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CHAPTER TWELVE

W ade put a pot of coffee on to brew and sat at the table with his Bible open. He’d been so focused on the case and Emily, he hadn’t planned the lesson for youth group. Concentration eluded him when he heard the shower turn on. He’d bared his soul last night, but Emily hadn’t done the same. He wasn’t sure how long it would take her to admit her feelings.

He pushed the thoughts aside and tried to focus, but it was impossible to keep his mind on the passage in front of him. Prayer. He needed time in prayer.

After taking a few minutes to pray, he poured a mug of coffee. He set it down when the doorbell rang. Even though he was expecting Gavin, he checked through the window before opening the door. His friend would keep an eye on Emily while he was out. With his dog at his side, he opened the door wide and greeted his Army buddy. “Glad you’re here. Thanks for coming. I want to take Ruger for a run but didn’t want to leave Emily alone.” He glanced around looking for his German shepherd. “He was here a moment ago.”

“I saw him make a run for the staircase,” Gavin said.

Wade found his traitorous dog sitting at the door to the master bedroom waiting for Emily to emerge. “Come on. Let’s go for a run.” The dog wagged his tail a couple of times and followed him down the stairs.

Once they were on the trail and the steady beat of his own feet hitting the ground filled his consciousness, Wade was finally able to settle his mind.

Gavin called to Ruger when they neared the house, so Wade unclipped his leash enabling him free run to go play with their company. He slowed his steps and allowed his heart rate to return to normal.

When he reached the pair wrestling on the ground, he asked, “Where’s Emily?”

His friend patted the dog’s head and stood to his full height. “She’s at the kitchen table reading your Bible.”

“Why don’t you hang out with the dog while I see if she’s going to stay here with you or join me at church?”

Gavin nodded.

Emily rose to her feet as he approached. “I heard you two talking. I suppose I won’t be making it to my own church today, so I should probably call my pastor’s wife and let her know.”

“Why do you need to call? Do you teach a Sunday School class or something?”

“No. It’s a simple courtesy. I don’t want them to worry about me,” Emily said.

“Would you like to join me for church?”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head before looking up at him. “I don’t know anything about your church and the doctrine they teach. It’s hard for me to stay quiet when I vehemently disagree with what is said in the pulpit.”

“If you’re uncomfortable for any reason, we’ll leave, but I promise you our pastor teaches God’s words straight from the Bible, rightly divided.”

“None of that prosperity nonsense?”

“None.”

She rose to her feet. “In that case, I’ll join you. Let me go get dressed.” She made it halfway across the room before turning around. “I didn’t pack a dress.”

“You’ll be fine in slacks, but we can swing by your place if you’ll be more comfortable in a skirt. It’s not far out of the way.”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

Gavin joined them with Ruger in tow. “What’s the word?”

“Emily’s joining me for church, so you can join us, hang out here, or go home. Your choice. If you head home, I’ll call you later to work out a schedule for the rest of the week.”

“What about tonight? Don’t you have youth group?”

He smiled at Emily in a pleading fashion. “Want to help out with youth group tonight?”

She chuckled. “Sure. How hard can it be?”

“I’m not answering that lest you back out,” Wade said. He turned to face Gavin. “Let me get you a key. You know the security codes since you set them.”

“You were supposed to change them.”

“Why? I trust you.”

“Get me that key.”

Sunday evening, Wade watched as Emily wrote out the memory verse on the chalkboard in the large room they used for youth group. He rustled around in the equipment locker and pulled out some jerseys and a ball. After the lesson, the kids would play kickball in the field behind the church.

Bobby strode in and approached Emily, greeting her in typical teen fashion. “Whatcha doing here?”

Emily’s smile was radiant. “Helping out Mr. Wade.”

The boy turned to face Wade. “Pastor, is she your girlfriend?”

He saw Emily take a step back and raise her eyebrow. He should’ve mentioned it earlier. He’d have to address her questions sooner rather than later, but now wasn’t the time. The rest of the group wandered in, some ignoring the newcomer and others intensely curious as to what she was doing there.

After they all took their seats, he moved over next to the board and introduced Miss Emily.

