Beyond the Shadows (11 page)

Nate stilled and stared at her. His heart beat slowly and felt heavy in his chest as the truth of her words sunk in. Suddenly energized, he got to his feet and hurried out of the room.

“What are you doing?” Kelly demanded as she followed him down the hallway. He entered his bedroom and wrenched open the closet. His finger trailed over the labels of boxes above his head before locating the ones he was after.

“What I should have from the beginning. Look harder.” He wrenched the box down with his good arm and grimaced as it collided against the top of his chest. Ignoring the discomfit, he handed her the box and reached back for another. “Sometimes you need someone with a clearer mind to show you the way.” He shot her a smile and straightened with the last in his hands. “Feel like helping, partner?”

Kelly’s raised brow changed slowly to an answering smile and she lifted a box from the end of the bed where she’d dumped it. “I’ve got nothing better to do apart from nursing a terrible patient. It’ll be a great distraction. Anything more up there?”

He shot her a sheepish glance. “Yeah. The whole case load actually.”

That fine, blonde brow rose again. “Do you make it a habit to take copies on all the crimes you deal with, Nate?”

Caught by her mesmerizing gaze, he felt his cheeks burn. “No,” he admitted. He cleared his throat. “Just this one.”

He tore his gaze away and pretended to struggle while retrieving the last couple of boxes. He never questioned why he kept all of this. It was just there, part of his history. Suddenly he saw it for what it was, a reminder. He couldn’t ignore the twinges of doubt he felt about the case or his guilty conscience. How was it that she saw him clearer than he did himself?

Sweat beaded on his brow, and without warning, a wave of black rose before his eyes. A box tumbled from his grasp, and he sagged against the doorframe, panting in short bursts.

Immediately, Kelly snaked an arm around his waist, and propped her thigh alongside his for support. “Take it easy, Nate. I’ve got you.”

The feel of her soft skin sliding against his brought him back until all he was aware of was her heat and deceptive strength. Her scent surrounded him, and he blinked rapidly to clear his sight. Dusky golden skin an inch away from his lowered head tempted him to sample and he swallowed hard.

“I’m okay now, thanks.” He pushed against her to escape before he did something that would embarrass them both, and she immediately let go. An emotion flitted across her face so quickly he almost missed it. He wished he could decipher what she was thinking.

“Well, if you’re sure, that’s good,” she responded briskly and turned to the paperwork. “It looks like we’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

They went back and forth from his room to the dining room until the table was littered with boxes and files. Staring at the mass of paperwork on the desk, a wave of overwhelming hopelessness threatened to crash over him. Then, Thea’s image floated into his subconscious and he smiled as he imagined her cheeky grin, daring him to lighten-up.

He chose one of the later dated boxes, pulled it closer, and filtered out the paperwork that narrowed in on Scott Williams. He paused when he came across a photo of the man and stared down at the image. Whatever else Williams had been, it was clear he hadn’t been a murderer. Nate closed his eyes briefly and offered up a heartfelt apology. With grim satisfaction, he scooped up the worthless files and dumped them into an empty box then shoved the lot under the table. It felt good, but most of all, it felt
right
. As he straightened, he caught Kelly’s approving smile, and his chest tightened with a strange feeling. Pride. He hadn’t felt that in a long time.

Giving a brief smile in return, he turned his attention to the next box and set to work.

****

Almost an hour passed while they worked, with barely a comment between them. Kelly glanced over at Nate, his brow furrowed in concentration as he pored over paper copies of the investigation. Thick strands of his hair fell forward and he kept raking it back with impatient fingers, leaving more unruly clumps sticking up at odd angles. She ached to smooth them back into place, rub the lines between his brows until they were gone, and massage the tension out of his tight shoulders. Instead, she set her jaw and returned her attention back to the photos in front of her.

On the face of it, they were pictures of happy women from all walks-of-life—young women fresh out of school, middle-aged mothers, dark and light-skinned. All happy. None suspected, for an instant, that their lives would be cut short so viciously. The photos never failed to make her feel a deep sense of sadness. But along with the sorrow came equal feelings of frustration.

