Derrick tapped his notepad with his pen. “Already working on it.”
Bryce’s cell phone buzzed on his hip, and he glanced at it. “Hold on, I’ve got to take this.”
“Let’s take five,” Derrick said.
The captain excused himself for a minute, and Deputy Landrum turned back to his computer.
As Derrick made a phone call, Ellie remained silent, watching Bryce.
Just like him to storm in, assert himself, then expect everyone to wait on him. He stepped to the doorway and spoke in a hushed tone, his body tensing. When he glanced up at Ellie, his eyes flickered with wariness.
Ellie’s pulse jumped. Something was wrong.
A second later, Bryce hung up and stepped back into the room. “The protest at the courtroom turned violent. I have to go.”
Remembering the scene she’d witnessed on her way to the station, Ellie stood quickly. “Is my father all right?”
Bryce shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But I’ll keep you posted.”
“Maybe I should go,” Ellie murmured.
He shook his head. “No, stay away. You’ll only make things worse.”
Thirty-Four
Derrick struggled to control his temper at Bryce’s callous remark. He’d seen those damn protestors and understood their anger. God knows he detested Randall Reeves himself.
But group mentality could be dangerous––it was best that Ellie stayed away.
Captain Hale loped back in, and as everyone convened again, Ellie gestured to the whiteboard, indicating where the victims’ remains were found.
“Special Agent Fox, what can you tell us about the killer from the information we have so far?”
Admiration for Ellie’s ability to focus on the case stirred inside him, and he forced himself into analytical mode. Derrick eyed the details on the whiteboard and the photos of the crime scene, disturbed by the images. He was tempted to say the bastard was FIH—fucked in the head. But that much was obvious.
“I would say that our unsub is a male––he appears to have a hatred for women, given the manner he is posing them and almost punishing them for what he perceives as their sins. I would guess he’s probably early to mid-thirties. There’s a level of sophistication about the crime scenes that suggests this man has been around the block. He’s highly organized, intelligent, and methodical, which could be reflected in his job. He carefully chooses the locations where he disposes of the bodies and is meticulous in the details of how he poses them. He could be choosing the victims randomly, spontaneously, although the rhyme and the potential meaning of the victims you’ve noted indicates he’s researched them. It’s possible he meets them in person or online somehow.” He exhaled. “We’ll be able to tell more once we dig deeper into the victims. Did Courtney have a business partner?”
Ellie glanced at the captain.
“Yes, but the partner is a she. So is her accountant.”
So that almost certainly ruled them out.
“We need the vics’ computers and cell phones,” Derrick said.
“I’ll call the Atlanta PD to go to Ms. Wooten’s residence and obtain them, then have them sent to the Bureau,” replied Captain Hale.
“I’ll check out Ms. Winter’s residence and canvass her neighbors,” said Ellie, before addressing Heath. “Pull together a list of all the members of the Ole Glory Church. Ask them to go back twenty-five years. Our killer could attend there now, or it’s possible that he attended as a child.”
Deputy Landrum nodded.
Captain Hale gestured to the clock. “I guess we should start considering places where he might leave Wednesday’s victim.”
Ellie paled, and Derrick knew what she was thinking. They wanted to find Deputy Eastwood alive, not to be looking for her body.
“Wednesday’s child is full of woe,” she said, thinking out loud.
Derrick squared his shoulders. “Perhaps the unsub plans to leave her at a place of mourning.”
“Possibly a cemetery,” Captain Hale suggested. “I’ll send my new deputies to stake out graveyards and churches with cemeteries.”
“I’ll call Ranger McClain and see if he has any ideas,” said Ellie.
Derrick stiffened at the mention of the ranger. He hadn’t liked McClain when he’d met him on the last case, certain he was hiding something.
The ranger clearly had a thing for Ellie, too. A tiny seed of some feeling he didn’t want to analyze gnawed at him, but he quickly dismissed it. It didn’t matter if they were involved.
All that mattered was stopping the Weekday Killer and finding the missing deputy.
Thirty-Five
Stony Gap
Snap, snap, snap. Vinny clicked his fingers. Snap, snap, snap. Over and over and over.
He always snapped them three times in a row when he was nervous or excited. Couldn’t help himself. Snap, snap, snap. Snap, snap, snap.
As the crowd outside the courthouse chanted and waved their homemade protest signs, Vinny moved into the shadows. He had the kind of face that went unnoticed. It used to bother him that he was bland and boring. That was when he took those damn stupid pills though. Not anymore.
When he flushed them down the toilet, he became another man. Full of life and energy and action. Nothing––and nobody––got in his way.
No more Skinny Minnie Whiny Vinny.
Snap, snap, snap.
Wheezing out a breath, he lifted his phone and took a picture of Vera and Randall Reeves as they slipped into their Lincoln town car. They couldn’t hide from what they’d done. The cameras were watching. Following. The crowds were chasing. The demons would get them one day.
Just like the old hag. She’d gotten what was coming. Now she was rotting, her bones turning to dust.
Her words chimed in his ears. No friends. No friends. No friends.
But she was wrong. He had a friend. The best kind. They would do anything for one another. Anything.
They would kill for each other.
Thirty-Six
Crooked Creek
Before Ellie could make the call to Cord, her phone buzzed. Hoping for a lead, she connected.
“Detective Reeves speaking.”
“It’s Melissa White,” the young woman cried. “Have you found Shondra?”
“Not yet, but we’re looking for her,” Ellie said in a calming tone. “Trust me. Shondra and I are friends. I want to find her as much as you do.”
“If you’re such good friends, why haven’t we met before?” Melissa asked, her voice accusatory.
Her jab struck home. “I don’t know,” Ellie said. “Shondra mentioned she had a girlfriend, but the last few weeks we were busy investigating the Ghost case.”
“That’s right,” she said in a shaky voice. “I’m s-sorry. I’m a mess. I… just can’t believe she’s missing.”
“Why don’t you come into the station and talk to my deputy? Maybe you’ll recall something you haven’t thought of before.”
“I can’t,” Melissa cried. “My mom isn’t doing well right now. I can’t leave her.”