Web of Secrets E-Book

D.F. Hart

• Herausgeber: 2 of Harts Publishing
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

So many to choose from…
Someone’s killing one college co-ed a month in North Texas.
A predator with exacting tastes uses technology to select his targets.
…So little time…
Detective Joe Wallace and BAU agent Nathan Thomas see his pattern – But they’re scrambling to figure out his selection methods.
How many victims will he add to his collection before he’s stopped?

Vital Secrets is a suspenseful crime thriller series chronicling FBI profiler Nathan Thomas and his team's cases, who capture serial killers while also juggling their personal and professional lives. While each suspenseful, riveting title in this series can be read as a standalone, readers will find maximum enjoyment if these full-length books are read in order - because while there are no cliffhangers, there is character growth over the series. If you enjoy the works of Elle Gray, Mary Burton, Lucinda Berry, Melinda Leigh and Pete Zacharias, the Vital Secrets series should make for a very enjoyable read!

Web of Secrets is perfect for readers who enjoy fast-paced, action-filled crime thriller novels that are brimming with unexpected twists and turns and feature FBI profilers.
 

Leseprobe

Web of Secrets

Book Three of the Vital Secrets Series

Table of Contents

Title Page

Web of Secrets: A Suspenseful Crime Thriller (Vital Secrets, #3)

The Vital Secrets Series

COPYRIGHT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

Buy Path of Secrets, Book Five of the Vital Secrets Series!

Sign up for D.F. Hart's Mailing List

D.F. Hart

The Vital Secrets Series

Wall of Secrets (prequel)

Book of Secrets

List of Secrets

Web of Secrets

Path of Secrets

Carnival of Secrets

House of Secrets

Visit 2ofharts.com to sign up for my newsletter and get a special bonus supplement to the series!

Follow me on:

BookBub

Facebook

Goodreads

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2020 by D.F. Hart

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020903380

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-7330-454-9-0

eBook 978-1-852008-00-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

––––––––

Custom Cover Design commissioned for D.F. Hart’s Vital Secrets Series by:

Rocking Book Covers

––––––––

Published 4/24/20 by 2 Of Harts Publishing

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my patient and supportive husband Rick, for whom I am thankful every day.

To my proofreader and sounding board, my mom, K.W. Branzell, who is one of my biggest cheerleaders.

To Mr. Adam Croft, whose mentorship, encouragement and sound advice is priceless.

To Anita, who keeps me grounded and cheers me on from the other side of the globe.

To Mr. Rob Keating, who is always willing to answer any questions I have about judicial procedure, even the dumb ones, with grace and humor.

And last but certainly not least, to my Hart’s Heroes reader team, whose support means more than you’ll ever, ever know.

Now, come take a journey with me.

Warm Regards,

D.F. Hart

PROLOGUE

People will say I’m crazy. Evil. All manner of things, I suppose.

But then, people always say bad things like that about great artists and men of vision.

I do not care. I do not listen to them.

I know my purpose, and once it’s fulfilled, I can go.

Twelve. There must be twelve. No more, no less, or the dream won’t be properly realized.

It might take some time. I know all too well the perfect twelve will have to be sought out.

I will know the twelve when I see them.

And I will make them mine.

CHAPTER ONE

After a long and gut-wrenching day of testimony in the Samantha Kennard trial, Detective Lizzie Zimmerman walked alongside Samantha’s ex-boyfriend, Donny Atherton, as they went for coffee. It had been almost a year since Samantha had been captured and her brother shot and killed, but for Donny, the pain was as fresh as if it had all happened yesterday.

Lizzie was trying her best to compartmentalize and not show it, but it felt fresh for her too. The man she’d been involved with, had fallen in love with, that she knew as Landon Kendal, had turned out to be Lenny Kennard, Samantha’s brother.

As they strolled down the sidewalk, neither had much to say. Both were still raw and reeling from their emotionally charged turns in the witness box.  Then Lizzie pointed ahead and slightly to the right. “I believe it’s just down there.”

A cheerful wave and a bubbly, “Hi there! Find a spot anywhere you like, I’ll be right over!” came to them from the waitress as they stepped over the threshold into Nana’s Café. Lizzie led the way to a booth, and not long after, the waitress came over with two menus.

