DEATH (The Justice Cycle Book 1) Read online

  “I was,” he said winking at Dana playfully, causing her to blush slightly. “I am not really at liberty to tell you, but I’m going to stuff regulations and tell you, anyway. The way I see it, the only way we can effectively work together is if we’re all honest with each other.”

  “We appreciate that, Special Agent Johansson,” Jared replied.

  “Tom, Detective. ‘Special Agent’ makes me sound so old and stiff. I am just a working-class guy like you.”

  Jared nodded.

  Johansson leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “These are not the first murders to have occurred outside the city that can be feasibly linked to the Stalker. In fact, I have over twenty known cases that could be linked to him.”

  Both detectives were shocked. Twenty cases outside of the city being linked to one killer was unthinkable to the small-town detectives.

  “If what you say is true, then that would make him one of the most prolific serial killers to date,” Jared said.

  Johansson winked, making a gun motion with his fingers and a popping sound. “Now you can see why we are taking such an interest in your two murder cases here. The Bureau has been trying to track the killer by, for a lack of a better term, following his trail of breadcrumbs.”

  “Why hasn’t the press gotten wind of this yet?” Dana asked. “It seems like one of those vultures would have put two and two together by now and broken the story to the public.”

  “Murders happen every day in a thousand different cities. But of course you already knew that. If we don’t make a big fuss about them, neither do the newsies. Besides, if it got out that the Stalker was hunting anywhere and everywhere, then there would be a whole lot of people panicking needlessly. It also might alert him to our strategy and cause him to lie low for a while.”

  “Needless?” Dana said. “If there are as many people dead from this maniac as you suspect, then I would have to say that their fear is warranted, wouldn’t you?”

  “Touché again, Detective. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just after years of seeing this kind of thing, you start to become desensitized to it. Anyway, I think we can stop this guy before he kills again. We caught Dahmer and Gacy, didn’t we?”

  “Only after they killed a lot of people.”

  “Do you have any suspects yet?” Jared asked, breaking up the scuffle and shooting Dana a glare. “It would help us a great deal if you could give us any kind of a lead we can look into.”

  Johansson sighed. “That’s the catch twenty-two. This guy is so good at what he does that, to date, he hasn’t left one single shred of usable evidence. No fingerprints, footprints, fibers, or anything else that the CSI guys can use. It’s downright bizarre, if you ask me.”

  “So what you are saying is that you have nothing,” said Jared.

  “Pretty much. I was kind of hoping you’d have some leads in your local investigation here that might be of some help to us.”

  Dana rolled her eyes and walked away from the two men and their conversation. This whole thing was starting to overwhelm her, and she just needed to be alone for a few minutes to clear her head. She strolled across the street and sat down on the curb not too far from where the crime scene investigators worked.

  The sun was getting high in the sky and it bathed the area with its wonderful light, driving away the few lingering shadows. She basked in its warmth, hoping that it might also chase away the quiet dread she felt.

  As she gazed, a tiny glint of sunlight from the grass to her right caught her attention. The strange object piqued her curiosity, so she walked over to see what it was. She found there, barely visible above the overgrown grass, a small golden locket. Realizing that it was out of place, she decided to pick it up to examine it.

  It tugged on something as she tried to retrieve it, so she bent down and pulled a little harder. When she saw what it was caught on, she shrieked in horror and fell backward, pulling the locket free.

  Jared and Johansson were by her side instantly and they both gasped in shock when they got close enough to see what it was that had startled her. There, lying peacefully in the bushes, was another body. But unlike the first victim, this one appeared to be a male and in some kind of traditional Japanese outfit.

  “How in the world could we have all missed this?” Jared fumed. “It’s only a couple of yards from the other one.”

  She had screamed so loudly that all of the hustle and bustle in the area stopped as the other officers looked around. Her face flushed with embarrassment as Jared reached out his hand. She took it reluctantly, wishing she could sink into the ground and disappear, and he helped her to her feet.

  After seeing the dead body, Johansson had taken off to get someone to secure the area. He returned shortly with half a dozen local blues and soon had the entire area taped off.

  “Are you okay?” Jared asked her.

  “Yeah, fine,” she replied, disgusted at herself.

  “Sorry. I’ve just never seen you so uptight before.”

  “I know,” she grunted. “I don’t know why it freaked me out like that. Just took me by surprise, is all.”

  Johansson walked over to the two after he had made sure that everything was in order. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just spooked,” she replied with a forced smile.

  “It’s very strange that no one noticed the body lying here,” Jared said.

  “It’s just like everything else that is linked with this guy, bizarre!” Johansson murmured. “It’s like these people were murdered by a ghost or something.”

  Jared shook his head in acknowledgment but said nothing. Dana was suddenly very aware of the locket in her hands, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, she decided to keep it hidden from the others. She dropped it into her pocket before either of them noticed it.

  She stretched and yawned. “There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll get back to it.”

