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It wasn’t that Jax was out of shape or that he couldn’t handle any of the tasks required of him in a high-pressure situation. But where I was very regimented in my day-to-day life, Jax was much more laidback. Jax didn’t meal prep or wake up early to get a workout in. He took each day as it came, and he took on each task as it came his way. While I knew that unexpected things could happen, if I could help it, I preferred to be prepared.
Five minutes after I’d entered my office, Jax returned.
“So, what’s happening this morning?” I asked him.
Sitting down in the chair on the opposite side of my desk, he shared, “Royce got a call this morning.”
“Okay. From who?”
“Steel Ridge PD,” he answered.
While it wasn’t uncommon, it was generally never a good sign when we got a call from the local police department. Typically, it meant that they needed our help, and it often involved our investigative services.
“And?” I pressed.
“I happened to run into Royce right after he’d gotten the call and was looking for you,” Jax started. “He wants you to be the lead on this, but urged me to help wherever you might need me.”
This was also not uncommon. Royce didn’t always push me to be the lead on a case. Generally, it came down to what was happening, and who he believed would be best suited for each scenario.
“What are we dealing with?” I asked.
“Do you remember hearing about the guy who was murdered two weeks ago?” he countered. “It was all over the news, and it didn’t seem like the guy had any known enemies.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Are the Steel Ridge PD stuck on it?”
“Yes, but that’s not all,” Jax revealed. “Last night, there was another murder, and the situation seems eerily similar. A man murdered. No enemies.”
This was not good news.
Not just because anyone being murdered wasn’t good news, but because this was happening in Steel Ridge to people who, at least for now, seemed to not have any justifiable reason to be winding up dead.
Something about that left me feeling unsettled; I didn’t like the idea of people in this town feeling unsafe.
“Are they thinking these cases are linked? And if so, why?” I asked him. “Also, why didn’t I hear about what happened last night?”
“They’ve managed to keep this one under wraps, but it seems like the story just broke about thirty minutes ago,” he said. “You were probably buying doughnuts when it hit the news. And yes, they do believe these two murders are connected. Aside from this recent one being a similar situation where the man is seemingly innocent, it’s the manner of death that’s pushing them to think there’s one culprit.”
“It’s homicide,” I noted. “That doesn’t mean it’s the same person doing it.”
He shook his head. “It’s how they were both killed that’s the problem.”
I could feel the crease form between my brows. “They said the first guy had some blunt force trauma to the head, but that he was ultimately strangled with a rope. Are you telling me that’s how it happened to the second guy?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” Jax remarked.
“Damn,” I clipped.
While there certainly was a possibility for a copycat killer, I thought it was unlikely. There had been two murders, both involving some blunt force trauma to the head before strangulation. The only reason I could think that would happen would be because whoever was doing this didn’t want a fight. If a person was knocked out, it would be easier to wrap a rope around their necks and strangle them.
“I assume they sent over what they could to help us get started,” I said.
Jax nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get it for you and bring it in. After you review it, just let me know where you want to go with it, and I’ll help however I can.”
“Sounds good.”
With that, Jax got up and walked out of my office. I immediately turned to my computer, pulled up a browser, and pulled up the latest on the local news.
Suffice it to say, it didn’t take long to get caught up in my work, forcing any thoughts I’d had about Hanna to the very back of my mind.
