The Green-Eyed Doll (19 page)

“Where are you headed?” Matt took pity on him and didn’t threaten to tell Jake’s wife.

“Will Brooking’s place. I hear he’s taken a leave from work. Gonna put together his own search party. Says if we can’t find Annie, he will. He needs reminding to stay on the right side of the law.” Jake pulled the door to his cruiser open, paused, and turned back. “Unless you’ve got something else in mind.”

“You’re the Deputy Sheriff. Don’t need my approval.” Matt waved him off. “Keep me informed.” He ran up the steps two at a time. Ash would have questions.

Sue looked up from her computer and smiled. Sitting on the edge of her desk was a box of chocolates. “You failed to mention Ash is real considerate.” She raised the lid and popped a piece of candy in her mouth.

“He’s real thoughtful, all right.” Matt shook his head while Sue’s cheeks turned pink. He handed her the bag containing the panties and picture with instructions. He pushed open the conference room door to find Ash studying the crime scene photos. A frown pulled his eyebrows together. He showed no recognition the door had opened. Damn, Matt had missed his old partner. They worked well together, picking up on things the other missed.

“He’s a sick bastard.” Ash’s gaze didn’t move from the pictures. He’d commit the scene to memory, file facts away for later retrieval.

“That, he is. Good to see you made yourself at home.” Matt slapped Ash across the back and welcomed the tight grasp of his hand.

“Speaking of home, I’m stealing Sue when she gets a minute. I’ll follow her to my new pad, give me a chance to unpack and get ready for my new job.” All business, Ash leaned back and flipped the murder-book open. “You’ve done a good job with the notes. Won’t take much to get up to speed. I may want to double back on some of your interviews.”

“Let me know. If I can’t take you, one of the deputies will. You met Jake, he and Rey Santos have worked both cases since day one. Sue combined their notes with mine. What you read is up to date.”

“Did these two women have anything in common?” Ash shifted in his chair and returned his gaze to Julia Drummond’s and Annie Travers’s faces.

“One. They both went to the same bar. Julia was a frequent visitor. Being single, she stopped by with one of her girlfriends. Annie went rarely. When she did she was always with her husband. The Saddleback’s the only club of any size for miles. Two of our neighboring counties are dry. This nightspot does big business on the weekends. Have you had a chance to watch the security video from the bank drive-thru window?”

“Not yet. I wanted to read your notes on the first woman before I started on the second. How long’s she been missing?”

“Eight days.” Matt didn’t have to check. Each hour and minute they’d looked for Annie was forever etched in his mind.

“At this point you don’t know if that’s a good sign or not. What about the first woman? How long before her body was found?”

“Four days. ME estimated she’d been dead twenty-four hours.”

“Interesting, these types of crimes usually escalate...” Ash’s voice trailed off to a whisper as his mind processed information. “Unless she was taken as a sex slave.”

“Then why’d he kill her?”

“Maybe it was part of his game, choked her and she didn’t come back. Could’ve been an accident.”

“Murder’s no accident.”

“There’s a thread that connects these women. We’ll find it.” Ash’s gaze locked on Matt. “You gotta pull back man, stay objective.”

“Easy to say.”

“But critical to do.” Ash finished the long-standing mantra he and Matt had coined years ago.

Matt looked his friend in the eyes. “Did I say welcome? I’m glad you’re here.”

“Good. Now walk me through the video.”

Matt started the film and hoped Ash would pick up on something Matt missed. “Other than she recognized him, I got nothing. You see anything?” Matt sat back in disgust when the short few minutes of tape ended.

“She not only knew him, she trusted him. Trusted he was only taking the money.” Ash pushed the start button, watched the feed again. “I can’t read her lips. The shot is from an angle, and I can’t make out the words. You look into her finances?”

“They weren’t too deep in debt. Their house was a rental. Neither car was new and only a couple grand was owed against them. The credit check came back clean with one charge card. Hell, they’d been saving money to have a kid. I don’t think the guy on camera is her husband.”

“You can’t see anything but a shoulder and a hand holding the gun. Hell, it could’ve been me, and you wouldn’t know it. I want to talk to the husband.”

Matt acknowledged his friend’s request with a nod. “That’s what you’re here for.”