  “You two both look exhausted,” Johansson said before she had a chance to leave. “I can handle it from here if you two want to take a break or something.”

  Dana and Jared exchanged glances and he smiled at her. She returned his smile weakly and he reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

  “That would be great,” he said. “Give us about an hour and we will be back here to help you clean things up.”

  “No problem, take as long as you need.”

  The three parted company, but none of them could shake the uneasy feeling that haunted them. Even though homicide was their job, they somehow knew that this time it was different.

  Thirteen

  The rest of the day went off without a hitch and Jared soon found himself parked out in front of his parent’s house, exhausted and drained. He had made sure that Dana arrived home safely and was now able to relax.

  The small town of Greene, where his parents lived, had not changed at all in the years they had resided here. There was still only one grocery store, and in true New York fashion, four different pizza places. Greene was known for its antiques, and people came from all over to shop in the little stores that lined the small downtown area.

  There was one large factory that provided most of the economic stability in the town and gave the people jobs and the few retail stores customers. Greene was small town America at its best, the type of community you’d search for when looking for a place to settle down and raise a family.

  Like most of upstate New York, Greene abounded with Colonial and Revolutionary War history. It was said that General Nathaniel Greene of the Continental Army had founded the town during the American Revolution, and the town was named after him. One of the small houses at the end of his parent’s street had once been the residence of the Iroquois princess Go Won Go.

  It was near impossible to walk down the small streets of Greene, New York, and not find some government marker designating a historical location. Jared, being an avid history lover and fancying himself a novice historian, a
dmired the area for its vast historical richness.

  Yesterday he had vehemently rejected the notion of coming here, and he didn’t know why. His parents’ house had always been a place of refuge, and now that he was here, the familiar feelings of warmth and security flooded back.

  The Caddret house was white with black shutters, of average size with a small garage to its left and a pool in the backyard. Like many American yards, the Caddrets’ was in desperate need of mowing, but otherwise, everything looked homey and inviting. It seemed to Jared that the yard was always like this. Now that the two brothers had grown and left the house, no one kept up with the usual lawn care. Pastor Caddret never seemed to have enough time.

  He walked up to the small front porch, running his hands along the black ironwork rails. He winced as the porch light suddenly came on when he got close enough to trip the motion detector. Not wanting to go in just yet, he closed his eyes and stood motionless on the steps, allowing the familiarity of it to wash over him.

  The familiar smells of his mother’s cooking hit his senses and his stomach growled. He knew his mom would most likely have prepared a feast in honor of his brother’s unexpected visit, but despite his stomach’s protests, he didn’t feel like eating. So instead of going in, he sat down on the concrete steps.

  He couldn’t count how many times he’d sat in this very spot contemplating the universe’s mysteries. This house was filled with many such memories, mostly good, and he couldn’t help feeling like he was a child again.

  It was strange that being here affected him so much. The last time he had felt this way was when he’d left for college. They say that you can never go back again to the innocence of youth, that once a person has left it behind, it’s gone forever. The profession he had chosen had certainly taught him that if it had taught him anything at all.

  “Rough day?” a familiar voice asked, startling him out of his reverie.

  He jumped and turned, squinting into the shadows to search for his brother, but saw nothing. Jared realized that he had been sitting outside his parents’ front door for quite some time. The motion detector, which automatically turned the porch light on, had apparently shut off again due to his inactivity. But the soft gentle glow of his brother’s cigarette was clearly visible in the darkness.

  “Steve?” Jared asked.

  “The one and only,” the man replied, exhaling.

  “What the devil are you doing out here? And how is it that I didn’t notice you when I first walked up, and the porch light turned on?”

  Steve flicked away what remained of his cigarette and walked over. Strangely he continued to appear only as a shadowy silhouette until he was standing directly over him.

  “Don’t know, big brother,” he replied with a smirk. “Guess you were just too lost in your own thoughts to notice me.”

  “Not likely,” Jared shot back indignantly. “I’m trained to notice everything, and I am very good at what I do.”

  Steve shrugged. “Maybe your eyesight is starting to go in your old age. How many fingers am I holding up?”

  “Ha. Ha, ha. Very funny!” Jared rolled his eyes. “You must have come from around back after I sat down.”

  “We will never know, will we? Maybe it was magic.”

  “Whatever!”

  Jared grunted as he stretched, the fatigue from the last few days finally getting the better of him. His body ached all over and all he really wanted to do was go inside, pass out on the couch, and sleep for a week. The light turned on as he rose, the sensor once again detecting his motion.

  “I thought you quit smoking,” he commented.

  Steve opened the front door and held it for his older brother. “I did,” he said with a smile. “It didn’t take.”

  Jared shook his head as he walked past his brother. Warmth instantly surged over him as he stepped over the threshold and into the humble dining room. He sighed with relief and the tension and fatigue from the previous few days seemed to melt away.

  “God, I love it here,” he said to himself.