“What can I get you folks to drink?” she asked.

“Coffee for me, please,” said Lizzie.

“Make it two,” Donny chimed in.

“I’ll be right back with those. You want some water too?”

Two nodding heads confirmed her supposition, and she left to go fulfill their drink order.

Lizzie glanced at the menu. “I know I need to eat something, but I’m not that hungry.”

“Man, I know that feeling,” Donny muttered. “I think I’m going to order the chicken fried steak anyway. If I have to force myself to eat something, it might as well be good old southern comfort food.”

“I know, right? There are things down here in Texas you just take for granted until you move away.”

Donny smiled for the first time since he took the witness stand. “Yep,” he told her. “Like Whataburger. And Blue Bell ice cream. Lord, I used to put away the Blue Bell. My mom used to get frustrated with me; I’d have gone through a half-gallon a day by myself, if she’d have let me.”

Lizzie laughed. “And sweet tea. Down here, it’s a given. Other places, your choices are unsweet, and, let’s see, unsweet and there’s the sugar packets.”

“Exactly!” he agreed. “And it never tastes the same when you do it yourself.”

“Nope.”

The waitress came back with their coffees and ice waters, and asked, “Okay, folks, do we know what we want to order?”

“I’d like the chicken fried steak, please,” Donny answered.

“I will too, but, no cream gravy for me, please,” Lizzie stated.

Donny looked at her. “You’re a native Texan and you don’t like cream gravy?”

“I know, I know,” Lizzie hunched her shoulders. “I’m weird like that. My dad used to tease me about it.”

“It’s not as uncommon as you think, hon,” the waitress interjected with a chuckle. “I’m not a big fan of it either.”

“See?” Lizzie was triumphant. “I’m not the only one.”

Donny’s grin was sheepish. “I stand corrected.”

“Well, my name’s Sherrie, and I will get this order in for you two. You want rolls before the meal or with the meal?”

Donny and Lizzie exchanged glances, then answered “before” in unison.

“You got it. I’ll be right back.” And Sherrie collected the menus and walked away. They’d barely had time to unfold their napkins when she returned with a basket of freshly baked cloverleaf rolls and some butter.

“Aw, man, those smell so good,” Donny closed his eyes for just a moment before helping himself to one. “Having to watch my bread intake was one of the hardest things for me when I was in training.”

“I personally couldn’t do it,” Lizzie told him as she spread butter on her roll. “I tried one of those diets once with no or low carbs. Was not a happy person to be around. My partner, Tank, gave me hell about it. ‘Damn, Zim, what are you thinkin’, girl, you know you’re cranky enough as it is’. Stuff like that,” Lizzie mimicked her detective partner David’s deep booming voice as she repeated his words. And she noticed how Donny’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

“What?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“Nothing,” Donny said. “That was just, well, hilarious. Little tiny thing like you throwing out this big huge deep voice suddenly.”

“Oh,” she replied, shifting in her seat, a grin coming to her lips. “I suppose that was a bit odd, huh?”

“But funny,” he agreed. “His first name is really Tank?”

“It’s a nickname I gave him,” she answered. “He’s this great big huge guy. We met at the Academy, and I mentioned he was built like a tank, and it stuck. But he gives it right back. Calls me ‘SWG’.”

“What’s that stand for?”

“Skinny white girl.”

“Nice,” Donny laughed.

Sherrie arrived at that moment and set their food in front of them. “Here you go, guys. Anything else you need?”

“I’m good,” Lizzie told her, then to Donny, “what about you?”

“All set here, thanks, Sherrie.”

“All right then. Enjoy. I’ll be back around in a while to check on you.”

They settled in to do just that, and in between bites, Donny and Lizzie chatted a bit, about normal things.

“So. Olympic skier. How’d you end up there, being from Texas?”

He laughed. “The first time my family took me skiing I was four, and I just took to it right away. I remember getting really mad they wouldn’t let me tackle the ‘grown-up’ slopes right off the bat. Over the next couple of trips my parents realized I loved it and was good at it, so, they made the commitment to get me up on skis as much as possible, but we couldn’t just pack up and relocate. With their jobs, that wasn’t an option. It was really interesting for a while, focusing so much on a sport I loved but living in a state without regular snowfall.”

