Kill Me Once (14 page)

‘I thought Mrs Otero and the two kids, the two younger kids, were in the house. I didn’t realise Mr Otero was going to be there.’

‘How did you get into the house?’

‘I came through the back door. I cut the phone lines. I waited at the back door. I had reservations about even going or just walking away, but pretty soon the door opened and I was in.’

‘So the door opened for you, or …’

‘I think one of the kids, I think Junior, the younger Joseph, opened the door, ’cause he let the dog out, ’cause the dog was in the house at that time.’

‘Now when you went into the house, what happened then?’

‘Well, I confronted the family … pulled a pistol, confronted Mr Otero and asked him to, you know, that I was there, that basically I wanted … to get the car … hungry, food. I wanted … asked them to lie down in the living room … and at that time I realised that was not a good idea. So I finally, the dog was a real problem, so I asked Mr Otero if he could get the dog out. He had one of the kids put it out. I took them back to the bedroom.’

‘You took who back to the bedroom?’

‘The family … the four members. At that time I tied them up.’

‘While still holding them at gunpoint?’

‘In between tying, I guess.’

‘After you tied them up what happened?’

‘Well, they started complaining about being tied up and I reloosened the bonds, tried to make Mr Otero as comfortable as I could. Apparently he had a cracked rib from a car accident so I had him put a pillow down for his head. I think he had a parka or a coat underneath him. He talked to me about giving me a car. I guess he didn’t have very much money. Then I realised that, you know, I didn’t have a mask on or anything, that they could ID me, so I made a decision to go ahead and put ’em down, I guess, or strangle them.’

‘All right, what did you do to Joseph Otero?’

‘Joseph Otero?’

‘J. Joseph Otero Sr, Mr Otero, the father.’

‘I put a plastic bag over his head and then some cords and tightened it.’

‘This was in the bedroom?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Did he in fact suffocate and die as a result of this?’

‘Not right away. No, sir, he didn’t.’

‘What happened?’

‘After that I did Mrs Otero. I had never strangled anyone before so I really didn’t know how much pressure you have to put on a person or how long it would take …’

‘Was she also tied up there in the bedroom?’

‘Yes, both their hands and feet were tied up. She was on the bed.’

‘Where were the children?’

‘Josephine was on the bed and Junior was on the floor at this time.’

‘We are talking first of all about Joseph Otero. So you put the bag over his head and tied it and he did not die right away. Can you tell me what happened in regards to Joseph Otero?’

‘He moved over real quick-like and I think tore a hole in the bag. I could tell that he was having some problems there, but at that time the whole family just went panicked on me so I worked pretty quick.’

‘You worked pretty quick. What did you do?’

‘Well, I mean I strangled Mrs Otero … she went out, passed out, and I thought she was dead. I strangled Josephine and she passed out. I thought she was dead. And then I went over and put a bag on Junior’s head, and then if I remember right, Mrs Otero came back … she came back and…’

‘Sir, let me ask you about Joseph Otero Sr. He tore a hole in the bag. What did you do with him then?’

‘I put another bag, either that… I recollect, I think I put either a cloth or a T-shirt or something over his head and then another bag and then tightened it up.’

‘Did he subsequently die?’

‘Well, yes, I mean I was … didn’t stay there and watch him. I was moving around the room.’

‘So you indicated that you strangled Mrs Otero after you had done this, is that correct?’

‘I went back and strangled her again. It finally killed her at that time.’

‘So this is in regards to Count 2. You first of all put the bag over Joseph Otero’s head and he tore a hole in the bag, then you went ahead … did you strangle Mrs Otero then?’

‘First of all, Mr Otero was strangled … a bag put over his head and strangled him. Then I thought he was going down. Then I went over and strangled Mrs Otero, and I thought she was down. Then I strangled Josephine and she was down, and then I went over to Junior and put the bag on his head. After that Mrs Otero woke back up and, you know, she was pretty upset with what’s going on, and at that point in time I strangled her … the death strangle at that time.’

‘With your hands?’

‘No, with a cord, with a rope. Then I think at that point in time I redid Mr Otero and put the bag over his head, and then Junior … oh, before that she asked me to save her son so I actually had taken the bag off. I was really upset at that point in time. So basically Mr Otero was down, Mrs Otero was down, then I went ahead and took Junior. I put another bag over his head and took him into the other bedroom.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘Put a bag over his head, put a cloth over his head, a T-shirt and bag so he couldn’t tear a hole in it. He subsequently died from that. I went back up, Josephine had woke back up.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘I took her to the basement and hung her.’

‘You hung her in the basement?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Did you do anything else at that time?’

‘Yes, I had some sexual fantasies, but that was after she was hung.’

‘All right. What did you do then?’

‘I went through the house, kinda cleaned it up. It’s called the right-hand rule. You go from room to room to clean things up. I think I took Mr Otero’s watch. I guess I took a radio. I had forgot about that but apparently took a radio.’

‘Why did you take these things?’

‘I don’t know … I have no idea.’

‘What happened then?’

‘I got the keys to the car … in fact I had the keys, I think, earlier before that, a way of getting out of the house, and cleaned the house a little bit, made sure everything was packed up and left through the front door, then went over to their car and drove over to Dillons and left the car there. I eventually walked back to my car.’

‘All right, sir, from what you have just said I take it that the facts you told me apply to all of Counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 – is that correct?’

‘Yes, sir.’

