Authors: R. E. Bradshaw
Rainey watched as the SUVs passed and drove directly through the gates, sirens still in full voice. Her heart had quickened at the sight of the big black vehicles approaching, lights flashing, announcing someone important was coming. She remembered being buckled in beside Danny, adrenaline pumping, brain racing through her mental encyclopedia of depraved behavior, piecing together what she knew, and anticipating what was to come. It was the career of which she dreamed, Special Agent Rainey Bell of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Behavioral Analyst Unit, the cream of the crop, the best—and worst years of her life.
She smiled at the colonel. “It was both the hardest and the easiest decision I ever made. I would never give up what I have now to return to the bureau.”
He smiled for the first time since they arrived on the site. “No, I don’t imagine that you would.”
Rainey heard doors slamming, and looked to see her former teammates exiting the vehicles. One very familiar body shape emerged from the back of the last SUV. Seeing only her silhouette, Rainey could still identify Melatiah Brooks. A broad smile crept across Rainey’s face, as Brooks turned and spotted her.
She began to walk quickly in Rainey’s direction, calling out loudly, “Rainey Bell, Brooks has taken flight and landed in your fair city for only one reason.”
Danny fell in step with Brooks. “She wouldn’t put the travel vouchers through unless I agreed to bring her.”
Rainey chuckled. “And what, pray tell, could pry you away from your computers, my friend?”
Brooks swept Rainey into a hug. “I had to come see those babies.” She pushed back and looked up at Rainey, who towered over the short, rotund woman. “And of course I had to come rescue you from these idiots. Did they really throw you in general population at the jail?”
“Why, yes they did,” Rainey said, looking over at Danny. His appearance always made her smile. No matter how he tried, he never quite looked comfortable with his tall, broad frame stuffed in a suit. His red wavy hair and freckles made him look as Irish as his name and younger than his forty-five years. She gave him a grin and said, “I hear I have you to thank for my shortened stay behind bars.”
Danny smiled and accepted the hug Rainey offered, as she stepped out of Brooks’s grasp. He patted her on the back and whispered in her ear, “We will talk when this is over. You know in your heart I would never betray you.”
Rainey leaned back and stared into the eyes of her oldest friend. She suddenly felt guilty at ever imagining he would do anything to harm her. She smiled and simply said, “I know.”
She released Danny, as all the members of the team had now gathered near. Rainey exchanged hugs and greeting with each one, and then turned to make the introductions. Wiley and Sheila, having heard the commotion of the team’s arrival, also joined the group.
“Captain Wiley Trainer, Sergeant Sheila Robertson, I think you’re familiar with the team.”
Wiley and Sheila extended their hands and exchanged handshakes, both having worked with the team in the past.
Rainey indicated the colonel, saying, “And this is Colonel Patrick Asher. His daughter, Bladen, was abducted by the UNSUB yesterday evening. He took classes at Quantico and is retired Army CID. He’s asked to be treated like an investigator, as much as possible. Colonel, this is Supervisory Special Agent Danny McNally, with whom you spoke on the phone.”
Danny shook the colonel’s hand. “We will do everything we can to find your daughter.”
“I’m sure you will,” Colonel Asher said.
Rainey went through the rest of the team for the colonel’s benefit, introducing Roger, the distinguished oldest member of the team; Paula, recently returned from a year away after the birth of her first child; James, the tech guru and surveillance specialist; Curtis, the handsome cherub-faced youngest member of the team; and the irreplaceable computer expert, Brooks.
Greetings complete, Danny cut right to the chase. “So, what did you find in there?”
Rainey’s smile faded. She focused her green eyes on Danny’s. “You’re going to want to call Quantico. The unit chief will want this documented from top to bottom.”
Paula spoke up. “How many bodies are we talking about?”
Sheila looked at her notes and answered. “There may be one body off site, his first victim. Rainey doesn’t think she’s in there. On this property, we found four bodies, one male and three females, in the car in the lake, and three heads in the trunk. Three full bodies at the Ridgway site. One, maybe two, it’s hard to tell, at the Kemper site. Two each at the Bundy, BTK, and Schaefer sites, one body is missing its head at the Bundy site, a complete body at the DeBardeleben site, and we are still looking. None of the bodies have been disturbed, awaiting your arrival.”