They were all so
different
. Nothing bound them together. No common thread. No pattern. The random way the victims were chosen made it harder for the police to track the killer, and that had been what scared the city the most. Those victims could have been any one of them.

Steeling herself, she picked up the photos taken at the crime scene and looked them over. Now, the women did have something in common. The crude cross was carved into their chests post-mortem, according to the autopsy findings. Small mercies. She swallowed heavily and blocked out the images of their murders, clamoring to get into her head. Even the manner of deaths differed, as if the killer were experimenting with each one.

Or just having fun.

She touched the tiny gold cross around her neck reflexively as she sucked in a deep breath. The only thing left to her from her beloved grandmother. Its familiar warmth and weight never failed to calm and reassure her. Since joining the force, she’d needed it more than she liked to admit. Her hand clenched around the chain.

Oh my God! That’s it.

Shuffling back through the victim’s
before photos
, Kelly’s gaze fixed on each woman’s neck. Crosses. Each one wore a cross of some type. With shaking hands, she placed the pictures on the table, side by side and then found the corresponding
after shots
and coroner reports. Placing them neatly in a row below the others, she stared.

“Nate.” Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. His head jerked up. “I think I have something.”

His gaze sharpened on her then dropped to the photos she’d arranged. The screech of the chair on the tiles set her heart racing. Or so she told herself as he reached her side and leaned closer, his breath lifting the fine hair at her temple.

“What have you got?”

“It’s probably nothing,” she replied, suddenly doubting herself. Now that she had his attention, the idea seemed silly. Surely, the original police officers assigned to the case had already noted the link and discounted it earlier. One of them was standing right beside her, and she knew how thorough he was. Who was she—a rookie no less—to suggest they’d overlooked something this obvious?

“Always trust what your instincts tell you. You have good ones. Besides,” he sent her a self-depreciating smile. “Only blockheads ignore them against their own better judgment.”

She snorted. “Yes, well—that’s true.” Ignoring his pained look, she gestured to the images before her. “In this photo, I noted the cross around the victim’s neck, thinking it looked a lot like mine, and then I started noticing all but one of the victims wore a cross of some kind. Different designs, but all crosses. Yet in the crime scene photographs,
all
the victims’ necks are bare.”

Nate studied the crime scene photos then lifted his head, his eyes boring into her like lasers. “Why is that a red flag?” He turned, biceps flexing as he crossed his arms over his chest and rested his butt on the edge of the table.

Kelly felt her cheeks heat and squirmed inwardly until she realized he wasn’t belittling her. He wanted her to expand on her explanation. Her hand rose to touch the cross around her own neck once before taking a deep breath. “It’s the sort of jewelry that usually holds some kind of significance for the wearer. Often it’s about a religious affiliation or sometimes, as in my situation, it holds significance because of the person who gave it to them.” She shrugged. “Either way, I’d never be without mine, and I find it hard to imagine
all
of those girls left home on the day of their death without theirs. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

Nate stroked the underside of his jaw and nodded slowly. “I think you could be on to something. It ties in neatly with the killer cutting crosses into his victims. Maybe he’s some kind of religious fanatic. First, we’ll need to contact the families and check to see if the jewelry is actually missing.”

Kelly nodded and reached for the list of contact information she’d made for all the victims’ next of kin. Rapidly clicking her pen on and off, she wondered how to approach the families. Her mind raced with the best questions to open with. It was never easy rehashing details with the bereaved no matter how much time had lapsed. This case was still very painful for them all.

She startled when his large hand covered hers. Wide-eyed, she stared at him. Her pulse leapt as he gazed back with almost fanatical intensity. “What is it?”

“The one without the cross, she was the one Williams was photographed spying on, wasn’t she?” His eyes burned into hers.

“Yes,” she affirmed and frowned. “What are you getting at?”

