QR Code Killer (15 page)

“Why can’t he just kill me and be done with
it? Why did he have to take Pops? He’s never hurt anyone. He didn’t
deserve to die.” Maddie said through her tears, knowing there
weren’t any answers to her questions.

Erik looked at Danny and nodded, carrying
Maddie to the pickup and leaning against the door as he held
her.

Taking out his phone Danny called Tom and
quietly filled him in. “Zeus has been here. Ethan’s dead.”

“Danny, is Maddie… how’s she taking it?”

“About as well as you’d expect. Erik’s going
to try to get her to go to the house then I’ll call you back,”
Danny said, shutting his phone.

Zach returned in the stacker and drove up to
their end of the field. Danny met him before he could step out of
the cab and told him what had happened. Zach pounded the steering
wheel and sat drawing in shaking breaths before he got out and
walked to where Erik held Maddie.

“Why don’t you take her back to the house,
Zach, and I’ll help Danny,” Erik said, attempting to place Maddie
on her feet.

“No!” Maddie screamed, clinging to Erik’s
neck like he was the last thing that stood between her and the
complete loss of her sanity. “No!”

Finally, she drew a deep breath and let go of
Erik’s neck. He carefully set her down. Taking Zach’s hand, she
squeezed it then turned to Danny. “We’ve got a crime scene to
process, so let’s get to it.”

“Absolutely not, Maddie. I can’t let you do
this,” Danny said, barring her from going back around the tractor
to the baler. “You aren’t physically or mentally prepared to handle
this so I’m telling you no. If you won’t listen to me, I’ll have
Tom tell you, but you aren’t doing this.”

Just then they heard a police siren blaring
in the distance. Erik jumped on the four-wheeler he rode to the
field and flagged down John, who followed him back out to the
baler.

Getting out of his car, Danny shook his head
as John walked up to Zach and Maddie, offering them both a word of
comfort before going around to see Ethan’s body.

John came back around the baler, pale and
obviously disturbed. “Erik, would you mind taking Maddie and Zach
back to the house?”

Erik agreed and helped Maddie climb in the
pickup. Zach climbed in the passenger’s side while Erik slid behind
the wheel and drove them back to the house.

Zach slowly got out and plodded inside.
Maddie seemed frozen in place. Finally, Erik touched her arm and
she turned to look at him, eyes filled with raw, undiluted
pain.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Erik said, pulling
Maddie across the seat and into his arms. “So sorry.”

“It’s all my fault. First Mom, now Dad. It’s
all my fault,” Maddie muttered against Erik’s chest.

He pushed her back and looked into her eyes.
“Nothing about this is your fault, Maddie. Not a single thing. You
can’t control Zeus. You can’t control the choices anyone makes but
your own. What he did to your mom and your dad is unthinkable, but
you weren’t the cause of it. Zeus made that choice. Your dad made
the choice to stay here rather than go into protective custody. We
all did. You gave us options and we made our choices. So no,
Maddie, it isn’t your fault.”

Maddie stared at Erik, unable to believe his
words, but wanting desperately to do so.

Erik got out of the truck and picked up
Maddie, carrying her into the house and setting her down at the
kitchen table.

“Lena?” Erik called, but got no answer.

“I told her to stay in the basement,” Maddie
said, remembering her aunt.

“I’ll go get her,” Erik said and walked to
the door. Calling down the stairs, he heard a noise then saw Lena
looking up at him. “It’s okay to come out now.”

Lena climbed the stairs, knowing what she
would find would break her heart.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked as she reached
the top and Erik put an arm around her shoulders.

“No, Lena,” Erik said quietly. “It’s
Ethan.”

Lena’s step faltered and she would have
fallen to the floor if Erik hadn’t caught her in time. He helped
her to the kitchen where she sank into a chair next to Maddie’s.
The two of them embraced each other and cried.

Erik backed out of the room and went in
search of Zach. He was sitting in the office at the desk, staring
out the window.

“Can I do anything for you, Zach?” Erik
asked, fighting down his own sense of loss and pain. Not only had
he grown close to Ethan Weber, the experience was forcing him to
relive the day Sheila died.

“No, but thanks,” Zach said, continuing to
stare out the window.

“I’ll be close by if you need anything,” Erik
said and went back the kitchen. He didn’t know what he could do,
other than be available if any of them needed help or
protection.

Despite the heat, Erik made Lena and Maddie
both a cup of hot tea. They were sipping it when Maddie’s old phone
rang.

Looking at the number, sheer terror blazed
across her face before she sucked in a gulp of air and answered the
phone.

