Tunnel Vision (32 page)

“you didn’t notice that he matched this description of a triple murderer we’re looking for?”

“Shit!” the desk officer hissed.

“How long ago did he leave the envelope?”

“Ten or fifteen minutes ago. I’m sorry,

Lieutenant.”

“Did you notice whether he was in a vehicle?”

“Sorry, he just asked that I get it to you and left,”

the officer apologized. “He was only here less than a minute.”

“Okay,” Brodie sighed.

“He’s playing with us,” Nicholls said.

“And he’s winning,” Brodie retorted, walking toward the front entrance of the station.

Nicholls followed her and they both stepped outside and looked up and down the street.

“He could be anywhere,” Nicholls sighed, placing his hands on his hips and squinting up into the sun.

“Do the reports on him tell us anything about his habits, likes and dislikes?” Brodie asked.

“Not much. Except for Karen Dietrick he seems to have pretty much been a loner.”

As Brodie turned to reenter the station, her cell phone chirped. Pulling it out of its holster, she flipped it open. “Brodie!” she barked.

“Lieutenant Brodie, this is Sheriff Cantrell.”

“What’s up, Sheriff?”

“I’m over here at your house. We received an anonymous phone call about twenty minutes ago that a crime had been committed. There’s a bod…,” the Sheriff started.

“No!” she shouted as she bolted down the steps and raced toward her car, fumbling to get the keys out of her pocket.

“Brodie!” Nicholls called as he ran after her. By the time he reached her car and jerked the passenger door open, the Camaro was already in reverse. Just as she threw the gear into drive, he managed to jump in.

“What the hell’s going on?”

“He’s been in my house,” she said through

gritted teeth. “Maggie was there when I left for work.” Glancing from side to side at intersections, she gunned the engine and flew through red lights, barely avoiding other vehicles that had the right of way. Turning sharply to the right, the Camaro sailed over a rise on the road leading to her home ten miles outside Cedar Springs. Five minutes later, she slowed as she approached the driveway of the house. Maggie’s Subaru was parked in front of the detached garage.

She skidded to a stop and flew out of the vehicle, Nicholls close behind her. She ran toward the front porch, but was stopped by a Sheriff’s Deputy.

“Get out of my way,” she growled menacingly.

“This is my house.”

“It’s a crime scene and you’ll have to wait out here until we’re finished and the body is removed,” the deputy said.

Brodie shoved the deputy away and started for the front door again. He grabbed her and spun her around, just in time to take the full force of her fist.

“Cedar Springs Police,” Nicholls yelled, flashing his badge.

“Let them through, Doyle,” the Sheriff called out from the porch.

Brodie’s legs felt like melting Jell-O as she made her way up the front steps. She looked numbly at Sheriff Cantrell, not sure what to say. He placed a big hand on her shoulder. “It’s ugly in there, Brodie. Maybe you should wait outside. We’re waiting for your forensic people to arrive.”

She shook her head and stepped into the living room. Nothing looked disturbed as she walked slowly through the front rooms. Turning down the hallway she stopped in front of the bathroom, the room where she had last seen Maggie. Her heart stopped as she looked into the room. A pool of blood surrounded the black body on the white tiled floor. She blinked back tears as she saw smeared blood on the floor leading out of the room.

She stepped back and looked at Nicholls. Her eyes shifted toward the room at the end of the hallway, her bedroom, the scene of so much joy just a few hours earlier. She could see bloody footprints leading to it. Nicholls moved ahead of her and glanced into the bedroom. Four sets of eyes turned toward him, momentarily stopping their work. Nicholls swallowed hard before facing Brodie to prevent her from seeing the scene.

“No! No! No! No!” Brodie screamed as she tried to push past him. “Maggie! Oh, God! Maggie! Please!”

“Brodie!” Nicholls yelled as he grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her out of the room. She fought against him, but grief had sapped the energy out of her and she collapsed to the floor, rubbing her face and burying her head in her hands. She sobbed uncontrollably and barely heard Nicholls calling Donaldson. As he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket he knelt next to Brodie and helped her to her feet, guiding her down the hallway toward the living room.

