The Lady Killer (9 page)

“Yes, and I know you do also, or you wouldn’t be tracking down O’Reilly right now.”

“We know the ex is a cop. Could he possibly have infiltrated our ranks this quickly? Could he actually be one of us?”

“You must be reading my mind again, Peterson. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. Think about it. New people transfer in all the time from other cities. It isn’t as difficult as trying to get on the force for the first time, with no experience. Here comes the CSU guy with the letter.”

“Hi, Detective Peterson, could you please open this with gloves on, and give it right back to me when you’re done. There were no prints on the envelope, but you never know, we might get lucky on the letter.”

“That’s providing he got careless, which he never does. Thanks, Jim, you can wait right here. Got some gloves?”

He gave her the gloves and waited. She realized her hands were shaking, as she tried to open the envelope. It was closed with sealing wax that had a rose stamped into it. The envelope and paper looked old like parchment. She unfolded the letter and read the one short paragraph.

“You have taken away my love. From now on this will be our anniversary, and every new body will be dedicated to you. Be careful how you treat others. I will be watching.”

She was in a state of shock. Murphy had been reading over her shoulder. He grabbed the letter out of her hands and gave it back to Jim, telling him that they would need copies, ASAP! Then he took Laura by the hand and walked her to the car. “Let’s get out of here. He may be watching, and you don’t want to show weakness.”

Laura got in the car and let him drive. He took her to a quiet coffee shop and made her go inside and sit down. After their coffee had been delivered, he took her hand in his and spoke softly. “Are you going to be okay?”

Her hands were shaking so hard that she didn’t dare pick up her mug. “He’s after me and knows who I am, Murphy. He knew that I would be there today. How did he know that? Is he really watching me? He could be anyone in our precinct!” She pulled her hand away quickly. “He could be you or Burns!”

“Whoa, hold on there! I know that you’re scared and really freaked out right now, but don’t let it destroy your sense of direction and trust. You’ve known Burns for years, so he couldn’t have slipped off to have an affair in another city. And the only thing he stalks is a meatball sub. I may be new to this department, but I’ve lived in this city all of my life, with no recent detours. You’re looking for someone who moved here within the last year. Think about it, Tamara lived here six months, and she has been missing for another seven. That gives us a time line to go on. You’ll be more logical, after the initial shock wears off.”

She put her head down on the table and sobbed for awhile. Dan knew enough to just be there for her, and let her cry it out. When she raised her head up again, she looked directly into his eyes. “Dan, I will not let this guy win!”

“There’s the boss I fear! You know that you’re not alone in this, Laura. You have friends who care for you, and they will help you every step of the way. I think the first thing we should do is bring Captain Rutledge in on this.”

The look she gave him was extremely resentful. “Because now you think I’m a baby for crying, and I can’t handle myself? You know, it’s only the fictional lady cops on television who always have perfect hair, run in high heels and never cry!”

“No, silly woman! This is a direct threat, and we are following the department protocol on threats. Need I quote the section to you about notifying your superior officer?”

She realized that she was being irrational. “You must think I’m acting like some scared little girl right now.”

“I think you are human and acting like a woman who has been through a horrific six months with this guy. You have a right to be concerned for yourself, as well as all the other women in this city. He just told you that he’s not going to stop.”

“Not unless we stop him!”

He didn’t want to upset her, but he had to say it. “You seem to have a great fear of letting people know that you’re vulnerable. It takes more courage to admit that you need some help, than to stand there stubbornly and try to do it all on your own.”

“It comes from my childhood. My father used to beat us every day over something. In my head, the only way I could win was to not let him know that he got to me. That’s why I became a cop, to get the guys who pick on the innocent and helpless. I can’t let this guy know he got to me, or he will win!”

“This killer is a worthless scumbag, who isn’t winning no matter what he does. He’s brutally murdering women to avenge whatever war he has going on in his head. You
will
catch him and make him pay for his actions. Although, personally, I don’t think our penal codes have a proper punishment for his crimes.”

“Thanks, Dan, for getting me out of there when you did and putting things in perspective for me. These cases have brought up a side of me that I like to keep buried.”

“You can’t be the tough guy all the time. Sometimes it’s just okay to be a woman, with all that encompasses, even crying. Since these are brutal crimes against women, I can understand why it’s bringing these feelings to the surface for you.”

“How did a big, tough, Irish cop become so sensitive?”

“Being raised by my sisters helped. They used to complain to me about their problems with boys. I quickly came to realize that what women want, and what men give them, are two entirely different things. Because I grew up being loved and cared for by women, I have respect for them and their special needs and problems. Life isn’t easy for any of us, but I think, unfortunately, women have a far more perilous existence.”

“Thanks for not judging me and letting me vent on you. You’re right! Let’s go meet with the Captain, and then get this guy off the streets!”

When they got to the precinct, Captain Rutledge was waiting by her desk. “Where have you two been? CSU said that you left that warehouse over an hour ago!”

“Sorry, Sir, Murphy took me for coffee, so that I could calm down.”

“Are you alright now?”

“Yes, Sir, I will be. I had a breakdown. You already know about the letter?”

“I certainly do! Ralph called me as soon as he found out. What do you mean you had a breakdown?”

