The Forgotten Page 13

  Jake snatched another piece of bacon. “We’ll find him, Loki.” He changed the subject on her. “Have you thought about what we’re going to tell Grace? We still haven’t told her about her mother or her real name.”

  “I was hoping we could wait until this is over before we told her. She’s happy right now, and I don’t want to add more pain to the trauma she’s been through.”

  “Have you thought about what you’re going to do with her when this is over?”

  Loki slammed a pan on the stove. “Why all the questions, Jake? Until we finish this, there’s no reason to think about the future. Neither Grace nor I may have one.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Loki started a pot of coffee while Karen set up the computer and printer. This group drank entirely too much coffee, but from the dark circles under their eyes, they needed it.

  She turned to watch Wilkes and Teresa still working on the map, looking at areas and putting dates beside them. A shiver went down her spine as she looked at all the red pins marking the places Rosetta had told them bodies of mutilated animals had been found. Bruiser came to sit beside her, his gaze following hers. He began to lick his back leg, and she knelt to knead his hip. She was glad he was there to help Dadron and Karen, but it was apparent the trek had caused him pain. “Sorry, fellow. Tomorrow you can sleep all day if you want.”

  Bruiser’s gaze went to the map, and he whined. Loki turned to look at the red pins stretched across half the country. When they’d found him along the highway, they’d assumed some passing motorist had hit him and drove on. The chill she’d felt earlier deepened, spreading from her spine down through her legs. It hadn’t been the smell of evil that had upset Bruiser the night the guy stopped by here. He’d recognized him.

  Loki rose and crossed to the table, picked up a red pin, and slammed it into position on the map. “We can add one here too. The damn bastard.”

  Jake came to stand beside her as she added the date they found Bruiser. “I want to hurt that guy.”

  “You’d better find him before I do,” Loki said.

  “We’re hooked up, and Rosetta is online,” Karen called from the table.

  “What have you got for us, Rosie?” Wilkes asked.

  Rosetta’s eyes seemed to blaze fire through the screen. “I can tell you you’ve got one weird, sicko son of a bitch that needs to burn in hell on your hands.”

  Jake coughed and covered his smile. “I see what you mean about the redhead.”

  Rosetta’s brows knitted together. “Have you been talking about me again, Brian?”

  “It was all good, honey.” His voice turned serious. “We’ve made sort of a map here of dates and areas. Anything jump out at you when you were putting this together?”

  “I matched the areas with reports of missing children.” A screen flashed behind her. “These three all went missing from areas where there was a high incidence of animal death, mostly cats and dogs and all of them family pets.” She turned slightly and pointed at the screen. “Gwendolyn Dillon, Penelope Gardina, and Donna Graves, the last victim identified.”

  Loki stared at the map on the wall and voiced the question she knew all of them were thinking. “Have you matched the other areas with missing children?”

  Rosetta hit a button, and a new screen popped up on the wall behind her. “One or more in every area during the time frame of the animal abuse.”

  “How about the third body we found here?” Teresa asked. “Anything from forensics on that?”

  “Forensics may not have anything yet, but I do.” She flipped another button, and a cute blonde with pigtails flashed on screen. “Six years ago, Isabella Grayson disappeared from a trailer park in Baton Rouge. I’ve ordered all the files and asked for a DNA comparison with the last victim.”

  “Isabella was the name of the wife before Grace,” Loki said. “I hate to ask her, but she could tell us if this is her.”

  “Let’s wait and see what the DNA produces first,” Jake said. “Can you check one more thing for us, Rosetta?”

  Rosetta winked at him from the screen. “At your service, handsome. All you have to do is ask.”

  “See if there’s any type of business relevant to all these places. A free clinic, some factory, or any type of place he could work.”

  “Brains and good looks. Be back in a few.”

  The screen went black, and the group turned to look at the wall map filled with red pins. “There’s over twenty pins there,” Karen whispered. “This bastard may have killed twenty children.”

  “Or more,” Loki said. She shivered as the grandfather clock in the living room struck noon. “I think we need to find a safe place to take Grace and the baby. Dadron and Jules could go with them.”

  Karen raised an eyebrow, and Loki ignored her. It isn’t fair to put the two of them in danger to save my life, or Wilkes’s life.

  Wilkes shoved another pin into the map and tagged it with a date. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Grace cradled Hope in her arms and stood in front of the bedroom window. The group in the kitchen hadn’t heard her come in, and she’d alternated between listening to them talking about sending her away and listening to the haunting sounds of Jules playing the flute near the barn. She didn’t want to go somewhere else. She wanted to stay here forever.

  Isabella drifted out of the shadows in the corner and came to stand beside her. “Mother’s coming back, isn’t she?” Grace whispered.

  Isabella nodded solemnly.

  “And Husband?”

  Isabella nodded again.

