No Ordinary Killer (27 page)

“Lord, I had no clue. But, Dallas, Dennis is no
killer. And we’re not even talking just a killer … this is some gruesome shit
he’s doing. I can’t see him being capable of pulling this off. There has to be
some other explanation for all of this.”

“Well, I’m open to any suggestions. Right now Dennis
Sparks is my best bet. Anyone else you know that has a motive for sending you
off to prison?”

Cooper closed his eyes. Exhausted, frustrated, and
hurt; all were not conducive to clear thinking. “Maybe we need to have a talk
with Weaver.”

“Why?”

“Partners share just about everything. I can’t believe
Paul is completely unaware of the situation if Dennis is harboring that much
hostility toward me.”

“You have a point. I’ll have Bicsak look into it. He’s
been tailing Sparks since we started our IA investigation.”

“Why? What evidence did you find upfront that made you
suspect him?” Cooper leaned his forehead on the backsides of his hands while
gripping the steering wheel.

“We caught him in a lie.”

“A lie?”

“Small and huge at the same time. Bicsak had drinks
with Sparks and Weaver after our first team meeting. Weaver had offered to follow-up
with Megan on some questions the team had regarding sequestered items. Bicsak
brought it up he was curious how Megan will respond to knowing about the piece
of latex inside the body of one of the victims. Surprisingly, Sparks glibly
replied,
It wasn’t in the information she
was given. She’ll say she doesn’t know a thing about it.”

Bicsak said Sparks quickly recovered by rephrasing,
Unless she changes her story, since we’ve
already asked her about the latex.
”

“Well, I don’t think that one sentence proves Sparks
guilty of anything. Maybe they had asked her about the latex before.”

“The question and answer didn’t appear in any of the
notes we went over. One mistake leads to more. It’s only a matter of time
before all these little things will prove a pattern.”

Cooper switched on the ignition and squealed the
tires. “I’m sick of this whole—we need to find a phone. The first town we spot
we’ll pull into a gas station.”

“Okay, one mile to the next gas and food,” she said,
reading the sign.

“I had Gulchinski’s number in my iPhone, don’t have it
memorized.”

“I do.”

“Of course, silly me. Wonder Woman to the rescue.”

“Knock it off, Cooper. It was one of the first numbers
I got on this investigation. I have a memory for numbers, dates and all kinds
of information. It comes in handy, like now. We need to get a snapshot of the
case board and do some serious work.”

 
“No doubt
Maxwell and Arnott are on top of that one. They just might have the missing
pieces in place. I’ll bet Sparks is not a suspect.”

“Who is your suspect, Cooper? I’ve seen your jacket
and you have an uncanny ability to notice the most insignificant evidence and
break a case wide open. What is that missing clue we aren’t seeing here?”

“Distractions. No diversions.”

“Diversions? Expand, where are you going with this?”

“Think about it, Dallas. We’ve been on a roller
coaster ride. Started with my car, your motel, a bomb in the office and the
compromised evidence, run off the road, shot, kidnapped, nearly dinner for a
pack of wolves, almost blown up, and need I continue? We’ve been so busy being
led around by our noses that we haven’t had time to concentrate on the case in
front of us.”

“You’re right. I have all these facts from the cases
rattling around in my head, but I haven’t had a chance to sit down with a
moment’s peace and concentrate on it all. I never made it to the sketch artist
to describe the guy that broke into my B &B. We never made it back to your
place to look for your missing notebook.”

“What about that list of dates and murders I had Delores
working on? I wonder about the list of questions and answers Weaver and Sparks
were getting from Megan.”

“Good, Cooper. Now who do you know is capable of
manipulating us in this way?”

“That’s the key. We need just one fact that will
fracture just enough to expose the killer. One weakness will crack this case
wide open,” he said, flipping the turn signal and taking a right. He glanced
down at the gas gauge and slammed on the brakes in front of the pay phones.
“Damn it, we’re just about out of gas.”

