Deadly Obsession (8 page)

“Okay.” After putting on disposable booties and gloves, Lilly tried to mentally prepare herself for the carnage, but it was impossible.

Trying to avoid looking directly at the victim’s face, Lilly scanned the woman’s naked, ashen body. “Have any of the women come back positive for drugs?”

“No,” Hailey said.

The woman had bruising around her jaw, but it wasn’t overkill so Lilly guessed the killer had punched her, maybe in an effort to stun her into submission.

Lilly glanced at the pile of shredded clothes and shoes marked as evidence. Bending down, she picked up one of the tennis shoes. “This is just a guess, but since there are no scuff marks on her shoes, I’d say he knocked her unconscious while she was outside, then carried her in. He’s strong enough to carry a grown woman, which really isn’t a surprise. This guy is getting cockier though. I’m not a profiler or anything, but if he’s getting ballsy enough to take her in the middle of the day, he’s going to screw up. Did he carve the lily into her back too?”

Hailey nodded.

“This is just a guess, but I think he’s going to get more violent. You said the killings have been about three months apart, right?” She glanced between Braden and Hailey.

“Until now,” Braden said.

“This is two women, two days in a row. Technically three women if we include my therapist. Something’s happened to make this guy change his MO.”

Braden swore softly under his breath. “You’re in town.”

Lilly hated to admit it, but that might be the very thing that had triggered this guy.

“I think you’re right about him carrying her, and I might have some good news,” Hailey interrupted. “I found two strands of hair.”

Lilly’s chest tightened at the coroner’s words and by the stunned expression on Braden’s face, she guessed he was fighting back excitement.

“I won’t know more until I drive the samples to Raleigh.”

“Drive?” Lilly frowned.

“We don’t have an independent crime lab here and I’m not risking this getting lost in the mail. Besides, one of the guys at DNA Security owes me. I might be able to get a rush on it. Don’t get too excited though, it doesn’t look like it’s from the root.”

“So it might be useless?” Braden asked.

Hailey shook her head. “Not necessarily. Even if the hair doesn’t contain root material, they can still analyze it using mitochondrial DNA as opposed to the nucleic DNA. The results won’t be as foolproof, but if we ever actually get a suspect in custody, we can still eliminate or include someone depending on—”

Braden held up a hand. “Okay, I don’t need the specifics. When are you leaving?”

“As soon as I log the body back at the morgue.”

“Detective Issacs will go with you.”

“I’m fully capable of—”

“I realize you are, but it’s not up for discussion. This guy is targeting people in my life and Lilly’s life. We might not know the connection yet, but I’m not taking any chance he goes after you.”

“Fine.” Hailey rolled her eyes, but by the relieved expression that crossed her face, Lilly could tell she didn’t really feel as brave as she let on.

As Lilly and Braden were leaving, Detective Bolinger was entering the building.

“Sorry, boss. There was a disturbance down at the pier. Some kids were harassing the tourists. I got here as soon as I could,” he said.

“Detective Isaacs and Hailey are inside. Keep this scene locked down and make sure you keep the body covered when putting it in the ambulance. I haven’t notified Mallory’s family yet so watch out for the media.”

Once they were in Braden’s truck, he finally spoke again. “I’ll drop you off at the station, then pick you up once I’ve notified the next of kin.”

“I’ll go with you. When I lost some of my teammates, I went to see their families later. It was hard but if you don’t want to go alone…” She shook her head, unable to finish. Against her better judgment, she placed a light hand on his arm. She couldn’t seem to help herself. He looked so lost and tired. She wished there was something she could do to comfort him but knew that was unlikely at the moment. Maybe going with him to notify Mallory’s family would ease his burden a little.

Under her touch, his muscles tensed but he didn’t pull away.

When she’d originally left Hudson Bay she’d questioned her decision too many times to count but in the past few years she’d forced memories of him from her mind. Now that she was sitting in the same vehicle with him and would soon be sharing a roof with him, she was questioning herself again. Maybe if she was honest about why she left he’d finally understand that it hadn’t been about him or their relationship.

