CHAPTER TEN
It was time for us to go home. I just couldn’t go. I had to find out who this was. So after dropping Davis off at his home I went back to the station to try and make a plan of action. I got a map of the county and marked the areas the murders where in. I was hoping to find some kind of a pattern. If I could, maybe I could guess where she was going to attack tonight. Then I could pull an all-nighter and catch her before she ruined my life. I also called Mark and asked him to feed Sadie and let her out for a little while.
“Hey boss.”
“Yes Adams?”
“I asked around like you asked me to. No one saw a woman that didn’t work here anywhere near my desk. And no one saw anyone leave anything there either.” He sounded as disappointed as I felt.
“Thanks Adams. Go on home and get some rest.”
“Boss, are you okay? Do you need me to stay and help with anything or get you anything?” Adams looked and sounded concerned. Maybe he wasn’t just an ass kisser. Maybe he was also a nice guy.
About an hour later I looked up at my door and found Davis standing there with two very large coffees from Julie’s and Mark standing next to him.
“Didn’t I take you home and tell you to get some reset? What are you doing here?”
“Do you really think I’m going to let you work all night and not give you some help? And I knew you needed to feed so I went and got Mark. You look really bad Shawn. Take a break, feed and drink your coffee. Casey said she would drop some more off after they closed the store today.” Davis was starting to sound like Mark and Courtney, which is good to know.
“And just where am I going to feed without anyone knowing?”
“It’s time for shift change Shawn, close your blinds and do it here. No one will see you. They are going over some new things tonight. They won’t be out for a while. Besides, I’ll be at Beth’s desk and will head anyone off. No problem.”
Before I had a chance to say no, Davis and Mark were closing the blinds and Davis closed the door behind him. Without wasting anytime, Mark sat down in one of the chairs and positioned his head where I needed it.
After Mark was able to stand, Davis took him home and came back. I was still in my office trying to guess where the next attack would be.
“Davis, do me a favor. Go find out what is going on in the meeting. I need to know if the night supervisor is going to do anything to try and find out who is doing the killing.”
“I’m on my way.” As Davis left the room, I leaned back in my chair to do some thinking.
No one except those five people knows about me. No one that doesn’t work here was near Adams’ desk today. I was hoping I was wrong about where this was leading me. And I was beginning to wonder if Adams could still be involved. He would have known I wouldn’t keep him late to help me. But, I really don’t see him being able to kill someone in cold blood like that. However, one can never tell.
Davis returning snapped me out of my thoughts. “They are working on a plan to cover areas they think might be the next crime scene. Blackman wants to know what you think.”
“How can I tell him that? I don’t even know what I think.”
“You better figure it out. Here he comes.”
Blackman was the night supervisor. He has the personality of a tree stump. No humor in him what-so-ever. I have tried for the last five years to get him to smile and have not yet seen him even grin. He’s the type of person that thrives on being in command. That also means he doesn’t do too well when I step into the picture. He’s also the only person working under me that doesn’t call me boss. Even my brother calls me that.
“Anderson, I’m assuming Davis filled you in on what we are doing.” The big bulky man walked into my office like he owned it. If there is one thing I hate it’s a rude person. His black hair was cut military style and he filled in the frame of my door with his 280 pound body. At 5’10”, he looked overweight and his black eyes stared at me with contempt in them.
“He was just getting to that.” I had to work at not being rude back. I was tired and pissed and I wasn’t in the mood for him right now.
“What are you waiting for? You’ve had enough time to get here and fill Anderson in.”
“When a guy has to pee then he is going to pee. Chill out.” I almost laughed at that. Davis has a way of making someone look stupid without meaning to.
“Look, Blackman, I know this is your shift but he is my subordinate and I expect you to will let me deal with him as I see fit. Just like I will let you deal with your team as you see fit. I am your boss as well. Or have you forgotten that?” Like I said, I’m not in the mood for him right now.
“No sir, I haven’t forgotten. I won’t step on your turf again. These murders have been happening on my watch. Forgive me if I’m a little bossy.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s just work together on this. We are all worked up right now.” He has no idea how worked up I am right now. He’s not going to know how worked up I am either. “Davis and I just watched the tapes from last night’s murder. Unlike what we all believed, this is a woman perp. She knew where the cameras were and kept her face from them so we only have her body and hair to go by.”
“Wait, did you say a woman? Does that mean we have two perps?” Blackman looked as shocked as we were.
“Yes, a woman. And with the semen found on one of the victims, I would think it’s safe to say we have two perps. What is your plan?”