“Who remembers the story of Jonah?” A hand went up in the back. “What do you recall about it, Cyndi?”

“He disobeyed God, so he was swallowed by a whale.”

He chuckled. “True, but there is more to the story. Does anyone know why he disobeyed?”

Another hand shot up. “Go ahead, Chris.”

“Jonah didn’t want God to show mercy on Nineveh.”

“That is correct.” He looked over the class. “There are times when modern Christians show the same attitude Jonah did. They don’t pray for their enemies or share the gospel message with them because they don’t want them to be saved. They want that person to experience God’s wrath rather than His mercy.”

After a short discussion on the subject, they filed outside for kickball. Once the kids were settled into the game, Emily joined him on the sidelines. “Pastor?”

“It’s no big deal. I’m merely the youth pastor.”

“God’s calling on someone’s life is always a big deal.”

He met her gaze. “I took my courses online. I don’t feel prepared to pastor a congregation.”

“Would you leave the state police if the opportunity to pastor your own church arose?”

“I would if I felt God calling me to go.”

“Why didn’t you mention it?”

He pondered her question, but before he could formulate an answer Cyndi fell. She didn’t get back up, so he hurried to see if she was hurt. It didn’t take long to realize she was playing up the injury to get Bobby’s attention. The boy was oblivious. Not necessarily a bad thing. Young love could be complicated.

Monday morning, Wade nursed a cup of coffee and waited for Gavin to arrive. His friend would take Emily to work and stick around to keep an eye on her. Wade had taken Ruger out, but the dog brought Wade his leash for the second time. He wanted a run.

Emily descended the stairs in a pair of stretch pants, an oversized t-shirt, and running shoes.

“Good morning. What’s with the get-up?” he asked.

“I’m going for my morning run. I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.”

“You’re not going anywhere by yourself.”

She sighed. “I can’t live like a prisoner. I need to keep some semblance of a normal schedule.”

“Gavin will be here in a few minutes. He’ll drive you to the park and stay close throughout the day.”

She sat on the chair beside Wade and hugged her knees to her chest, setting her chin on them. “My boss won’t like it.”

“He’ll blend in with the park visitors. Your boss doesn’t need to know you have a bodyguard.”

“Is that what you are?” She searched his eyes. “My bodyguard.”

He wanted to be so much more than her protector, but how could he put his feelings into words without scaring her off. The sound of the key in the lock saved him from responding.

Gavin sauntered in and grinned at them. “How cute. The three of you going for a run together like the perfect happy family.”

Wade was certain she couldn’t keep pace with them but offered anyway. “Emily, would you care to run with Ruger and me?”

“I like the solitude of running alone, but it might be a nice change of pace to have Ruger for company.”

“Should I take that as a yes?”

“Sure, but we need to get going if I’m going to be on time for work.”

He fist-bumped his friend on the way past and clipped the leash on his dog. He let Emily set the pace and fell into step beside her. She didn’t run as fast as he normally did, but kept up a decent speed, and he enjoyed her company even though neither of them spoke. When they slowed for the cool down, he took her hand in his. She didn’t resist but gazed up at him with wide eyes. “What are we doing here? It feels like we’re playing house.”

“I’m not playing. You’re in my home so I can offer you protection.”

“Then why are you holding my hand?”

“For the same reason I took you out Thursday night.”

“I haven’t had a serious relationship since senior year.”

He shook his head. “Why not?”

“I didn’t want to risk the heartbreak. I remember all too well how much it hurt to watch you walk out my door. How am I supposed to forget what happened?”

“Neither one of us will forget our past, but if you’ve truly forgiven me, we can move forward.”

“How?”

They reached the yard and unclipped the dog, who ran toward the sliding glass doors. Gavin let him in.

Wade wiped a stray hair away from Emily’s eyes, so he could see her clearly. “Give us a chance, Em. We were kids back then, but we’re not anymore.”

“Won’t that make the pain all the more unbearable if the relationship doesn’t work out?”

“What if it does?” His eyes searched hers. “Aren’t we worth the risk?”

She didn’t respond, so he stalked inside. They both needed to get ready for work.