“So how did you manage it?”

“Well, off-peak times you focus more on conditioning and strength training. A lot of it is driven by how good training conditions are. For example, if your primary on-snow training location gets record shortfalls in a season, you have to adjust.”

“Good to know.”

“How about you? You live in Seattle, right?”

“Yep. My mom moved me up there when I was twelve,” Lizzie answered, in a tone that let Donny know it was not a happy memory.

An awkward silence lingered for a time.

He cleared his throat. “So, um, back to the elephant in the room, I guess. We’ve testified. What now? Before today, the last time I was even in a courtroom I was on the jury on, well, you know. Samantha’s dad’s case.”

“We’ll need to check in with D.A. Rogers and make sure, but I think since we are done testifying, we’ll be able to go home, so long as we’re prepared to come back if we get recalled. That’s been my experience in a state or local case, anyway. Federal may be different, which is why I want to ask about it.”

She leaned forward slightly, making eye contact. “Donny, I want you to know, I totally get how hard today was for you. Not only having to testify but seeing her again. That was the first time since you found the list, right?”

Donny’s eyes clouded with pain. “Yes, it was. And I know today wasn’t easy on you either. I can see it all over your face.”

Lizzie sighed. “No. It wasn’t,” she admitted. “Him dying, or not being who I thought he was - either one on its own would have been hard enough to get through. But both, at once? Yeah, it’s been hard. I keep thinking of him and referring to him as Landon, and it’s a tough habit to break. It had gotten better lately. I thought I was getting by all right, until today. Today just churned it all up again.”

“Makes you never want to trust again,” he said solemnly.

“Absolutely,” was her heartfelt response.

They looked at each other a long moment.

“Well, we’d better get moving,” Lizzie announced. “Get back before they let out for the day so we can catch the DA.”

She signaled to Sherrie, who brought over the bill.

“I’ve got this,” Donny insisted, “as a thanks for listening, and for the company. Even if you don’t like cream gravy.” And he gave her a gentle smile.

“Fine. But if you’re in Seattle someday, give me a shout. We’ll have dinner, on me. Okay?”

“Deal.”

***

Eighteen days later, Nathan Thomas was preparing to head out to Dallas for his turn in the witness stand.

“How long will you be down there?” Bella asked him.

Nathan shrugged as he set his suitcase on the bed, opened it, and moved to the dresser to start packing. “Not sure. With multiple murders tied into one case, it could be a couple of days, or it could stretch into two or three weeks, I just don’t know. Hey! I have an idea,” he exclaimed. “Why don’t you and Charlie come with me? You know Jandy and Faith would love to see you two, and you can visit with them while I’m in court.”

“You know what? Yes. I would love that. Been feeling like I am in a rut lately since I got my degree finished,” Bella answered with feeling. “Not to mention, we have no family here.”

He stiffened.

“What?”

“Well,” he began, turning slowly toward her, “it’s interesting you should say that. I found out something at work yesterday, and I was planning on talking to you about it to get your opinion, but I wasn’t sure when to bring it up.”

She sat on the bed. “Now’s an excellent time. Shoot.”

“The Behavioral Analysis liaison in the Dallas office announced he is retiring this year, and they approached me and asked if I’d like to take the spot, since I have family down there.”

“What would you be doing?”

“Pretty much the same thing as here, only more focused to cases in about 170 counties, all within north, east and west Texas. I’d coordinate any BAU involvement with the Dallas office’s twelve satellite offices, as well. I’m thinking a lot less travel. But,” he continued, as he sat beside her and took her hand, “we’re a team, and I want any move we make to be what’s best for both of us, and for Charlie.”

“Honestly, Nathan? I still want to work with kids, and I’d still like to teach languages. I just don’t know if I still want to be involved with teaching at Langley. I’ve had enough up close and personal with the whole crazy-evil-people-doing-crazy-evil-things world,” Bella told her husband. “I want to teach in a normal everyday environment. You know, normal students, not spies. A place where I don’t have to worry about whether a student of mine having trouble with French could get them killed. Besides, they have a ton of extremely good colleges in Texas, several in North Texas alone, that I can choose from to get my Masters’ degrees.”