No!
If she told him the real reason, he wouldn’t believe her and then she’d be stuck under his protection until she left town. She’d dealt with a lot of crap over the past year, but she couldn’t deal with rejection from Braden and the inevitable awkwardness that would follow. She had enough battles of her own to worry about.

After walking up the short set of stairs, Braden knocked twice on Eileen Spinoza’s townhouse. Fortunately they hadn’t had to drive far since Mallory’s mother lived downtown. He didn’t exactly like bringing Lilly to a death notification but he hoped her presence would assist in soothing Mallory’s mother. He didn’t have any other female officers free at the moment and from experience he knew having a female with him would help.

Seconds later the door swung open and the dark-haired, older woman immediately frowned. She placed a hand to her chest as she eyed them. “What’s going on?”

“Is anyone else home, ma’am?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Mrs. Spinoza, we’d like to talk to you about something, inside if possible.”

“Where’s my daughter? Has something happened?” She stood aside and let them enter, but her voice rose hysterically with each syllable.

As the door clicked shut behind them, she continued. “Has he done something to my baby? What has he done?”

Braden risked a quick glance at Lilly. “
Who
do you think has done something?”

“That rotten Walker fellow! Has he done something to my baby?”

“Ma’am, why don’t we go sit down?” Lilly placed a hand on the crook of Eileen’s elbow and to Braden’s surprise, the woman didn’t argue. She allowed herself to be led to the living room where she collapsed onto the love seat.

Braden wanted to tell her that her daughter was dead, but he didn’t want her to dissolve into tears and be unable to speak before they got more information. “Who is this Walker person you mentioned?”

“Daniel Walker, Mallory’s ex-boyfriend. She’s too old to be dating him anyway. He can’t be more than twenty-three. She said he was sexy and even though she won’t admit it I think she likes his dangerous image. She thinks she can change him,” she muttered.

“Why do you think he might have done something to Mallory?”

“He hit her once and she broke up with him. Ever since then he’s been harassing her. Phone calls, driving by her house, where she works.” Her dark eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between Lilly and Braden.

Braden knew she had questions but he needed this information. “When did they break up?”

“About a month ago. That’s when the calls started. Ever since he showed up at her place drunk and started banging on her door, she’s been sleeping over here almost five nights a week.”

“Did she file a restraining order?” He would have remembered seeing it, but he had to ask.

“No, she didn’t want to make him angrier. She hoped if she kept avoiding him, he’d get the picture and move on.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

“It’s not the best part of town. I think the yellow house on Cedar Street. Why can’t you just ask her?”

This never gets easier.
“Eileen, I’m sorry to tell you that Mallory has passed away.”

She shook her head, sending her dark hair swishing around her face. “You’re
wrong.
I just saw her this morning.”

“I’m sorry, Eileen. We found her this morning at her yoga studio.”

“I want to see her. Now!” She clutched the arm rest.

“That’s not possible…yet. Until we finish the autopsy—”

“Autopsy? What happened to her? What did he do to her?”

“Your daughter was murdered but until we close this investigation I can’t give you any more details. I promise that we’re going to look into every lead possible.” It felt so cold to just lay the facts bare but there was no other way to tell her.

Shrieking, she fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands. Before Braden could react, Lilly crouched on the floor and wrapped her arms around her. She whispered soothing, incomprehensible words until Eileen was softly crying instead of sobbing uncontrollably.

As he watched Lilly comfort the woman, he wanted to turn away, give them privacy, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from them. When Lilly had left him, he’d despised her. Overnight his world had been turned upside down and it had been easy to tell himself she’d just been using him. In his heart, he knew that wasn’t true. Watching her now only solidified that. Everything about her was kind and pure. Need burned low in his belly and more than anything, he wanted to wrap his arms around Lilly and ease the pain she must be in.

“Is there someone you want us to call? You shouldn’t be alone right now,” Lilly said.

“My daughter—other daughter—and my son. They live in the next county. I don’t know how I’m going to tell them their sister is—”

“I’ll do it. Do you have their numbers written down anywhere?” Lilly’s voice seemed to have a calming effect.

Eileen swiped at her tears and nodded. “On the fridge. Their names are Max and Aurora.”