His lips twisted into a humorless smile. “She was never meant to be in the mix. The poor girl had the bad luck of attracting the killer when she drew Williams’ attention. When the killer caught him perving on her, he was the perfect set up. That’s how the killer got the cigarette butt.”

Kelly inhaled sharply. “You think this photographer is the killer?”

He nodded and closed his eyes briefly, nostrils flaring as he sucked in air. He looked pained. When he opened his eyes again, the green had hardened to jade. “It makes sense, don’t you think? What better way to throw the police off his trail than to lead them to someone else? Frame someone else as the killer. When he heard about Williams’ background afterwards, he must have thought he’d won the lottery.” He laughed without humor. “He couldn’t have chosen a better scapegoat if he’d planned it.”

Kelly drew a heavy line underneath the image of the girl while he talked. She glanced up once he’d finished. “What if he
had
planned it?” Her words came slowly as the thoughts formed in her mind. “I don’t believe in coincidence—do you, Nate?”

He stopped on his way back to his seat and faced her. “What do you mean?”

Dropping the pen, she linked her fingers at the back of her head. The chair creaked as she leaned back, taking the time to sort the jumbled thoughts in her head before voicing them. “I don’t believe he just
happened
to come across Williams that night. Think about it. If we’re right about the connection with the necklaces, it suggests he’s very deliberate in who he kills. In his own warped mind, he has a valid reason and he sticks to that. The police had never been close to catching him, so why would he feel pressured to kill an innocent just to get us off his back? It doesn’t make sense.”

Dark brows shadowed his eyes, hiding his expression from her. “So what was the valid reason he had for killing this girl then?”

Kelly shrugged. “It wasn’t about her. The girl was the means to an end. I think he deliberately set out to punish Williams. I don’t think he just happened to come across the man during an evening stroll. I think he followed him for a reason and it was personal.”

“Bloody hell.” Nate stared at her, his eyes widening in dawning horror. He sank into his chair. “I think you’re right. This guy is more conniving than I gave him credit for.” He blew out a long breath and shook his head. “Until we find him, we may never know what drew him to Williams. But those girls are our main priority, so let’s get to work.”

Reassured to hear the decisiveness back in his voice, Kelly picked up her cell phone and made the first call. After she’d identified herself, the first victim’s mother was surprisingly gracious. Kelly cringed and made sympathetic noises as the woman spoke about her shock at watching the news last night.

“I’m sorry for the pain you must be feeling at seeing that, Mrs. Coates. I can’t begin to comprehend how you feel, but rest-assured we will find the one responsible for this copycat attack.” She crossed her fingers behind her back at the word. One of those white lies Nate mentioned earlier. She was becoming one of them. She paused to listen again. “Yes Ma’am. The reason we’re calling now is because one of our officers noted that Nina wore a necklace in the photos you shared with us, but she was found without it. We just need to know if you have her necklace at home with you.”

“No, it’s not,” the older woman confirmed, her voice breaking. “She wore it all the time, but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. We thought that maybe it would turn up during the crime scene examination. When it wasn’t, it was like another little death.”

“And you’re saying Nina
never
took it off?”

“No, never.” Mrs. Coates paused, her quick inhale harsh in Kelly’s ear. She bit her lip at the audible attempt the woman made to regain control of her voice, before bravely continuing. “Constable Appleton, if you find it, is there a chance we might get it back? It would mean so much to us. We have so little of her left.” Her words faded off to a whisper.

Kelly squeezed her eyes shut and dug her fingers into her scalp. The sharp pain forced her to focus. “I will do everything I can to make that happen Mrs. Coates,” she vowed. Silently, she swore to herself to do everything in her power to see her promise through.

After hanging up, she took a deep breath and found Nate’s hard gaze on her, one dark brow raised in enquiry. Ruthlessly swallowing the lump in her throat, she straightened and returned his stare. “Missing necklace number one. How did you get on?”

“Same here.” His mouth pressed into a grim line. “Only two down, but already it’s looking like your theory is good. How the hell did we miss this before?”