“Well, I think we ought to park this thing and have
Gulchinski send a team to process it. Whoever those boys were, their family
needs to be notified. If we’re lucky, maybe it contains fingerprints that will
point us toward the killer.”

Cooper picked up the phone and dialed the precinct.

“Please insert four quarters or press one to make a
collect call.”

Cooper pressed
1
and waited. “You have a collect call from … please state your name.”

“Detective Josh Arnott with the Great Falls Police
Department,” he said.

“Will you accept the charges?”

 
“Badge number,
please?”

Cooper gave Dallas a helpless glance and was surprised
when she held up fingers for him. “Badge number 13980.”

“Yes, we will accept the charges.”

After several clicks, Cooper said, “Please connect me
to Captain Vilas Gulchinski.”

“Is this an emergency, Detective Arnott?”

“Yes, this is an emergency.” Cooper tipped the phone
for Dallas to share. He smiled as she pressed her head into his.

“Where the hell have you two been?”

“We’re just fine, thank you, sir. And how did you know
it was us?”

“I’m looking through the window of my office and
staring at Arnott sitting at his desk. You mind telling me why you couldn’t say
your name?”

“Is your door closed, Captain?

“Yes, why?”

“We are playing dead, sir. Dallas has been shot—“

“Shot? What the hell happened? She okay?”

“I’m just fine … well, I’m okay, Captain. To make a
long story short, we were driven off the road, I was shot, Cooper was hit over
the head … I still think he needs stiches. We were drugged and taken to a cabin
out in the middle of nowhere, and then nearly blown up.”

“What the hell? You sure you didn’t forget anything?”

“Matter-of-fact,” Cooper said lightly, “she forgot to
mention the wolves that came close to eating us for dinner.” He laughed and she
jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

“I’m getting the eagle eye, so I think a few are
wondering if I’ve gotten in touch with you. What’s your plan?”

“Well, we have a truck that’s nearly out of gas at the
turn-off at Ulm. We’d like to have it processed. It belongs to a couple of guys
that … well they were supposed to kill us. Instead the cabin blew up when they
opened the front door. There’s nothing left of them. The guy that hired them
might have rigged it … we think he’s our killer.”

“Uhhhh so that’s why the decision to play dead. Have
to say I agree. Cooper, you know where my house is. Molly talked our son into
taking a few days off with her and they flew to Wisconsin to watch a Packer
game with her family. I was supposed to go, but this case is too involved. I
didn’t want to totally disappoint her. Anyway, find the birdhouse on a post,
there’s a key in a slot in the back. Let yourself in.”

“We have no cash, no phones, and no way to get there.”

“Well, aren’t you two the helpless pair. Pete and his
girlfriend are just out of school. I’ll ask him to drive down and pick you up.
He’s driving my old navy-blue Jeep. Stay on the low and climb in the back seat
preferably without witnesses. I’ll have Pete call me after the pickup, then
I’ll send a team to get that truck.”

“Thanks, Captain. We knew we could count on you. Do
one more thing for us. Have Arnott or Maxwell take several photos of the case
board for us to study. You might have them join us at the house later tonight,
if that’s okay with you.”

“I’m in agreement. Hang tight.”

“Thanks,” he said just before the dial tone.

 
“Who is Pete?”

“Captain’s youngest son who’s going to the University
of Missoula on a full-ride football scholarship next year. I’m surprised
Captain hasn’t bent your ear with that one.”

“He’s been a bit busy with this case or should I say
these cases. You don’t happen to have some change in your pocket do you? I
could seriously go for a granola bar.”

“If I had any change, I’d be getting a Snickers … hell
with the granola!” Cooper grabbed her hand. “Let’s move to the side of the
building so no one sees us waiting or getting into the Jeep. How is your
shoulder doing?”

“I’ll live. Not thrilled with the scar it’ll leave
though.”

“Maybe we should make a quick stop at the hospital and
get it looked at.”

