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The agents glare between the two of us, and I don’t take my eyes off him to glance at Jo. If she wants to hide herself she will, but she’s also let people stare before just to make them uncomfortable. Right now she looks confused. Behind Sterling is Jensen, who shakes his head and clicks the safety back on for his gun. A little laugh escapes beneath his breath, but right now I can’t find anything amusing about this.
Sterling hesitates a moment, studying the two of us, before holding up one hand. “I heard the scream-”
“It’s called an orgasm, you fucking idiot-” Jo begins.
“Andsomeone just shot at your lookouts,” he barrels on, using the same hand to point behind him. “Missed, because they were a terrible shot, but the car backfired when they tried to speed off.”
I narrow my eyes. “And what the fuck are you two doing here?”
“I’m here to talk to you,” he snaps, looking between us before dropping his stance. Jensen is still trying to not snicker under his breath. “There’s been another murder. We were coming to talk to you, but I didn’t expect to catch you in the middle of sex.”
Chapter 15
“Glad I came with you?”
I glare at Jensen as he paces the kitchen, Jo and Vinny off in their room cleaning up. After seeing them together I opted to go back outside and check if the shooter returned, and Jensen made the call to the police and put the BOLO out on the car.
We weren’t planning to come this way. Soto pulled up the residence for Dr. Whitmore and we went out to try and talk to the old man, only to learn from another neighbor that he’s down the coast for several weeks on an extended vacation. When we relayed the details to Soto she dug around and found a possible address, but his cell appears to be turned off and this is either a cash only vacation or someone else is paying since we can’t find a credit card trail.
Or worse, it isn’t a vacation at all.
Tomorrow we’ve arranged for Gabe and Tyler to drive down and try to speak to him. It’s only a few short hours, and they could be back by mid afternoon if the guy is agreeable and answers our questions.
“Silent treatment, huh?” Jensen goes on, and I turn back to him. “It’s cool, but I’m not the one fucking the chick you like.”
I shake my head. It doesn’t matter if I find Jo attractive or not. She’s married, and shows zero indication that she’s looking to cheat. That, and I have a strict policy of not getting tangled up with victims romantically. This case is enough of a mess.
Nodding towards the street, I can still see the car parked out there. An officer is here to take the two men’s statements, which I’m sure they are just going to love if they work for the Ajello family. Another is crossing over to the front door, and thankfully these two are on neutral ground with my team. They aren’t interested in stirring up any extra drama.
Vinny appears as the officer knocks, and I can hear Jo jogging behind him. I saw more of her skin than I expected to, and the scars all over her body really areallover. I’ve seen the crime photos, but these are years old now. They look different now that they are healed and almost… worn in. They’ve become a part of her, all the way down to her personality. When I see her a moment later she’s back to her layers, and I can’t say I’m surprised.
Officer Murray nods to Vinny, and she pauses by the couch to slide on some sandals before looking at the two of us. Her eyes dart over to us, and there’s no friendliness in her stare. What a great start to our visit. I had hoped things would be slightly less strained since I haven’t spoken to them in almost a week, and I’m sure by now Vinny is antsy to leave. Things were quieting down until this latest death and the shooter outside. We should’ve pursued the driver in our car, but I was concerned about the two key witnesses inside.
They have a guard detail from the Ajello Family sitting not-so-discreetly outside, so obviously Vinny doesn't believe that things are over just because it’s quiet. The copycat isn’t sinking back into the dark, they are just biding their time.
“You two really came over here to talk about another body?” she asks, staring at us. I can see Murray’s eyes darting between Jo and Vinny as she continues to refuse to approach the door. “Phone calls usually work. Is this body sitting on the porch?”
“Oh, she’s got jokes,” Jensen says with a chuckle. He’s getting far too much enjoyment out of this, and I’m going to ream him on the drive back for letting his guard down when we stormed in. Therecould’vebeen something dangerous happening inside. For all we knew there was another person in there looking to attack too, but an immediate sweep of the house revealed nothing of the sort.
“This one looks like a true CGS victim,” I tell her, reaching for my phone. There’s no photos yet since the kill just happened, and the images on my camera are brutal. Vinny is still at the door, speaking with the officer. But I can tell from the way his body is angled he’s keeping one eye on us. “Do you want to see?”
Jo flinches at the question, and it’s not quite the reaction I expect. Disgust and repulsion maybe, but the image can’t hurt her anymore than the true killer ever did. When there was a body right outside she seemed bound and determined to have a look, but now she’s unsure about staring at pictures on a phone? Maybe the copycat is getting to her after all.
She only hesitates for another moment, looking between us before offering a jerky nod of her head. “Yes.”
I know what she sees when she looks at the phone. The woman, identified at the scene as Lydia Thompson from her ID, died within the last few hours. It’s midafternoon, and the body was discarded in the middle of the morning. Either the killer is getting braver or more careless.
Jo makes a choking sound, pressing a hand to her mouth as she steps back. I know Lydia looks awful, her hair stained in dried blood, most of her face carved to pieces from the vertical cuts. They go through her eyes and mouth, tearing through her nose until it’s little more than a bloody stump. Unlike all of the victims before most of the brutality is limited to her face, and when Quinton met us at the scene he looked her over for less than a minute before guessing blunt force trauma did her in based on the wounds at her hairline. She’s already back at his office, and I have Tyler prepped to keep me updated when they reach the next of kin.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Vinny snaps, stepping away from Murray. He crosses to Jo, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he glares at me. “Close that.”
“I wanted the two of you to see,” I explain. “All the previous victims since our copycat came on the scene had no physical resemblances to the victims Alastair chose during his run as the CGS. Now, suddenly, the victimology changed, and we’re back to blonde women in their mid to late twenties. Until now the victims never have cuts on their faces. This is new. It suggests a new level of rage.”
Jo shakes her head, simultaneously shrugging off her husband's arm. “Why show us this?”
“Because I need you to understand that the target changed,” I stress. “Now the woman who died looks just like you, and the traditional killing style is out the window. The copycat is still using the CGS’s signature, but there were never attacks like this to the face. This is personal.”
Her eyes widen, and she looks around the room. Murray stands off to one side, looking very uncomfortable as he eavesdrops, and part of me hopes he takes the news back to the precinct with him. If there really are ties between an officer or guard like Wallsburg and the copycat, it would be good for the killer to know that we’re onto him. Maybe it’ll force him to make a mistake.