Ash closed the book and straightened the paperwork on the conference table. He used to get pissed if someone on the night shift trashed his desk. Matt would rearrange stuff to hear Ash raise hell. Elena, Matt’s partner after he moved to the narcotics squad, had been the opposite. Her work area looked like a bomb had exploded. She used to joke how her husband had to help keep up with the kids. The same kids who were now growing up without a mother.

Ash stood and studied his handiwork. “That’s better. I officially start in the morning. I wanted to get a feel for what we’re up against. Gives me something to think about tonight. I’m having dinner with my new girl and a lady friend of hers. Want to make it a foursome?” Ash tilted his head sideways and waited for a response.

“I’ve got work to do. Go. Have a good time.” Matt made no effort to keep the smile off his face. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He walked Ash back to Sue’s desk and left his gruff, abrasive dispatcher almost purring.

Matt returned to the conference room, replaying the past few days. It nagged at him that Will Brooking and some of his buddies were storming through the county searching for Annie. He wasn’t opposed to help, but Will was a hothead. A hothead with a missing daughter.

****

Thursday, August 24th, 10:00 p.m.

He prided himself on staying sober. He’d been pissed and obviously had one beer too many. Too many, unless somebody had painted two extra stripes on the road running out to Mama’s trailer. The drive seemed to take forever. But he’d made a decision, and by God, he didn’t back down from the tough ones. He’d do it and put the whole damn thing behind him.

Dying was her own damn fault. Hadn’t he been good to her? All that got him was a trashed bathroom. She wanted to wear clothes. She wanted more food. And over and over again, she wanted to go home. Goddamn her, she wanted everything but him.

Mama never tolerated backtalk and crying. She’d whip him until the red streaks were welts. But after...after, she’d hold him in her arms and rock him. Her breasts were soft and sweet. Sometimes she’d let him—no, he wouldn’t remember those times.

His head ached, and his heart hurt. Why hadn’t she loved him? Why? Worst of all...why did he care?

His tires grabbed and slung gravel against the undercarriage. “What the hell?” His pickup swerved off the road for a second. He cranked the AC up on high, pointed the vents toward his face, and breathed deeply. His mind had cleared by the time he pulled into the driveway.

He might be ready for a new doll. First, he’d let this doll shower and get pretty for him. A ponytail, some makeup, a layer of Mama’s red lipstick, and she’d pull him out of this melancholy shit-ditch he was in. He’d tie the bow around her neck himself. For a while, she’d be the doll she was meant to be. One last time. Then he’d end her whining for good.

****

Friday, August 25th, 8:30 a.m.

Matt held the door open for Ash, walking past him when he stopped and breathed in the aroma. Mornings at the old-fashioned drugstore smelled of fresh coffee, sizzling bacon, and maple syrup. Lately, it had turned into an unofficial meeting place to discuss the case. He and his detectives were in a mad dash to find Annie before she was killed and a bow was tied around her neck. Who knew where the bastard would leave her for all the world to see?

Matt led Ash toward the sound of clattering dishes, through the aisles and back to the small café tucked away in the rear. Business was brisk for such a small town. The older male population filled the stools at the counter. The heat had driven them indoors and away from their usual spot on the benches in front of the courthouse. Matt made the obligatory stops to shake hands and answer a few questions. Most were directed at Ash when introduced as the homicide expert from Houston.

While there, Matt planned to ask if anyone remembered JC being around yesterday morning. Matt wanted to know exactly what had been purchased. He’d spent the past hour going over Catherine’s stalker and the gifts she’d received. They grabbed the last empty booth. Molly brought brown over-sized mugs filled with steaming coffee without waiting to be asked.

“You boys look hungry this morning.” She stood closer to Ash’s side of the table, smiled down on him as if the drought had broken, and it was pouring rain.

“I’ll take the special, scrambled.” Ash turned his full attention to Molly.

“I’m not hungry.” Matt choked on his coffee as the scenario unfolded. How Ash captured the woman’s heart with nothing more than an appreciative look was unbelievable. She swished her hips at a dizzying speed as she walked away. “You’re such a whore-dog. Don’t you ever get enough?”

“There’s no such thing. And you’ve been holding out on me.” Ash shot a smile in the direction of the now smitten Molly.