  Grace waved toward the kitchen. “Can they stop them?” A tremor ran through her body as Isabella turned and disappeared. She hadn’t answered, but Grace knew what the answer was. She looked at the bow and quiver. She could protect herself, and she wasn’t leaving. If they tried to make her leave, she’d run away to the cabin. Jules would help her, and maybe Dadron. “I’ll start practicing again in the morning, Hope. When Husband comes, I’ll kill him myself.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The air was crisp but not freezing, and Loki made her way around the back of the house to the front, her eyes searching the forest and terrain. She could see Jake in the distance with Bruiser trotting along beside him. Jake had refused to stop his evening strolls but at least had agreed not to stray too far from the house. She knew what he was doing and why he took Bruiser with him. If the guy was anywhere near, or had been anywhere near, Bruiser would smell him.

  The sound of soulful flute music drifted on the wind, and she turned to look at Jules seated near the barn, his eyes closed as he played. Dadron, like Jake, was somewhere in the forest, looking for signs someone had been there. She was surrounded by people who loved her, and she should feel safe, but she didn’t. The spirits were restless. She couldn’t hear the words, but she’d heard the whispers in the house. It was no longer inhabited by just Grandpa. She’d felt their presence and their agitation. I wonder if Grace hears them. If she could talk to them, see what they know, maybe we could get ahead of this guy and be ready for him.

  Jake drew nearer, and she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at him. “Bruiser’s getting better.”

  “Everything okay in the house?”

  “As good as it can be at the moment.”

  “Where’s Grace?”

  “She went to lie down with the baby. They’re both asleep.”

  They watched as Bruiser trotted past them and went to lie down beside Jules. “If we can’t get Wilkes to put her into witness protection, how are we going to keep her safe, Jake?”

  Jake nodded at Dadron emerging from the forest. “We’ll take turns doing surveillance. Stick close to the house and keep her inside. With Wilkes and his team here so much, we had to remove the bear traps. Too much of a chance one of them might step in one.”

  “Wilkes thinks the guy might back off because of shooting Karen and the helicopter. In that case, it could be days, weeks, months, or even yea
rs before he comes back.”

  “What do you think?”

  Loki turned to look at Bruiser, now in a playful tug of war with Jules and Dadron. “I think he’s here, somewhere close, watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity.”

  Jake hefted the rifle in his hands. “He’s not going to get that close, Loki.”

  Loki stared into the shadows, her heart heavy. This man had killed so many innocent young children. They had to stop him, no matter what the cost. “I’m going to call it a night. I’m pretty sure Wilkes and his group will show up again at the crack of dawn.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Her prediction turned out to be correct, and they’d barely finished breakfast and cleared the table when Wilkes arrived alone.

  “Where’s Teresa and Karen?”

  “On their way to Alabama. Police found a body there this morning of a young girl who went missing the night before. The couple near the house where the body was found were gone when they went back to question them again.”

  “You think it’s our guy?” Jake asked.

  “I think it’s him, and his mother.” He ran a hand through his thick black hair. “And I think we have two killers on our hands instead of one. The girl was beat to death.”

  “Like Isabella,” Loki said. “According to Grace, the woman she called Mother beat her to death.”

  Wilkes nodded. “And according to the pathologist, like the other victims we took from the creek bank, each of them suffered multiple fractures.” He opened the laptop. “Rosetta sent a text this morning. She’s got something for us.”

  “How is Karen?” Loki asked. “She should be resting, not traipsing around the country.”

  “I agree, but both those girls are headstrong.”

  He booted up the computer, typed in a few lines, and almost immediately Rosetta’s face filled the screen. “Good morning, lovely people.”

  “What have you got for us?” Wilkes asked.

  “Other than some female advice of make sure you get enough sleep so you’re not grouchy with your girlfriend in the mornings, this.” She pointed at the screen behind her. “There’s only one common denominator with all the sites, a nursing home within twenty-five miles of each. Most of them are advanced care units, similar to hospice, but the patients aren’t quite there yet.”

  “Can you send us a list with addresses?” Jake asked.

  Rosetta rolled her eyes and sighed. “On its way.”

  The computer pinged, and Wilkes loaded up a file. “Thanks, Rosie. I’ll call you later.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait,” Rosetta quipped before the screen went black.

  “I have a feeling you’re going to pay for that later.” Jake picked up the printer and set it on the table where Wilkes hooked it to the computer and hit Print.

  “Maybe it was coincidence both girls were sick and visited a free clinic before being taken,” Jake said. “They could have been visiting someone in one of these nursing homes.”

  “Or maybe it’s his mother,” Loki said. “He needs a place to watch her while he travels and places her in one of these.”

  “I’m more inclined to believe he’s working at them.” Wilkes stared at the report he’d printed. “Rosetta can check the one in Baton Rouge for us, and as soon as Nikolic and Vanderputt get back, we’ll check out the one in Alabama and New York.”

  Loki leaned her elbows on the table and sighed. “I hope we’re not up against the same thing we were at the clinics. Nursing homes have a large turnover in staff too.”

  “So what’s on the agenda for today?” Jake asked.

  Wilkes handed him a set of binoculars. “Today we’re going to do a lot of walking. I want to know where the best spots are to watch the house without being seen.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “Shit,” Karen exclaimed as the cab parked near the burned-out rubble of what was once a small house. Officers were strewn out around the immediate area and the small creek that ran along the edge of the property. “Do you think it’s him?”