“That’s more than what was on the list of missing women you sent us,” Danny said. “And what do you mean by sites? Is there more than one area where he dumped bodies?”
Rainey pointed at the gate to the property. “He created a retrospective, a gallery, if you will, of the killers he studied. They’ll be teaching this one at Quantico for years to come. The information age has created the perfect storm of serial killer fantasy material and spawned a monster of epic proportions. Welcome to his horror show.”
“Okay, let’s go take a look,” Danny said, starting away. He turned back to Rainey, who had not moved. “Are you coming?”
Rainey shook her head. “No, I’ve seen enough. It’s your investigation now, but I would like to borrow Brooks for a moment.”
“You can keep me,” Brooks said. “I have no interest in seeing that freak show.”
“Don’t take her far,” Danny said. “We may need her.”
Brooks shouted after him. “I assure you, horrifying me will be counterproductive.”
“Speaking of production—” Rainey said, before Brooks interrupted her.
“I got your email and am sending you the newest satellite image now.” She pulled a tablet computer from the oversized bag slung over her shoulder and began rattling off information. She tapped the screen and moved to her next subject seamlessly. “I worked with the task force and narrowed the list of trucks down, but it still has hundreds of possible hits. This UNSUB would drive the most popular pickup truck in North Carolina. We broke the list into geographic areas and officers are locating these vehicles as we speak, starting with the ones closest to this location.” She looked up and smiled at Rainey. “And now that list is on your phone.”
Rainey felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and heard the “bing” of a message arriving in her inbox. Rainey turned and grinned at the colonel.
“See, I told you they could help,” she said, pulling out her phone to take a look at the list.
“I included a link to a map of the addresses where the trucks are registered, so you can get a visual on their locations,” Brooks said. “It will update automatically as the trucks are located and eliminated.”
Rainey winked at her. “You always know just what I need. Thank you, magic Brooks. Again, you have outdone yourself.”
“Whatever you need to catch this piece of shit.” Brooks was not one to mince words.
Curtis came jogging back to retrieve Brooks. “Hey, Danny said to come get you. We need you to run a VIN number and trace this vehicle’s ownership.”
Rainey gave Brooks another hug. “When this is over, you tell Danny you’re going to stay and hang out with me and the kids for a few days. The colonel and I are going to take a look at some of these vehicle locations nearby, while the team is tied up here at the site. Keep me informed.”
Brooks was walking away when she grinned and said, “I brought an extra bag and told my husband I’d be back when I got back.” She waved, adding, “You be careful, Rainey Bell.”
“Always, Brooks, always.” She turned to the colonel. “Let’s take a ride.”
The colonel was already in full stride toward his car. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Rainey caught up with him. “You know if we find this guy, you can’t shoot him until we know where he’s holding Bladen.”
The colonel kept his gaze forward. “And after?”
Rainey did not hesitate with her answer. “You do what you can live with, Patrick.”
His reply made her smile. “Hooah, Rainey Bell.”
#
He came in, flipped on the lights, and went straight to his desk in the corner, completely ignoring Bladen. He opened the laptop and began typing, bringing up several windows. Bladen hung there silently, watching as he opened live video feeds from what looked like a massive crime scene. Bladen could make out flashing lights and patrol cars. There were helicopter shots of other helicopters searching a wooded area. A police spokeswoman was holding a press conference in another window, while black SUVs, with dark windows and emergency lights flashing, cruised through the background. She caught a glance of someone that looked like her father, but Bladen was too far away from the screen to be sure.
Her captor threw his head back and filled the room with howls of laughter. When his self-satisfied celebration was over, he turned his attention to Bladen. His sinister smirk peeking from under his mask, he finally spoke to her.
“You would not believe the show going on out there. Lights as bright as day, flatbed trucks full of them, scattered all over the place. They had three helicopters searching at the same time. The dive team is out there and when I left, I passed more medical examiner vans driving in.”
