R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights (6 page)

She knew they had him. She could now tie him to at least three locations where the victims were killed.

Rainey probed even harder. “And yet, Crystal stuck out among all those other girls. You seem to remember quite a lot about her.”

Dalton Chambers stared at her, at a loss for words for the first time.

He was saved by Pastor Morrell’s comment. “Oh, Crystal would be hard to forget. She made an impression on everyone she met.”

Deputy Knox, who had been silent up to now, began to speak. “Yes, Crystal was a special girl. The man who killed her is a coward. He’s not a man at all. He had to use an instrument to do his dirty work, couldn’t get it up probably. Sorry, Pastor.”

Rainey would have hugged Knox, if she could. The young deputy’s understanding of what they were dealing with was uncanny. She obviously paid attention in psychology class. Question this guy’s manhood and he would come unglued.

The pastor went on talking, oblivious to what was happening around him. “It’s okay Sister Knox. Our anger can sometimes make us speak plain. I just pray that the villain is captured soon and brought to justice.”

Danny joined the party. “Which in Virginia means the bastard gets the needle.”

Knox added, “Those creeps always make a deal to save their skins.”

“Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. God will punish the wicked. It is not man’s place to pass the ultimate judgment,” Pastor Morrell commented.

He was about to get up on his pulpit. Rainey quickly steered him in another direction. “Do you think you could supply us with the phone numbers for these pastors you mentioned, the churches where those two victims went?”

“Sure. I’ll need to go to the office. Would you like to follow me?”

Once again Deputy Knox was right on cue. “I’ll go with you. I need to say hello to Miss Mary anyway. I’ll ask her about Crystal’s ring.”

“Is there anything else I could help you with before I go?” The preacher asked.

Danny answered, “No, I think that just about does it. Thank you for your time Pastor Morrell.”

He shook both Rainey and Danny’s hands and then went off with Deputy Knox, through an archway that led into the church. Just when they were almost out of sight, Dalton surprised Rainey by moving to go after them.

He said, “Hey, wait. I need to make a call. My cell battery is dead. May I use the office phone?”

The pastor turned back and smiled. “Why of course you can. Come on.”

Knox looked stricken. Rainey thought quickly. She and Danny couldn’t stop Dalton from going. They needed a minute alone so Rainey could tell him what she knew. If she tried to hold Dalton without cause, other than a hunch, he could walk away. Knox looked back over her shoulder at Rainey, after letting both Dalton and the pastor go ahead of her. Rainey put her hand on her weapon and nodded at Gillian. She hoped she understood the unspoken message, “Watch your back.”

She called to the deputy, “We’ll be in the parking lot when you’re ready to go.”

As soon as they cleared the doorway into the hall, Rainey and Danny broke into a run toward the exit. They needed backup and they needed to watch Dalton’s only escape route, his truck. He could run into the woods, if he found another way out, but that truck was his lifeline. Rainey suspected he was like many of the sexual sadists who were driven to travel great distances. Jon Barry Simonis, a serial rapist, traveled over eight thousand miles in ten months across twelve states. Jon Barry stated to one of the original Behavioral Analysts, Roy Hazelwood, that it gave him a freedom from responsibility. It was a myth that all serial murderers travel and operate interstate. Most of them had a defined geographic area, but they still may drive endless hours. Rainey believed, as did some psychologists, it was a need for stimulation provided by the constantly changing scenery pushing the sadist to keep moving. Dalton would need his truck.

There was also the possibility the truck contained more evidence, other than the rings, which Dalton could not explain away. He wouldn’t want the cops going over his truck. No, Rainey was sure he was going to come out of the church any minute, hop in, and drive off. They had to stop him. This might be their only chance. If he got out of sight, Rainey was sure he would leave the area, but he wasn’t about to stop killing. Once she and Danny were outside, Rainey pulled out her phone. Danny already had his out.

Danny asked, “Do you think that deputy will be alright?”

Rainey looked at the church. “Yes, I think she can handle herself.”

“You know that’s him, right?” Danny asked

Rainey pointed at the windshield of the truck. “Look what’s hanging on his mirror.”

Danny looked up, saw the rings, and immediately started punching buttons on his phone.

