Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) (22 page)

He switched the bag of money to his left hand and reached under his shirt with his right. He worked the pistol from its holster but kept the weapon hidden behind his shirt, ready, just in case.

He walked slowly down the lane, listening intently, hearing nothing but the rustle of leaves overhead as a breeze rippled through the trees. The chattering of squirrels at play sounded somewhere far away, a chorus of birds chirping off to his right.

The bright sky disappeared under a canopy of trees as he entered the edge of the darkened forest. The phone was silent except for a faint breathing on the line that told him the kidnapper was still there.

He kept walking and in a minute, a small clearing appeared, rays of light leaking through the treetops, a rare patch of grass flourishing, a slight rise in the terrain, over a knoll, and then—.

Jake fell to his knees as the phone went silent and the caller was gone. He dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath before finally raising his head and looking at the cold, lifeless body of Hannah Martin.

Chapter 47

Saturday, September 3rd, 11:35 AM

POLICE CARS and emergency vehicles lined both shoulders of the narrow country road. Officers leaned against their cruisers talking in groups of two or three. An ambulance had parked near the spot where the laneway touched the road, waiting for its burden. The forensics van was parked just ahead.

Hank pulled over at the end of the line, stepped from his car and made his way forward.

Jake was leaned against the hood of his car watching the proceedings. He turned, shaking his head as Hank approached. “He said someone would pay, but I never expected this.”

“Nor I,” Hank said, and noticed the bag of money lying on the hood of the car. “I take it you had no instructions to deliver the ransom?”

Jake shook his head. “It appears the only purpose of this trip was to lead me to the body. I don’t think he had any intention to pick up the money.”

“I’d better take a look,” Hank said. “And you’d better lock that money up.”

Jake grabbed the money bag, tossed it onto the passenger seat and locked the car doors.

He joined Hank and they followed the path back to the scene. Tape was stretched from tree to tree, cordoning off the area. Rod Jameson and the forensics crew had finished documenting every aspect of the scene, taking pictures, making detailed notes and gathering trace evidence. They were packing up their equipment. Physical examinations, laboratory tests, and a complete diagnosis would come later.

As they stepped to the top of the knoll they saw the body of Mrs. Martin. It was twisted halfway onto its side, mostly on its back, the legs bent underneath the body like a rag doll tossed aside. By the position of the body, it appeared it had been rolled down the grade and left where it landed.

Jameson stood to one side talking with an investigator. Hank approached him and interrupted. “Anything I should know about?” he asked.

Jameson looked at Hank and shook his head. “Nothing stands out. Once we process everything we have, I’ll let you know, but right now...” Jameson shrugged. “There’s nothing blatantly obvious about who did this one.”

“Thanks, Rod,” Hank said. “But put a rush on this, will you? This guy moves fast and we want this to be his last victim.”

“Will do, Hank,” Rod said, and turned back to the investigator.

Nancy Pietek had finished her preliminary inspection of the body and was crouched over, making some notes, when Hank and Jake came down the knoll and approached.

“Hello, Nancy,” Hank said, as he bent over and took a closer look. He saw the marks on Mrs. Martin’s neck, the same marks he had seen just days ago on the body of another victim.

“Hi, Hank,” Nancy said. “This looks like the work of the same killer.” She pointed to the wounds. “Same marks, the only visible signs of injury, presumably caused by a garrote. Perhaps the same one. No signs of defensive wounds at this point.”

“Time of death?” Hank asked.

“Likely two to three hours ago. No way to tell where she was killed, but certainly not here.”

“Check under her tongue,” Hank said, pointing.

Nancy reached over and eased the victim’s mouth open. She reached in with a gloved finger and worked out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded the newsprint carefully and held it so Hank could read it.

Hand-written in block letters, the message read, “I SAID NO POLICE.”

Hank studied it thoughtfully and then nodded. Nancy tucked the note into an evidence bag and labeled it.

Hank stood and glanced at Jake, standing back a few feet, gazing at the body, his face grim, his eyes smoldering. He was taking this one personally, no doubt about it.

