AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Teddi gently used the toe of her boot to push away some of the grass to get a better look.
“Did your team dig anything up about the history of Sylen?”
She watched Teddi pull a digital camera out of her bag, the click of the shutter should have been louder considering how close they stood. It was quiet enough to hear one another breathe but she couldn’t. The realization had her looking over her shoulder.
“Not much. Mackey couldn’t get any information from her contacts and she’s got eyes just about everywhere. Everything about this town seems fucking upside down. I couldn’t find a library or church listed online. What’re you thinking?”
Proximity to the platform rock revealed remnants of what happened on its surface. Straight down the middle was a vein of white. Shining her flashlight on it, Vera could see flecks sparkle back. Quartz, maybe. The thin stream ran from one end of the rock to the other lengthwise.
Stained on either side of it were the tattoos left by the victims. Pools of blood once bright red, darkened to rusty blotches. The Sheriff left it to nature to clean. It immortalized it instead.
Checking the photo, Vera found the matching places Maller had discolored, the far end of the rock where his tongue had been cut, the blood once running freely against its unforgiving face. At the other end was the mark of where the killer had severed his foot at the ankle, the river it was forced to provide pouring over the edge and down its foundation.
“Jesus Christ,” Vera forgot that Teddi probably wasn’t used to it. Fort Collins wasn’t exactly a mecca of violence the way some of her assignments had been and for that she was grateful, she’d never wish that kind of exposure on her.
“I can do the photos if you want.” She reached for the camera.
“No, I can do it. Just… there isn’t much violent crime that I have to deal with,” she shook her head, tendrils of hair falling loose from her collar where she had tucked it, “this is something else. It looks like they just pulled them off the stone.”
“Then let me do it,” Vera replied gently.
She shook her head. “This is just nightmare fuel.” Teddi began taking photos again, circling the platform. “Did that big brain of yours come up with any ideas on a motive for the victims?”
“No, I’ve only been involved with one ritual killer case before and it was nothing like this.”
“What was the case?” She zeroed the lens in on the quartz river.
Vera pulled out the swab kit Mackey provided and began taking samples of the dried blood. “Someone was taking children across state lines so we were asked to assist early on. The killer kept toying with us, offering to trade for ransom but then pulling back each time. It wasn’t until a final call after a fourth child was taken that we got a lead on where they may be.” It had been five years and she could still recall the scene in perfect detail. An entire team of well-seasoned agents were scarred by what they saw that day. “Let’s just say it was bad. Really bad and I slept with a light on for a few weeks afterward.” She couldn’t stop the shudder that ran down her spine.
“That sounds horrendous.” Teddi stop taking photos. “I know it’s your job and what you signed up for but I wish you didn't have to see something like that.” Vera was suddenly twenty-two again and being whispered words of comfort by the only person she knew how to turn to.
She wished there wasn’t an ocean of history between them, that she could tell her everything and know that Teddi would help her carry it like back then.
Looking away from the tenderness in her gaze, she let the idea and the conversation go.
They took a few moments to discuss useable entrances other than the hiking trail and possible motives, none of which were founded on anything verifiable. The forest seemed too thick to make carrying or dragging bodies easy. Using any kind of quad or bike would be difficult as well, considering the instability of the terrain. The first victim, Adam Maller, weighed almost two hundred and fifty pounds.
“Do you think they walked in or were brought in unconscious?” Vera looked around the tree line trying to find a way inside.
“I would guess they walked in. It would cause a lot more work to drag them. Maybe at gun or knife point to keep them subdued.” It made sense and would lower the workload for the killer.
“I’m wondering if we’re looking at more than one person for this. Maller was big at six foot three, two-fifty, making overpowering him a risky chore. So yes, they’d have to have a weapon if they didn’t drag him in. Using the parking lot would’ve eased the burden but even then, they’d have to cut a way through the path. The ground is full of roots, bushes, and large rocks. It’s prime territory for a busted ankle and a trip down a hidden trench. Jackson Grennan was about a hundred and thirty pounds, much more manageable.”
“Two killers in a town the size of Sylen? That’s some Bonnie and Clyde shit. You think they’re locals?” She cocked her head at Vera, considering the possibility.
“Knowing the trailhead and this grove, it’s more likely. We can barely gather basic information or locations of places in town with a hacker on our side. I’d wager whoever is doing this knows the land and the roads. They know the area well. Maller disappeared in the evening with no change to his normal routine and Grennan during a typical hunting trip.” Vera chewed on her bottom lip, trying to add it up to something that meant anything.
“We need to talk to their wives, see if there was anything significant going on in their lives. Maybe some issues that the reports didn't contain.”
“Someone always knows something,” Vera replied and then took in the position of the sun, swallowed up by bulbous dark clouds now that she could locate it in the open arena. They would interview both of the men’s wives but something more pressing and more personal was tugging at her thoughts. “I’m wondering about the location they found Alex in. It’s only half a mile away.” She lifted her chin to their right. Syrupy thickness settled on her shoulders as reality hit.
Alex was murdered and dropped close to where they now stood. Her cousin recently lay in the grass, cold and alone, just beyond the line of trees.
“Makes sense but both of the rock victims were locals. If Alex was also a victim of the same killer, how the hell did he end up there? Why was he targeted if he was attending college, had a life and a job, and was living in Fort Collins?” Grateful she didn't suggest they go to the location again, Vera turned back towards the trail.
“Lily.”
Chapter 12
