Confident in their realm of
thinking that he would strike next in an ‘A’ town; he fooled them
all by leaving an old lady to not see in the New Year. The call
Brad got was from Steve saying a body had been found in Naches,
Washington.
After talking to Steve and
telling him what he would do, and that sends Nancy on location
meeting up with the local authorities and the FBI office in both
Seattle and Yakima. His first impression, he told Steve was that
this was a diversion and his real sites were still the ‘A’ group of
towns. He hung up and called Nancy most likely spoiling her
holiday. Never mind, he thought, there was one person in Naches
that would never see the light of day again.
* * *
Senior killer John, he loved
the acronym, set his cruise control at fifty five. A cloud of
blowing snow was left in his wake as he made his way to the
Tri-Cities. It was New Year’s Eve and little traffic were on the
freeway headed east. He flashed back on his successful kill. He’d
selected his old man disguise with crutches. The trip down from
Wenatchee over the pass with lots of snow, but he didn’t mind as he
drove carefully in his four wheel drive SUV. Approaching Naches,
which is a very small down west of Yakima he’d remembered a
restaurant with a convenience store attached on the south side of
the highway. He’d also remembered a lot of locals hung out there
drinking coffee and shooting the breeze. He felt lucky that he
would find somebody unlucky to meet up with him.
Playing the role of an old
man on crutches he entered the café about noon. Heads turned but
rapidly turned back seeing just another old man of no interest to
them. Sitting in a booth was an old lady having lunch all by
herself. He noticed she was looking at him as he made his way
slowly towards her. He had his best grin on his face and twinkle in
his eye as he stopped and said, “Madam, I hate to eat alone and
would you be as kind as to let me join you on this nice
holiday?”
She made continuous eye
contact and said, “Surely, please sit down. Us old folks do get
lonely and we hate to eat alone, don’t you agree,” she said
politely, but in a croaky voice made from too many years of gossip
he thought. Well I’ll fix that he said to himself.
“I’d like a nice bowl of hot
soup like you’re having,” he said putting his crutches out of the
way against the window that looked out onto the gas station. Her
purse, like so many old ladies were sitting on top of the table
next to the salt and pepper shakers. He quickly made a plan to take
something from her purse as he would give her money to pay the bill
and hopefully leave her purse for him to take something and then
follow her home to return the dropped item. He hoped she lived
alone and with her eating alone on a day before a holiday, the
chances were good she did live alone.
He told her he was on his
way to Randle to visit his son and see his grandkids. She told him
her two girls lived in Yakima and they would come get her tomorrow
and spend the holiday at one of her girl’s houses. She had a car,
but only drove from her house to town and back. She’d lived in
Naches for over forty years. Her husband, long gone was a logger
and she told him she was thinking of moving into Yakima and live
with one of her children. John listened attentively and after a
half hour they were old friends that they both had loneliness in
common and grand kids to watch grow up. She sat there quietly while
he ate his soup and cheese sandwich. The young girl laid the check
on the table and he quickly grabbed it from her too slow reach. She
argued but not much as he reached for his wallet and took out some
money and said, “Would you be so kind as to take this money and pay
the bill?”
She said, “Of course. That
is the least I can do as it is probably difficult for you with your
crutches to make your way around.” She left leaving her purse on
the table. John looked around and nobody was looking his way. He
snatched it up and found inside a coin purse and stuck it in his
pocket. She came back and sat down and told him she would go home
now and it was sure nice visiting with him. She picked up her purse
and left the restaurant on her way too big coat to ward off the
below freezing temperature of the day. She got into an old car not
far from him and once she left slowly pulling onto the highway, he
moved like a cat to the door and into his SUV and followed her. She
wouldn’t notice anyone following her and so he kept fairly close to
her as she headed west out of town.
Her turn signal came on and
he slowed down and looked into his mirror seeing no one behind him.
An old house stood some two hundred yards off the road all by
itself. This is too good, he thought and too easy. He felt a
stirring between his legs and that totally confused him. Sex was
something he never felt the need for. But now as he felt the blood
engorge his penis something strange and different sent a message
from his twisted brain to his libido. He watched her go into the
house stopping on the porch to sweep off the snow from her boots.
He waited a few more minutes and then pulled into her driveway. A
fine snow was falling and he knew his tracks would be covered by
the time anyone discovered her body.
He pulled up next to her car
and took his time getting out. Under his driving gloves he had on a
pair of latex surgery gloves. His Marlin spike in its usual holster
on his pants leg and now he was so good he didn’t need the hammer
anymore. He’d learned just where the tip should be placed and then
a powerful upward thrust buried the spike in the soft
brain.
She opened the door with a
quizzical look on her face as he struggled around his car and up to
the three steps to the porch. He stopped on the top and stuck out
his hand with the coin purse telling her she dropped it at the
restaurant. He found it while getting his crutches and the young
girl at the restaurant that served them told him where he could
find her to return the item. A big smile came across her face and
she invited him in for a cup of coffee. He swept off the snow from
his shoes and followed her in closing the door behind him. He took
off his heavy coat and laid it on a chair in the small living room.
The house was typical of an old lady having lived in it for so many
years. Pictures hung on every available place be it a wall or a
coffee table and on the TV. He wasn’t interested as she invited him
to sit at the kitchen table while she made some instant coffee.
While the water was coming to a boil, she asked him what his plan
was for the coming year.
He said, “I expect to have a
very fruitful year and my plan is to make sure a balance is met.”
She had no idea what he was talking about as she poured the coffee
and brought it to the table. Then she looked him in the eye sitting
down and gave off a sigh of relief. He smiled at her and thanked
her for the nice hospitality.
