Page 6 of Killer Knows Best (Fallon Baxter FBI Mystery #4)

6

SPECIAL AGENT FALLON BAXTER

A pale face flashes on the screen, here in the situation room, before Hale zooms out and we see a body lying in disorganized angles at the base of a stairwell.

The woman is wearing a short dress, similar to those we saw tonight, and the hem is pulled up over her bottom revealing a purple G-string. Her eyes are wide open, yet vacant, and that grimace of hers is frozen in time.

Hale points at the screen. “Sharon Oak’s body was found bruised and broken in an abandoned warehouse staged to look like an accident. There’s an infinity symbol carved into her neck. She was likely strangled. She was twenty-six. Her family says they lost touch with her for a while. There was enough cocaine in her system to fuel a school bus across the country.”

The image of Sharon is quickly replaced by a brunette floating lifeless in a river, waterlogged and pale, with the same infinity mark carved just above her ankle. This woman, too, is wearing a short skirt, along with a top that sits above her mid-drift, and one of her high heels is missing from her foot.

“Found in the river,” Hale begins. “Staged as a drowning, but we know better, thanks to the coroner’s report. Same marking. ”

A pulse of icy dread trickles down my spine. “Whoever this is, they’re making sure their work stands out with that twisted signature.”

Jack grunts, “Why go through the trouble?”

“They want to get caught.” Nikki shrugs.

“No.” Jack shakes his head as he considers it. “They want credit. That’s ego. Ego never wants to get caught; it wants praise.”

“Nevertheless,” Hale says. “She’s still our Jane Doe. Sharon had a prior and was able to be ID’d through her fingerprints. Janie here had yet to be arrested, so we aren’t that lucky in the identification department.”

“Looks like she missed out on what could have been a lucky moment for her.” Nikki sheds a momentary grin before reaching for another slice and Buddy whimpers again until she breaks off a piece and tosses it his way.

He clearly understands the rules of manipulation.

“So, we don’t have any missing brunettes in the vicinity?” I ask while jotting down a few notes.

“Not one that fits this bill,” Hale sighs again. “Heroin was her drug of choice. By the time the body was discovered, the coroner thinks she was in the water for seventy-two hours at least. No water in her lungs, she was snuffed and dunked, just south at Old Bend.”

“Behind the railroad tracks,” Jack says while clicking away at the keyboard of his laptop. “That river goes on for miles. The southern part is no man’s land, all dirt and rocks. Makes me wonder if the body was moved. No offense, but she wasn’t exactly wearing the shoes for that part of town.”

“She was definitely moved,” I say. “And now we have two more bodies to add to our collection. A double homicide at a hotel with enough security cameras to outfit the Super Bowl. Our killer just took a step in a very bold, very dangerous direction. ”

The screen goes black before Hale puts up two more images side by side, our most recent tragedy.

“Delaney Riggs and Gwen Alderson,” he says. “CSI released the IDs. Delaney is the brunette on the left. Gwen is the blonde. They both had student IDs on them from Winston Grand University. Delaney was a junior; Gwen was a senior. Don’t ask me what they majored in. That’s for you to find out. Two bright college girls who should be cramming for midterms, not lying in a morgue.”

“I’m already on it,” Nikki mutters as her fingers fly across her keyboard.

Nikki worked in cybersecurity before she hit the FBI three years ago.

Jack was a detective before he dove into federal waters, and I left my job as a criminal analyst at a security firm to head to Quantico in hopes of one day tracking down my missing sister, Erin. She’s been as easy to find as a ghost. And the real kicker is, she doesn’t want to be found. But I push all thoughts of my feral little sister out of my mind for now.

“So what’s the connection?” Jack asks, leaning into his laptop so hard he’s practically kissing it. “Sharon and Jane were self-medicating, dressed to impressed for a night on the town. I’m guessing they need a cash infusion to sponsor their bad habits. Delaney and Gwen were dressed to impressed in a high-end hotel room no less, waiting for someone.” He ticks his head to the side. “They were most likely hookers.”

“You think?” Nikki says, deadpan. “I guess you cracked the code.”

“It does take a genius.” Jack winks her way.

“Are you calling yourself a genius?” I tease.

He chuckles. “I just call ’em like I see ’em.” He winks my way as well and I avert my eyes. “Sorry to say it, but prostitution is one hell of a dangerous profession. ”

Nikki chokes. “You’re saying they asked for it?”

“I’m saying they stepped into the deep end.” He nods to the screen where Delaney and Gwen lie splayed out before us. “Prostitutes are eighteen times more likely to be murdered than women in other professions.”

“Eighteen times?” Nikki looks oddly delighted by the fact as she holds back a laugh. “That’s an awfully specific number.”

“Statistics, honey,” Jack says, tapping away at his laptop. “You should look them up some time.”

Both Nikki and I explode with laughter. I’m not sure why but we needed the levity. And seeing that Jack decided to bring it, we weren’t about to refuse the offer.

“The families have been notified,” Hale says, scrolling through pictures from the crime scene taken from every angle. “The room was rented out to a man by the name of Rush Simmons. He’s the manager of a local metal band called Social Disorder. He’s already spoken to detectives and admitted to leasing the room for the night for a few of the band members. He did so by phone, never set foot on the property. He says he doesn’t know how the girls got a key or got in there. I have a feeling his story is about to change.”

“I’d like to be there when it does,” I say. “I’ll take that one.”

“I’ll take it with you,” Jack says. “I’m always up to watch someone squirm.”

Nikki nods. “I’ll have a full report on our college girls, majors, minors, boyfriends, friends, frenemies, and any extracurricular activities we might find exciting, right along with their schedules.”

Jack ticks his head to the side. “I have a feeling we know what those exciting extracurricular activities were.”

I nod. “And it confirms my theory. Extracurricular activities never end well.” I shrug over at him and Nikki. “I was never big on any scholastic bells and whistles.” She shrugs. “Okay, so I may have rung a few bells.”

“And on that note—” Hale taps at his laptop until the screens go blank behind him. “Sounds like you three have a full day ahead of you. Your job is to get as much info on the girls as you can. Dig in every direction. I want whoever did this in handcuffs before they even think of touching another woman. I do not want this body count to rise, you got it?” he growls as if we were personally responsible for the body count to begin with, and I suppose some would argue we are in some way.

“ Got it ,” we say in unison.

I glance at my watch. “It’s seven-thirty in the morning.” I shake my head at Jack. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

His dimples recess just a touch to give him that boyish appeal despite the dark scruff taking over his cheeks.

“It’s too early for justice.” He nods. “Let’s hit breakfast first.”

Pizza be darned. We take off to do just that.

And Buddy seems pretty happy about it, too.