Allison Brennan - Sudden Death

Blondie had cleaned up well, he noted, using his kitchen sink. She’d taken off her blazer and her blouse, revealing a little creamy camisole that was too modest to be considered underwear, but sexy nonetheless, hinting at curves and peaks without showing anything. She’d taken her hair down from the twisty knot, and while she’d pinned the sides back, he was surprised at the length. Straight, very blond, and so silky it shimmered under the lights.

She caught him staring, and instead of blushing or averting her eyes she said, “If my attire bothers you, I’ll put on my blouse, but considering it’s wet-I washed out the blood before it stained-it might end up bothering you more.”

“Nothing you wear, or don’t wear, would bother me, Blondie.”

“Megan,” she said.

“Where are you from, Megan?” Padre asked.

“California. Sacramento.”

“Sacramento?” Jack raised a brow. “You’re a long way from home. I thought feds stayed in their own territory. Is this akin to doctors making house calls?”

“I had the third victim, but he was snatched from me by the military police. Because I have a familiarity with this case, and I have a background working serial murders, I was brought in to liaise with the individual FBI offices and the local police in order to collect evidence and track these killers.”

“Well, that’s-” He paused. “Killers?”

She nodded. “Two.”

“How do you know that?”

“Evidence. Should we start at the beginning, or are you just going to ask me questions?”

Testy. And tired. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. Agent Vigo put a cup of coffee in front of her and a bowl of Frosted Flakes with milk. “You don’t have a lot of food,” Vigo said.

“I’m rarely home.”

“You didn’t have to-” Megan began.

Vigo interrupted. “Just eat. You were given a decent jolt, you need to keep your strength up. Considering we skipped dinner when Dillon called, this is probably your first meal since last night.”

“I had something at the airport this morning,” she grumbled, but ate the cereal. She smiled. “I haven’t had Frosted Flakes since I was a kid.”

Jack felt mildly uncomfortable having his provisions teased. He strode over to the coffeepot, where Vigo had made a very strong brew. He poured a cup, added sugar, and drank.

Vigo asked Padre, “How far are we from town? Twenty minutes?”

“More or less. Why?”

“We need to get a room. While Meg fills you in, I’ll call for reservations.”

“I don’t know that you’re going to find a room in town; there’s only one motel I could even half-recommend. I’d offer the rectory, but it has only one guest room.”

“You’re all staying here tonight,” Jack said. “It’s not safe in town, though Perez is going to realize he made a huge mistake messing with the feds. I don’t know if he let Carlos bring in his thugs, or whether Carlos is just getting cocky. Did you really call in the Rangers?” he asked Megan.

“Damn straight. Did you really break into the victim’s house?”

“He didn’t catch me breaking into anything,” Jack evaded.

She said, “What did he catch you doing?”

“Walking on the grounds. He assumed I was going to break in.”

“But you did enter,” she said. “Before he got there. Why?”

He winked again.

Megan didn’t know what to make of Jack Kincaid. He was unlike anyone she’d dealt with. More arrogant than her brother, which was quite the feat, but just as loyal. He needed to be in charge, she saw, and had probably been a leader in the military, though Hans said Jack had been enlisted not a career officer. Started with the Army Rangers, moved to Special Operations, then the elite Delta Force. He’d been honorably discharged ten years ago, but still trained with the Reserves. And he was a soldier for hire, something Megan knew a bit about through her brother’s friendship with J. T. Caruso.

Hans said, “Okay, what’s said in this room stays here. We’re not here to arrest you, but I have to know that you’re going to tell us the truth. These killers are targeting specific men-and so far, all known victims served in the U.S. Army. Two, at least, have been Delta Force trained. Not easy men to kill.”

Megan pulled out a thick folder from her briefcase, opened it. Turned the first photograph around. “Duane Johnson, served in the U.S. Army, rank corporal, 1986 to 2006. According to his friends, he was Delta, but we don’t have military confirmation on that.”

“You may or may not get it,” Jack said.

She nodded. “I figured. I’m trusting his friends at this point, at least to the extent that we need to come up with a victimology and suspect profile. Johnson is likely the first victim, though there is some question on that. We’re looking into a fatal home robbery in Florida as well-it may or may not be connected.

“Johnson was killed two months ago in Austin, Texas, hamstrung in his garage when he came home from closing his restaurant. No suspects, no prints, no DNA, no witnesses. Trace evidence is at the Texas State lab, but so far nothing has popped. They’ve agreed to send the trace to Quantico. Las Vegas agreed as well, and our scientists will work on connecting the evidence to the same person or persons.

“Johnson was tortured prior to his execution-style murder.” She showed the crime scene photo of Johnson with the bullet to the head. “The coroner believes he was pierced with acupuncture-style needles, and although he can’t say for certain, he believes that the locations were chosen to cause intense pain by stimulating specific nerves. There were one hundred nineteen known punctures on his skin, though there may have been more. These types of very small holes heal quickly and are also easy to miss in an exam.”

She slid over the next photo. “Dennis Perry, 1995 to 2005. Both men were stationed out of Fort Bragg for all or part of their enlistment. We have confirmed that Duane Johnson was Delta-as best we can because the military hasn’t been forthcoming with information- and I suspect that Perry was as well. Las Vegas is our next stop. Same M.O.: hamstrung when he was entering his apartment, then tortured. He had something stuffed in his mouth, most likely to prevent him from calling out or screaming. There was a note on the report that some puncture wounds were from possible drug use. A low level of barbiturates were found in Perry’s system, but no mention of multiple acupuncture-type markings. Doesn’t mean they weren’t there, but I don’t know that after this long we’ll be able to determine anything. Still, he was hamstrung, tortured in some manner, and had a broken nose. Then he was shot in the back of the head like Johnson. FBI ballistics now has the evidence, and we should get a confirmation in a day or so whether the bullets came from the same gun.

“Finally.” She opened a second folder. Much thinner, mostly handwritten notes-hers. She showed the few pictures that she’d taken with her cell phone. “George Price. Homeless veteran in Sacramento. Early Monday morning, I got a call from Sac P.D. about a murder that matched an FBI hot sheet connecting the Johnson-Perry homicides. I run the Violent Crimes Squad, so I went to the scene.

“Price’s murder had the same M.O.: hamstrung, but he was homeless and attacked in an alley late Sunday night. Downtown Sacramento rolls up the sidewalks at night, and after midnight on Sunday, no one is out. At least no one with honorable intentions. Price was carried-this is how we know there were at least two people involved-into a parking garage, where we believe he was tortured in a similar manner to Johnson and Perry.”

“Carried? How did you figure that?” Jack asked.

“From the drops of blood. They were consistent with the victim being carried by two people,” Megan said. “The size and spacing of blood evidence, plus the scrapes on his bare feet, indicated that he’d been picked up by the armpits and carried.