  Their mother hurried out of the kitchen and threw her arms around her eldest son. “How are you doing?” she asked. “I heard about Jasmine. What happened? Everything seemed to be going so well.”

  Jared returned his mother’s hug but shot Steve an annoyed glance as he did so. Steve threw his hands up and mouthed, “It wasn’t me!”

  Their mother went back into the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, “She called here sometime last night trying to reach you. She mentioned something about not wanting to call your cell phone and said she was sorry if she’d hurt you. She seemed to be in quite a big hurry and asked us to tell you not to try to reach her as she would be going out of town and had no idea when she would be returning to the area.”

  Jared groaned as the emotions he had been suppressing throughout the day came flooding back. He plopped down into the nearest chair.

  “Did she happen to mention where she was going?” he asked miserably.

  “Sorry, honey. We were at church last night counseling and missed her call. She left the message on the answering machine.”

  “If you want, you can play it back,” Jared’s father yelled from his perch by the computer in the living room. “I haven’t erased the messages yet.”

  Jared’s head shot up. He desperately wanted to run into the living room and play that message just to hear her voice again, but he fought the urge. Steve, who was now sitting down across from him, eyed him curiously, interested in how he was going to react to this new revelation.

  “No thanks, I’ll take your word for it,” he said, his mood turning sour. “I don’t think I can handle hearing her voice right now.”

  His dad came into the room and he rose to give him a hug. The two men embraced, and Jared’s dad held him longer than he usually would.

  “You sure you’re all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Dad, I’ll be okay. It may not feel like it right now, but it’s not the end of the world.”

  His dad was a short stocky man in his late fifties with salt and pepper hair. Even though he was balding, he was handsome and distinguished, with a well-trimmed beard and sharp blue eyes.

  He did, however, have a distinct aura of authority that he naturally projected when he came into a room. His father said that it was the anointing of God on his life. God or not, for Jared it was because his dad was his hero. To this day, he still felt the same awe for his father that he’d had as a child.

  Steve fidgeted at the display of affection between the two. When they had finished, he stood up and quickly walked out into the living room and toward the steps that led upstairs.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” his mother called after him as she entered the room carrying a plate of piping hot roast beef. “Dinner is just about ready.”

  “I have to take a piss,” Steve said as he lumbered up the stairs.

  “Steven James! You know I don’t like that word.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” he shouted from somewhere up the stairs.

  “I swear, that boy says things like that just to get under my skin,” she complained to her husband. She placed the dish on the table and headed out into the kitchen to get the rest of the meal.

  “He says things like that to prove that he is his own person and no longer bound to our rules,” his dad replied. “That’s also why he continues to smoke. I used to think it was just another one of his rebellious phases and that he’d grow out of it, but now it has become a matter of independence for him. I don’t understand why he fights so hard against what he knows to be right.”

  Ever since they were kids, Steve’s nonchalant attitude had always made Jared smile. He didn’t care what anybody thought about him or whether they approved of what he was doing. Steve lived his life on his own terms and never did anything simply because it was customary or expected. Much to his parents’ dismay, at times he went to the extreme to prove he was his own person, a man not bound by society’s rules.

  Jared sometimes wis
hed he could be more like his younger brother and not so uptight, but no matter how hard he tried, his conscience always got the better of him. It had been that way even when they were children, Steve never showing that his parents’ disappointment bothered him and Jared never able to let the sun go down before he’d confessed all his transgressions.

  The two distinctly different personalities were also apparent in the types of careers that they had chosen. Steve was drawn to the risqué lifestyle of a rock star, while Jared had gravitated to law enforcement. But despite all their differences, Jared and Steve were the closest of friends and had been since childhood.

  His mother brought the remaining plates of food out and set them on the table. The aroma caused Jared’s stomach to grumble. He hadn’t eaten all day and only then realized how hungry he was.

  His mother sat down across the table from his father who always sat at the head, and the three of them patiently waited for Steve to return from the restroom. He didn’t come of course, and Jared’s dad sighed. They waited a few minutes longer, but his dad’s patience had run out, and he was ready to eat.

  He grunted. “If we wait any longer for that boy to get down here, the entire meal will be cold. Let’s just bless the food and start without him. If he wants to eat a cold meal, he can. But I am not.”

  They all held hands as his father blessed the food, and as usual just as the prayer was coming to an end, Steve came barreling down the stairs.

  “Sorry, everyone,” he said with a smirk as he popped down in the chair next to Jared. He gave him a playful nudge, and Jared returned the favor by kicking him hard in the leg under the table. “Did I miss anything?”

  His dad grumbled something under his breath as he reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes. He scooped out a heaping spoonful and plopped it on his plate.

  It seemed to Jared that since his brother had grown up and gone out on his own, all the meals that they shared together as a family started out this way. Why his brother was so set on irritating their father was a mystery to him. He knew that they did not always see eye to eye, but Steve’s constant testing seemed a bit much. After all, Steve was twenty-seven years old. It was time for him to grow up.