Allison Brennan - Sudden Death

Perez said, “You need to leave. My men will process the scene, collect evidence, and remove the body.”

Hidalgo had its unfair share of murders-Perez had investigated enough of them-but this was wholly different from a drug hit or a barroom brawl. Not something Art Perez could handle. Hell, he could barely handle being chief of police on a good day.

“Call the Rangers,” Jack said before he thought about tact and diplomacy. “This isn’t a random act of violence.”

Perez reddened. “Don’t tell me how to do my job, Kincaid.”

“Jack-” Padre began, and Jack put up his hand.

Jack would find Scout’s killer. He would call in every favor, every chit, spend every dime he had to do it.

“I will find out who killed Scout,” he said, his words clipped to stifle the emotion.

“Stay out of my way, Kincaid. You’re already pushing it. Don’t think I won’t lock you up. Just give me a reason. One fucking reason to put you behind bars.”

Jack stepped forward and said in a low voice, “I’ll be watching, Perez. Don’t fuck this up.”

Jack looked back at Scout’s body. Rage and sadness battled and his teeth clenched.

“Rest in peace, friend.”

When I find who did this to you, they won’t walk away.

Wednesday morning, less than two hours after she had opened the overnight envelope, Megan sat in SAC Bob Richardson’s office with two other agents, Detective John Black, and the speaker phone. Richardson had contacted Assistant Special Agent in Charge Hans Vigo at Quantico. Hans had been a friend and mentor to Megan since he’d recruited her into the FBI while guest lecturing at Georgetown, where she’d been studying law. Hans was a profiler, though he had declined a post in the prestigious Behavioral Science Unit. He was often sent out into the field to consult, and Megan had immediately thought of him when Price’s dog tag fell from the express envelope. This murder had taken on a whole new importance.

She’d finished briefing Hans about the case as she knew it, with the only known connection among the three victims being their time in the army. “Bob has made a request with the DOD to pull their military records, but you know how slow they are. By the time we get them, if at all, more people could die.”

“Will die,” Hans said. “Three dead in two months. The first victim was on February 11. The second on April 2. Price early on April 13.”

“They’re escalating,” Richardson said.

“Possibly, but more likely they have a plan. They are exceptionally well-organized for sadistic killers.”

“Sadistic? Is there a sexual component in the murders? There was no evidence of that at any of the crime scenes.” Megan pulled out her reports, worried that she had missed something important.

“Sadistic doesn’t necessarily mean sexual gratification, though the killers likely received sexual gratification either in the planning of the murders or after the fact. The actual murders were methodical, well-planned, but at the same time reckless.”

“Non sequitur, Dr. Vigo,” Richardson interjected.

“Bear with me, Bob. Let’s look at the actual murders. Two people come together to kill a specific target-their victims are not random, they were selected because of who they are or what they represent. Victimology in this case is critical: if they were killed because of something they did or didn’t do, it’ll be much easier to identify potential suspects, particularly if all three victims were involved in the same event. If they were killed because of what they represent-the military, or the army specifically-it will be more difficult. In the latter case, you’d probably be looking for a soldier or former soldier who felt he had been treated unfairly by the military or his unit. Possibly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and reliving a horrific event, accompanied by some sort of psychosis that leads him to believe killing other soldiers will relieve his anxiety. But I don’t see this type of killer as working with a partner or going through the elaborate ritual.”

Megan leaned forward. “So you think the killers knew the victims personally?”

For a moment, Hans didn’t say anything. “Possibly, or at least knew of them if they had never met them before. They were singled out specifically, and that’s why I want you to meet me in Austin.”

“Austin, Texas?” Megan asked.

“There’s far more going on here than the reports indicated. I need to talk to those who knew Duane Johnson. He’s the first known victim, and the killers waited nearly two full months before killing again, which makes me think they were waiting for something.”

“Like what?”

“Could be for the second victim-Perry-to be in a position where they could get to him, or because they wanted to see what the police would do, or because they feared they’d screwed up somehow.”

Megan took notes while shaking her head. “I can’t go to Austin, I have to get Price’s body back, work with the CID on the evidence and autopsy-”

Richardson interrupted. “They’re not going to give you a thing, Megan. And we have a far more important situation here.”

Hans said over the speaker, “I agree. How did the killers know you were on the Price case, Megan?”

Megan had been thinking about that since she opened the package. “I don’t know. Maybe one or both of them were observing us Monday morning at the crime scene? Our office gets a lot of attention, especially after the O’Brien case last year. I did that interview-” She frowned at Richardson. She hadn’t wanted to talk to the press, but her boss felt that having her on prime-time news would help with public relations. “They could have picked up on my position on the Violent Crimes Squad.”

“Why you and not the SPD detective? Or the media?”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“I don’t know.”

“Great. If you don’t know, how does that help?”

“It could be nothing-the killer taunting police-and because the FBI is considered the higher law enforcement agency-no offense, Detective Black-the killers would want to taunt the FBI. But they had your home address, Meg.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“I think it’s a good idea to get out of town,” Richardson said. He used the intercom to ask his assistant to book a flight ASAP for Megan to Texas.

“I’m not running away.”

“I’m not suggesting you do. Dr. Vigo wants your help and the FBI has already determined this is a serial murder investigation. We have the authority to go in if we need to. And you can’t do anything here that SPD can’t do-I have confidence that Detective Black will keep us informed if anything important arises.”

“Absolutely,” Black said. “And,” he added, “the information you bring back from Austin and Vegas can help us here because we have next to nothing after losing the evidence to CID.”

“Is this connected to Price being AWOL?” Megan asked the group. “Price was living on the streets; how did the killers know him? Know where to find him?”

“Aw, that’s the million-dollar question.” Hans said. “If you can figure that out, I think you’ll have a much greater chance of capturing them. They have inside information-suggesting that they personally know these men or have access to their records.”

“But CID didn’t know where Price was until he was dead and we flagged his record.”

“Which narrows their information source exponentially. We have to learn everything we can about Duane Johnson and Dennis Perry. One or both of them could have known where Price was.”

“Agent Vigo,” Black interjected, “you said that the crimes were both methodical and reckless. Can you expand on that?”