“Holding out? Molly’s a pretty girl, but there’s nothing going on.” There could’ve been. She’d batted her pretty blue eyes at Matt more than once, but there wasn’t a spark.

“She’s not the one I’m talking about. You get a funny look when you talk about this Catherine woman. I need to know more.”

Matt squirmed in the booth. Ash’s mind was like the jaws of a pit bull, when he locked down on something he didn’t turn loose.

“She’s a friend.” Matt ignored Ash when he huffed a sound between disgust and disbelief. “And I needed one over the past month or so.”

“And...”

“She’s damn near perfect.” Matt smiled. Fact was she had no flaws on her body.

“So what’s not perfect about this mysterious woman?”

“For one thing, she’s got a stalker, and yet, refuses to file a complaint. Refuses to walk inside the courthouse or my office.”

“Why’s that?” Ash leaned forward, his interest piqued.

“Don’t know. I haven’t pushed the issue.”

“When do I get to meet her?”

“Good question. She works two jobs.”

“A woman who pays her own bills. I like her already.”

“Sure is tempting to dig around in her past. Maybe learn how I can help.”

“You could ‘help’ yourself right out her front door. How pissed you think she’s gonna be if she finds out you ‘dug around’?”

“I said tempting.”

“Listen to an expert. Leave it alone.”

Matt bit back a wisecrack but only because breakfast was served.

Ash leaned over the plate Molly put in front of him and stuffed a bite of eggs in his face. “Molly, darling. I think I’m in love.”

She leaned down closer to his ear. “I get off at three.”

The man was truly an artist with the ladies. Matt bit off a piece of toast and sat the rest down when his cell vibrated.

“What’s up, Rey?” Matt forced himself to swallow. He closed his eyes and listened to the gruesome facts. Annie Travers had been found. “Be there in twenty.”

Ash was already on his feet. He tossed money on the table. “Got a body?”

“Yeah. Annie Travers is in Downey Park. Sonofabitch left her right next to Curry Middle School.” Matt rushed through the store, and he and Ash jumped into the cruiser. “I didn’t ask for details, but if she’s posed like the last one—” Matt had a hard time saying the words out loud. “If she is, we’ve got a serial killer on our hands.”

Matt radioed Sue to ensure she’d notified Jake and Dr. Reinhardt. Matt had to get a positive ID and secure the crime scene for the forensic team. He feared the children on the way to school might’ve seen Annie because the buses had driven right past the park. Damn, Annie’s husband taught at the school two blocks away. Why did Crest County start school in the middle of August instead of early September? He called Sue back.

“Ben Travers teaches at that school. Get a hold of the principal before Ben hears a body’s been found. We have to keep him away from the site.” Matt pushed his speed. Siren blaring, he cut the twenty minutes to ten. Annie’s mother and father would have to be told, but for now Annie came first. Matt called in three additional deputies to work crowd control. Curry might be a small town but people would congregate quickly.

Matt shut off the siren a couple of blocks prior to arrival in order to lessen the amount of attention drawn to the site. The park was small by big city standards. Six picnic tables were scattered under large oak trees. Under normal circumstances, there’d be shade covering the area, but this summer had been anything but normal. The sun had burned off the majority of the leaves and the swings and slides were too hot to play on by the time school was out. Wood chips had been replaced with plastic pebbles to prevent fires.

A whoosh of air left his lungs when he had to drive to the rear of the park. At least Annie wasn’t on the street front. Matt parked and Rey joined them. His crisp uniform shirt and boyish face was quite a contrast to his granite and emotionless expression.

Ash muttered something unintelligible, clipped his badge to his belt, and bailed out of Matt’s cruiser. He met and passed Rey with a curt nod.

As Matt walked to the back of Rey’s cruiser, dread increased with each step. Rey’s rigid posture and cold expression warned Matt, braced him against the horror and indignation Annie had suffered. Naked, arms hanging at her sides, her head slumped to the side. Annie sat, propped against the base of an oak tree, its bare roots ran along the surface of the dry, hard ground, and cradled her body like giant arthritic arms. Her hair was pulled back, her face powered a ghastly white, and lips were as bright red as the bow tied around her neck. Her vacant green eyes stared out, not caring how exposed her killer had left her.