“You just wait right here.” Lilly disappeared and Braden suddenly felt very inadequate.

From the other room, he could hear the low murmur of Lilly’s voice. He wasn’t great at the comforting thing. Never had been. He opened his mouth a couple times but anything he came up with seemed to fall pitifully short. He’d lost a lot of friends to violence, but the situation had been different. They’d been in a warzone. And telling this woman he knew how she felt wouldn’t help anything anyway. Hell, it’d probably upset her even more.

Still, he crouched down next to her and held her hand. A waterfall of tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn’t sob. Just quietly cried. Braden tightened his grip on her hand and allowed the anger that had been building inside him to course freely.

Two women—three counting Lilly’s therapist—all murdered so closely together. Whoever this guy was, he’d make a mistake. He had to. Striking in the middle of the day meant he was getting braver. Arrogant.

No matter what happened, Braden was going to bring this guy down.

“Thank you for what you did back there.” Braden kicked his truck into park a few houses down from the only yellow house on Cedar Street. After leaving Mrs. Spinoza’s, he’d immediately called the station and gotten an address on Daniel Walker. The guy had a long rap sheet, including past instances of domestic violence.

Lilly shrugged. “I have a little experience with it. Like I said, I…lost a couple friends in Africa and I went to see their families afterward. There’s not a lot you can do other than listen.”

“I know, but still, thank you.”

Her cheeks tinged a light shade of pink, but she didn’t respond.

Braden looked at his watch, then in the rearview mirror. “Where the hell is Perry?” he muttered. His detective should be here by now. Braden hadn’t wanted to waste time dropping Lilly off at the station when he could be picking up their first good suspect.

“Uh, Braden…” He followed Lilly’s nod.

A blond haired man wearing a brown hoodie and jeans had walked into the front yard and was smoking a cigarette. They were too far to make a positive ID, but compared to the picture Perry had sent to his phone, it looked like their guy.

“I’ve got my weapon if you don’t want to wait for backup,” Lilly said.

Braden pulled his gun out of its holster but didn’t make a move to get out. He wanted this guy but he couldn’t put Lilly’s life at risk. “How much training do you have, exactly?” After seeing the way she handled a weapon it was obvious she knew what she was doing but he needed more information.

“I have a Master’s in criminology, which you might already know. I have experience in prisoner handling, tactical evasive driving. I’ve been on numerous domestic and international anti-terrorism operations working with various joint task-forces involving the FBI, CIA and the DEA. Uh, I’m also trained in reconnaissance and surveillance, foreign weapons and communications, and I have current DOD top secret clearance. There’s more, but that’s the basics.”

The Department of Defense clearance was good but it was her mention of weapons experience and prisoner handling that convinced him. “Come on. We’re not waiting any longer. I’ll cross the street. You head down this side, cut across two or three houses down, then loop back in case he runs.”

He waited until Lilly had gotten out of the truck and was a few paces down the sidewalk before getting out. Keeping his weapon close to his side, he kept his pace casual as he crossed the street. Braden wasn’t wearing his uniform, but the chances of this guy knowing who he was were bigger than normal considering he was the sheriff.

A chain link fence surrounded the front yard. As Braden neared the yard, the younger man took notice. He straightened and tossed his cigarette. There was a look in his eyes that said he knew Braden was a cop and he was going to run.

Don’t run, don’t run.
Braden repeated the words over in his head, but it was no use. Before he’d reached the edge of the fence, the kid turned and sprinted across the yard.

Shit! He might not be guilty of murdering Mallory, but he was guilty of something. Braden tucked his gun into the back of his pants and took off. He grasped the top edge of the fence and propelled himself over. He jogged five days a week, but running outside in the middle of winter still sucked.

Just as he rounded the side of the house, he saw the guy jumping the fence into the next yard. He glanced over his shoulder before shoving the back gate open.

Braden’s leg muscles strained as he sprinted across the yard after him. As he followed him through the gate into another yard, Braden pulled his gun from his waistband. Slowing his pace, he edged along the side of the house. Once he reached the next street, he scanned the perimeter.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest and he looked both ways. It wasn’t a dead end street so the kid could have gone anywhere. A blur of movement to his right caught his eye. The guy jumped from behind an oak tree and sprinted down the sidewalk.

