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“I think Dana Moretti has a valid point.” He looked across the table. “Nita?”
“I’ve gone through every one of the old autopsy reports, line by line. Too bad there are no photos, but I’m betting old Jed wanted to spare the parents and the community from what’s in these things,” She motioned to the stack of folders.
“I don’t like pointing fingers, but there was a bad bit of police work at the time.” Scott looked grim. “Give Cole the short version, Nita.”
She cleared her throat and squared the stack of papers in front of her. “There are too many similarities between those cases and the two new ones for it not to be the same guy. Either that or it’s an amazing copycat and the Guardians and I aren’t buying it.”
Cole hid his smile as his friends winced at her new nickname for them.
“Very little of the information about these cases was ever released to the public,” Scott reminded him. “The only one who should know the details, the only one capable of duplicating them would be the guy responsible for the first crimes.”
Cole rubbed his jaw, a sick feeling lodging in his stomach. “But where has he been all this time?”
“That’s the jackpot question. I called Clark and filled him in. He’s going to have someone run it through the databases and see what comes up. He promised to call me back this afternoon.”
“Good. And thanks.”
Scott glanced down at the files in front of him then back up at Cole. “I hate to say this, but if thisisthe same guy from twenty-five years ago, the whole complexion of this case just changed. You know the FBI will probably step in and take over.”
“You won’t get any argument from me,” Cole said. “I still believe Dana is his ultimate target.” He told them about the damage to Dana’s house the day before. “If he’s working up to her, all the more reason I want this bastard caught yesterday.”
Zak narrowed his eyes. “Is there something more here we should know?”
Cole shrugged. “Not a topic for discussion. Whatever, it won’t interfere with my focus on the case. Go ahead with what you were saying, Scott.”
Scott began ticking off a list on his fingers. “With each of his victims, he’s escalating the age. Leanne was sixteen, Shannon was older. Not much, but older. The next one’s going to be older still. Again, he’s establishing a pattern.”
“Jesus.” Cole scrubbed his hands over his face. “How do I possibly protect every teenager in the county?”
“You can’t. And even if the FBI sent every man on the roster here, they couldn’t do it, either. The best you can do is get the message out to every young girl not to get in a vehicle or go near anyone except her parents. No matter how well she knows the man. And with the escalation in age, you might need to expand the parameters.”
“I’ll have to figure out how best to do that without scaring the shit out of everyone and causing a riot.” Cole pulled out his ever-present small notebook and began jotting things down. “I can certainly call the schools. They’re back in session today, and the principals can send notices to all the teachers.”
“John Garrett could make up flyers to post around town,” Nita suggested.
Cole nodded. “And the post office can deliver them with the mail, too.”
“Will they do that?” Scott asked. “The post office, I mean.”
Cole was about to answer him when there was a knock on the door. Grace rushed in. Her face was so white he thought she might be sick, and she collapsed into the nearest chair.
“Grace? What is it? Are you okay?”
She had to swallow twice before she could get any words out. “Stacy Corona just called in. Gaby Marquez is missing.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Nita breathed.
Cole went to the door and yelled loud enough to be heard on the other side of the county. “Gaylen. Haul ass in here. And bring some water for Grace.”
He sat back down and took Grace’s hand. Nita had moved up to the chair next to her.
“Grace, listen to me.” He kept his voice low and even. “This could be a false alarm. She’s a lot older than the others. This could be something different altogether.”
She shook her head. Gaylen had appeared with a glass of water and handed it to her. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost spilled it.
“Gaby called me last night. She was scared to death. I tried to tell her she didn’t have anything to worry about.” Grace took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making an obvious effort to keep herself together. “She’s so much older than Leanne and Shannon that I didn’t even think of her as a target. But she looks a lot younger.” She raised her eyes to Cole’s. “Do you think he’s killing them based on age? Shannon was older than Leanne, and Gaby a lot older than Shannon.”
An unpleasant thought tried to work its way through Cole’s brain, but he couldn’t quite make it come to life. “What else, Grace?”
