Page 39 of Bring Them Home

“The stomach is completely gone,” Rideout commented.

A fresh wave of nausea rolled through her. For the next while, she and Trent remained silent while Rideout worked. He examined everything he removed from Paul’s body in depth. It was after some time that he looked over at them, setting down the latest piece of flesh on the side table.

“All right, here’s an update. What was left of the organs in the vicinity of the five nonfatal stab wounds show they were pierced, but there is no evidence of them hemorrhaging.”

The dead don’t bleed… Goosebumps spread over her arms. “So he was already deceased at the time they were inflicted.”

“Correct.”

“Meaning the killer kept attacking him after he was already dead.” There were times like this the depravity of humankind hit hard. But there was one small mercy in this finding. Paul would have been spared further pain. “Our killer takes pleasure in killing.” No longer in question…

Trent nodded. “Agreed, but I still think it’s likely he was killed as an example to his wife and daughter, for whatever reason.”

“To force their cooperation with something.” It wasn’t a new theory, but it took on more dimension and clarity after speaking with Rideout. It also gave her a fresh idea. “So what are the abductors trying to get out of Valerie or Brooke? But if they still haven’t received what they’re after, that gives us some hope. Their abductors will keep them alive as long as they are useful.”

“I hate to interrupt such genius at work, but I wanted to get another point across that I failed to mention earlier. There were no hesitation marks.”

“That cinches it for me,” she said turning to Trent. “We’re looking at a cold-blooded killer, who had their mind set on murdering Paul Archer.”

“That seems like a reasonable conclusion,” Rideout weighed in.

“Well, I have another one.” Amanda turned to Trent. “It’s time to consider either the mother or daughter were the primary target in all of this, making Paul disposable.” Amanda’s phone rang, and she stepped to the side to take the call.

“It’s Jacob,” her caller told her. “I came in a bit early.”

“You have something from the carrier?”

“Not yet, but I’ve followed up with them. They have a mix-up over there, so it might be a bit before we get anything from them.”

“I appreciate the heads-up.”

“I’ll call the second I have anything.”

“Thanks.” Amanda ended the call and returned to Trent and Rideout, ready to tell her partner the non-news update from Briggs when her phone rang again. She looked at the caller ID and blanched. She told Trent, “It’s Detective McGee.”

“He probably heard about his brother-in-law and has some questions. You can’t blame him for calling,” Trent said.

She couldn’t, but she still didn’t look forward to the conversation. If there were more hours in the day, they might have already spoken with him. Even if only to assure him nothing in the investigation suggested it had any connection to his missing wife. She could understand he might be grasping to see the current situation as a link to getting answers about her. Amanda answered, “Detective Steele.”

“Detective McGee. We met⁠—”

“I know who you are, Lloyd.” She let the silence play out its power, relinquishing the direction of the conversation to McGee. He was the one who had called her.

“Is Paul really dead? Murdered?” His words slurred together, and it was clear the Missing Persons detective had been drinking. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Both Rideout and Trent were watching her.

“It might be best if we spoke in person. Give Trent and me about an hour, and we’ll be at your place, all right?”

“Fine.” McGee ended the call.

She pocketed her phone, thanked Rideout for all the updates, and asked him to call her if he made any more discoveries after they left, or if there was any change of opinion on time of death.

NINETEEN

Amanda stared out the passenger window, letting her eyes lose focus and the outside world morph into a blur of colors. Before leaving, Rideout confirmed that Paul’s cell phone was not recovered from his remains. That meant it was quite possible that the device was ditched in the countryside. It wasn’t worth the investment in manpower to instigate a search for it when they already had the records from the carrier. But there was far more weighing on her mind. McGee. “I’m not looking forward to this conversation,” she said to Trent. “We should have seen him before now.”

“When, exactly? We’ve been on our feet trying to figure out this mess and bring Valerie and Brooke home safe. And Paul was his brother-in-law.”