The Profilers (4 page)

Rene sat in her partner’s office on the opposite of his desk, eyeing him as he handed her a specialty coffee and blueberry muffin. She leaned over the desk and purposely taunted him. “Such a good boy, paying attention to your Mistress’ likes and dislikes. You would do well to continue doing so.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “I’d be willing to bet that you went home and masturbated while you thought about me choking you with that uptight black tie you wore yesterday. If you ever come without my permission again, I’ll beat your ass. Now would be the time to say,
yes ma’am
. After we do that, you can slip into your role of being my boss…
at work.
” She made certain to emphasize the
at work
aspect.

She chuckled as she noted him squirming in his seat, no doubt due to the hard cock he now had from the way she was reading him the riot act.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Such a good boy,” she crooned.

“You guys got a body,” their boss’ voice interrupted their interaction with one another.

“Our boy is escalating,” her partner noted.

“Not good, not good at all,” she replied. They jumped in the car and made their way to yet another unexplained death.

Agent Turner and Rene made their way down a backstreet that had been nicknamed blowjob alley by the locals for the antics that went on there night after night. The location, in and of itself, led him to believe that they were going to be dealing with the death of a hooker. No suburban housewife would be caught dead in this area of the west end, much less this particular alley. Eighteenth and Wilson was an area well known for being a stroll. This girl had clearly been working the night before.

In sync, both agents pulled back their jackets, revealing their badges to the officer on duty.

“I keep telling y’all that you don’t need to do that. Hey, Agent Murphy,” Officer Billy Bob McGee spoke to Rene, ignoring Agent Turner until he turned and scowled at him, feeling an emotion he wasn’t at all familiar with—jealousy.

“I told you no flirting at work, Agent Murphy,” Agent Turner barked out at her. She only smiled, well aware that his ire spurred from jealousy. She had no interest in the officer or any other man except for her boss and partner.

“Coroner didn’t make it today. He’s backed up with bodies,” the CSI agent informed them and then went back to work. “You know this guy is all over the map as far as the type of women he’s targeted to kill. The last one was a socialite and this one’s a hooker. It doesn’t get much more polar opposite than that.”

“Well, let’s focus on the things that the cases do have in common.”

“He fucking killed her! He did it. I know her pimp did this!” They all looked up to see Officer McGee restraining a woman who was trying to make her way past the police crime tape and over to the body.

Agent Turner got up and made his way towards the woman with Rene in tow. “You know the victim?” Agent Turner asked, pulling his notebook and pen from his jacket’s inside pocket.

“Yeah, I know her and I know that worthless bastard who killed her too. His name’s Reginald and the last time he beat her ass for nothing, he and his buddy raped her all night until she finally got away from them.”

“Do you know Reginald’s last name?”

“Nah, I don’t know his last name but he stays up around the corner,” she moved further out of the alley and pointed to a white house that could be seen from where they were standing. “They’re sitting out there right now and I don’t give a shit if you tell them I was the one who sent you. He needs to pay for killing that poor girl. She gotta baby.” Agent Turner watched as tears welled up in the woman’s eyes before she spoke again, “She
had
a baby.”

Agent Turner wasted no time catching his partner’s eye and nodding his head in the direction of the house the woman indicated. There were a couple of young men sitting on the porch, clearly watching what was going on, that the agent wanted to question.

As they approached, Agent Turner saw the men shove the joint they had been smoking down into a potted plant. They were waving their hands but it did nothing to clear the smell of weed still wafting through the air. Agent Turner was the first to speak, asking both men what they knew.

“Man, I don’t know nothin’ about that bitch dying.”

“You sound like you’re really torn up about it, Reginald.” Rene’s sarcasm was palpable.

“Damn, baby, now you look good. I ain’t never seen no po-po as fine as you are.”

“Hey! Eyes in this direction, buddy. We’re talking murder here and you were the last one to see that girl alive.”

“Hell nah I wasn’t. That bitch got in some white boy’s car when she ran off from me last night.”

“What kind of car?”

“Some top of the line black Cadillac.”