“I’m waiting for Brooks to call back,” Rainey said. “Chambers was arrested at seventeen for sexual assault, but charges were dropped. I’m sure there are probably more things that fit the profile, but guys like that get away with so much by just talking their way out of it. He suffered a severe beating his senior year of high school that ruined his athletic career. He dedicated his life to God after that. I want more details on his injuries.”

Danny held his phone to his ear. “I’m calling Martin for some backup. He can start the search warrant process for the truck.”

“Right now, it’s all circumstantial, but I bet that truck has physical evidence in it, no matter how much he cleaned it,” Rainey said.

Rainey’s phone jangled in her hand. She answered, while Danny waited for the detective to pick up.

Brooks started talking as soon as Rainey said hello. “Okay, baby girl, you got your dirt bag. I got nothing from his credit cards, so I ran his parents’ cards, and bingo! There are records of purchases near each site on or around the dates of the murders and when the bodies were found. Bastard used his mother’s accounts to finance his sicko tour.”

“Hang on,” Rainey said. She filled Danny in on what Brooks just told her. It would help with the search warrant. Then she put the phone back to her ear. “Okay, and what about the medical files?”

“Wow. No, ‘Thank you, Magic Brooks,’ for that case breaking input.”

Rainey answered swiftly, “No time. This asshole is about to walk out of this church and drive away.”

“Oh shit,” was followed rapidly by, “he was a messed up boy. Whoever beat him paid special attention to his genitals. He was effectively castrated. I found the police report. There was some thought that this was retaliation by some brothers of a girl Chambers was suspected of raping. Chambers claimed he didn’t know who did it. No charges were ever filed in either case.”

Rainey saw it all fall into place in her mind. Chambers’ sordid history laid out in front of her like a movie leading to this moment.

“Thank you so much. I owe you dinner,” Rainey said, anxious to hang up and tell Danny. “I have to go.”

Brooks signed off with her usual, “Rainey Bell, you be safe.”

“Always,” came the reply.

Rainey hung up and got Danny’s attention. He was still on the line with the detective, explaining what to put in the warrant request. He told the detective to hold on and listened to Rainey.

“It’s him, Danny. No doubt about it. He was beaten and castrated for raping a girl when he was eighteen. That’s his motive. Revenge on all the virgins. We have receipts placing him at the scenes.”

Danny responded, “More cops are on the way. Watch the doors, I’m going around back.”

Danny returned his phone to his ear and began talking fast, as he moved around the building. Rainey undid the snap on her holster. She walked around the truck so that she was partially hidden from view. She removed the FBI issued, Sig Sauer P220, semi-automatic pistol from her waist, made sure she had a round chambered, and re-holstered it. Rainey hoped she wouldn’t have to use it, but these guys were unpredictable when cornered. Hopefully Chambers would come down for questioning, without any fuss. She highly doubted it.

Rainey heard a door open. Looking up she saw Deputy Knox and the killer coming out of the education building together. She stepped around the truck and back into view.

“I was just admiring your truck. It’s quite impressive. Looks like you keep it spotless,” Rainey said, as nonchalantly as she could muster. She felt the adrenaline beginning to quicken her heart. She hoped it didn’t show in her voice. She needed to buy time.

Dalton smiled his practiced grin. It wasn’t genuine. These guys were consummate actors. “Yep, that’s my baby. I spend a lot of time keeping it detailed.”

Deputy Knox’s eyes were locked on Rainey. She was looking for a sign as to what to do next. Rainey didn’t have a plan. She was hoping a host of police cars would come sliding into the parking lot about now. She needed Dalton Chambers to feel too outnumbered to try anything.

Dalton looked around. “Where’s your partner?”

“He went inside to use the restroom,” Rainey answered.

She could see that Dalton was sizing up his situation. She thought he must know they weren’t going to let him leave. This type of killer would think he was smart enough to wiggle out of anything. He was making a mental plan of action. He turned to look behind him and that’s when Rainey saw it. Chambers was wearing a blue polo shirt. All three of the buttons at the neck were undone. When he turned, the sun caught the gold cross around his neck and Rainey recognized it as the one custom made for Crystal. She wore it in her smiling picture. Rainey’s hand went slowly to her weapon. Knox’s eyes followed Rainey’s hand. The young deputy stopped walking, freezing beside Dalton who saw the movement, too.

Rainey smiled, thinly. “I like that cross, Messiah.” She drew her weapon quickly, shouting, “Freeze!”