“So.... you think we should make the move?”

“I think we should make the move. And we’ve got some time to really plan this out – find a house down there, get this one listed, all of it. I love Uncle Max to death, but we don’t see him that regularly anymore. So yes, Nathan, I think if we have a chance to be closer to family, we ought to take it.”

“I love you, Bella, and I love the way you’re the other half of my brain. You just said everything I was thinking about this.”

***

Andi Taggert looked at her reflection one last time. “Not too bad,” she murmured in approval before grabbing her bag and heading out the door to finally meet the man she’d been chatting with for a few weeks.

One step outside was all it took.

“Wow,” she exclaimed, and went immediately back inside to put on her heaviest winter coat. “That wind is out of control! So much for ‘sunny and not too cold’ all week long like the weatherman said.”

Properly braced, she ventured out again, thankful when she reached her car that no ice was in sight. Texas winters notoriously skipped the beautiful white flakes of fun for the misery of black ice, choked highways, and in extreme years, downed power lines.

But on this late January afternoon there was no sleet or ice. It was almost pleasant. Except for the whipping Arctic blast traveling down across the country from the far north to sweep Fort Worth, Texas off its feet and cancel out any warming effect of the sun on such a clear, cloudless day.

Andi climbed into her Mazda and sat for a moment, letting the engine warm up a bit. She’d bought it used ten years ago, and although it was older, it was still mostly dependable – provided she didn’t push it too hard in the winter.

“Four more semesters. Just need you to last for four more semesters,” she said out loud, patting the dashboard. “Let me get this Masters’ degree done before you go giving out on me.”  

After several minutes, her little blue coupe showed an acceptable system temperature, and she backed out of her driveway and headed to Ted’s, a bar and grill about ten minutes away.

As she drove, fingers tapping a rhythm to Volbeat’s “A Warrior’s Call”, she tried her best to calm her nerves. This was the third time she’d been brave enough to meet a guy in person that’d she met online. The first two meetings had been a complete waste of time, and she’d just about sworn off the online dating scene altogether until she stumbled across Gabriel’s profile.

Andi had been interested but skeptical until they started talking. It had progressed quickly from instant messaging online to texting to phone calls. He was smart, funny, and relatable. They talked every single day, about all sorts of things – careers, music, art, literature, sports teams, religion, politics. Everything under the sun.

Now, four weeks later, they were about to meet in real life for the first time. For Andi, the only real question left in her mind was, did he really look like his profile picture – or would this be a repeat of guys one and two she’d met?

That sounds so shallow of me, she realized. But I don’t mean it like that. It’s just, the first two guys I met in person had lied about things, including their appearance. She had to chuckle a bit at that. One guy – Walter - whose profile said he was six feet two inches tall turned out to be five-seven. This was a problem for her; she’d been five-ten since the ninth grade and had always felt self-conscious about her height, so she preferred men taller than her, and she’d plainly stated as much in her online bio.

“And then there was Barry,” she chortled aloud. “God, what did he not lie about?”

Mr. ‘I-run-my-own-company’ was not only unemployed but seemed to be perfectly content to still live at his mother’s house at the age of thirty-five. Barry had also added a good six inches to his height in his profile. He was about five feet six inches, roughly the same height as his mother - who he’d brought along on the date.

“Well, it was.... interesting, for sure,” Andi sighed as she relived the awkwardness of meeting with Barry. “Pretty sure tonight won’t be any worse than that. I hope.”

She pulled into Ted’s, parked her car, and made her way quickly through the chill-inducing wind to the door. Grateful to be back in the warmth, she removed her coat, then pulled her cell phone out of her purse. A new text message was waiting for her.

I’m in the bar area, it read. Dark blue sweater.

Andi ducked into the ladies’ room first, to make sure her hair hadn’t gotten whipped around too badly. Sure enough, the north wind had wreaked some havoc. She took a few moments to get herself put back together, then took a calming breath and texted Gabriel back.

Just pulled in. See you in a bit.

