Conduit (21 page)

Lionel examined the windshield of
Stephanie Price’s car. Cracks spread out from the point of impact, and blood
and matter adhered to the glass. “This is definitely from something hitting the
windshield from the outside,” Lionel said to no one in particular. He followed
the blood down the hood to the fender, where the road kill first hit the car.

Shawn turned to Bill Evans, the supervisor of the crime
scene unit that had investigated the crime scenes for each of the murders. “What
hit her car?” he asked.

“Opossum,” Bill said. He scratched his balding head with the
end of his pen. “It’s over in the ditch on the other side of the road. According
to the blood trail, it hit near the top of the fender at just the right angle
and speed that it bounced up and crashed into the windshield, flew off the car,
and bounced into the opposite lane. Then it looks like someone kicked it or
slid it off the road. Are you sure this is our guy? There could be a dozen
different scenarios for whatever happened.”

“Better to investigate and be wrong than to have the
opposite outcome,” Shawn said.

Lionel stepped back and watched one of the crime scene
investigators fingerprint the handle on the driver’s side door. With such a
meticulous killer, the chances of finding prints other than Stephanie’s were
slim, but they had to try.

He wandered toward the ditch on the opposite side of the
road. Harry Parker, a crime scene unit photographer, snapped photos of the
mutilated opossum carcass. When Lionel peered into the ditch, the smell of
decay overcame him. He covered his mouth and nose with his hand.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Harry asked. “Hard to believe this
thing has only been dead half a day.” He knelt down and snapped a few more
photos, before giving into the smell and stepping back. With a hand over his
nose, he added, “Smells a lot deader than that.”

Staring at the corpse of the opossum, Lionel said, “Harry,
you may be onto something.” He twisted and called out to Shawn to come over.

Shawn shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he
walked up to Lionel. “What’d you find?”

“Let’s get animal control out here to take care of this guy,”
Lionel said. “He smells way too dead and I have some questions for them. Make
sure they send a couple of their most seasoned people and a supervisor,
preferably someone high up. I want people who know what they’re talking about.”

Shawn knelt beside the opossum and pointed to the midsection,
which appeared flatter than the rest of the body. “Are those tire tracks?”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Lionel said, “but it’s hard to
tell in all the mess. If they are tire tracks, then there’s no way the opossum was
killed by Stephanie’s car.”

They moved in tandem back to Stephanie’s car. Shawn went to
the passenger side front tire, while Lionel inspected the driver’s side tire. No
blood or guts clung to the tread. He looked at Shawn, who shook his head.

Shawn walked over to Lionel, punching in numbers on his cell
phone. “If you hit an animal that’s already been run over, it won’t fly up and
hit your fender and windshield.”

“It sure wouldn’t,” Lionel said. “Your tires would just
smash it further into the ground. I’ve done it hundreds of times on these back
roads.”

“It’s Brandt,” Shawn said into his phone. “We need to get
animal control out to this crime scene as soon as possible.”

Lionel tuned out Shawn’s conversation and walked to the
ditch by Stephanie’s car. He ambled up the shoulder of the road, keeping his
eyes glued to the ditch. If their guy had thrown the opossum at Stephanie’s
car, he would have done so from this ditch so she wouldn’t have seen him. Not
far down from the car, a black tarp gripped the wire of a short fence. The
dirty tarp didn’t appear weathered like something exposed to the elements for a
long period of time.

He raced back to the car and flagged down Bill. “There’s a
black tarp in the ditch that needs to be collected. I think our guy waited on
it until her car passed. Let’s get a couple of people to walk this ditch, see
if there is an impression of his shoes, even if the tread isn’t visible. And
check the tarp for prints.”

“If someone was in there, we may just find something. The
rain has kept the ground nice and soft.”

“Have an officer tape off both lanes of the highway going
five miles in each direction, and I’ll get patrol out to redirect traffic. If
Stephanie was taken by another car, then he may have parked it off one of these
little farm roads. I want people looking for tire tracks, footprints, whatever
they can find that may indicate someone else was here with her last night.
Start with collecting that tarp.”

Bill gathered his team and barked out the new orders.

Lionel walked back to his unmarked patrol car. He planned on
sticking around in case Bill’s team found a footprint or something else they
could go on. He also wanted to talk with animal control so he could find out if
the opossum was run over, and if so, when approximately that had happened.

