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"Got it, I’ll call him now. Thanks, Rachel."
"Are you okay, Cooper? I've never seen you quite so spaced out before." A valid question from those who know me best, and Rachel is one of those people.
She's been my secretary for the last four years and followed me from deputy chief to chief. The transition went much smoother with her help. She's been essential to keeping me afloat as I've gotten into my role as chief these last couple of years.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just had an interesting weekend that's still distracting me. Did Steve tell you why he needed to talk to me?"
"No, but he sounded strained on the phone," Rachel says with a wince.
"Okay, hopefully, it’s not a new case."
"Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath. Let me know if you need me for anything. I'm going to head to lunch in a minute." Rachel waves as she leaves my office.
I call the chief back right away in case he needs some of my men, and as the phone rings, my mind drifts back to Quinn's ocean blue eyes and if I'll get a chance to see them again soon.
"Chief Roberts," he answers in a gruff voice. Steven Roberts has been the chief of Westlake’s police department since before I even decided to join the force. He's a surly man who always seems to be in a bad mood no matter the situation.
"Hey, Chief, it's Cooper Jackson. What's going on?"
"Cooper, we've had another B and E. The damage on this one is even worse than the others."
"When did it happen?" I ask, standing up from my desk to get ready to leave. If it's worse than the last one, he'll need extra hands going through the evidence.
"We think it happened on Saturday night. The homeowner was out of town for the weekend and got back on Sunday. Can you round up some guys to come help us sift through this mess? We've already started cataloging, but we're nowhere near done and could use the extra hands."
"Already heading out the door. I've got a couple of my deputies with me. We'll be there in thirty minutes." I round up Derek and Liam, leaving Todd and a few other deputies to handle anything that comes in while we're gone. We'll probably be there all day and most of the evening.
When we arrive at the scene, there is a flurry of activity happening. A few cruisers are parked in the driveway and on the street. There's crime scene tape across the porch and an officer standing outside with a man who, I'm assuming, is the homeowner.
We nod at the officer as we walk up the front porch and into the house. From the outside, you wouldn't believe anything is wrong, but as soon as we step into the entryway, the destruction becomes apparent. There are shattered mirror pieces everywhere, a broken vase litters the floor of the living room, the couch cushions are shredded, and the kitchen is in complete disarray.
We walk further into the house where Steven is standing, talking with one of his officers. "Chief, what do you have so far?" I ask as we approach the two men.
"Not a damn thing," Steven says on a growl. His full mustache flutters as he breathes out of his nose. "They've escalated from a few broken picture frames to complete mayhem. I don't understand how there isn't a shred of evidence in this mess."
"He may be escalating, but he sure as hell isn't getting dumber. He's getting angrier, and with each break-in, he needs to do more damage in order to fulfill the need that's driving him. Have you found a connection between the victims?"
There is so much destruction here it's hard to tell what the end goal was. The escalation is what's scaring me the most. He won't be able to continue this level of destruction in the same town. He likely has one more shot before he'll need to move on or get caught, and he doesn't seem stupid enough to make that mistake.
"No, they all went to different high schools, hung out with different people, have different backgrounds. The only thing they've had in common is they’re all in their mid-thirties and male."
"Other than a target type, not exactly helpful," I say. "Look, Chief, I know you don't want our hands in this, but you know as well as I do he's not going to stay in your town for too much longer. Based on the pattern, he's either going to head to Denton or Sonoma, and I'd like to help you catch him before that happens."
"I know, you're right. Why don't you come back to the station with us, and we can start laying out what we've got," Steven says, and I nod my head.
I walk over to Derek and Liam to check in before heading out. I know they'll be at the scene for another few hours at a minimum collecting evidence.
"You guys good? I'm going to hitch a ride to the Westlake station with Chief Roberts."
"Yeah, we're good. I'm glad they're letting us in on this. Now we'll have a lot more to go on if the perp decides to come to Sonoma," Derek says.
"Tell me about it. Will you take my truck and pick me up when you're finished here?” I ask, handing Derek my keys when he nods at me. “Call if you find anything." I walk back over to Steven and let him know I'm ready to go.
We walk out to his truck and head to the Westlake police station which is almost identical to our own station, just laid out a little differently. It’s quiet inside since a good portion of the deputies are at the crime scene. Steven and I head into their conference room and start laying out what they have so far on the whiteboard and the table.
Steven starts talking through what evidence they've collected since the B and Es began. "At first, there were broken window latches, and items inside would be out of place. There was no major destruction or permanent damage inside the house. Over the last five instances, three have been committed within Westlake city limits, the others just outside of town. The damage has escalated with each break-in, culminating in this last one with complete destruction. From what we can tell, they're not stealing any items, just destroying them."
As Steven talks, he places pins on a map and hands me pictures of crime scenes. There's a clear escalation pattern but there isn't anything else pointing to a potential person of interest.