She said, again looking him
in the eyes, “I know who you are Mr. Senior Killer. We have been
warned of you coming for days and weeks now. I suspected from the
moment you sat down at the restaurant. I’m a long ways from stupid
and having lived over seventy six years can see a fake when it is
right in front of me” At that she sipped her coffee and looked at
his unchanging face.
“Well, madam, you seem to be
living in a fantasy world like me. Now I can make it painless or
make you beg for a quick ending to your life.”
“Of course Mr. Killer, I
would prefer a quick end to a life of boredom and move on to meet
my husband and my parents. What do I have to do to make it a quick
ending?”
“Well my dear, I see you are
wearing dentures and I would like you to take them out and give me
some oral sex. I’ve had no sex for the last forty plus years, but
for some reason I need to feel some relief.”
“I didn’t do that even with
my husband, but in this day and age I understand oral sex is
common. I will do my best if you promise to make it
quick.”
“I promise to make it quick
as you know I have had a lot of practice this last year and before
I’m through, I will be an expert,” he said while standing up and
walking without crutches to the living room for a pillow that sat
on the old sofa for her knees. He slowly walked back as she stared
at him from her chair. He dropped the pillow on the floor and then
he took out his Marlin spike and laid it on the table to show her
he meant business. She, not without a struggle got to her knees as
he dropped his pants revealing his member to her. She’d only seen
one other in her life and that was her husband’s penis. This one
was long and skinny where as her husband’s was short and fat.
Curious she thought as she took him in her toothless
mouth.
For John it felt wonderful
and he picked up his spike in his right hand and while she was
pumping away, he held her head with his left hand. Lucky for her it
didn’t take long and as he was about to ejaculate, he pushed her
head to his member and she gagged as he thrust the spike into her
brain. The jaw did a clamp on his member as he let loose with his
sperm into her throat and mouth. He held her head while his member
turned soft and slowly let her sink to the floor. He took the
napkins on the table and wiped clean his member. Then he took a
kitchen towel and wiped his spike and returned it to its rightful
place. He picked up his driving gloves and left the
house.
By now he was half way to
the Tri-Cities where he thought he would treat himself to a night
at the Red Lion motel and then drive on up to Spokane where he
would get his SUV repainted and new tires put on. After that he
would make a full circle up to Arden and then on around through
Omak, then back to his snug little room in Wenatchee.
At the Round House with all
the team back after the first of the year, all were looking drawn
and frustrated at the news of another murder. Brad was filling them
on what Nancy had reported after she had viewed the scene and
followed up with an autopsy report from the pathologist and Chief
Medical Examiner. The new twist was the sexual aspect void of the
other killings. But the examiner verified the same type of wound
and the same results from the other killings. Why then did John
have sex when it was totally absent in all the other murders? Did
this have something to do with the trying to throw the
investigators off the trail? Why Naches, but the answer was fairly
clear that Naches was a link from Yelm to the east side via Morton
and Randle. The flower book reared its head with the mention of the
book by Billy.
Wendy spoke and told the
team that it wasn’t unusual for a serial killer to have sex with
their victims. However, in this case it was a little unusual to
change in the middle of what had been a pattern before. “We’re
dealing with a twisted mind and there is no way we can predict his
behavior in the future. I think he will hold fast to the ‘A’ plan
as that is firmly entrenched in his sick mind. From what Nancy
reported that the autopsy revealed no struggle on the victim’s
part, but it looked like she took part in the action. Why? Maybe he
promised a quick death if she agreed to the act. Now two things can
happen, one he liked it or two he feels sickened by the sex act. If
he likes it, then we can assume more females than males would be
his targets.”
Brad thanked her for her
report and then said, “Let’s put our plan together for the ‘A’
towns and hope our fishing expedition proves fruitful. First Mike
and his most significant one will take on Aberdeen and Wendy and
agent Jones Anacortes. Nancy has found two Koreans who will assume
the ownership of a convenience store in Arden. The FBI will place
in Arden and the other laundry stores high quality cameras for 24/7
coverage. Cameras will be placed in the cash registers at eye
level. Nothing is left to chance. And if you can suggest something,
make it so. Now let’s take a run on the beach and at first light we
will leave for Seattle.”
After an invigorating run in
the stormy weather the team sat around the floor table smacking
their lips on some homemade noodles and baked fish. The table
turned quiet and Brad thanked Mike’s girlfriend Julie Umber for
taking on a difficult assignment. Julie was forty, short and wiry
with a weathered look of wholesome living. Her hands gave off a
look of manual labor and her short hair made her look boyish. She
told agent Jones and Wendy she met Mike in San Diego while he was
still in the Navy. She was working in an all night restaurant where
he and his friends would come in late at night for coffee and
something to eat. The rest is history and we now have two kids and
a nice farm. “Why aren’t we married?” She said, “Well, we never got
around to it. Why spoil a good thing is what we both think at this
time in our lives. Maybe someday.” And she let that last statement
fades away.
Billy looked forward to
using the FBI’s forty eight foot communications trailer that he’d
heard about from their trip to Olympia before. Seattle was central
to either Aberdeen or Anacortes. Pretty much a toss ups either
direction; besides a helicopter was on the FBI office roof of 1110
Third Avenue, Seattle just for the teams use.
Brad knew it would be a long
wait and they rented a town house that accepted dogs after a hefty
damage deposit. Rocky was with them as Sandy stayed home waiting to
have her litter of pups.
Nancy met them in Boeing
field and drove them to the Seattle office. They were sitting in a
conference room after being thoroughly checked by security
especially after they found all of the team, except Julie packing
hand guns. Brad appreciated the tight security and told Nancy so
while everyone got settled into the conference room. Steve was
there and after the two hour meeting took the red eye back to
Washington after having dinner with the team.