Wade mulled over Emily’s silent response as he drove to the courthouse. If she believed he was worth the risk, she would’ve said so. So, in not answering his question, she’d shown him where he stood. He would be a fool to continue to pursue her. If God was in it, Emily would come around without any prodding from him, and if He wasn’t, Wade needed to let her go.

He parked and pushed open the car door. It was time to focus on the job. After he passed through screening at the courthouse, he made his way to Judge Dunn’s office.

The judge’s frazzled law clerk saw him coming and leaned back on his heels while clutching a handful of legal books to his chest. “Can I help you, officer?”

“It’s Sergeant.” Wade smiled. “I hope you can. Judge Dunn isn’t returning my calls, and I need to know who the security guard on duty was the night Judge Britton disappeared?”

“I believe he mentioned that it was the senator’s son. He’s in court now, but I’ll have him call you to confirm. I can’t think of his name off the top of my head. Different last name then his mother. He didn’t work here long.”

“Thank you. I’ll be seeing you.”

Upon receiving confirmation that Pete Cunningham was there that night, Wade headed to the park hoping to find him. When he arrived at the office, Austin was the only one around.

“What can I do for you, Sergeant Brunner?”

“Call me Wade.”

“Will do, Wade.”

“Is Pete Cunningham working today?”

Austin nodded. “He’ll be here in about an hour.”

“In that case, I have time for a lunch break.”

“Emily’s out at the picnic tables by the lake having her lunch if you want to join her.”

“Thanks, Austin. You’re not half bad now that I know you two aren’t an item.”

Austin laughed. “That girl is far too complicated for me. We tried dating once, but we’re better off friends.”

“Glad to hear it.” Wade grinned. There was no time to grab a hoagie if he was going to catch up with Emily. He found her right where Austin said she’d be. He waved at Gavin who was lounging against a tree nearby. Emily was drinking a bottle of water and staring out over the lake. She looked up as he approached. Was it his imagination or did her eyes light up?

“Hey. Have business at the park today?”

“I do. Yes. Austin said I’d find you out here.”

“Here I am.”

“I’m glad.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “What brings you back? A new lead?”

“Not much of one. I need to ask Pete a few questions. Turns out he was the security guard on duty the night the judge went missing.”

“Ah.” She shrugged. “He mentioned working there a short time before getting the job here.”

“I imagine his connections helped make that possible.”

“No doubt.”

He sat beside her. “It was nice running with you this morning.”

“I enjoyed it.” The conflicting emotions in her eyes belied her words. He understood. They’d had a nice morning until he’d ruined it by wanting more from her than she was willing to give.

Wade was waiting in front of the park office when Pete arrived for his shift. Pete waved a greeting from his Mustang convertible before putting the top up and sliding out of it. He approached the door. “Morning, Detective.”

“How are things?”

“Good. I love warm mornings where I can ride with the top down. Makes me feel alive.”

“Maybe I should get a convertible.”

“You should.”

“I was hoping we could talk for a few minutes before you take off on patrol.”

“Sure. Give me a minute to get situated, and then I’ll be back out.”

Wade nodded.

It wasn’t long before the door swung open and Pete rejoined him. “Sorry about that. Want to walk and talk?”

Normally, Wade wouldn’t let the interviewee set the tone for the discussion, but he was a fellow law-enforcement officer, so he let it slide. “Why not?” He fell into step beside Pete and after they’d walked for a minute he spoke. “You didn’t mention in our last talk that you worked at the courthouse.”

“To be honest, it hadn’t occurred to me. I wasn’t there long.”

“Three months?”

“About that.”

“Did you know Judge Van Britton?”

“Only to nod as she entered or exited the building.”

“Do you remember seeing her leave work the night she disappeared?”

“Yes. It was late. It stuck with me because she never returned to work.”

“You didn’t spend time with her outside of the courthouse?”

“I didn’t. No.”

“Were you aware she and your mother were acquaintances?”

“Everyone knows my mother.”

Wade sensed resentment but didn’t press the issue. It had to be difficult to live in the shadow of a powerful woman. To some extent, he could understand why the man distanced himself from his mom. It had nothing to do with his investigation, so he dropped it.