She counted to one hundred, then stepped back out into the front lobby and approached the hostess stand. “Hi, welcome to Ted’s,” the young woman stationed there said to Andi.

“Hi,” Andi answered. “I’m meeting someone, he’s already in the bar area. Blue sweater?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The girl turned and pointed. “He’s in the third booth on the left side.”

“Thanks,” Andi replied, and slowly walked that direction.

Gabriel sensed movement, looked up, and saw her. “Hi there,” he said with an easy grin. He stood up, and to Andi’s relief not only did he look precisely like his online picture with his neatly trimmed goatee, wavy black hair and warm blue eyes, but he was also six-four - as his profile had indicated.

Andi gave him a winning smile. “Hi there,” she replied softly. And thought to herself, finally! Cute as hell, just like his picture, and taller than me, just as he said.

Andi and Gabriel ate, laughed, and talked until at last they noticed they were the last two patrons in the restaurant.

“They probably want to close up,” he observed, signaling for the check.

“Probably,” she agreed.

She offered to go halves on the tab, but he wouldn’t hear of it. “At least let me cover the tip, then,” she insisted.

“All right,” he grinned, hands splayed in an ‘I give up’ gesture.

As they made their way toward the door, Gabriel told her, “I had a really good time tonight. I’d like to do it again soon.”

“Yes,” Andi beamed. “I’d really like that.”

“Do you like to bowl?”

“Um, yes. It’s just been a while,” she replied. “But it sounds like fun.”

They paused just inside the front door of Ted’s, both dreading the wind that they knew awaited them.

“This is the part where I dash to my car and let it warm up before I can leave,” she announced. “Fun times.”

“You want me to wait with you? I don’t mind. Besides, if I do this,” he pulled out his keys, hit a button twice, and his Dodge 1500 started up from across the lot, “mine will be all set when we part company.”

“I am so jealous of that!”

He laughed. “It comes in handy, that’s for sure. Especially when it’s a hundred and ten in the shade.” Then he reached over and took her hand. “Come on. I’ll shiver with you. No one should suffer alone.”

They ran hand in hand to her car, then separated long enough to climb in.

“Wow,” he managed. “That wind has got some bite tonight.”

“Yes,” Andi hissed through chattering teeth. “It’s horrible.” She slid her key into the ignition, turned it, and the little blue Mazda sputtered to life. “And now, we wait.”

“An established pattern, huh?”

“Yep,” she confirmed. “Even back when I first got it. This little car has just never run well in the winter.”

She turned her head to look at him and noticed he had leaned toward her. On impulse, she closed the distance and kissed him softly on the lips. Gabriel pulled back slightly in surprise, then smiled, framed her face in his hands and kissed her back. His touch sent a tingle racing all the way to her toes.

He pulled back again, eyes twinkling, and murmured, “I was going to behave myself on the first date, but I’ll be honest, I wondered what that would be like.”

Andi blushed as she stumbled over her words. “Sorry... I just... well. I wanted to know too.” She glanced at her dashboard. “Oh, look, it’s warm enough now.”

Gabriel laughed, squeezing her hand. “I’m going to go to my truck now, end this date on a high note.” He reached for the door handle, paused, and asked, “Saturday afternoon sound good for bowling? We can do a few games, then grab dinner?”

“Sounds great.”

“Okay, then. I’ll call you and we’ll figure out the details.”

He bailed out the passenger side quickly so he wouldn’t let too much cold air into Andi’s car, and jogged to his warm and waiting truck. She honked and waved as she pulled out of the lot and headed home.

As she drove, she could not stop smiling. He’s amazing, she thought. I’m so glad I gave this another shot. She pulled into her driveway and hurried into her house to get out of the wind.

Andi shrugged off her heavy coat and hung it up in the hall closet, set her purse on the coffee table, and moved down the hallway to her bedroom to change into her pajamas. She scrubbed off her makeup and brushed her teeth before turning out her bathroom light and walking across her room to her bed.

***

“How did your date go?” his roommate asked as soon as Gabriel walked into their apartment.

Gabriel grinned ear-to-ear and his eyes twinkled. “Dude, Andi is amazing,” he answered as he started to go to his room. “I can’t wait to see her again.”