BRODIE STARED AT the wall in her living room without acknowledging the activity around her. Frank Cardona and his men walked past her without their usual banter. Just a few short hours ago Maggie had been vibrantly alive in her arms, laughing. Now she was gone, her laughter silenced…forever. She drew a shaky breath as tears burned down her cheeks unnoticed.

“Brodie?” She looked up into the eyes of Fred Donaldson. “Can I get you anything?”

She shook her head and closed her eyes, forcing more wetness onto her face. “Have they found anything useful?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m taking you off the case,” he said quietly.

“No!” she said forcefully, anger and hatred flashing in her eyes. “He’s mine.”

“You can’t…” he started.

“I’ll work it on my own even I have to resign to do it!” She stood and walked down the hallway on wobbly legs. When she entered her bedroom, Nicholls was at her side in an instant to turn her around. “You don’t want to see this, RB,” he said quietly.

“I have to,” she said grimly. Pushing past him, she took a deep breath and inhaled the unwelcome scent of death around her. As she approached the bed, she patted Frank on the back. He turned away from the body on her bed and stared at her.

“Jesus, Brodie! You shouldn’t be in here.”

“It’s okay, Frank. I just need a minute,” she said.

“You got an extra pair of gloves?”

As she pulled the gloves on, she forced herself to look at the body. The woman’s pale body had begun to take on a gray, ashen look. Slowly scanning the victim, her eyes traveled up well defined legs, over the auburn mound of her crotch, and along the flat abdomen. The breasts had large bruises and bite marks resembling those on Karen Dietrick’s body. She shuddered involuntarily at the pain Maggie had endured. Standing to the side of the bed, she looked at the disfigured face, partially covered by auburn hair. She used her gloved fingers to tenderly lift the hair away from the ruined face. Bending over slightly, she saw the gold hoop of a pierced earring resting against the woman’s neck. Standing up, she pulled the gloves from her hands and tossed them in the wastebasket next to the bed. “Thanks, Frank,” she said, turning to leave the room quickly.

In the hallway she stopped and let her body slide down the wall. Resting her elbows on her bent knees she covered her face with her hands as the tears began flowing once again. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Nicholls’ worried eyes.

“It’s…it’s not Maggie,” she managed.

“How the hell can you know that? Without a face…” He stopped and said, “I’m sorry, RB.”

“It’s not Maggie, Nicholls. Maggie doesn’t have pierced ears,” she said tersely.

“Jesus,” Nicholls breathed. “Then who’s in there?”

“Her name is Kara. I don’t know her last name. Kara might not be her first name. I only met her once, but it was enough to cause her death.”

“What?”

“She was a call girl I met.”

Nicholls frowned. “You’re a sick bitch, Brodie.”

Brodie held her hand out and Nicholls pulled her up. “Have they removed my dog yet?” she asked.

“Yeah, they took him away a little while ago.”

She walked into the bathroom, avoiding the pool of blood, and closed the door before she turned and vomited into the toilet. She was overcome with fear. Chambers had to have followed her to know about Kara. But that had been weeks ago. She splashed water on her face and slowly dried her hands and face before stepping out of the bathroom.

“What are you going to do now, Brodie?”

Donaldson asked as soon as she joined him and Nicholls in the living room.

“Try to think,” she said as she walked onto the front porch. She slipped on her sunglasses and looked around her yard which was now full of police cars and vehicles from the crime lab. She caught something out of the corner of her eyes and said,

“He’s got Maggie!”

Chapter Thirteen

MAGGIE GROANED AND tried to touch her face. It was dark and damp and her hands were handcuffed behind her back. She heard what sounded like water dripping somewhere in the distance. She tried to remember what had happened and shook her head. She had been in the basement. She squeezed her eyes closed. She remembered seeing a man wearing a brown grounds crew uniform and sunglasses. She remembered catching a glimpse of a smile as a fist made contact with her jaw. The hint of a smile was familiar. Chambers! He was here…in the tunnels. Her breathing increased and she began to feel sick. She was trapped, probably alone with a killer.

“WHAT DO YOU mean, he’s got Maggie?”

Donaldson demanded.

“Her car is here and it shouldn’t be. We have to get to the university,” Brodie said as she tried to restrain the near-panic she felt inside.

“Maggie went to the university?” Donaldson asked. “You chewed her ass out once before for going somewhere alone.”

