Page 15

FOURTEEN

Erin carried two cups of hot chocolate over to the coffee table. Kaely had started a fire in the massive fireplace. Although she’d seen many horrific scenes as a police officer in St. Louis, the savagery of the last body she’d witnessed in the woods had shaken her to her core. She tried to keep her hands steady but was pretty sure Kaely noticed her trembling fingers.

She sat down in the overstuffed leather chair next to the couch. “You said you were surprised by the third body they uncovered.”

Kaely nodded. “You know that serial killers are angry. But with an organized killer, that anger is usually displayed in certain ways. Posing the body in a way to humiliate the victim, removing their clothes... and there are other things. But the rage displayed in the last body we saw this afternoon...” She shook her head. “Normally, I would say that she was the main target, but I don’t believe that’s true. The way he posed the woman found this morning, the one you saw? He’s finally got it right. The other three bodies were failures. The savagery we saw on the third body? His anger was because he was frustrated with his lack of success.”

“That’s chilling,” Erin said.

“Yeah, it is. And my guess? He’s killed before this. Not in the same way. This is special. His mission. But many times, we find that serial killers have taken lives when they were young. People they knew and hated. Most of the time the deaths were made to look like accidents. Sometimes they’re caught, but many times they get away with it.”

“We should go over the photos,” Erin said. “I think it took him several tries to learn how to miss the ribs and hit the heart.”

Kaely nodded. “I tend to agree with you. Look, we came here so you could relax and we could talk. This isn’t exactly working out the way we’d planned.”

Erin was grateful that Kaely cared about her, but she was a little embarrassed that she’d reacted so strongly to the crime scene. She’d tried to hide it, but Kaely had noticed. This wasn’t her first body. Her first murder. Far from it. Why had the third buried body upset her so much?

“I’m fine. Really. I think it’s because of that... that night. As a police officer, I became hardened to most of it. But watching Scott die and seeing that little girl...”

“It’s personal now,” Kaely said gently. “It’s taken over your nightmares.”

“Yeah.”

Kaely’s voice held no hint of pity. She was just stating fact. Her understanding of Erin’s struggle was the reason she’d been able to share what she was going through with Kaely. No one else seemed to be able to help her. Strengthen her. Her close friends on the force hadn’t been able to give her what she needed. What she craved. Although several of them tried, to be honest, Erin felt that most of them were embarrassed by her emotional state. Many times, those in law enforcement were only able to face the job if they could build a wall around themselves. If the wall should ever crack, their world would crumble. Empathizing with her was too dangerous. It would make them vulnerable in a way they couldn’t handle. But Kaely was different. Erin was certain it was because she’d had to face her own demons and knew what it was like.

“Okay, so here’s the deal,” Kaely said. “We’ll talk about the case tonight, but tomorrow, we go into town and do some shopping. Then we come back here and talk about... other things.”

Erin felt a stab of fear that made it hard to breathe. “What... what are we shopping for? Food? We have a lot. More than we could possibly eat.”

Kaely’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, we might need a few things. Remember that Dr. Gibson said a snowstorm could be headed our way. But the shopping I’m talking about has nothing to do with necessary supplies. I noticed a lot of cute stores on my way in. We’re going shopping for fun.” She paused and stared at Erin a moment before saying, “I know you’ve had trouble getting out of your apartment, Erin. But you can’t lock yourself away forever. You know it’s not a reasonable fear, right?”

Erin took a deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. The words I can’t do that almost slipped out of her mouth. But then she remembered when she actually used to love spending an afternoon shopping for cute clothes or gifts for her friends. Now they were all gone. She’d cut everyone out of her life. She really was alone. She didn’t even have any family left. Her parents were both dead, and her sister had disappeared years ago. She had no idea where she was. Maybe Kaely was right. Maybe trying to enjoy herself the way she used to would help.

“I’ll be with you,” Kaely said. “And anytime you want to come back here, we’ll leave. Okay?”

“All right,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “Some of those shops really did look interesting. I guess if I was able to get into a car and drive all the way here, I should be able to spend some time in Sanctuary.” She offered Kaely a small smile. “I still say you picked this place because of the name.”

Kaely laughed. “I wish I was that clever. When I called Steve for suggestions of places to stay in the area, he told me he’d recently bought and restored this cabin. It just happened to be in this town. I promise I had nothing to do with it.” She stood up. “Let me see what I can find us for supper. Then we’ll look at the photos. Can you put them on the TV so we can see them better?”

“I think so. I’ll work on it while you rustle up some grub.”

Kaely laughed. “The cowgirl in you coming out?”

“Well, we are in the wilderness.”

“At least we’re driving cars instead of riding horses. It’s getting really chilly out there. Hope this storm doesn’t knock out the electricity. Not sure even this fireplace can heat the whole place.”

“Steve told me there’s an automatic generator in case anything happens.”

“Suddenly, I love Steve,” Kaely said.

“Yeah, I’m growing fonder of him too. I just wish he’d told us before we arrived that a storm was on the way. We could have postponed our trip until things settled down.” Erin frowned. “You don’t need to know how to read people to see that Steve was acting a little weird about the cabin.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s too cold even for the ghost tonight.” Kaely stood up and turned around. “You know, I never thought of Steve like that. Believing something so silly, I mean.”

“I don’t know,” Erin said. “He spooked me.” At Kaely’s expression, she waved her hand dismissively. “I know you don’t believe it, but I’ve seen some strange things.”

“Okay, how’s this? I’ll protect you from ghosts if you get those photos from your phone onto the TV.”

Erin smiled at her. “Deal.”

While Kaely continued to rummage through the refrigerator, Erin set up the TV settings and cast the photos from her phone onto the screen. Now they could gaze at larger images of death. Not a very wholesome collection to view while eating supper—at least for some people. Except for the last body they’d viewed today, she found the photos very interesting.

As she clicked through them, she became so involved, she didn’t notice when Kaely came back into the room. When she spoke, Erin jumped.

“Sorry,” she said. “I find this fascinating.”

“It is. Maybe we should eat first before we go through them?”

Erin shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me, but if you want to, we can wait.”

Kaely shook her head. “I’m good. I agree with you that this UNSUB is really remarkable. He isn’t staying true to what I’d expect to see. The savagery of the body we saw this afternoon compared to the way he dressed the victim from this morning. Dressing her in white. Closing her eyes. The statue in her hands. That killing was careful. Controlled. So different.”

Kaely put a plate and utensils down in front of Erin. Blackened salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus. These premade meals were incredible. They smelled great.

Kaely was right. The bodies that were buried were handled differently than the one found in the woods this morning. They were assuming that his anger was because he was learning—but could there be something they were missing? To stop him, they’d need to understand something that was beyond reason. Something vicious and malevolent.