Borderline (16 page)

“What?” He tapped his pen against Tanner’s bicep. “Do you see something?”

“She died too quickly.” Tanner pointed to the slices covering her body. “There aren’t enough slices here for him to have fulfilled his need. Her throat wound isn’t deep enough to be the killing blow. She was dead before he even thought about cutting her throat.”

Sorensterm shifted while Mac jotted down what Tanner had said, making a note to double-check with the ME.

“What could have caused that? Wouldn’t he have noticed she was losing a lot more blood than they normally do?” Sorensterm sounded annoyed about asking the question, probably because he didn’t want to talk to Tanner.

Tanner shot Sorensterm a puzzled look. “He’s not a doctor. His ritual ensures they’re usually unconscious by the thirtieth cut. He really wouldn’t notice if they were bleeding too much or too fast. Caught up in the ritual of cutting them and the blood already coating him, he would never catch on to the fact that she was bleeding too much until it was too late.”

“What does that mean?” Mac was afraid he knew what Tanner was going to say.

“He’s going to grab a new victim within the next two days or so and try to make sure his ritual is done right this time.”

“Fuck!” Sorensterm growled. “He’s escalating that fast?”

“Yes, but the issue is his need for killing wasn’t completely fed with this murder.” Tanner waved a hand to encompass the entire room. “Something about this woman ruined it for him. He’s already picked out his next victim and probably planned how he’s going to take her as well. There’s no such thing as spontaneity with this man. He plotted which women he’d take before he even killed the first one.”

Mac stood beside the woman and stared at the floor. He couldn’t look into her empty eyes, knowing he’d let her down by not finding the bastard who killed her before she got taken. More guilt piled upon the mound he already had concerning Marissa. Something glittered when one of the camera flashes went off.

After pulling out his penlight, he dropped to a knee and turned it on, directing the beam toward the item on the floor. A key glistened in the light, and Mac’s pulse sped up.

“I’ve got something here,” he called to one of the techs.

“What did you find?” Tanner and Sorensterm joined him.

“I got a key. It’s clean and looks new, so I’m thinking it wasn’t here when he dumped the body.” He moved out of the way so the tech could take a picture of the item before he picked it up and slid it in an evidence bag.

“Try her door with it,” Tanner suggested.

“Why would he have her keys on him?” Mac rocked back and looked up at Tanner.

Tanner shook his head and wandered out of the room, his head lowered and a thoughtful expression on his face. Sorensterm looked at Mac with a questioning expression.

“Where’s the fag going?”

Mac bit his tongue and shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m sure he won’t be far if we need to talk to him.”

Tanner poked his head back in and caught the attention of the head tech. “I need close-up photos of that carving in the victim’s chest. I need it from every angle, especially an above shot.”

“Yes, Agent Wallace,” the man said.

“Thank you. Once you get back to your office, make sure you send those particular pictures to me right away.” Tanner glanced over at Mac. “I’m going to head back to my office. We’ll meet up later this afternoon and compile all the information we have.”

“Fine.” Mac waved him out of the room.

“Why’s he heading out? Seems to me he should be hanging around and looking over things here. He might learn something new about this guy.” Sorensterm curled his lip. “Figures a queer couldn’t handle this.”

Mac stared after Tanner for a second before turning away to watch the techs processing the scene. “I think he’s seen all he needs to see here. I’m sure those pictures are more important to him than to us.”

“Why does he think those carvings are important?”

“Agent Wallace believes there’s something wound inside the carving and it’s a clue to the identity of the bastard who did this.”

Sorensterm shot him a look. “Seriously?”

“Yes. So we’ll do our job and let him do his. Stop harassing him, Sorensterm. He’s got no reason to be lenient with you, and I won’t stop him if he brings you up on harassment charges.” Mac pushed to his feet and headed out of the warehouse. “Let’s go canvas the area. We’ll get some of the uniforms to help us.”

* * * *

Agent Wallace,

I must confess I’m disappointed in you. I thought you would have figured out who I am by now. Yet another woman is dead, and you are no closer to stopping me than when I started this. The time is fast approaching for our meeting. I am looking forward to it.