“Do you have a better description besides
white boy
?”

“Fuck, I don’t know, some white boy in a baseball cap. Had it pulled so far over his eyes I couldn’t get a good look at him. I figured he was a john and the bitch was making my money back she stole from me.” At that point, Reginald looked at his friend, “bitch tells you she’s going to work and don’t come back… that’s the same as stealing as far as I’m concerned.”

His friend just bobbed his head up and down, “Yep, that’s right, Reginald.”

Agent Turner flicked a business card between two fingers and held it out in Reginald’s direction. “Don’t go anywhere. I may have more questions.”

“Ain’t got nowhere to go.”

Agent Turner pulled the card away just as Reginald reached out to grab it and stared him down.

“I ain’t going nowhere, man.”

“The next time you address my partner, have the respect to address her as Agent Murphy.”

He stared and waited until Reginald said, “Will do,” before he let go of the card.

The two friends wasted no time, grabbing and relighting the joint they had been smoking, as the agents walked away.

“You’re not going to take him in for questioning?” Rene asked her partner.

“No, he didn’t kill her. An accidental killing if they had been in a fight, I could believe, but that dimwit having the skills to pull off organized serial kills is not even remotely feasible.”

“Yes, I can see what you’re saying. He doesn’t strike me as a mastermind criminal either.”

They both chuckled as they made their way back over to where the CSIs were loading up the body to take down to the coroner. “Let’s follow these boys down to the coroner’s office. I’ve got a few questions for Herb.”

“I’m sure he’ll be expecting you. You never can wait until he’s done with an examination.”

He turned and smiled at his new partner. “You’re learning me quick.”

“That’s because I care enough to study you,
David.
”

“Agent Turner at work!”

She just chuckled, obviously trying to get a rise out him.

“Oh, chill out and let’s go see what Herb has to say about this body.”

“Mr. Foster at work!”

She just laughed at him again as they got into the car to head back downtown. Hopefully the coroner wouldn’t give him too hard a time about his lack of patience.

Agent Turner circled the autopsy table, watching as the coroner patiently went through the examination of yet another victim of abuse. Wasn’t it enough that they had been subjected to abuse in their short lives? Did their deaths have to come in such a way that demanded they pay penance for not leaving their abusers? Whoever was doing this was clearly very angry that the women hadn’t had the strength to leave their tormentors.

“We have the signature plastic bag tied over her head with duct tape as well as the duct tape in an X pattern over her mouth. Our killer knows what he’s doing. He’s smart enough to not leave finger prints and I found traces of cornstarch.”

“Cornstarch?” Rene replied inquisitively.

Herb smiled as he looked up at her, “Yes, it replaced talc on gloves—less of an irritant.” He continued on another path of discovery, “There’s something else I’ve noticed but I didn’t want to say anything before I confirmed it. These last two victims have been tasered. Do you see these two prong marks on her neck?”

Both Rene and Agent Turner leaned down to get a closer look. Upon being that close, they both turned, looking at each other for a just a second too long, and each acknowledging that they felt the energy flowing between them. There was no doubt there was a mutual attraction but they would be careful not to let it interfere with their professionalism.

Herb’s voice broke through whatever private moment they were having. “Those marks are consistent with a taser.”

“Perhaps it’s his way to subdue the victim until he can finish her off.” Agent Turner murmured as if he were talking to himself.

“Yes, that’s something I’ve noticed about our guy. He doesn’t waste any time playing with the victims. There isn’t any evidence of sexual trauma. He doesn’t keep them, just kills them right away.”

“Yeah, it’s like he’s already passed judgment on them,” Rene noted.

“That’s what I think too,” the coroner said, taking a second to look up at her as he spoke. “He’s watched these girls and he’s already decided they aren’t going to accept help. He’s persecuting them for their sin of not speaking out against their abusers.”

“Hey, maybe you should be a profiler,” Rene teased.

“No, I do better getting justice for those with no voice.”

“Yes, and this unsub is going out of his way to let us know these victims no longer have a voice—duct tape and all.”