoulder holster. She had a small semi-automatic in her handbag, prepared for what may happen, but hoping Zeus would at least give them a day in peace to honor her father. For the first time in many years, Maddie prayed. She prayed for peace, for deliverance, for a blessing upon her father.

  As soon as the service ended, close family and friends returned to the church for a meal put out by their church friends. Erik felt oddly at home there with the warmth of the people being so similar to that which he knew from his own church-going years at home. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how much he missed his friends and family. Missed the shared fellowship of worshipping with them on Sundays. Missed the familiarity of being home with people who truly knew him.

  As the gathering broke up and people started to leave, Lena clung to Zach then Maddie, shedding another round of tears along with the hugs she dispensed.

  “Maybe I should stay, kiddo,” Lena whispered to Maddie as she swiped at her tears.

  “No, Aunt Lena. I need you to be safe. Tom will take good care of you.” Maddie gave her aunt one more hug and a kiss on the check before Tom escorted her to the waiting car. He would fly with her back to Seattle then move her to a protected apartment where she would be safe until things ended with Zeus. “Just think of this as that relaxing vacation you’ve always wanted.”

  Lena offered a watery smile. “Sure. I can catch up on my reading and sleep and watching soap operas and game shows.”

  “See? Doesn’t that sound like fun?” Maddie tried to tease, but her aching heart kept the comment from sounding light-hearted.

  “Don’t give up or give in, Maddie. You have to finish this for your mom and dad. You have to finish this and not let their deaths be in vain.”

  Maddie sucked back a sob and hugged her aunt again. “I won’t give up, Aunt Lena. I promise I won’t.”

  Lena wiped the tears from Maddie’s cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. “Be safe, kiddo, and know I love you.”

  “Love you, too,” Maddie whispered and closed the door on her aunt in Tom’s rental car.

  Tom gave Maddie’s arm a gentle pat. “I promise we’ll take good care of her and keep her safe until this is over.” He got in the car and waved goodbye.

  Maddie felt alone and bereft. Before she could further explore those feelings, she sensed a presence behind her and leaned back into Erik’s warmth and strength. For just a moment she rested in him, rested aga
inst him, absorbing the comfort he could offer before straightening up and turning around. As he gazed down at her with his amber eyes warm and soft, she could see the pain in her heart reflected there.

  Placing her hand on his cheek, she tipped her head and tried to smile. “Thank you for being here with us today, Erik. Thank you for caring.”

  “Where else would I be, Maddie?” Erik asked in a voice rough and quiet with emotion. “I need to be here with you all.”

  Taking her hand, he walked her back to his pickup, where Zach was already waiting with Danny.

  “Let’s go home,” Zach said, climbing in the backseat of the truck.

  <><><>

  Placing Lena in an apartment not far from his own home, Tom arranged for round the clock guards to stay with her. If Lena was anything like her niece, Tom knew she would be climbing the walls in just a day or two, fighting against her Maddie-imposed isolation.

  After checking in on her to make sure she was doing fine and the guard was clear on his duties, Tom drove on to Bellevue. He was meeting a few of his team there, in hopes of finding something, anything, that would help them move on with this case.

  Tom was tired of hitting dead ends in their chase to bring Zeus down. Three years, several dead officers and civilians, thousands of dollars spent, and they still were no closer to bringing him to justice.

  Now that they finally had a solid lead with the art gallery, the judge was dragging his feet, asking for more evidence to disrupt the life of one of Bellevue’s upstanding citizens before he would issue a search warrant.

  If Tom’s hunch was right, that judge had been paid off to look the other way.

  Sitting in a car watching the alley of the building, Tom knew a car with two officers waited out front.

  He’d sit here night after night if it would turn up even the most infinitesimal clue they could use.

  After another hour of waiting, Tom’s patience paid off when a hulking brute dressed all in black stomped to the back door of the building and stood looking around. When he thought the coast was clear, he moved a brick along the back wall and pulled out something in a plastic bag, shoving it into his pants pocket before putting the brick back in place. He leaned against the wall, biceps the size of tree trunks crossed in front of him, waiting. Tom watched him for a good forty-five minutes.

  “We’ve got a live one in the back alley. I’m not taking any chances. This is going to be a team effort. Be ready to go in five,” Tom said through his live feed.

  Tom hoped beyond anything that this oversized cavedweller was one of Zeus paid thugs. Waiting until he had the signal from his men that they were in place, he got out of his car and approached the man.

  “Good evening,” Tom said, walking up to him. The guy appeared to be half-asleep and looked at Tom with glazed eyes. Great, already stoned, Tom thought as he quickly decided on the best way to get what he wanted.

  “Nice night, isn’t it?” Tom asked, hoping the guy didn’t get physical. At well over six feet and weighing what had to be close to three hundred pounds with a lot of it muscle, the man would be particularly challenging to take down.

  The guy just looked at Tom and jerked his head. “You need to keep walking mister.”

  “No,” Tom said, pulling out his badge. “No, I think I’ll stay and talk to you instead.”

  Seeing the badge in the light from the alley, the guy turned, ready to bolt, only to find himself surrounded by police officers with guns drawn.

  “You ain’t got nothing on me,” he said, looking cocky and self-certain. “You aren’t getting me to talk.”

  “That’s right, because I already know everything I need to,” Tom said, hoping his bluff would work. “You’ve already told me everything I need to know.”

  “I didn’t say nothin’.”

