Page 37

THIRTY-SIX

“What?”

Jenna hurried from the kitchen and went into her bedroom, pressing her phone to her ear. “Are you saying that this woman called in her own murder?”

“I guess she did.” Rowley’s footsteps echoed on tile as he walked into the morgue. “She called to say she’d been shot in the thigh by one of the three men she found camping in the forest during her usual morning run. At the time, no one was pursuing her. She had bandaged her leg and was trying to make it back to the trail. She gave her name and her approximate coordinates. I contacted the paramedics and Rio right away, and we headed for the forest. It took us forty minutes from the time the call was logged until we found her on the trail with her throat cut. We secured the scene, called out the forensics team, and searched the forest. We found the firepit but there was nothing there. We did locate the woman’s backpack. It was empty. So her phone and any other items she had with her are missing. In the phone call to Maggie, she mentioned she had driven to the parking lot, so the prisoners will likely be in a silver GMC. I’ll text you the plate number. Rio has notified everyone in the search and put out a BOLO. Like I said, I’m at the morgue to fill out the paperwork. Norrell and Emily have already processed the scene and collected evidence. I’ve uploaded a video onto the server.”

Shaking her head, Jenna stared at her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles ringed both eyes and she appeared pale and drawn. “Why didn’t you notify me the moment the call came in?”

“At the time we didn’t know it was a homicide.” Rowley cleared his throat. “If we’d known, we would have called you right away. It wasn’t until we found the body that we knew it was a homicide. We figured we were investigating a stray bullet. Rio did everything by the book. He figured, after you’d been out all night handling the other case, he’d take the lead in this one.”

The indignation of not being told about a murder dissipated as Rowley explained. Being so close to her confinement, the thought of leaving her team without a leader had concerned her, but now she had confidence her team could handle any situation in her absence. “It seems you have everything under control. I’ll be coming into the office. Styles, Raven, and Beth will be coming with me. Carter and Jo are staying at the ranch to ensure that Tauri is safe. Catch you later.” She heaved in a deep sigh and rubbed her belly. “I hope your daddy will be home soon.”

“Is something wrong?” Beth appeared in the doorway and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, we have another murder. This one is very strange. From what Rowley just told me, the victim called it in. We know she was attacked by three men.” She went on to explain the murder in detail.

“The prisoners?” Beth took a step inside Jenna’s bedroom. “So they must be camping in the forest just on the outskirts of town. It sounds like an opportunistic thrill kill. They haven’t been out long enough to have planned her murder.”

Tapping her bottom lip as she ran the scenario through her mind, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, I agree. It does point in that direction, the same as the alleyway murder. The problem is, what if there is a fourth serial killer in town totally unrelated to the prisoners? As both these women did these activities regularly at the same time, they’d make perfect targets.” Jenna pushed her hair behind one ear and leaned against the foot of the bed. “One thing about serial killers is that they come in every variety, and the escaped prisoners are a mixture. Only one of them is a stalker, Callahan, but he strangled and raped his victims. He would have taken his time to plan each murder and pick his target when he knows they are totally alone. It’s a safe and very deadly way of murdering someone.”

“Whereas an opportunistic thrill kill is dangerous because they run a greater risk of being caught.” Beth leaned casually against the nightstand. “Which leaves us Margos and Romero. Neither of them cut throats.”

“Who is cutting throats?” Jo walked into the room and looked from one to the other.

Beth brought her up to date. “We are hoping there isn’t a fourth serial killer in town. It’s possible. After all, this is Serial Killer Central.”

“These men have been locked up in prison for a very long time.” Jo folded her arms across her chest. “They have been exposed to other serial killers and every one of them loves to relive their kills by telling stories to each other. After so long, it wouldn’t be inconceivable to believe that they had changed their MO. They might not be able to change their fantasy because that seems to be part of them, the small thing that drives them to kill, but listening to others’ stories could create new fantasies.” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s not something I’ve studied in detail as there’s no data to study. We don’t release serial killers. The only one of note who escaped was Ted Bundy and his murders became more heinous and depraved as he escalated.”