The detective went over to Jake and put his hand on his arm. “You ok?”

Jake looked at him and nodded.

“You’re not responsible for this, you know,” Hank said.

Jake was silent.

“There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent this. None of us saw it coming.”

Jake moved his eyes back to the body of Mrs. Martin. “I know,” he said quietly, almost in a whisper, as they turned and climbed back up the knoll.

They stopped as they saw Detective King coming down the laneway toward them. The scruffy detective wandered over to where Hank and Jake stood.

“Caught this on the radio,” King said. “I assume the vic is Hannah Martin?”

Hank nodded. “Yes, and she’s going to be the last victim.”

King cocked his head. “How can you be sure of that?”

“Because I’m not going to sleep until this scumbag is caught.” Hank narrowed his eyes and glared at King. “And neither are you.”

“Yeah, we’ll get him,” King agreed. He glanced around the scene and then stepped over to the edge of the knoll and looked down at the corpse for a few seconds before turning back to Hank. “Sure is a shame,” he said, and then added, “Want me to tell her husband?”

Hank shook his head adamantly. He didn’t want the insensitive King involved in such a sensitive task. “I’ll do it,” he said.

King shrugged. “Whatever. I got other stuff to do anyway.”

“Find anything out yet?” Hank asked.

“Not yet. I’m working on it,” King said, as he turned away.

“Keep me posted.” Hank turned to Jake. “I expect you’ll be getting a phone call soon.”

Chapter 48

Saturday, September 3rd, 12:18 PM

LISA KRUNK was on the other side of the city and when the report came over her police scanner regarding the body which was discovered, she dropped what she was doing, hustled Don into the Channel 7 Action News van and hurried to the spot along County Road 12.

As Don pulled the van up behind the last cruiser, she saw they had arrived late. The forensics van was just pulling away and the doors to the ambulance were being closed.

They jumped from their van and she hurried over to where the center of attention seemed to be. Don followed behind, his camera ready at a moment’s notice. Whatever had happened here seemed to be down a laneway off the main road.

An officer stopped her short when she attempted to access the pathway. “You can’t go down there,” he said.

She poked the microphone at him. “What happened here, officer?”

“You’ll have to speak to someone else about that. I’m not at liberty to say anything.”

Lisa glanced down the laneway. At a distance, she could barely see the telltale yellow of crime scene tape and the movement of several officers in the area.

She was certain this was connected to the recent abductions and was disappointed she hadn’t gotten another call from the kidnapper. She was convinced her name was on the lips of everyone in the city, heralding her as the greatest journalist this crappy little town had ever seen. Maybe the greatest in the country, but if not, that title would soon be hers.

Someone in plain clothes was coming her way from down the laneway. “Get ready, Don.” As the figure drew closer, she recognized him as the recent arrival to the force, Detective King. She made it her business to know names. Her livelihood depended on it.

As King drew closer she took a couple of steps his way but stopped when the officer gave her a warning look. She held the mike ready and in a moment, King had reached the spot where she stood.

“Detective King,” she said. “It’s good to see you again.”

He nodded at her as the camera rolled.

“Detective,” Nancy said. “Can you tell me what happened here?”

King scratched his head. “I can’t tell you a whole lot. A body has been discovered here and we’re in the middle of investigating.”

“Who’s the victim?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Is this another of the kidnap victims?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

“Do you have any leads yet as to who the perpetrators are?”

King glanced down the lane and then back at Lisa. “I’m working on it. We expect to make an arrest shortly.”

“Detective King, was Jake Lincoln involved in this incident as well?”

King shrugged. “Yes, he was. For some reason, he’s been chosen by the kidnappers to deliver the ransom.”

“So, the ransom was paid?”

“I’m afraid not,” King said, as Hank and Jake approached.

“Lisa swung the mike over to Hank. “Detective Corning, can you give me the name of the victim?”

Hank frowned. “You know better than that, Lisa.”