  “Sure you did, I could hear you talking since you walked up to the back door.”

  “Huh?” the thug asked, confused.

  “Yeah, that’s right. I could hear what you were saying. You were hoping that your drugs would be in the secret compartment behind the brick and you wished that Zeus would hurry up and get here because you’re tired of waiting on him. What time was it again he was supposed to meet you?”

  “He said to be here at midnight. That he’d have a special job for me. He said the powder was to reward my past good behavior and the money after the job was done would have a nice bonus if I did everything just like he told me.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Tom said. “But Zeus isn’t showing up tonight, is he? He left you standing here all alone, to take the heat all by yourself. I bet he warned you not to talk, didn’t he?”

  The thug began to look a little worried. He knew you didn’t cross Zeus and live to see another day.

  “Yeah, he did. But I didn’t talk. You already knew. You listened in my head,” the thug said, starting to grow upset.

  “No, you were talking. Singing like a bird. We’ll have to make sure Zeus knows that. What does he do to his friends who betray him? Does he shoot you point blank or toy with you awhile? I heard he likes to hunt. Is that true? Does he hunt down his friends like prey? I’m quite fascinated by the details. What do you think he’ll do?”

  The thug moaned and sank to his knees, covering his head with his hands.

  “Please, just shoot me now. Don’t let Zeus know. Don’t turn me over to Zeus. Please, you’ve gotta help me.”

  “And why would that be?” Tom asked, inwardly thrilled at how easy this take down had gone so far.

  “He’ll torture me. I know. He’s done it to others and it ain’t pretty. Then he’ll go after my family. Please, you’ve got to help me.” Their tough guy hung his head and began to sob. “Please, help me.”

  Tom put a hand on his shoulder and patted it gently.

  “Sure, we’ll help you. We just need a little help in return. You tell us what you usually do when you come meet Zeus and we’ll take very good care of you.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise to put you somewhere that Zeus can’t touch you. That is an iron-clad guarantee.”

  Loading up the hulking mass of sobbing crybaby thug didn’t take long. Tom couldn’t keep from smiling as he walked back to his car. With the evidence and testimony of Zeus’ stupid friend, he wouldn’t have any problem getting that search warrant in his hand first thing tomorrow.

  He couldn’t wait to tell Maddie and Danny about this interesting development in the case. Finally, finally they were making progress.

  <><><>

  The next few days passed quietly without incident. Tom continually checked in with Danny who was trying to keep an eye on things. Zach and Erik attempted to do the work that needed to be done. Some of the neighbors came over and finished baling and stacking the hay. Now that they were gearing up for wheat harvest, some extra hands were going to be needed.

  “I think we can get the boys we hired last summer to help again,” Zach said to Erik over dinner one evening. Maddie was attempting to cook and the guys valiantly attempted to eat what she prepared. Some days she did great, others they ate sandwiches in the backyard as the stench of burnt offerings filled the house. But she was learning. It gave her something to do while they waited for Zeus to make his next move.

  Maddie was in the midst of trying to figure out how to bake a chicken when her new cell phone rang.

  “Hey, Tom. Do you know anything about baking chickens?” Maddie asked good-naturedly.

  “Not a thing, other than they are quite tasty to eat,” Tom said with a laugh. “It’s good to hear a smile in your voice, Maddie.”

  “Thanks, Tom. I’ve got to keep living one day at a time and humor seems to be the only thing keeping me sane these days.”

  “I understand,” Tom said then cleared his throat. “I’ve got some news for you.”

  “What sort of news?”

  “We finally got a search warrant for the art gallery. We should have had the warrant days ago, but we kept getting the run around. I’m starting to
think Zeus has some friends in high places.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me. Some people can be easily bought,” Maddie said, disgusted by the truth of her statement.

  “We found a few interesting things there. Quite interesting,” Tom said, knowing what they found would both disturb and excite Maddie.

  Maddie sensed his hesitation. “Just spill it, Tom. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”

  “Apparently Mr. Johnson has an upstairs apartment at the art gallery that even the store manager didn’t know about. We discovered a hidden door in the storage room and followed it upstairs to quite a spacious and luxurious apartment. It was surprisingly clean and sterile. No family photos, not much of anything that made it look lived in or personal, except for one room. An office.”

  “What was in the office, Tom?” Maddie asked, completely abandoning the chicken and sitting down at the table. “What don’t you want to tell me?”

  “There were photos of you, Maddie. Hundreds of photos plastered all over the walls. Photos of you working. Photos of you taken through the windows of your apartment, of you shopping for groceries and at the mall. There were also several photos of you on the farm and with your family.” Tom let out a sigh. “Maddie, he… he has many photos of you sleeping.”

  “Oh,” Maddie said as a wave of fear washed over her, dragging her down beneath the surface of reality. Her personal sense of security reached an all new level of despair as she registered the fact that Zeus had not only broken into her apartment and watched her while she slept, but she hadn’t heard him. She was a cop for goodness sakes. She was trained to be on the alert all the time. How could she have slept through that?

  “Maddie, whatever you are thinking, just stop it. This has nothing to do with your talents or skills. He has more issues and levels of demented thinking than we realized. We’ve had profilers working on this case and you know that Zeus doesn’t fit any classic or typical profile. He’s too random, too unpredictable. We definitely didn’t realize just how obsessed he is with you. What I want to find out is why. It just doesn’t make any sense.”