Wade stopped walking. “If you think of anything pertinent to the investigation, would you give me a call?”

“Sure thing.”

The interview was necessary, but it felt like another dead end. Pete Cunningham had no contact with any of the other victims as far as he could tell and the little contact he had with Mary Van Britton was to nod as she passed by. It was the same casual contact the judge had with most people.

Wade stared at the murder board trying to make sense of all the tangled leads. At first it appeared there wasn’t a single person or place that connected more than two of the victims. Now he had three viable suspects and his prime suspect, Lester Parsons, would soon be a free man if he didn’t find some concrete evidence. Everything he had now was circumstantial, and he would make bail on the drug charges the feds were holding him for.

He stared at Gary Swartz’ name on the board. As unlikely a suspect as the man seemed, he was connected to four of the victims, so Wade couldn’t ignore the possibility he’d been wrong about Parsons. The man was a criminal, but maybe he wasn’t a murderer. He looked at a photograph of the man out on Harvey Lake. A resident took the picture from a distance. It was grainy, but it sure looked like he was dumping something into the lake. They’d found his girlfriend's body in the park though, not in the lake. Maybe he’d ditched the murder weapon in the lake. The size of the object he was dumping was too large to fit that theory. Besides, their forensic anthropologist said the murder weapon was the same with each victim. The killer didn’t dump his weapon. He kept it so he could relive his first kill with each additional victim.

The station door opened, and he grinned at Jamie. “How was the honeymoon?”

“Amazing.” She practically skipped her way into the room. The vacation had clearly done her good. “What on earth did you do to my murder board?”

“Added suspects.”

“Wow. You’ve been busy.” She placed her hands on her hips. “If Parsons is in custody, what’s all this about?”

“We don’t have anything concrete on him.” He massaged his temples. “He might not be our guy.”

“That’s disappointing. I want to see that loser rot.”

“Even if he didn’t do it?”

“He did something.”

“That may be true, but we need to get a serial killer off the streets.”

She traced a finger over the lines leading to Gary Swartz. “What about this guy? What’s your gut say about him?”

“I don’t put much stock in gut reactions. If I did, I would’ve stopped investigating once we locked up Parsons.”

“Humor me,” she said.

“I think he’s a good guy. Someone might be setting him up by going after women he knows, or he could simply run in the same circles as our killer. Either way, he’s a link we need to explore.”

“Didn’t you mention wanting to check out a security guard who worked for the courthouse?”

“That was a bust.” He frowned. “Turns out it’s one of the park rangers, Pete Cunningham. He worked there part-time for a few months and the only victim he would’ve had any contact with was the judge. I’d assumed he would’ve had contact with Genevieve Adams since she was a lawyer, but I can’t find any record of them crossing paths.”

“What do you think of him?” she asked.

“He’s full of himself.” He grinned. “Must come from being a senator’s son.”

“He’s a senator’s son? Do tell.”

“John Cunningham was in here last week asking for updates for his aunt, Senator Martin. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t simply ask Pete,” he said.

“Now that’s interesting. I never would’ve guessed that slick politician was related to Ranger Pete.”

He chuckled. “I’ll bet she wasn’t happy when he became a park ranger instead of a doctor, lawyer, or politician.”

She chuckled. “Or all of the above. She seems like an overachiever. Where do we go from here? We have a tangled web of suspects, but none of them seem to fit the crime.”

“Exactly.” He pulled out a notebook. “I’m going to do some more research on Swartz. Maybe I’ll find another thread to follow.”

“I’ll take the victim angle and research Genevieve Adams’ life again to see if I can find any other commonalities between her and the others.” She opened a file folder and started reading.

Excitement buzzed through the man as he stared at a picture of his next girlfriend. He’d pick Emily up on Friday and they would keep each other company for a full week. Then he’d arrange for her knight-in-shining-armor to find her remains. Everything would go smoothly. Easy peasey.

That Brunner guy believed keeping her in his fortress of a house would protect her, but he’d soon learn it was impossible to shield anyone from danger twenty-four hours a day.