“Come on, bro. Tell me about it. I didn’t wait up for you so you could run off to bed and leave me hanging. How did it go? What’s she like?”

“Okay, okay,” Gabriel said as he flopped down on the couch and began to walk his roommate, Mike, through his night in more detail.

***

At three-twelve a.m., her cat Sinai, usually very sweet-natured, hissed loudly and repeatedly, then leapt off the bed. Andi woke from her deep sleep, irritated and confused.

“Sinai, what the hell?”

She started to throw the covers back to get up and see what had her pet acting so strangely but found she couldn’t move. A huge dark figure had her pinned down.

“Good,” rumbled a deep gravelly voice. “You’re awake. Now we can begin.”

CHAPTER TWO

Detective Joe Wallace had been on shift about three hours when the call came in. He grabbed his gun and keys and headed out to the location given by dispatch.

He noted the area as he pulled up to where two squad cars and the coroner’s van were parked. Older neighborhood, he mused, but not the rough side of town. Lot of college kids in this area. Texas Christian University was five blocks away. He walked up the driveway to speak with the officer standing just inside the tape.

“Morning, Joe,” the man said as he raised the yellow ‘do not cross’ line up enough for Joe to duck under.

“Hey Brad,” Joe replied. “What have we got?”

Brad consulted his little notepad. “Andi Taggert, twenty-five, graduate student at TCU. She didn’t show up yesterday for the study group she leads, or for her shift at work this morning, and that’s not like her, so two of her friends, um...” Brad flipped his notebook page, “Donna and Gayle Huntings, came to check on her. They noticed her car was here, front door was unlocked, so they went in, found her in the bedroom.”

“Where are they?”

“In the living room. Officer Sander is with them.”

“Coroner loaded her up yet?”

“Not yet; they just pulled up, and I told them you were en route. They said they’d wait for you before they got started.”

“Okay. I’m going to go in and have a look around. Let’s move the friends out here, Brad, and I’ll interview them when I come out. Maybe put them in your squad car, out of this wind. I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to be inside the house when it’s time to transport her.”

“You got it.”

The two walked into the house. Brad walked over and murmured to Sander, who gently led the two distraught women outside. Brad nodded once to Joe, then stepped outside as well.

Joe looked around the small living room and kitchen. Andi kept a tidy place, no dirty dishes. Cramped in here, but very squared away. No sign of any disturbance or struggle; at least, not out here.

He wandered down the narrow hallway to its termination point. Here, another officer stood guard. He nodded once to Joe then moved aside to let the detective enter the room.

Andi lay face up on her bed, nude except for a bracelet, necklace, and earrings. There were no obvious signs of trauma or force, and no obvious causes of death that he could see. Slipping on latex gloves, he waited until the coroner joined him in the tiny room.

Dr. Broder came in with a small bag. “Hi, Joe.”

“Hey, Doc.”

“Let me take her liver temp right quick.”

Joe gestured to the officer who’d been standing guard. “We already got pictures of the scene, yeah?”

“Yes, sir.”

The coroner nodded and moved toward Andi with the probe. A few moments later, Dr. Broder announced, “Based on rigor, lividity and liver temperature, I’d estimate she died twenty-eight to thirty-two hours ago. But it’s cold in here, which may have slowed things. I’ll get you an exact timeframe during autopsy.”

He leaned in a bit closer to Andi.

“No signs of obvious trauma, no ligature marks.” He gently lifted one eyelid. “No petechial hemorrhaging to indicate asphyxiation.”

Next, he examined her hands. “No scratches, cuts or defensive wounds, and it doesn’t look like she fought back, her nails are intact and clean.”

He gently placed her hands back down by her side, looked at Joe, and said, “This one’s probably going to require toxicology to help determine cause of death.”

“Agreed,” Joe answered. “There’s zero obvious sign of foul play here.” But because Andi had been found unclothed, he added, “Let’s run a sexual assault kit too, Doc, just to cover our bases.”

“Yep. You got what you need, Joe? Can we transport?”