  “Only one way to find out.” Teresa paid the cabby, opened her door, and climbed out. “How can it be so darn hot here when it’s cold in Mississippi?”

  Karen fanned her face in silent agreement. “See anyone who looks like the man in charge?”

  Teresa studied the officers, looking for the one who stood out above the rest, the one the other officers glanced at before they made a decision. A head turned her way and eyed the two of them. “There we go.”

  His gaze flicked over them, stopping for a moment at the high-heeled shoes sinking into the now muddy grass.

  Teresa kicked off her heels then held them in one hand as she pulled back her jacket, revealing her badge. “Special Agent Teresa Nikolic, and this is my partner, Agent Karen Vanderputt. Are you in charge?”

  “Sergeant Greg Almond. What can I do for you?”

  Karen groaned inwardly. Why do we always have to get the ones who hate the FBI?

  “Well, first of all you can shove the attitude, Sergeant. We’re not here to interfere with your case. We’re here to help if we can, gather information related to a serial killer, and move on. In fact, we have a plane waiting, so a little cooperation will go a long way in getting us”—Teresa emptied the water from her shoes—“out of your mud.”

  “You see that guy over there?” Almond nodded toward a tall gray-haired man screaming into a cell phone, standing outside the tape.

  Teresa nodded. “What about him?”

  “That’s the girl’s father, Tony Frances. He’s been on the phone since he got here. He’s called the governor, the chief, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t called the damn president by now. I can’t do my job for the freaking phone ringing every two minutes.” He nodded toward the rubble. “And I’ve got a dead officer.”

  “We were told one of your guys got a look at what we assume is the perp,” Teresa said.

  “Yeah, and he’s dead now. So forgive my shitty attitude, Agent, but what the hell can I do for you?”

  Karen glanced at the father, who was staring at them and moving as if to head their way. “We understand a young girl was killed here. Can you tell us how she died?”

  “Son of a bitch beat her to death.”

  “We believe the couple here are a mother-and-son team and have committed a string of murders across the country. We’ll stop in town and check the property records before we leave.”

  “Help yourself, but I’d make it quick.” He nodded toward Frances. “That bastard gets his hooks into you, you’ll be here for a month.”

  “The man lost his daughter, Sergeant. Perhaps a little compassion.” Teresa studied the neighborhood. “The nearest house is at least a mile away on both sides. Savior was right. This guy is a pro in more ways than one.”

  The father had finally managed to break free of the officer attempting to hold him back. Karen moved in toward Almond, blocking the man’s view, and nodded to Teresa, who slipped Almond a card. “If you find anything, or we can help in any way, give us a call.”

  Almond slipped the card inside his shirt pocket, his lips lifting in a tight smile. “Get off my mud.”

  “Yes, sir,” Teresa said.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Almond. We’ll be in touch if we have anything to offer,” Karen said.

  They walked fast, heading to where the cab was waiting for them. A shout sounded out behind them, and they quickened their pace. Only after they’d slammed the door and told the cab driver to make it quick did they glance back to see Mr. Frances screaming at Almond and jerking out his cell phone.

  “I have a feeling we’re going to be getting a call from the director,” Karen said.

  Teresa dialed Wilkes’s number. “He likes you more than he does me, so you can take it.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Wilkes shoved his phone in his pocket. “That was Nikolic. Definitely our guy. Rigged the house similar to the cabin on the creek, with grenades and kerosene. The officer who interviewed him the night before was killed in t
he explosion.”

  Jake gauged the distance between where he was standing and the farmhouse. The shooter would have to be one hell of a shot to hit something from here, but it could be done. So far they’d found at least five perfect spots for the killer to study them without them knowing it, and two of the spots showed signs of trampled weeds. The bastard had been watching them, and with a high-powered rifle, he could pick them off one by one. “So where do you think he’s headed now?”

  Wilkes started down the hill. “Here. We’ll take turns setting up surveillance around the farm, and I’ll have the helicopter do a once-over a couple of times a night. May not stop him, but it should at least make him a little nervous.”

  “We could leave. Stay somewhere in town. That would make it harder for him to get to us. Maybe he’d give up and decide killing Loki and Grace wasn’t worth the risk.”

  “He might, but you know what happens then, right?”

  Jake brushed past him and stomped down the hill. “Yeah, he builds another cabin and starts all over again.”

  Wilkes watched him go, following at a much slower pace. The government called it acceptable losses when a few died to protect the many. He wouldn’t make this choice for Jake. He’d made it far too many times in his own life. He pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” Rosetta chirped into the phone. “Miss me?”

  “More than you’ll ever know, Rosie. I wanted to let you know I love you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Robert paced the small space between the bed and the television as he flipped through news channels. He hated motels, but until he found a house they could hole up in, it was the best he could do. At least no pictures of him were on the news, but a lot of other things were. Frances had offered a hundred-thousand-dollar reward to anyone who could provide information that led to the arrest of his daughter’s killer. Cheap bastard but a smart man to make it contingent upon an arrest. With all the money he had, he could have offered a million dollars. Robert had to chuckle a little as the newsman interviewed people around the neighborhood who remembered seeing a man and a woman. The descriptions were so far off that he and Mother had nothing to worry about.