“Maddie, dear, you really need to heed my
warnings more closely. Maybe the next time you’ll listen more
attentively unless you want to say goodbye to someone else you care
about. Just so you don’t forget what happens when you disobey me,
here’s a little reminder.”

Zeus hung up but a photo soon popped onto her
phone screen. One that made all color drain from her face and a cry
of pain rip from her throat. Erik grabbed the phone away from her.
Zeus had taken a photo of Ethan just before he shoved him into the
baler.

Turning off the phone and throwing it on the
table, Erik picked up Maddie then sat down, cradling her to him
until her trembling ceased.

“I’ve got to get in touch with Tom,” Maddie
finally said. “But first, we need to clean house.”

Maddie pulled the bugs out of the kitchen and
dining room and ground them beneath the heel of her work boot. Then
she called Tom on her new phone and discussed moving Lena, Zach and
Erik to Seattle where they could be kept safe.

“I’m not going, Maddie,” Erik said. “I’m not
leaving you here.”

“Please go, Erik. I can’t bear the thought of
him hurting you and I can’t focus if I’m worrying about you. You
need to go, please. You all need to go. I’ll face him myself.
Alone.”

“No, you won’t,” Zach said from the doorway.
“He took our parents, Maddie. He’s terrorized this family all I’m
going to stand for. I’m not leaving and I’m certainly not going to
let you fight him by yourself.”

“But Zach...”

“Not up for discussion.” Zach strode out of
the kitchen back toward the office. Erik heard the door click
shut.

“Lena, will you please go. Please? For
me?”

“I’ll go, kiddo. I won’t like it, but I’ll
go. Right after we lay your father to rest.”

Maddie and Lena began crying again and Erik
felt at a loss as to what he could do. He decided to cook dinner.
He realized none of them would probably feel like eating, but he
needed to keep busy and Lena was in no shape to think about a
meal.

Finally, the two of them left the kitchen.
Lena went to lie down and Maddie went to her father’s room. Erik
decided to just let them be.

He was setting the table when the back door
opened and Danny walked in followed by John. They both bore the
look of men who had seen things no one should ever have to see.

“I’ve got dinner ready if you want to try and
eat something,” Erik said, pouring tea for everyone.

“Sure, Erik,” Danny said. “Then we can
discuss our next steps.”

“Maddie removed the bugs earlier, so we
should be free to talk,” Erik said before turning down the hallway
toward the office. Softly knocking on the door, he stuck his head
inside to see Zach still sitting at the desk.

“Danny and John are back and dinner’s ready.
Will you come sit with us, Zach?”

“I’ll be right there,” Zach said, although he
didn’t move.

Erik left the door open then went to Lena’s
room where he repeated the process of knocking gently and inviting
her to join them for dinner.

Finally he went upstairs to Ethan’s room,
where Maddie was curled on the bed, a photo of her parents clutched
in her hand. He thought she was asleep, but when he turned to leave
the room, she called out to him.

“Don’t go,” she whispered, holding out her
hand.

“I’m right here,” Erik said, sitting down
beside her.

Maddie sat up and wiped her cheeks with her
palms. “Thank you for being here, Erik. For caring. It means so
much.”

“I know, Maddie.” Erik gently rubbed her back
then put a protective arm around her. “Danny and John are back. Do
you want to come down and discuss plans?”

“Yes. Just let me wash up first. Then I’ll be
right there.”

Erik went back to the kitchen and stood by
his chair, waiting for Maddie. She soon came in with red, swollen
eyes, and took her seat. Erik sat down beside her and squeezed her
hand in his, hoping to share some of his strength with her.

“We went over the area with a fine-tooth
comb, but didn’t find anything that will be exceptionally helpful
in tracking down Zeus,” Danny said as he filled his plate and took
a bite of the meal. He wasn’t hungry, just eating out of habit and
something to do with his hands. He had come to respect Maddie’s
father in the weeks he’d been out here on the farm. It was
devastating to think of him being gone, especially so cruelly, so
unnecessarily. His resolve to bring Zeus to justice multiplied. How
much suffering would the Weber family have to endure before they
caught the madman?

“We found some footprints in the dirt at the
edge of the field,” John said. “You should be able to process the
tread. Maybe it will turn up something.”

“How long will… when will…” Zach tried to
speak, but kept clearing his throat. “When will the body be
released so we can plan funeral services?”

“We will work on getting clearance as quickly
as possible. We should be able to release it soon,” Danny said.

Maddie had to draw on every ounce of training
she’d ever had to be able to sit at the table and endure the
conversation taking place. She wanted to scream and rant, cry and
plead. She wanted her mom and dad back. She wanted Zeus dead. She
wanted to stop living in constant fear of who would die next.

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.