“That’s not exactly low profile. I think we should see
if Gulchinski can arrange for a doctor to come to his house and treat us there.
You need that head looked at, too.”

“I’ll admit I have one hell of a headache. There’s the
jeep, he flashed the lights.”

“Good idea. That didn’t take him very long.”

“It’s only three miles, doesn’t take long.” Cooper
slipped his arm around Dallas’s back and pulled her against him. They remained
still as Pete stopped in front of the convenience store. His girlfriend jumped
out of the rig and headed inside. Pete spun off and turned around, stopping
next to them.

“You sure that’s Gulchinski’s son?”

“Yep.” He opened the passenger door and helped Dallas
into the seat and closed it quickly. He ran around the rig, opened the door,
jumped in and was leaning low beside her within seconds.

Cooper was impressed that Pete made no glance or
action that revealed he’d just picked up a passenger. Instead, he slowly drove
forward, then stopped and waited as his girlfriend ran toward them with a
couple of drinks, hotdogs and potato chips.

Pete leaned over and popped the door open for her. She
handed over the drinks and climbed into the rig. They kissed before he popped
the rig into first and they sped off.

“Nice job, guys. It looked so natural you would have
even fooled me. You didn’t by chance buy that food for us, did you? We haven’t
eaten in about two days.”

“Actually, dad told us what to do.”

“Captain Gulchinski is a genius. I’ll have to remember
to thank him. I could eat a horse,” Dallas said, adjusting her shoulder into a
more comfortable position.

“Hey, Cooper. This here is my girlfriend, Jamie
Winslow.”

“Hi, Jamie, nice to meet you. This here is my friend,
Dallas Fortune,” Cooper said, reaching for the hotdogs. “My God, these smell like
steak.” Dallas laughed and reached for hers.

“Didn’t know what you’d want, but we thought it would
look stupid to drive in and out without a reason. Dad wanted me to fill up the
tire with air, but I didn’t want to stick around that long. So Jamie came up
with the food idea.”

“Jamie, I like you already.” Cooper took a big bite
and moaned his pleasure.

She handed back the drinks and the bags of chips
without turning around. “You two look like crap. You want to come to my house
first? My mom is an emergency nurse at Deaconess East.”

“Good idea. The less attention we draw at the
Gulchinski house the better.” Cooper stuffed the last bit of hotdog into his
mouth. A quick glance at Dallas told him she’d fallen asleep already. He
reached over and took her half-eaten hotdog. He’d deal with her later.

* * *

 
Megan pushed
the send button and breathed a sigh of relief. No doubt Jessica would be
pleased. One more murder to go. Megan stared at the empty page, waiting to
begin the final brutal murder. She moved her fingers over the keyboard.

What possesses one to take
the life of another? To brutalize them and leave them as a clue of something
more sinister to uncover? More upsetting than the murders and the stories they
tell … the cops never get it right. It never means enough to them to make sure
the guilty man or woman is found.

He’d fallen in love with
Dianna Holmes when he was a senior in high school. Every boy wanted her. She
was sweet and friendly. She didn’t seem to notice that the guys couldn’t keep
their eyes off her firm, bouncy breasts. She was shy and innocent and that
alone was exciting to all the boys, including him. She went with her family to
church every Sunday. They sat two pews ahead of him and his mother. He’d stare
at Dianna the whole hour, and no one ever knew.

He wanted her. He wanted to
be her first and her last. He’d had a few girls by now and knew he liked
fucking. Not one of them meant anything to him. It was something to do …and it
felt good. He liked the game, the anticipation, the practice he got at getting
to first base, second base, third base, then finally the home run. Girls would
say no, and all the while they were saying yes with their body. He wanted them
to say no … he wanted them to fight him off … the struggle made the conquest even
sweeter. But in the end, they still gave it up. It was those few that wanted
more after the sex that annoyed him. They called and left him notes in his
locker. They wanted a relationship and he wanted nothing to do with them.