He stood up and came toward her, his smirk turning into a grin. He reached out, slowly sliding one of his fingers from her navel up to her neck, where he seized her throat and gripped it tight, cutting off her air. As Bladen struggled, her foot slipped off the stake, leaving her suspended by her wrist, dropping her weight in his stranglehold. So pumped full of adrenaline from his perceived success, he showed no strain from holding her aloft with one hand as he spoke in an even tone.
“Your friend Rainey was there and guess what? The FBI did have time to come see my little outdoor museum, after all. Guess who else was there.”
Bladen hit him with her one free arm, tried prying his hand from her neck, kicked at him, but it was all to no avail. He continued to talk as if they were old friends.
“Hmm? No guesses? Well, I’ll tell you then. I saw your father. Surprised I know who he is, aren’t you? I saw him when he came to pick you up at the hospital, after you hurt your ankle last year.”
The room began to go dark again. Bladen stopped struggling, imagining this was either the end or another time when he would take her to the brink of death, just to bring her back. Whatever his plans were, Bladen decided the sooner it was over the better. She fought the panic and let her body go limp. He let go of her neck, lifted her in the air, and unhooked her wrist from the pipe in the ceiling. Bladen never actually passed out, but feigned unconsciousness, having learned that he only tortured her when she was awake enough to scream. He carried her into the bathroom and handcuffed one wrist to the shower wall.
He slapped her a few times, and then grabbed her chin, pulling her face close to his. “I know you can hear me. I need to go home for a while. I better not smell any shit and piss when I come back. And this shower will be spotless, or you will pay the price with the Pear.”
Bladen heard him throw something into the shower with her, but she kept her eyes closed and her body limp. She could hear him breathing, as he watched her for signs of awareness. When she gave him none, she fully expected him to inflict pain in order to draw a reaction. Instead, he abruptly left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Bladen remained motionless, until she heard the main door open and close in the outer room. Her eyes popped open with the sound of the dead bolts being thrown into place.
Bladen looked at the shower floor and saw he had tossed in a wire brush and a bottle of bleach. She then took a look at the handcuffs and realized her captor had just made a monumental mistake.
Rainey’s laptop was in her car, so she was thrilled when she slid into the colonel’s vehicle and saw one on the front seat.
“May I use your computer? The map will be easier to read on a wider screen.”
The colonel handed the laptop to Rainey, saying, “Sure. I was killing time looking at Google Earth images while you were inside there, familiarizing myself with the area. There are a lot of little crisscrossing roads running through here.”
Rainey placed her phone on the seat beside her and opened the laptop, talking as she worked. “I’m going to go through my phone and use my secured network. I’ll erase all trace of my having been on your computer, but I feel more comfortable knowing it would take someone like Brooks to hack my system, especially since she helped build it.”
“I take it that only looks like an ordinary phone,” the colonel said, watching Rainey and waiting for directions to begin their search.
“That would be correct.” She tapped a few more keys, and then turned the screen around, showing the colonel the map. “Voila! The newest satellite image with the trucks in the area indicated by these blue dots. If the dot is yellow, someone is looking into that one, and if it’s red, it’s already been cleared.”
The colonel studied the map, and then said, “I see at least twenty blue dots within a five mile radius of here.”
“Well, I guess we better get started.” Rainey turned the screen back toward her, searching the image for the nearest blue dot. She hovered the cursor over it, causing a box to pop open with the name and address of the truck owner. She clicked on the button labeled “Investigating,” which turned the dot yellow. She pointed out the windshield. “Head down this road, turn left at the stop sign.”
#
Bladen wedged the head of the wire brush behind the pipe to which she was handcuffed. She pulled with all her strength on the long wooden handle, finally managing to snap the brush, exposing some of the wire bristles so she could remove them. She collected four of the long, thin metal bristles and began to twine them together, creating one stiff wire bundle about the thickness of a large paperclip. Bladen worked the wire into the keyhole of the cuffs and bent it down, making a small right angle in the end. She pulled the wire out, and then with her teeth made a second bend going in the opposite direction.