Harry was correct in stating the opossum smelled way too
dead. That could only be true if the road kill was already dead and relocated
to this spot for the sole purpose of stopping Stephanie Price’s car right where
her cell phone happened to have no service.

A deserted road, no cell service, a trusting girl, and
intuitive planning. All the ingredients a serial killer needed to take his next
victim. The elaborate scheme followed exactly what Cassie said about the killer
escalating his methods of taking women to get more of a thrill. They just had
to find this girl before she ended up on Perry’s autopsy table.

From the time Jake stuck his head
through her office door, Emily felt better than she had all day. When he
greeted her with a hug and kiss, the darkness retreated so far back in her mind
that she barely noticed it.

She expected Jake to bring fast food or some kind of
carryout for lunch. The lunch spread of blackened mahi-mahi, wild rice, and
steamed broccoli surprised her. He seemed pleased with her enjoyment of the meal.

“What do you have planned for the rest of your day off?”
Emily asked, as he packed their empty plates and silverware back into his bag.

“I don’t know,” Jake said. “I’ve not taken a day off in so
long that I wouldn’t know where to begin. Even when I moved here for the job, I
went to work the next day. It would be nice if you could take some time off
with me.”

Emily grinned. “I would love to, but I’m still so far behind.
Cassie’s been working half the nights away in the field, and I’m just trying to
catch up on paperwork from her investigations. I hate that I have to kick you
out when it feels like you just got here.”

“Don’t give it a second thought. What time are you getting
out of here?”

“Around six, but I planned on visiting Mom right after work,”
Emily said. She squirmed in her seat with the thought. “It shouldn’t take too
long.”

“With everything you told me about her, I know that’s got to
be hard. Do you want me to go with you for support? I won’t intrude when you go
into her room, but I can wait for you in the lobby.”

Emily wanted nothing more than for Jake to go with her, but
she worried about her own reaction to the visit. If her mom was in a good mood,
she would only insult Emily a little bit. If she was in a bad place, it could
get ugly very quick, and Emily might need time to decompress before seeing
Jake. She didn’t want him to see her out of sorts and emotionally exhausted.

“I appreciate the offer,” she said, “but I think it’s best
if I go alone this time. Maybe I’ll take you up on that when I go again in two
weeks.”

“It’s okay,” Jake said. “I completely understand. Why don’t
you just come over to my house once you’re done?”

Emily smiled at the compromise. “Perfect. By the way, you’ll
be happy to know I had seven interviews this morning and we have five more
scheduled for tomorrow morning.”

“I’m impressed,” Jake said. “Any early frontrunners?”

“Actually, there’s one girl from yesterday who I’m really
excited about. I think she’d be a great fit here. Her husband’s job transferred
them here from Austin, and she has quite the résumé. Cassie started the
background check on her yesterday, and if everything comes back good, then she’ll
start on Monday.”

“If you already plan on hiring her, then what are you going
to do with the others who are interviewing?”

“Cassie thinks it’s a good idea to hire two people, and keep
a list of good candidates for the future. The new contract with Heartland
Insurance is going to keep us far busier than we anticipated.”

Jake took her hand. “I’m really proud of you. You’re taking a
giant leap forward by interviewing potential new employees and letting people
into your life, when they may accidentally discover your secret.”

“I think you may have a little bit to do with that.”

“Only a little bit?”

Emily pinched her index finger and thumb together until they
almost touched. “Just a little, teeny, tiny bit.”

“I’ll accept whatever credit I can get,” he said, and pushed
himself up from the office chair. He grabbed onto the armrests of her chair and
leaned over for a kiss.

“I hope for both of your sakes that this is Jake.”

He broke the kiss and straightened up at Cassie’s voice.

Emily lifted her hand to her mouth and turned to Cassie. “What
are you doing sneaking in here?”

“I don’t sneak, I move with stealth,” Cassie said. She
thrust her hand toward Jake. “Cassie Reid.”

He accepted her hand. “Jake Hanley.”

“Finally,” Cassie said, glaring at Emily. “I was beginning
to think you weren’t real.”

“I’m not sure how to take that, but it’s nice to meet you,
too,” Jake said.

“You know how it is,” Cassie said. “If I act too excited to
meet you, you’ll think Emily talks about you all the time and that might scare
you off. If I don’t act excited enough, you’ll think she doesn’t like you at
all and that will scare you off. The perils of dating in today’s world.”

Jake chuckled. “It would take a lot more than that to scare
me off.”

