When A Heart Stops Part 14

Serena lifted a brow at him. "Yes, and they're doing it, but I'm curious. I've hung around enough cops to know how this works."

He set the file down. "I'll get the board for you."

"Thanks."

Five minutes later, she had her map pinned to the 3' 5' corkboard and was ready to start using her pushpins.

A knock on the door interrupted her. She turned and looked to see Dominic standing there, watching her. "Hi."

"Hey there." He nodded at the board. "What are you up to?"

"Playing detective."

One of his brows lifted. "Hmm. How's it working for you?"

"Well, I've only gotten started. You want to help?"

"Of course. I've played that game a time or two. Seem to have a knack for it, as a matter of fact."

She smirked and handed him a file. "Funny. Dominic, meet Paul Hamilton, my a.s.sistant. Paul, meet FBI Special Agent Dominic Allen." The two men shook hands. Dominic opened the file as Serena said, "Victim number one. Cori Hale." She paused and looked at Paul. "Will you mark the victims' addresses on the wall map? I have some pushpins in the tray. Use the red ones if you don't mind."

"Sure." Paul snagged a few of the red pins.

Dominic read the information as Serena filled in the chart on the white board and Paul pinned the addresses. Dominic looked up at her and said, "You know we have computer software that will do this for us."

"I know, but I don't have access to that and I'm a hands-on kind of girl. Humor me, will you?"

He smiled. "Of course."

By the end of the ninth victim, Serena studied the map and frowned. "They're from all over the place."

"No obvious pattern there," Dominic murmured. "How about use a different color pushpin to mark the places where they were found."

Serena nodded. "Good idea."

"Got it," Paul said.

Dominic started back with the first victim. Nine blue pushpins soon dotted the map.

"Where did the Lindells live?" Serena asked.

Dominic pulled out his iPhone and tapped a few keys. "Near the Five Points area." He picked up a white pin and pressed it into the map. "Right about there."

"You really think this is going to help anything?" Paul asked.

Serena lifted a brow at him. "I have no idea." She stacked the files. "And you know Rick said there could be more. They just knew about the nine." She sighed and looked at their work. "So, we really might not have a complete picture of everything."

"True." Dominic nodded as he studied the map. "What if we connect the dots?"

"Well, that was the plan, but," Serena frowned, "I'm not seeing a pattern here."

"If we used the latest technology, it would be a simple matter of pressing a b.u.t.ton. But if you want to do it the old-fas.h.i.+oned way, I'll need some string. You have some?"

"Yes." She walked over to a metal drawer and pulled it open. "Kite string."

"That'll work." Dominic took it from her.

"Need some scissors?" Paul asked.

"Yep."

For the next thirty minutes, the three of them did their best to come up with some kind of pattern linking the deaths. Dominic finally sighed. "I give up." Lifting his iPhone, he snapped a picture of the map. "I'm going to give this to the geographic profiler and ask him to enter it into the computer. We'll see what he comes up with."

Serena nodded. "Good idea. We're just wasting time here." She studied the map. "Just one more thing." She snagged two yellow pushpins. "Let's add Leslie to the map." She pushed one into the area containing Leslie's address and one into the park where she'd been found.

Paul snagged a few more of the pins. "Might as well add Dominic's house."

"What?"

He shrugged. "That's where you found the last package, right?"

Serena exchanged a glance with Dominic, who shrugged. "Why not? At this point, it's not a bad idea."

"Are you sure the body isn't somewhere on your property?" Paul mused. "Seems like all the bodies were found in close proximity to the package."

Dominic shook his head. "We searched every square inch of that property last night. There's definitely no body there."

Paul frowned, then shrugged.

Serena asked, "Was there any detail about the killings that the police didn't release to the media?"

Dominic pursed his lips. "Yeah. The fact that the killer cleaned them up."

"And some of the victims had more than one bullet hole. I mean besides the one in the forehead."

"Right. Some were in the shoulder, one was in the throat."

"But always the upper torso."

He gave a slow nod. "Yes. Why?"

"Just an observation. Leslie was the same way," Serena said.

Dominic snapped several more pictures. "I'm going to start tracking down Drake Lindell's kids."

"I want to go with you. When are you going and who are you going to talk to first?" Her heart thudded. That was out of the ordinary. The ME didn't usually go with the FBI agent while he investigated a case. But maybe Dominic would make an exception for her.