“Wow. Never would have thought that. We are going to set up around the other parks, the abandoned mill and a few of the local stores. Can you think of anywhere else we may need to sit on?” Okay, now I know I’m out of it. He’s asking for my advice. That’s a new one.
“Just patrol everywhere. Keep your eyes open for a female; about 5’5”, 120 pounds, black hair, and I hope that wasn’t a wig. Also, with this new information, watch for any males that might be acting suspicious.”
“I’ll let everyone know. What are you and Davis doing tonight?”
“We’ll be driving around looking for these crazy people.” I sat back in my chair and waited for the response I thought was coming, but didn’t.
After Blackman left the room Davis closed the door and turned to say something.
“Davis, I’m going to tell the Sheriff what I am tomorrow. He’ll be here on a Saturday because of the murders.” I stopped him from saying what he was going to say because I had made up my mind.
“If you do that you will be living in hell.” Davis looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.
“With what’s happening I already am. But if I don’t more people will die. I need to stop this. Do you really think if she rats me out it will turn out any better than if I do it? At least this way my mother and father won’t be finding out from some crazy person. I need to do this. I should have done it when I got the first note.” I felt bad because I thought I could catch the one behind the murders before it got out of hand. Now it was just that; out of hand.
“Do you want me to be with you when you tell him? That way he’ll know I still support you.”
“Thanks, but no. I think it will be better if I do this alone. Dad’s going to freak anyway and I have no idea how Mom is going to act. Right now, let’s just get out there and see if we can stop these weirdoes.” I got up from my chair and stretched.
“Shawn; whatever happens I’m still on your side.”
“Thanks John. It’s good to know that after this is over with I’ll still have a friend.”
After looking over the map again, Davis and I pin pointed a few places we wanted to keep an eye on. These were a local mom and pop store, the ice cream shop, and the local schools. I let Blackman know about the schools so he could send a few more eyes that way. Then we headed out the door. As we stepped outside we ran into Casey with the extra coffee. Seeing her in the form fitting blue jeans and light green shirt that brought out her amazing eyes made what I was about to do that much harder.
“Hey guys.” It hurt to know
I was going to have to break my date with her. I had waited too long to ask.
“Hey Casey, thanks for bringing these. Listen, I might have to cancel tomorrow night. I’ve decided to tell the Sheriff what I am. I might not be free or alive tomorrow night.” I surprised myself by having to fight the tears. The last time I cried was the day after I changed.
“Shawn, what…how…Why?” The look on her face made it harder to hold back my tears. I forced myself to do it though.
“I can’t explain it right now.” And with that, I stepped around her and went to the car before I lost control.
A few minutes later, after watching a crying Casey run past the car, Davis got in and we left. We decided to check out the high school first because of their home football game tonight. Other than the places the murders had already been at, there are no other places that are open late. Except the one and only bar in this area. We’ll go there when it’s time for the place to close. The game will be over by then.
“Shawn, how are you going to tell them? What are you going to do about Casey? She seems to care about you more than we both thought.”
“I can’t think about it right now. I just want to do the job. This may be my last day. I want to do it right.” Having said that, I turned the car onto the road where the high school is located and hit the gas. I was determined to find this freak before I had to face my parents.
We sat in a remote corner in the shadows. One of the benefits of having a black car, no one can see it in the dark. After the game was over and the parking lot cleared, we moved on to the middle school. I told Davis to make sure we didn’t stay longer than an hour. The bar was due to close in an hour and a half. That gave us enough time to get there and find a place to park and watch.
In the time at the middle school, we didn’t see so much as a stray but because of the time I radioed Blackman and asked him to send someone to check the schools again.
At the bar we were able to find another spot in the shadows. As the crowd started to thin out we noticed a woman staying behind. We got out of the car and as we got closer, she took off running. To our surprise, she was fast. She turned the corner and by the time we got there, all we saw was a black wig laying on the ground.
Davis shined a light on it, “Well, there goes the black hair description. Damn it, where is our break?” I stood in silence as I realized Davis was getting scared. The look he was giving me was telling his thoughts very well.
Back at the station we met up with Blackman. We let him know the person we were looking for doesn’t have black hair and we now have no idea what color it is. This left us with even less to go on and even though I was disappointed about the wig, I wasn’t surprised. This woman had all the basics covered.
We had taken the wig to the lab to see if there was any DNA on it. I would find out later there were traces of nylon but no hair strands. That didn’t surprise me. She put the nylon on to keep her hair from making contact with the wig.