Cassie’s eyebrows shot up. “That sounds like a challenge and
Emily knows how much I love a challenge.”

“Was there something you needed?” Emily asked Cassie.

“Yeah, Uncle Leo called. He has some more news for us.”

Emily’s mood deflated and the darkness, which had been
absent during her lunch with Jake, flooded her mind again. “That’s not good.”

Cassie rested her hand on the doorknob. “Never is. We can
talk about it in a little bit. Jake, it is very nice to meet you. Hope to see
you again soon.”

“Likewise,” Jake said. Cassie shut the door behind her, and
Jake picked up his bag. “It’s about the serial killer, isn’t it?”

Emily nodded. Now that Jake was leaving, the darkness threatened
to come out of the shadows of her mind. The same weakness she experienced at
her house when the last victim died crept through her limbs and teased the
edges of her stomach with nausea.

“You know I don’t like this at all,” Jake said.

“I promised I would only do minimal work on the case, and I
plan on keeping that promise.”

“You plan on it, but you’re not one to just do the bare
minimum.” Before Emily could respond, he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be on
you about this. I just want to make sure you’re out of harm’s way.”

Despite the gloomy fog in her mind, Emily forced a smile and
rose from her chair. “I know you do, and I appreciate it.” She gave him a goodbye
kiss, lingering to keep him around longer. She did not want to be alone, and
contemplated taking him up on his offer to spend the day together despite the
mountain of paperwork waiting for her.

“Call me when you’re on your way over tonight?” he asked.

“Of course,” Emily said. She let go of his hand and he left
her office. After her door shut, she collapsed back into the chair and covered her
forehead with her hand. A headache set in and she closed her eyes against the
suddenly bright lights in her office.

She regretted not leaving the office with him and not taking
him up on his offer to escort her to her mom’s assisted living facility. The
only one who could keep her mind clear, Jake protected her from the malevolent entity
calling to her from deep inside the darkness. She wouldn’t feel safe again
until later that evening, when his arms were wrapped around her.

Crying came in all forms.
Whimpering, blubbering, silent tears. Over the years, Lionel had sat through
every possible type of cry. As he had a thousand times before, he wished he had
ear plugs to protect his damaged ear drums.

As Stephanie Price’s roommate of over three years, Lindsay
Alcott had a lot of reasons to cry at the disappearance of her best friend. Lionel
did not fault her for that, but the hysterical crying had not stopped since she
stepped foot in the police station.

From the way Timmons warned him about her constant crying
while he and Aurelio interviewed her at her house, Lionel thought she would
have run out of tears by the time Shawn brought her back to the interview room.
In the sterile room with the two detectives, though, her tears renewed
themselves, first with the concern that she might be in trouble, then with
concern for her friend.

They didn’t consider for a second that Lindsay had anything
to do with Stephanie’s disappearance, but they needed to pull every bit of
information out of her. Having one of them focused on her comfort while the
other focused on what she could offer the investigation gave them the best
opportunity to learn something new. Because Lindsay appeared more drawn to
Shawn, walking closer to him and leaning in his direction, he took over the
role of comforter for this interview. He moved his chair over to Lindsay’s side
of the table, gave caring pats on her back and arm, and spoke only with a
soothing tone.

“I don’t know what more I can tell you that I didn’t already
tell the other two detectives,” Lindsay said through her shuddering tears. “I
told them everything I know.”

While Timmons and Aurelio had asked a large number of questions
during their interview, Lionel wanted to try to get more information from her
than just the basic overview she provided them. “Let’s start from the
beginning,” Lionel said. “Why did you call missing persons to file a report at
four o’clock in the morning? What made you think Stephanie was missing?”

“She never came home last night.”

“Where had she gone?” Lionel asked.

“She went into town to have dinner with her two sisters.
They always have dinner on Tuesday night until late.”

“What does ‘late’ mean?”

“The diner closes at eleven and she would head straight home
after that. She was never home later than twelve-thirty, even if she stopped
for gas on the way.”

“Do you know the name of the diner?” Shawn asked.

Lindsay rolled her squinted eyes toward the ceiling. “I don’t
know the name exactly. I mean, I do know it, but I can’t remember. It’s the one
by the train tracks in the west side of Wichita. It’s shaped like a train.”

“Burger Station?” Lionel asked. It was a popular greasy
spoon diner that he had been to with Barbara several times, despite not living
on that side of town.

Lindsay snapped her fingers. “That’s it.”