“I cried. I couldn’t stop myself. The past several months just collapsed in on me all at once. Sir, I think we are dealing with someone who works on the inside. Her ex was a cop. He must be working somewhere that he can watch what’s going on and knows our next moves.”

“I tend to agree with you on that point. O’Reilly called me after he heard that they blew the surveillance. He said my assistant called him and told him that we barricaded and secured the back of the place, so only monitor the front. He was just following what he thought were my orders. The problem is that I don’t have a direct assistant, and he didn’t get a name. Also, Detective Peterson, crying does not constitute a breakdown. You’re entitled to react. That psycho gave you a direct threat. Which brings me to my next question, what are we going to do about protecting you?”

She looked at him defiantly. “Sir, I don’t want protection, I want to catch this guy!”

Captain Rutledge shook his head and let out a big sigh. “That’s what I was afraid you would say. We are dealing with a ghost here, Laura. He sneaks around, gets his victim and no one who has seen him lives to tell about it. If you are correct in your assumption that the killer is someone on our force, then I wouldn’t know if I was assigning the killer to protect you! That’s unacceptable as far as I’m concerned. We need to start to narrow this down. I’m ordering a readout of all male personnel who have transferred to this city during the last fifteen months. In the mean time, I don’t want you to go anywhere without either Burns or Murphy accompanying you and letting me know where you are. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir, I understand. I will certainly be more vigilant from now on. How can we keep information about the case away from this psycho?”

“We can’t, not without handicapping our teams. I think this was a move on his part to divide and conquer. To get us suspecting each other, in order to weaken our ability to track him. This guy will not win. If we have to assign extra detectives we will, even though we don’t know who we can trust. Just let me know what you need, and I will try to provide it for your team. In the mean time, get back to those files and dig deeper. Something has to tie this guy to everything, and keep me informed of your every move. When you leave this building, I want to know where you’re going, and who you’re with.”

She started to object stubbornly. “But, Sir!”

“Don’t ‘but Sir’ me, Detective. I’m not going to get a call telling me you’re the next body they’ve found. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Sir, I will leave you a message before we go anywhere, even though I think I’m the one he’s handicapping.”

“I would rather have you inconvenienced, than dead!”

She looked at Murphy and nodded her head toward the break room. They went in and sat down together. In a way she felt defeated, but at the same time she was determined to get this guy behind bars, like the animal he was. Dan was determined to keep her spirits up. “Okay, Detective Peterson, what’s our next move.”

“Let’s go through the files and look for a connection between the victims and the items found under the bodies, or the buildings they were found in.”

“Hey, look who’s here! Good to see you, Burns.”

“My kid’s game got over, and I got a call from the Captain about the letter you guys found. He’s worried about you, Laura.”

“Yes, I know he is. Thanks for coming in, Roy.”

“I’m worried too. Captain Rutledge said that you think it’s someone on our force.”

“Yes, it almost has to be. It was so creepy the way he knew that I would be back to check that freezer. He left that there for me to find.”

Roy wanted to ease her worrying. “Maybe not, he might have thought the cleaning crew would find it and call the police. I hope you’re wrong about him knowing our moves. If he does, it will make him almost impossible to catch, unless he slips up.”

“Someone changed the surveillance, so it covered only the front of the building. That means that he knew about the order and wanted to get in there from the ally. He also must have known about the cleaning crew being in there on Saturday.”

“Have you eliminated the cleaning crew as suspects?”

“Yes, Murphy and I questioned them. They have all worked together for at least two years. Our guy has only been in the area about one year. We just need to keep plugging away at the information we already have. Where are we on the Butt Men?”

“I haven’t been able to find any connection between them, and either the buildings or the victims. Each one of them has an air-tight alibi for the night of the murder where their cigarette butts were found. None of them are related in any way to the victims or each other. So far, the common denominator has been the killer himself.”

“Okay, so we have a killer who knows the Butt Men well enough to collect the evidence, knows the women well enough to get close to them and has knowledge of the empty buildings that they are found in. What are we missing here? Something has to put this all together!”

The three of them sat there poring over the files until late evening. Somehow they didn’t seem any closer to a solution, so they decided to break until the next morning and then go at it again. Murphy insisted on following Laura home to make sure she got there safely. He said that he would sleep better that way, and she couldn’t argue.

It was nice to have someone looking after her for a change. She had been so hurt by her last relationship that she didn’t want to let anyone in, but Dan was a surprise. It was a problem that they worked together, and that raised huge questions for her. Still, he had broken through a barrier when they were at the coffee shop. She had opened up to him about things that were very personal to her, which she usually kept to herself. What was it about him that made her feel safe and comfortable? She immediately dismissed that line of thinking and got ready for bed.

CHAPTER 7

L
aura awoke around seven. Sunday mornings should be for sleeping in, reading the paper and having brunch with someone you love. She had none of those things. Was she lonely? Sometimes, like the night before when Dan had escorted her home. It would have been nice to invite him in for a glass of wine and have him hold her until she fell asleep. “God, where did that thought come from? Are you out of your mind?” Bad sign, she was scolding herself in the mirror again. After Alan, she had sworn that she never wanted to be touched by another man as long as she lived. Now, here she was thinking about Dan like that. She quickly got dressed and left for the precinct.