The Knife.

Tanner studied the copy of the newest letter. Ever since the first one, his mail had been x-rayed and opened by others so the evidence wouldn’t get corrupted. They hadn’t gotten fingerprints off the first letter. The killer wasn’t stupid. Sending the letters said the man was arrogant and enjoyed taunting law enforcement with his actions. The correspondence helped reinforce what Tanner thought of the killer.

Sam looked at him. “Maybe we should put a protective detail on you. Just because he hasn’t killed a man doesn’t mean he won’t.”

Tanner couldn’t let Sam do that. His relationship with Mac would be discovered, and while it was no big deal for Tanner, being out risked Mac’s job with the rangers. It wasn’t like Mac would lose his job or anything, but he might face harassment from his fellow officers. Look what he dealt with because of Sorensterm.

He also had even more personal reasons for not wanting agents guarding him. After the first letter, he’d barely managed to convince Perez not to kidnap him and spirit him away until the killer was caught. He’d finally relented and told Perez the guards could come back, but they had to be far more discreet than they had been.

“Fine. I don’t want to argue with you about it. Why don’t you run a copy over to the rangers and get an update from Guzman?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tanner gathered his files and headed to his car. His phone rang. He answered without checking the number.

“Do you have an informant in the bureau?”

“Another letter and another threat. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep him from ordering us to take you. You know how protective of you he is.”

Tanner sighed. “I do, but I need to do my job. He can’t keep treating me like a child.”

“He cares about you, Tanner. This is the only way he can prove it. It makes him feel better.”

After reaching his car, Tanner unlocked it and climbed in. He set his files on the seat next to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know that, and I appreciate it, but he needs to back off. I can get into a lot of trouble.”

“We know, and I’ll talk to him again. Be careful, and help is here if you need it.”

The call ended, and Tanner put the phone in the center console. He started the vehicle and pulled out of the parking garage, a smile on his face at the thought of seeing Mac again.

His work cell rang, and he answered, using the hands-free option.

“Wallace.”

“Hey, we’re having a briefing in twenty minutes. Can you come?” Mac’s deep voice filled the air.

“I’m already on my way over.” He hesitated.

“Did you get another letter?”

“Yes. Basically the same as before with another threat.” Tanner shrugged, even though Mac couldn’t see him. “Like I said before, he isn’t a threat to me. He has no interest in killing me. He’s trying to mess with my head.”

“Is it working?”

“No.”

It probably would have if he didn’t have his conviction that the killer held no true threat to him, and if his guardian angels weren’t hanging around.

“Fine. We’ll talk more about it later. Just get over here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mac hung up, and Tanner settled in to drive across town.

* * * *

“Were you able to see if that key fit the victim’s house?”

Mac looked up to see Tanner standing in the doorway, hands stuffed in his jeans pockets with several files tucked under his arm. He let a small smile crack his face as he eyed the bulge at the man’s groin.

“You were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?” He rocked in his chair, fingers threaded and resting on the back of his neck.

“It’s always good to hear that.” Tanner entered the conference room and looked around. “This is the task force room?”

“Yeah.” Mac shrugged. “Guess they figured we needed a spot to hang the pictures and store all the evidence.”

“Good.” Tanner tossed the folders on the table in front of Mac. “You can hang those up as well.”

“What are they?” Mac reached out and opened the folder, shuffling through the photos. “Are these the photos you enlarged of the carvings?”

“Yes.”

After standing, Mac joined Tanner in front of the dry-erase board where all the head shots of the victims hung. He attached the photograph of the sixth victim, Leslie Barnharm. He bumped hips with Tanner as he turned away.

Tanner touched his arm, and he stopped. Meeting Tanner’s gaze, he raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

“Don’t beat yourself up about this, Mac. There’s no way you would have been able to stop this from happening. We’re getting there, though, and we’ll catch him.” Tanner looked like he wanted to kiss Mac, but he didn’t give in. “Your task force will find him. My gut’s saying you’ll do it before another woman dies.”