The instant Rainey pulled the Sig, Chambers made his move. He grabbed Knox and pulled her tight to his body. Rainey had no shot. She kept her weapon trained on Dalton, but all she could do was watch, as Chambers grappled with the deputy for her gun. In seconds, the stronger man overcame Knox. He held her in a chokehold with one arm and put the barrel of Knox’s nine-millimeter against her temple with the other. Rainey slid behind the truck bed, putting it between her and the serial killer, now brandishing a weapon and threatening to shoot a cop. Not good. The truck wouldn’t stop the bullet, unless she was behind the engine block, but at least it would slow it down.

Rainey had not expected to run into the UNSUB. Unlike on TV, her unit was almost never involved in the actual hands on apprehension of a suspect. Their job was to tell the local investigators where and whom to look for. She had been involved in arrests before, but she always had on protection, and usually followed a SWAT team in. This time she wasn’t wearing a vest. There was no SWAT team in sight, no sirens coming in the distance. She looked into Knox’s terrified eyes and spoke as calmly as she could, even though her heart was about to beat out of her chest.

“Okay, Dalton, you need to just drop the weapon and we’ll talk.”

Dalton glared at her. “You drop
your
weapon and then we’ll talk.”

“You know I can’t do that. Drop the weapon. You know how this ends, if you don’t.”

Knox struggled to get free, having regained some strength after the initial battle for her gun. The handsome face of Dalton Chambers transformed before Rainey’s eyes. He tightened his grip around Knox’s throat, enjoying the smaller woman’s attempts to pry his arm from her throat. Knox gasped for air. Dalton chuckled and smiled at Rainey. He narrowed his glare and spoke in an almost jovial tone.

“Yes, I do know how this ends. The deputy and I are going for a ride. She’s a little old for my taste, but damn, she’s a fighter. Look at her go.” Knox kicked at his legs. Dalton laughed and then narrowed his eyes at Rainey, his voice now pure evil. “And if you try to stop me, I’ll blow this bitch’s head off.”

Rainey was not only an FBI agent trained in tactical weapons, negotiations, and critical response, she was the daughter of a man who survived several Special Forces tours in Vietnam. He taught her to shoot, but more importantly, he taught her to survive. She knew she had to keep Dalton focused on her. Rainey hoped Knox would understand her next words.

“When she put on that badge this morning, she knew she might not make it home tonight. It’s the nature of the beast. You might shoot her, but then I’m going to drop you like a sack of potatoes. No trial, no publicity, just a dead killer and a hero cop. They’ll write article after article about the deputy and her tragic death. You, you’ll be a footnote in the story.”

Dalton started dragging his captive toward the driver’s door of the truck. Rainey thought fast. She took a step back, dropped her aim, and fired. The right rear tire went flat. That got Dalton’s attention and hopefully Danny’s, too. She quickly reacquired her target, the only part of Dalton that was exposed, his head.

Rainey laughed. She needed Dalton off his game. “Wooo. That’s gonna cost you. Bet those tires run over three-hundred dollars a piece.”

Dalton said, through gritted teeth, “You bitch.” He changed directions and started for the SUV.

Danny had a bad habit of leaving the keys in the ignition. Rainey could not let Dalton get to the vehicle. She dropped her aim again and fired at the back tire of the SUV. Bam, whoosh, the air left the tire.

“Now, that’s gonna cost the government. Guess we’ll put it on your tab.”

Dalton was losing his composure rapidly. “Crazy bitch. I’m gonna drop this cop and then I’m gonna fuck you up.”

Rainey was waiting for him to aim his weapon at her. If he pulled the barrel away from Knox’s head, Rainey would not hesitate to shoot him. Still, Rainey kept the truck bed in front of her, in case he got off the first shot. She doubted he would. Rainey was the best shot in her class and had every confidence that she would drop him where he stood. She would shoot now, but Knox could move the wrong way and catch the bullet, or he could spasm at the time of death and kill Knox. The truck was so tall she couldn’t see in front of it, where Danny should be by now. Rainey had no choice, but to keep talking and hope Danny was creeping up behind Dalton.

“Come on Dalton, drop the weapon. You have no way out of this. My partner heard those shots. He’ll be coming soon. Nobody’s hurt, yet. Let’s just calm down and put the weapons away, before he gets the wrong idea and shoots you in the back.”