“How long has Stephanie been going to dinner with her
sisters on Tuesdays?” Shawn asked. “Is it always the same place?”

“They love Burger Station and that’s where they always go.
They’ve been meeting there on Tuesday nights for a couple years now, ever since
their dad passed away. It was the last place they had dinner together with
their dad, and it was the Tuesday night before he died. They turned that last
dinner into a tradition.”

She turned to Shawn, water spilling over from her eyes. “Their
mom died when they were little, so all they had left was their dad. Now they...only
have...each...other.” Large heaves divided her last words, and her tears
overcame her.

“It’s okay, Lindsay,” Shawn said, rubbing her forearm. “We’re
going to do everything we can to find her and we’ve already fast-tracked the
process. But it’s very important you tell us everything you can. Even the
smallest, most insignificant details can help.”

“When was the last time you spoke to her?” Lionel asked. He
already knew the answer to this, and many other questions, but wanted to test
her to see if there were any lies or missed information in her earlier stories.
Though he had no reason to doubt her story, he had listened to people lie about
far less with no apparent motive.

“We spoke last night on her way home. She always calls me
after she leaves the diner. We never finished our conversation because the call
dropped. There’s a place in her drive home where she has no service. I tell her
all the time to find a different way home, in case her car breaks down in the
dead zone, but she hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”

“That’s very smart thinking,” Shawn said.

“Did you try to reach her after she dropped the call?”
Lionel asked.

“I didn’t try for about ten minutes. It’s a big dead zone,
and she usually calls me once she’s through it. Last night she didn’t call me back,
so I tried to call her and it went straight to voicemail.”

“Did that seem unusual to you?” Lionel asked.

“No,” Lindsay said. “She always forgets her phone charger at
home, so I figured the phone just died.”

“What were you talking about last night?” Shawn asked.

“This guy she met at work. He asked her out, and she told
him yes, but she really doesn’t like him that much, at least not like that. She
didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so she said yes. She was worried that after
they went out, she would have a hard time telling him she didn’t want a second
date, and she wanted my advice.”

Lionel and Shawn exchanged a look. Someone so nice would
assume the best in everyone and be extremely trusting. She probably wouldn’t
turn down help from a stranger, even from a man on a deserted road in the
middle of the night.

“I said she should have just told him she didn’t want to go
out with him in the first place,” Lindsay continued, “but she was too worried
about his feelings. I think when they go out on their date Friday night she’ll
tell him she just wants to be friends.”

“And would she be?” Lionel asked. “Friends, that is.”

Lindsay bobbed her head up and down. “Oh, yeah. She won’t
lie to him about being friends just to get him off her back. She really will become
friends with him.”

“She sounds like a very sweet, trusting girl,” Shawn said.

“The nicest person,” Lindsay said.

“I take it she’s pretty trusting of everyone she meets?”
Lionel asked.

“Absolutely, and sometimes to a fault.” She looked at Shawn
again, as if they had some sort of bond and she could confide in him. “People
aren’t always so nice, and she gets hurt from time to time, but she never gives
up on people. If someone hurts her, she tries to take the high road and
befriend them. She believes in second chances for everyone.” Lindsay giggled and
shook her head. “Sometimes third chances, too.”

“You said that you were worried her car might break down in
the dead zone,” Lionel said. “Did she have AAA where she could call them if she
had car trouble?”

“Yes, but if she was in the dead zone, it wouldn’t do her
any good.”

“Hypothetically,” Lionel said, “if her car died in the dead
zone and she couldn’t call you or AAA, would she be the type of person to
accept help from a stranger?”

“I would advise against it,” Lindsay said, “but yes. She
wouldn’t think twice about it.”

Lionel stood up, prompting Shawn and Lindsay to do the same.
He held out his business card to Lindsay. “I really appreciate you coming in
today.”

Shawn also handed her his business card. “If you think of
anything else that might help, please call us and let us know.”

“I will,” Lindsay said, reading Shawn’s card. “Will you let
me know if you find anything?”

“Of course we will,” Lionel said. “Sergeant Brandt will show
you out.”

After Shawn led Lindsay out of the interview room, Lionel slumped
down into the chair and looked at his notes. He had no doubt that the killer had
Stephanie Price. He had found the perfect victim in her. None of the other women
would have fallen for this type of ruse, but she would have trusted anyone who
came by to help. If the killer could con her into getting in his car in the
middle of the night on a deserted road, he was more of a deadly chameleon than
they ever expected.