“Thanks for having confidence in me.” Mac brushed his fingers over Tanner’s hand. “Were you able to figure anything else out after seeing the pictures of the newest carving?”

“Not yet, but I got called in for a consultation on another case. I haven’t had a chance to look them over. I plan on doing that as soon as this briefing is over.”

“Oh shit, I forgot about that.” Mac went back and dropped into his chair, bringing his report back up on his computer screen. “I have to finish typing up my notes before everyone gets here.”

“I’m going to get a cup of tea while you do that. I don’t want to get you in trouble with Captain Billingsley. I just wanted to give you those.”

Mac waved as Tanner strolled out of the room, while typing with one finger to fill out his report. His frustration grew while he read about no one noticing anything strange around Leslie’s house. They’d found her shower curtain torn off the rod in the bathroom, but that was the only sign of a possible struggle. A plastic cap from a syringe was found behind the toilet like it had been kicked there during a fight, so Tanner’s idea of the man drugging his victims was proving to be right.

More and more clues were appearing as the case went on, but Mac didn’t want to run the risk of another woman dying while they tried to figure shit out. They needed a witness to see a stranger in a place he shouldn’t be. They needed a face to put out in front of the public to see if they could get suspects. So far nothing had come of canvassing the neighborhoods, because it appeared he took them at night when others slept.

“Mac, tell me you’ve gotten something on this son of a bitch. I want a face or a name or something.” Billingsley charged into the conference room, followed by the other members of the task force. Tanner brought up the rear, sipping his tea and bracing his shoulder against the back wall.

“Well, Cap, we’re getting closer, and I think it’ll break soon. I’m sure someone saw something, and we’ll keep talking to people until we get a witness.” Mac stood up and moved to the front of the room. “I will say we figured out how he kidnapped the women. At least we’re pretty sure we know how. We found a key at the dump site, and it fit Leslie Barnharm’s lock. It was new. Somehow he gets a hold of their keys and makes a copy of them.”

Billingsley nodded but didn’t look entirely happy with that information. “What else?”

“He drugs them. I gave the evidence found at the scene to the lab to check and see if there’s any trace of drugs on it. He drugs his victims and carries them out wrapped in something he finds at the house. It happens in the middle of the night when the neighbors are sleeping, so there aren’t any witnesses.”

Mac stuffed his hands in his pockets and paced before everyone. “We’ve done our initial canvas and nothing’s come of it, but we’ll continue to ask questions. He’s getting more arrogant and sloppy.”

“Okay, now go over everything again.” Billingsley settled back in his chair.

Mac sighed silently but got ready to go through all the information they had. Movement at the back of the room caught his attention, and he watched Tanner slip from the meeting. Frowning, he made a mental note to find Tanner and see what was so important the man had to leave.

Chapter Ten

Tanner dashed into his office and started opening the envelopes delivered while he was at the rangers’ headquarters. He’d gotten a text from the receptionist that they had arrived. He wanted to see the photos from the drug murder scenes. Something had been nagging him since he’d started studying those carvings.

He dumped out all the photos and set the envelopes aside. It didn’t really matter where each set of photos came from. He wasn’t trying to solve their cases, though if he figured out the drug killer was the serial killer, then he would let them all know.

The note attached to one group of pictures read:
Agent Wallace, we believe these two killings were to be laid at the feet of the Delarosa cartel. Juan Mencia is one of Delarosa’s enforcers, and one of the more dangerous ones at that. If he’s your killer, be careful when you go after him. Delarosa isn’t known for allowing his men to be taken by the police.

“Fuck.” Tanner kept his voice low, even though there wasn’t anyone near him.

If Juan Mencia was really to blame for the killings, then either Delarosa wasn’t aware of what his man was doing, or Mencia had been cut loose from the cartel. Yet the possibility could explain the impression of arrogance Tanner got from the crime scene. The rangers would have to make sure all their evidence was perfect before they went after someone connected to the cartels. Tanner shook his head and started to look at the photos.