Incredulous, Jenna stared at her. “Are you saying that after a long time in prison their triggers could change?”

“With these three, I would say most definitely because they all have fantasies about murdering women and they didn’t kill the prison guard right away. She must have been of some value to them, so raping her was fine but killing her was forbidden.” Jo met Jenna’s gaze. “Up to now, they’ve killed out of necessity.”

“I agree.” Beth shrugged. “Killing the men meant nothing to them. It didn’t give them a thrill. For them, taking those men’s lives was no more than swatting a fly. The three of them have problems with women, so perhaps they shared the recent kills. The biggest problem I can see is they’ve been blooded again and are now escalating.”

Needing to address every angle, Jenna paused a beat to consider the evidence. “I’m keeping an open mind on a fourth serial killer for now. We’ll need to contact the victims’ next of kin to find out if Elaine and Maya followed the same routine each day, but I agree with you, it sounds more like both women were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Jenna gathered her things and took her shoulder holster from a hook behind the door. Her M18 pistol was in a locked drawer beside her bed, and she collected it before waving them out of the room. She looked at Jo. “We’ll need to get into the office. I was going to ask you and Carter to stay here today to protect Tauri, but I need boots on the ground in town. If the prisoners are keeping to the forest, they’ll still need to eat and gather supplies. We have facial recognition programs available and believe they’re driving a silver GMC.”

“I’ll stay.” Beth paused in the passageway. “I can liaise with Kalo and we can keep the town under surveillance. I can work from your office and be on hand if anyone decides to drop by.”

Nodding, Jenna smiled at her. “I’ll contact the DOC command center and bring them up to speed. They’ll need to concentrate their search closer to town.”

“Don’t forget”—Beth walked backward into the kitchen—“serial killers are very good at slipping into society without being noticed. You could have one right beside you and not know. They’ll have changed their appearance, so be aware of their eyes. It’s one part of the body that’s the most difficult to disguise and these men wouldn’t have access to contact lenses or wigs.” She looked from one to the other. “After this long, they won’t look the same as their mug shots anyway. This was a well-planned escape, so assume they have beards and badly fitting clothes, and are dirty and smelling bad from living in the forest.”

The door to Nanny Raya’s apartment opened and Tauri bolted through. Jenna opened her arms to hug him. “There you are. Mommy’s going to work now. Do you want Duke with you again today?”

“Yes.” He looked shyly at Beth. “Is Aunty Beth staying today? She said she would teach me how to play games on the computer.”

Jenna raised both eyebrows. “Really?”

“The games require math skills and recognition.” Beth lifted her chin. “They switch on the parts of the brain that understand technology. The younger the better, but if you disapprove, I’ll understand.”

As Beth was an IT genius, Jenna wouldn’t miss the chance to have her tutor her son. She nodded in agreement. “I think that would be a great idea.” She looked at Tauri. “Beth has to work as well, so don’t be a pest.”

“I’ll be good.” Tauri grinned broadly.

“Don’t worry, we have a few things to do as well today.” Nanny Raya walked into the kitchen. “I’ll check in during the day, so you can be sure everything’s okay.”

Jenna’s phone chimed. She looked at the caller ID and smiled. “The guys are waiting outside for us.” She bent and kissed Tauri on the cheek and ruffled his hair. “I’ll see you later. Be a good boy.” She turned as Duke came toward her and rested his head against her leg. He obviously missed Kane. “Stay and look after Tauri for me.” Duke gave her his doggy smile and wagged his tail.

As Tauri disappeared through the connecting door with Duke on his heels, Jenna shrugged into her jacket, picked up her things, and headed for the door. She peered into the sky, searching for a helicopter. Apart from the murders, everything had been quiet on the home front. Perhaps Kane was keeping Souza busy. She sent up a silent prayer to keep him safe and climbed into the Beast. Let this be over. I need you here with me.