“All yours, Doc, let me know what you find,” Joe said solemnly. He walked back outside into a bracing north wind to learn more about Andi Taggert from Donna and Gayle, two extremely upset young women who’d found their friend dead in her bed.

He’d seen the same red-rimmed eyes and shell-shocked expressions hundreds of times now in his career, but Joe Wallace still took his time and treated every witness to death with sensitivity and respect. Over the years, he’d learned to appreciate the subtleties this approach could yield in the way of information.

Now he crouched down beside the car as he opened the back-passenger door. Two youthful, pale faces swung his direction, each stamped with the mark of deep grief.

“Ladies, I’m Detective Wallace,” he began. “I’m so sorry for your loss; I know Andi was your friend. I need to ask you some questions that can help me find out what happened here.”

“We know,” whispered Donna. “Our dad is on the job down in Round Rock. So, you know, we knew not to touch anything once we saw she was...you know...” her voice trailed off as more tears skimmed the surface.

Gayle squeezed her sister’s hand. “We didn’t even go near the bed. We went as far as the doorway and could see by her color and stuff that she was already gone. We came back out on the porch and called you guys. When the officers arrived, they sat us on the couch once they’d cleared the place.”

“Okay,” Joe answered. “About Andi. Any enemies you two know of? Anyone giving her trouble lately?”

“Not that I know of,” Gayle said, with Donna nodding her head in agreement. “I know this sounds cliché, but anyone who had a chance to meet her loved her. She had a really big heart.”

“Do you know if she has any family around here?”

“She’s from Salina, Kansas, she’s just down here for her Masters’ degree... I mean was... she was down here.  Her mom and dad still live up there,” Donna told him. “But I don’t think they’re home. She told us at last week’s study group that she’d surprised them with a seven-day Caribbean cruise for their thirtieth anniversary. But I just can’t remember when she said they were going. Either this week, or next week. I think.”

Gayle closed her eyes a moment in concentration. “Pretty sure she said this week, when she was telling us about it.”

“Do either of you have their contact information?”

The sisters shook their heads.

“But Andi talked to her mom just about every day, so I know it’s in her cell phone,” Gayle pointed out. “Or the registrar’s office on campus could get it for you, too.”

Joe looked over his shoulder at Brad at the mention of a cell phone, and the officer nodded then headed back into the house to look for it.

A few follow-up questions later, the sisters were thanked for their cooperation, given Joe’s card and were cleared to leave. Joe’s timing was impeccable. Mere minutes after the Huntings sisters left, the gurney bearing Andi Taggert was wheeled slowly to the waiting hearse. Joe watched as her body was carefully loaded, then turned on his heel and went back to his car.

“Now,” he mumbled to himself as he slid behind the wheel, “to track her parents down.”

“Joe!” Brad yelled as he double-timed it down the front steps and the narrow sidewalk.

Joe rolled his window down. “What’s up?”

“No cell phone, Joe. No purse, either.”

“Huh,” Joe thought a moment. “Crime scene techs coming?”

“They’re about two minutes out.”

“Have them go over everything with a fine-toothed comb,” Joe said sternly. “I mean everything. I’m headed to the registrar’s office. Call me if you find something.”

Within an hour he had Andi’s parents’ contact information, and twenty minutes after that was on the phone with the lead detective, a Lt. Mitchell, from the Salina Police Department relaying the sad news about Andi’s death. Mitchell agreed to make the notifications, and he also took down Joe’s cell phone number to pass to her parents along with his deepest condolences.

***

“I like it,” Bella said, as she moved again from the living room into the kitchen. “This place really suits us, honey.”

“I thought so too. And the seller’s realtor told Elaine it’s been reduced, and the sellers are eager to get a buyer locked in.”

“Wonder why?”

Nathan laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I asked that same question. It’s just that the husband accepted an overseas transfer with his company. They have to be in London before the end of April.”

“Oh,” Bella replied, wrinkling her nose up mischievously. “So, it’s not like someone died here, or anything.”

“Good Lord, no,” Nathan managed as he roared with laughter and took her in his arms. “You’ve been watching too many ‘true crime’ shows with Jandy.”

“Guilty,” she admitted. “Damn things are addictive, though. I can see how she got hooked on them. Speaking of Jandy, I need to call and check on Charlie.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Nathan began.