“Police! Freeze!” Braden shouted as he resumed the chase.

As the guy neared the next intersection Lilly appeared from behind one of the houses, gun drawn. Her weapon was pointed directly at their suspect and by her steady grip, it was obvious she knew how to use it.

“Don’t move!” she shouted with surprising force.

The guy nearly tripped, then swiveled around. When he saw Braden with his gun drawn too, he held up his hands.

“Keep your hands where I can see them!” Braden shouted.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Braden could see Lilly closing in on the other side.

The guy muttered something under his breath but kept his hands up. When Braden was within two feet of him, the kid lunged at him.

Letting his shoulder drop, Braden ducked down and out of range of the poorly planned punch. Before the guy could regroup Braden swiped his ankles and flattened him against the sidewalk. He pressed his knee into the guy’s back.

“You okay?” Lilly asked as he handcuffed him.

He nodded, but kept his focus on their suspect. “Assault on a police officer. One more thing I can add to your list of crimes.”

“I didn’t know you were a cop, man,” he muttered as Braden jerked him to his feet.

After patting him down, Braden pulled a large bag of what looked like marijuana out of his back pocket. Then he pulled his wallet from the other pocket. He passed the wallet to Lilly and held the bag in front of the guy’s face. “This looks like more than one and a half ounces. That’s a class one felony.”

“What the hell do you want with me?”

“Why don’t you tell me about your relationship with Mallory Spinoza?”

“Man, what did that bitch say? I broke up with her a month ago and she won’t leave me alone.”

“This is your guy,” Lilly said, flashing the ID in the wallet.

“Come on. You’re coming with us.” Braden wasn’t about to tell him about Mallory yet. He wanted him in their interrogation room and he wanted it on tape that Walker had been read his rights. And he really wanted his reaction when he told him Mallory was dead. In his gut Braden didn’t think this guy was solely responsible for the murders in the past year, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t involved. If he could get everything on tape, it would help with a jury trial later.

Crouching behind the Dumpster of the Japanese restaurant, he breathed through his mouth. After this morning, every nerve in his body felt alive. He’d never planned kills so close together before. It was exhilarating.

He’d always been so worried about planning—especially since he’d fucked up years ago and let one bitch escape. But that was all in the past and he’d changed his MO. If he wanted to kill someone every week or every day, he would.

No one was going to stop him.

He pressed his back against the brick wall when he heard the back door to the restaurant open. Someone grunted as they opened and closed the hatch to the Dumpster. Then he was alone again.

They wouldn’t be back outside for a while so he stood and stretched his legs. When he heard the door to the coffee shop next door opening, his entire body went on alert.

He peered around the Dumpster. His breath quickened when he saw Whitney.

She would be next.

She just didn’t know it yet.

A perfect blend of innocence and seduction. He couldn’t wait to taste her. In a small way, she reminded him of one of his first victims.
Kamiko.

Not in looks of course. Kamiko had been delicate, petite, and she’d had beautiful bronze skin. Whitney was tall and blonde with ivory skin thanks to a cold winter. Still, she was barely twenty-one. Just like Kamiko.

Everything about her was young and firm. She was ripe for the picking and he planned to enjoy every inch of her.

An unfamiliar male voice caused him to peek around the Dumpster again. A tall, lanky boy probably the same age as Whitney leaned against the wall smoking a cigarette with her.

The timing to take her wasn’t right anyway. He waited until they both went back inside before jogging toward the entrance of the alley. Her time would come soon enough.

He stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and fingered Mallory’s shredded panties. Of all the ones he’d taken, these were the plainest. Plain, white cotton. Maybe it was fitting that something so simple would be number ten in his collection.

Slowing his pace as he neared the end of the alley, he nearly stumbled when he saw a uniformed cop looking through the driver’s side window of the truck he’d stolen. Without pause, he veered to the left and kept walking down Main Street. With his hat pulled low, he doubted anyone would recognize him. No one was out in this cold weather anyway.