Nathan smiled as the tape clicked off and the strains of Ashley Ball’s version of Lecuona’s ‘En Tres Por Cuatro’ came on over the car stereo. With very few exceptions, he’d soon be following the exact script he’d just heard to a T.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dana flipped the cellphone off and felt all the blood drain from her cheeks. Dizziness clouded her brain. She found it hard to breathe. Jeremy Brown stepped forward quickly as she swayed back and forth on her heels in the centre of the conference room.

‘Whoa,’ he said, taking her by the shoulders and leading her gently to a chair. ‘Easy, now. Let me get you some water.’

Dana’s head swam as Brown went over to the water cooler in the corner and drew her a drink from the blue tap. A moment later he handed her a little conical paper cup. Dana threw her head back and drained the entire thing in one quick pull. The cold water numbed the back of her throat and cleared the fog in her brain.

Brown’s face creased with concern. ‘Want some more?’

Dana shook her head. ‘No, thank you. I’m better now. I was just feeling a little dizzy there for a minute, that’s all.’

Brown took the empty cup from her hand and crumpled it up before tossing it into a garbage can. ‘Bad phone call, I take it. Is everything OK?’

‘Not really.’

‘Anything I can do to help?’

For a moment Dana considered telling him all about the terrible night when she’d been four years old. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shake the growing feeling that the man who’d murdered her parents more than three decades earlier was somehow connected to the current murders more intimately than just by calling her out. That he had come back to finish off what he’d started with her all those years ago. Still, she had no concrete evidence for these feelings and the case was already complicated enough without clouding it further with suspicions that she couldn’t prove. And she wasn’t sure she could trust her judgement any more. Besides, getting called out by a killer certainly wasn’t anything new in the history of law enforcement. Crawford could have told her that, and he was the only one in the FBI who knew about her past.

John Muhammad, the Washington-area serial sniper they’d chased, had left the authorities a ‘Death’ tarot card near a school where he’d apparently lain in wait. On the card, he’d written, ‘Dear Police, I am God.’ The Zodiac Killer regularly signed off on his correspondence to newspapers with the symbol of the zodiac – a cross superimposed on a circle. Ted Kaczynski, the infamous ‘Unabomber’, had demanded that his rambling, 35,000-word manifesto should be published in the newspapers or he would kill again. The best profilers in the FBI, including Dana’s former partner Crawford Bell, believed it was the killers’ way of exerting power and control over society. They got off on the notoriety they received, even if
they
were the only ones who knew their true identities. So instead of telling Brown about her troubled past, Dana took a deep breath and filled him in on what Templeton had just told her.

‘Jesus Christ,’ Brown said when she’d finished. ‘Why would your name be spelled out, Dana? What do you think it means?’

‘No idea,’ Dana said, a little too quickly. She gazed down at the floor, composing herself and hoping he’d think she was still feeling a little dizzy.

Brown narrowed his eyes. ‘You absolutely sure about that?’

Dana looked up at him, surprised. Her cheeks flushed hot, and then all the blood suddenly drained away again. She wasn’t used to having her integrity called into question, even when she knew she was lying. ‘Excuse me?’

Brown held his hands up in the air with his palms facing her in a placating manner. ‘Take it easy, Dana. I didn’t mean to offend you. It just feels like maybe you’re holding something back from me, that’s all.’

‘Well, I’m not.’

Brown pursed his lips. ‘Fair enough. But if we’re going to work together we really need to trust each other, OK? It’s the only way we’re ever going to get anything done.’

Dana could only nod.

After an awkward pause, Brown looked down at his watch. ‘I’ll tell you what. Let’s take a ten-minute break to catch our breath and collect our thoughts, then we’ll head over to meet up with the witness. I’m gonna go grab a quick cup of coffee. You want anything?’

Dana shook her head. ‘No, thank you. I’m fine.’

When Brown left the room Dana leaned forward in her chair and rested her head in her hands, knowing that the LA agent was absolutely right. She
was
holding something back, and she would have reacted the exact same way had she been in his position. After all, if you didn’t have trust with your partner you didn’t have a goddamn thing.

But the truth was that she couldn’t help thinking her suspicions were right. All her life she’d feared her parents’ killer would come back to find her, but she’d tried desperately not to let her imagination get the better of her, had tried to move on. And still he haunted her. Much as she didn’t want to admit it, deep down she
knew
what those letters meant, and now she also knew why each of the victims in Cleveland had been innocent little girls. The monster from her dreams was sending her a very clear message, reminding her of the fact that there was still unfinished business left between them. But why was he coming back for her
now?
What had happened to wake up his rage after all these years?

Dana stood up on shaking legs. She really needed some fresh air. She also needed a new life. The one she was living right now wasn’t fit for a dog. A million questions raced through her mind at once, but she didn’t have answers for any of them. Still, she knew she’d better find at least
some
of those answers pretty damn quick. People’s lives depended on it.

Including, apparently, her own.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Nathan’s thumb found the wheel on the high-powered Nikon binoculars and he brought the image into sharp focus before he allowed himself a small smile.

Excellent
. Dana Whitestone was indeed on his trail out on the West Coast now – exactly where he
wanted
her to be. It meant she must’ve finally received the message he’d been sending her piecemeal over the past three months.

About fucking time
.

She was older now, of course, but still looked great. Only the faintest traces of laugh lines had begun to form around the corners of her beautiful mouth and pale blue eyes, and even at thirty-eight she looked a hell of a lot better than most women ten years her junior.

As she left the downtown LA FBI field office and raised her face to the sun with her eyes closed, Nathan wondered idly what made her think she was so goddamn
special
. If she thought she was the only one out here who knew how to play this deadly little game, she was sadly mistaken about that. And now he supposed it was up to him to make that fact painfully clear to her.