When he didn't immediately say no, her hopes rose. Spending more time with Dominic was definitely high on her want-to-do list.

She could get excited about that.

"Right now. And probably Nate, since he's the easiest one to find."

Her hope deflated like a stuck balloon.

Work came first.

Serena did a quick mental inventory of her caseload for the rest of the day and winced. It was practically nonexistent. Like Paul said, she only had one, a hit-and-run victim. Another woman about her age.

And she was finished with her.

She would have her phone with her if they needed her. But the paperwork she still had . . .

"I can come if you don't mind. I may have to work a little later tonight, but I want to go with you." She hardened her jaw. "By leaving that package on your porch, the killer's made this personal."

"That's the way I feel about it." His phone rang.

Serena helped Paul put the supplies away while Dominic put the phone to his ear. "Dominic here." Silence while he listened. Then, "I'll be right there."

At the grim tone, she turned. "What is it?"

"I think we've found the body that the doll from my porch belongs to."

"Where is she?"

He swiped a hand over his eyes and looked at the multicolored pinned map, then at Paul. "In the storage shed in my backyard."

16.

WEDNESDAY, 11:58 A.M.

"I just came to borrow the lawn mower like you said I could, and when I opened up the door, there she was!" Mr. Eric White exclaimed with a wave of his wrinkled hand.

Dominic patted his seventy-year-old neighbor's shoulder to calm the man down, which was an effort considering his blood hummed through his own veins like a current out of control.

But he'd had a lot of practice hiding that. With confidence, he said, "It's all right, Mr. White. We'll take it from here."

"But I don't understand." Mr. White's red-rimmed blue eyes flashed his worry. "Why would she be sitting in your shed, dressed like she's going to a party?"

Dressed like she's going to a party?

Dominic's head snapped up and he shot a look at Serena. "Just like my doll?"

"Let's find out," Serena said.

A uniformed officer took over questioning Mr. White while Dominic led the way to the shed. Another officer handed him a pair of blue booties to slip over his shoes. Serena took a pair too. He heard her snap on gloves, then felt her shove a pair into his left hand.

He gripped them, balling them in his fist. "She wasn't here last night. This place was thoroughly searched after I found that package."

"I know." Serena's soft agreement echoed around him.

The sliding door was open, the light was on. And a young woman sat on the wooden bench he'd nailed to the wall to support himself when he worked on his hobby.

He built trains as a stress reliever. Loved to watch them come together and run around the track. The meticulous detail work let him push every other thought from his head.

Now the dead woman looked like she might s.n.a.t.c.h the rod of styrene he'd set out a couple of nights before and pick up where he left off.

Dominic stepped inside, careful to stay along the edge as he didn't want to disturb anything. He looked at the CSU team. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Just about three minutes," one of them said.

Tyrone Johnson, his badge read. He introduced himself to the man, then pulled out his phone and texted Hunter the details. Then he sent a quick text to Katie, Chad, and Colton.

All but Colton would be here soon. Colton was involved in something related to the case and couldn't get away. He said he'd explain later.

Then Dominic sent a text to the rest of the task force to let them know about this latest development.

Serena stepped closer, looked at the floor around them, and shook her head. "She wasn't killed here."

"Same as Leslie," Dominic muttered.

"Yes."

"Gunshot to the head?"

A sigh slipped from her. "Yes. I'll check for more wounds in a minute." Serena knelt and looked all around the body without touching or moving her. "Look at her hands and fingers. No defense wounds there."

"Anything under her nails?"

Serena picked up one hand and examined it. "Nothing. She's been thoroughly cleaned, just like Leslie." Serena tested her shoulders. "Her upper body is stiff. Lower extremities are not. Taking in the fact that this building is air conditioned, her body temperature would drop pretty fast. She also has cloudy eyes and this happens around twelve hours after death. I'll be able to get a better time frame back at the lab, but I'd say twelve hours is a good estimate."

She reached down and cut through the stocking. "Look. Lividity in her lower legs and fingertips. She died sitting up with her hands hanging down. It looks like he shot her and positioned her this way. At some point, he cleaned her up."

"What a sicko," Dominic muttered.

"Definitely."

Serena leaned closer. "There's a bruise around her left ankle."

"From a restraint?"

"Probably." An odd look crossed her face and Dominic asked, "What is it?"