Lisa smiled, her wide mouth threatening to split her face. “What can you tell me?”

“Very little I’m afraid.”

She turned to Jake, poking the mike under his nose. “Jake Lincoln, were you the one who discovered the body?”

“I was,” Jake said, as he turned away. He didn’t appear to be in a good mood and Lisa watched him thoughtfully as he made his way down the shoulder of the road. She’d hoped to get a little more from him, but she could always try later.

She turned back to the detectives and continued to pepper them with more questions, trying to squeeze some information from them but was unsuccessful and eventually turned away, disappointed, and headed back to the van, Don dutifully following.

They were on their way back to the city and she was contemplating her next move when her cell phone rang. It was an unknown number and she answered it.

“Hello, Lisa. I want to thank you for broadcasting my message on Thursday. It has been a great help in my endeavor.”

The deep voice coming over the phone was a dead giveaway. She put the phone on speaker, dug out her digital audio recorder, switched it on and held the phone close to the microphone.

“I did it in the interest of news,” Lisa said into the phone. “I don’t owe you any favors.” She motioned frantically for Don to pull over and stop the van.

“Of course you don’t, Lisa, but I wanted to call and give you advance notice of my next production. It’ll take place tomorrow, so I’m depending on you to warn the public to be careful.”

“Are you talking about another kidnapping?”

“That’s one way to put it. As the Merchant of Life, I prefer to call it a business arrangement.”

Lisa was perplexed. “What kind of business arrangement is it when you kill the victims and don’t collect the money?”

“Certain rules were broken, Lisa. It seems all too many do not heed my message. And that’s why I need you.”

“I . . . I’m afraid I can’t help you this time.”

“Oh, but you must.”

“And why is that?”

“For the safety of the public. You can treat it as a public service announcement.”

Lisa hesitated. She struggled with her sense of morality versus her future career. Finally, she said, “I’ll consider it, but I can’t make any promises.”

“That’s all I ask, Lisa. That’s all I ask. And now, I hope you have a fine day and a wonderful tomorrow.”

The line went dead.

She hung up and sat still, gazing out the front window of the van. Detective Corning had practically promised her first crack at this story once everything was wrapped up. She didn’t want to jeopardize that now by keeping this new information from him. Besides, an obstruction of justice charge was not something she wanted to face. It might not be good for her career.

She made up her mind and glanced to Don. “Turn the van around. I need to get this recording to Detective Corning.”

Chapter 49

Saturday, September 3rd, 12:26 PM

JAKE SAT IN his vehicle for several minutes before finally pulling the car from the shoulder, spinning it around and heading back to the city.

Hank would be dropping by the house later to get Jake’s complete statement and he could talk more with Hank at that time, but for now he just wanted to get away from this place.

He glanced at the bag of money on the seat beside him. He would have to get it back to Eli Martin, but the money would be the last of Martin’s worries right now. And he didn’t envy Hank’s uncomfortable task of telling the new widower about the murder of his wife.

He’d taken off the gun and vest, tossed the vest in the back seat, and the weapon lay in its holster beside the unused ransom money. He was glad he hadn’t needed to use the pistol, but at the same time he wished the kidnapper was around. He wouldn’t have hesitated to use it then.

Or would he? He wasn’t sure.

On second thought he decided he wouldn’t lower his standards to those of the kidnapper, no matter how deserved it might be.

Maybe he would just shoot him in the leg.

As he spun off the old road and onto the main highway back to the city, he bore down on the gas pedal in an attempt to work off some frustration, covering a few miles in no time flat. Annie’s car wasn’t made for the kind of speed he liked, so he let up on the pedal and the vehicle eased back to a normal cruising speed. But he felt a little better.

He resolved to echo Hank’s determination to not rest until these lowlifes were behind bars. Whatever it took.

As he neared the outskirts of the city his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. Unknown Number. He touched the brakes and pulled to the side of the road, the wheels grinding to a stop in the soft gravel. He threw the car in park, took a couple of deep breaths and answered the call.