“We’ll finish this. That was my original plan. That was my initial commitment.That was my promise. Then after that,” he muttered, “we’ll see.”
He still had a couple more to do, a couple more years, although he wasn’t sure that would happen, considering that he’d already killed this year. But, when they said that practice made perfect, they weren’t kidding. It also made it so much easier in that he stopped thinking about the consequences. And that was the dangerous part because, if there were no consequences, what the hell was stopping him from taking out any asshole who he didn’t like in the world?
Nothing.
Still, that was not today’s problem. Today’s issue was getting rid of the cop who was hanging around this corner, wondering what the hell was going on. He knew something was in her head, something a little more than he wanted her thinking about. Did he need to do something about it now? That was the question.
Then he realized he was talking about killing a cop for the first time, and, instead of fear, all he felt was a buzz of pure pleasure.
Chapter 16
Two days laterKate sat at her desk. Reams of paper were in front of her, plus her screens. Her whiteboards were beside her. Each day was a repeat of the previous one. If not for the fire in her belly, Kate would have given up long ago.
“What are you doing now?” Rodney asked.
“I’m going back over the previous incidents at this intersection or nearby to see if I can find any similarities, any connections.”
“And you’re thinking they have something to do with these two recent deaths of Candy and Paula now?”
“I don’t know if they do or not. I’m grasping at straws. We have very little in the way of forensics. We’re still waiting on the autopsies on Candy and Paula, and, so far, no witnesses saw anything. And, of course, spoiled-brat bully Brandon is at home, smug as a cat in front of the fire, thinking he can completely walk free. Again. As soon as I’ve done this, I’m hoping to talk to Dr. Paul Agress myself to ask him about these previous victims.”
“You think he’ll know any of them?”
“I looked it up, and he has been there for fifteen years.” She eyed Rodney over her sheath of papers. “So, in theory, if he wanted to cooperate, the answer to that question would be yes.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I suspect he’s protecting the university.”
“Which would be his position anyway,” he said.
“True, but we have to do something here. I should reach out to the RCMP and see if they have any similar reported cases. I’ve been trying to search these victims’ names to see if anything comes up that could connect any of them, but I haven’t had a whole lot of success.”
“Give me the names again. I’ll sit down and work on that.”
“Or maybe try one of Reese’s assistants?”
“I’ve got the time.”
She ran off the names. When he had them in front of him, she asked, “What are the chances it was just luck? What if it was just somebody testing his prowess for staging deaths as accidents and deciding if this game was worthwhile? I just… I don’t get it. Are people so bored in life that this becomes something new for them?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, turned, as he started running through searches. He frowned. “There really isn’t a whole lot on these cases, is there?”
She shook her head. “Not on the internet anyway. There’s the odd mention and that group of locals trying to get that whole traffic pattern changed because of the accidents, but they never really got anywhere with it.”
“No, because you’d have to prove that the traffic pattern is causing the accidents, which, in this case, I agree with the city, and it isn’t.”
“Maybe, but you know what we do have? Five cyclist accidents, one a year for the last five years.”
“But that’s the problem. It’s been one a year there until recently but also probably fifteen over the last ten years in that same area.”
“Do we think any of them are connected?” she asked.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to run through the database and see just how many there are, see if it’s the same vehicle, same drivers, same anything.”
“I doubt it will be,” she said.
“You’re not really thinking more than one person is involved, are you?”