Bobby flipped open the cell, checked the photo of the eight-year-old boy whose mother was about to discover that nobody disobeyed Bobby and walked away unpunished. The note was to the point. Obey or he’ll die, too. Bobby hit send. And it was done. “Tanner, can you get my breakfast, please?”
Tanner appeared from the shadows. “As you wish.”
Chapter Ten
Atlanta , Saturday, February 3, 8:10 a.m.
Luke stopped at the door to the conference room. He was so angry he was shaking.
I didn’t deserve justice either. He’d wanted to scream, shake some sense into her. But he hadn’t. He could only do what needed to be done. So here he stood.
He’d been shocked yesterday to learn she was one of the gang’s victims. He’d been shocked even more to learn she’d been raped again. On the same date, no less.
He wondered why she hadn’t connected the two events. And he wanted to know what the hell she’d been doing, going to cheap hotels with one-night stands. And he wondered how he could possibly tell a room of other people her most intimate secrets.
“What’s wrong?” Ed came around the corner carrying a box. “You look whipped.”
“I am. What’s in the box?”
“Lots of stuff, including the keys we found in Granville’s pockets yesterday.”
Luke straightened. “Why?”
Ed’s brows waggled. “Open the door and we’ll all find out.”
The conference room table was already crowded. Nate Dyer from ICAC was there, along with Chloe, Nancy Dykstra, and Pete Haywood. Next to Nate sat Mary McCrady, one of the department psychologists. Hank Germanio sat next to Chloe, jerking his chin up when Luke entered. He’d been staring under the table, probably at Chloe’s legs. Chloe wore a look of general distaste. There was no love lost between the two.
Chase looked mildly perturbed. “You’re both late.”
“It’ll be worth it,” Ed promised.
Chase tapped the table. “Now that we’re all here, let’s get started. I asked Mary McCrady to join us. She’ll be building a psych profile of Granville’s partner. I’ll go first.” He held up a leatherbound volume in a plastic bag. “Jared O’Brien’s journal.”
Luke stared. “Where did you find it?”
“Mack’s last victim,” Ed said. “She had GPS on her car and we traced it. We found where Mack had been holed up and that journal was with his things.”
“It’s fascinating reading,” Chase said. “I did find mention of Borenson’s cabin, Luke. Seems like all the boys knew where they were once they’d arrived. Toby Granville hadn’t bothered to take any of Borenson’s personal pictures or plaques off the walls. I’ll be going through the journal today to see if we can glean any more on Granville’s mentor. More updates? Luke?”
Luke needed to lead with Susannah’s brand, but somehow he couldn’t make himself. Not yet. “I got the lab report on the fluid in Ryan Beardsley’s IV. The concentration of stimulant in his IV was enough to have killed him. Hospital security says a guy named Isaac Gamble’s ID was tracked close to Beardsley’s room.”
“We’ve got four agents out looking for Gamble,” Chase said.
“Good. When we find him, charge him with attempted murder. If they hadn’t gotten to Beardsley with the paddles when they did, he’d be dead. He’s okay now, luckily. He remembered hearing the name Rocky. We think that’s Granville’s boss.”
“ ‘Rocky’ isn’t very specific,” Nancy said doubtfully.
“Since it’s a nickname it could indicate body size, or lack thereof,” Mary said. “He could sound like Rocky Balboa. It’s a piece of the profile.”
“And it’s better than we had,” Chase said. “Beardsley also remembered hearing men digging outside the wall of his cell. The men said the name ‘Becky.’ ”
“God,” Chloe murmured. “Now we’ve got bodies outside, too?”
“I’ve got someone from the university coming out to Dutton,” Ed said. “They’re going to do a scan with ground-penetrating radar to see where the grave is.”
“Try to hang a tarp,” Chase said. “I don’t want the media seeing anything with their flyovers. We also have an ID on one of the homicides, Kasey Knight.”
“Her parents will be here by two,” Luke said. “Felicity will have her ready.”
“She’s finished the autopsies?” Ed asked.
“Yeah. Besides one of the girls’ having sickle cell, there’s nothing specific to identify any of them. She did find that the two most emaciated girls had high electrolyte levels, consistent with the IV bags we found in the bunker. One of the girls had some pretty serious STDs. Beyond that the autopsies showed nothing.”
“But one of the homicides we’ve seen before-Angel,” Chase said. “Anything, Nate?”
“I was up all night reviewing case files. I couldn’t find anything new on Angel or the two other girls she was with on the old Web site we shut down. I’ve sent a photo of her face and her description to partnering agencies. I’ll keep looking.”
Nate looked drawn and Luke understood. There were few things as emotionally draining as having to view pictures of human beings being violated. When they were children… It was a million times worse. “I haven’t been able to help,” Luke said, apology in his voice. “I’ll be there today to look with you.”
“I could use a break,” Nate admitted wearily. “But I can keep looking if you’re needed elsewhere. It’s not like you haven’t been busy, too.”
“We all have,” Chase said. “Pete, what did the fire investigator say?”
“He found the timing device used in Granville’s house,” Pete said, very quietly, but there was menace beneath the calm. One of his team was dead, and Pete was pissed.
Luke frowned. “I thought it was set off with a wire connected to the front door.”
“It was,” Pete said. “But this guy wanted to be certain the firebomb went off. His double planning tripped him up. The fire investigator said the mistake was a common one among arsonists. Sometimes they’ll leave an extra starter just to be certain, and one doesn’t go off, leaving the investigator with a trail to follow.”
“And we were this lucky?” Chase asked.
“We were. This arsonist left two devices, one with a timer and one connected to the door. The one with the timer wasn’t set to go off for another two hours.”
“Did the fire investigator recognize the timer?” Chase asked.
Pete nodded. “He thinks it belongs to a Clive Pepper. He’s got two priors for arson-for-hire. He goes by Chili.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “Chili Pepper? Puh-lease.”
Pete’s eyes flashed. “Sonofbitch better hope I don’t find him first.”
“Pete,” Chase cautioned, and Pete drew a breath, his expression still menacing. “Tone it down.” Chase looked at Chloe. “Can we charge him with murder?”
She nodded once, hard. “You bet.”
“Murder,” Germanio said disbelievingly. “Why?”
Everyone but Pete and Chloe looked confused. Chase sighed. “Zach Granger died tonight.” There was a hush around the table. Even Germanio looked stunned. “He hit his head in the explosion. Apparently it caused a blood clot and… he’s gone.”
Nancy paled. “Pete, I’m so sorry.” She reached across the table and covered his clenched fists with her hands. “Not your fault, partner,” she whispered fiercely.
Pete said nothing. Luke wasn’t sure the big man could without losing it.
“So we’re charging him with murder,” Chase said. “I’m sorry, Pete.” Clearing his throat, he redirected the conversation. “ Nancy, what did you find at Mansfield ’s house?”
“Lots of porn,” she said grimly. “Whips and chains. Rape. Kiddie porn, too.”
Luke steeled his spine. “I’ll look through it.”
“We both will,” Nate said. “Where is it, Nancy?”