“Just let me check on him,” Bella repeated, and he dropped his forehead to touch hers.

“You worry too much,” he whispered. “He’s fine. He’s at Jandy’s - being spoiled rotten, I’m sure - but he’s fine. And we’ll see him in a couple of hours. Okay?”

“Okay,” she conceded, and kissed him. “So, do you think we could sell our place pretty quickly? I mean, I’d hate for us to commit to this one, then be stuck paying for two houses for a while if that one doesn’t move.”

“Well,” he told her, “I was thinking that same thing, and I told Elaine that. And she said houses in Manassas are being snapped up within a week of being on the market. She said the demand is crazy – but she also said that’s driving prices up. And, she mentioned she’d be happy to work with us on both sides – selling ours and buying down here.”

“Good to know. We need to call her and tell her to go ahead and list it, if we can get the timing right. And that will be easier if she’s involved with the buy part, too. So, all that’s left is one question,” Bella stated. “Mr. Thomas, what do you think of this place? Wanna make an offer?”

“I wanna make an offer, Mrs. Thomas.”

***

“Seriously?”

Lizzie Zimmerman held up the empty coffeepot and shook it at the other detectives on the overnight shift with her. “Come on, guys. Did everyone else forget how to make coffee while I was gone?”

“What’s the matter, Zim?” David, her partner, boomed as he strolled in.

“This,” she hissed, rattling the empty carafe.

“Easy now, SWG,” he cautioned, hands up in a defensive posture. “You’ve had three cups already, you might want to back it down a bit, maybe do decaf the rest of the night.”

It was all he could do not to laugh at the way she snarled at the mere mention of any caffeine-free existence.

“Watch it, mister,” she grumbled as she poured water into the tank and flipped the switch to get another pot started, then headed to her desk to type up her report while she waited.

“Zim, what’s eating you?” David perched on the corner of her desk, as was his custom. When she was in happier moods, she found it hilarious, this huge intimidating-looking black man sitting delicately balanced on a tiny sliver of furniture.

Her shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, Tank,” she said, using his nickname. “I know I’m a raging bitch lately.” She rubbed her hands over her face.

“Hey, it’s okay,” the big man replied, delicately patting her on the shoulder. “You went through a lot of shit, Zim, and I know it cut you deep. And then you get dragged down there for the trial, and that stirred everything back up. Right?”

“And how,” Lizzie admitted. “The dreams are back, Tank. I haven’t slept worth a damn in...God, I don’t know how long exactly. Three, four weeks, at least.”

“Aw man, Zim, I’m sorry. You know if I could fix it for you I would. You talk to anybody? Might help.”

“No,” she snapped, her jaw set. “I got this. It’ll be okay. I’ll get through it. I did it before, I can do it again.”

He raised his hands. “Just sayin, Zim. You can go through this by yourself if you want to. All I’m sayin is, you don’t have to.”

And he gave her shoulder a last friendly squeeze, then pointed out, “Coffee’s ready, best get over there before Martinez grabs it all.”

***

Joe had typed up a summary of the aggravated burglary case he’d caught and pressed ‘save’ just as his cell phone rang.

“Wallace,” he intoned.

“Joe, Dr. Broder,” the coroner announced. “You might want to come see me. I’ve got some updates for you.”

“On my way, Doc,” Joe replied.

Another call beeping in ended Joe’s conversation with Broder, and he switched over.

“Detective Wallace? It’s Gayle Huntings, Andi Taggert’s friend.”

“Hello, Miss Huntings, how can I help you?”

“Donna and I both feel like complete idiots,” she said. “We forgot to tell you something that could be really important. Can’t believe we didn’t remember until now.”

Joe’s ears perked up. “It’s all right. What is it?”

“Andi had been talking to this guy she met on a dating website,” Gayle said. “We don’t know a whole lot about him, just that his name is Gabriel, and she was pretty excited to finally meet him in person. She hadn’t had much luck previously.”

“Thanks, Miss Huntings,” he answered. “We will look into that, too. Anything else?”

“No sir, not right now. But if Donna or I think of anything else you’ll be the first to know,” she replied.