“She called me on my way to work this morning. I told her she could go as long as she took a security guard with her. Chambers must have attacked her again. He used her car to transport the body here.”

Brodie rubbed her forehead, trying to draw together the scanty facts she knew, all the while wondering how Chambers had managed to pull off another possible double murder.

“Call some patrol units and get them over to the university,” Donaldson ordered. “Where was she going?”

“The Biology Building. Call campus security and see if the guard with her has checked in yet.” Brodie pulled out her cell and punched in Maggie’s number, praying she would answer. Four rings later the phone switched to voice mail. “I’m going to the university,”

she announced as she ran down the steps of her home. Nicholls sprinted after her and got in the Camaro. Brodie backed out of the driveway and swung the vehicle onto the main road into Cedar Springs. Nicholls stared at her across the front seat for a few minutes. “So why would Chambers bring Maggie’s car to your house, Brodie?”

“He must have seen us and is using it as a mind game.”

“Seen what?”

She looked across the car at him. “You don’t want to know.”

“Know what? That you’re fuckin’ your trainee?”

“Something like that. Make sure you include that in your report to Donaldson,” she said bitterly.

“Not my business,” he said, looking out the passenger window.

“Look, Nicholls. I know how you feel about gays so let’s not tip-toe around it anymore.”

“You’re right. I think it’s sick. Up until now we’ve been able to work around it, but now, in my opinion, it’s interfering with your ability to do the job. Your personal life is intruding too much into your professional life. You can’t do your job when you’re busy looking at a piece of ass all the time.”

“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”

“You are now.”

“Chambers has made it personal. I need you to back me up professionally. Can you do that?”

“I know my job,” he snapped. “We’ll discuss the rest when Weston is safe.”

Brodie pulled into a parking slot in front of the University police office. She and Nicholls walked quickly into the office and showed their badges.

“Well, you’re the second and third Cedar Springs detectives to grace us with your presence today,” the officer at the reception desk said.

“Has the security guard who accompanied

Detective Weston returned yet?” Brodie asked.

“No one went with her. She just waltzed in here and asked for the master keys to the Biology Building and left.”

“An officer didn’t go with her?” Brodie asked again.

“She said she just wanted to look the building over. Didn’t request any further assistance.”

“Fuck!” Brodie exclaimed. “She promised!”

Nicholls grabbed Brodie’s arm. “Let’s go.

Donaldson’s sending some patrol units and we already have Romero and a couple of others watching for Chambers.”

Brodie peeled away from the police office and drove as fast as she could toward the Science Quadrangle. When she stopped in front of the building she and Nicholls looked around. A few minutes later Nicholls spotted Romero.

“You seen Weston?” he asked as they approached him.“She was here earlier. She and I practically crawled over every inch of this building. Didn’t find anything new and exciting,” Romero said with a shrug.

“Well, where the hell is she now?” Brodie

demanded.

“She told me she was going to the office. Her car’s gone so I figured she was enjoying coffee and doughnuts while we’re out here watching for the phantom.”

“Did you see her leave?” Brodie pressed.

“I went inside for a few minutes to cool off. Her car was gone when I came back outside. What’s the deal?”

“She’s missing,” Nicholls said. “Did you see anyone suspicious hanging around? Anyone at all?”

“Shit! There’s people all over the damn place including a bunch of groundskeepers who’ve been working around here since I arrived.”

Four patrol cars came to a halt in the middle of the Science Quadrangle. Two officers climbed out of each vehicle and looked around the area.

“Take two officers and go through the building again,” Brodie ordered. “Nicholls, have the others cordon off the building. You go around the outside to the right and I’ll take the left. Take a walkie talkie and let me know if you find anything.”

Brodie and Nicholls each grabbed a walkie talkie and began their search around the exterior of the building. She searched behind every bush and stopped to ask a few of the groundskeepers questions, without success. When she turned the corner of the building, she glanced down at the door to the basement. The padlock was closed and she started to move away when she decided to double check the padlock. On the last step she saw that the padlock was locked, but wasn’t through the hasp attached to the door. She grabbed her walkie talkie to call Nicholls. She pressed the transmit button and heard only static. She smacked the device with the flat of her hand, but was still unable to transmit.