When A Heart Stops Part 15

"She matches the doll sent to you."

Dominic nodded. "I noticed that right off. She's even wearing the same clothes."

She nodded.

"And yet there's another package." The silver box with the bright red bow glared at him, as though daring him to open it to discover the secrets trapped inside. "I hope this doesn't mean there's another body to be found."

A young woman stepped from the shadows, slipped an instrument into her bag, and said, "It's not a bomb."

Serena shook her head. "No, he doesn't send bombs."

Dominic looked at Tyrone. "Is Rick coming?"

The man shook his head. "He's got enough field coverage for now. He's at some conference learning about machines that can see through walls." Tyrone smirked. "I'm sure we'll hear all about it when he gets back."

"I'll look forward to it," Dominic muttered. He looked up from the package and asked Tyrone, "I want to open this here. Can you do it so we don't mess anything up as far as contaminating the evidence for court? I mean, a.s.suming we get that far."

"Can do. After all, there may be something in there that leads to another clue around here, something that would lead us to her killer, right?"

"Absolutely." Dominic liked this guy. He spotted Mickey off to the side talking to one of the uniformed officers who'd been the first on the scene. "Hey, Mickey, did you get all the pictures you need for now?"

Mickey gave him a thumbs-up and went back to his conversation.

With a glance at Serena, who nodded her permission, Tyrone reached out his gloved hands and picked up the box. The dead woman's hand stayed rigid, but the box slipped easily out from under it.

Serena grabbed her bag and started the evidence-gathering process. She kept shooting glances at the victim's face and Dominic frowned. "What is it?"

"Just wondering about her. Who she is, where she's from, what kind of dreams she had for the future." She paused and bit her lip. "She doesn't look familiar, but remember the note? He said it would be 'someone you know.'" She looked up at him. "Do you know her?"

Dominic leaned in a little closer and took a good look. "No, I don't think so."

A small sigh slipped out as she went back to work. Something more was going on inside her head.

"Come on, what is it?"

Serena shook her dark head. "Nothing."

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Something. Tell me."

Her eyes met his. "I just . . ." She cast a glance around the scene, at Tyrone who was taking the top off the box, and dropped her voice. "Do you ever get tired of it?"

Dominic didn't have to ask her what she meant. "Yes. I do. Then I catch another bad guy and realize I'm making a difference. That-and G.o.d-gives me the strength to keep going."

A slight smile pulled at her lips. "It's funny how life has a way of spinning in a direction you never expected it to go."

"What do you mean?"

The slight flush on her cheeks intrigued him.

"Well," she drawled, "I sure never expected to be working on a case with Dominic Allen."

Before he could respond to that interesting statement, Tyrone said, "Okay, folks, we've got a 4 6 index card with writing on it."

Dominic and Serena turned their attention to the man.

"What's it say?" Dominic asked.

Tyrone read,"'Eenie meenie miney moe. I have a mission, I have a plan, I'll finish it soon, you know I can. I left you one, I left you two. Three's the charm, this game's not new. Stay out of my way or it'll be the last thing you do.'"

"He's threatening us? Telling us to stay out of his way?" Serena said with a frown.

Dominic matched her frown. "Threats don't bother me. Him using my shed to send a message? Yeah. That bothers me. Leaving the doll on my porch? That too." He rubbed his head, weariness rus.h.i.+ng over him. Shaking it off, he wondered out loud, "He has a mission, a plan, but will finish it soon. Finish what? How many have to die before he's done?"

"'The game's not new.' What does that mean?" she wondered aloud.

"He's played this game before? With the original Doll Maker Killer?"

Serena rubbed her nose and closed her eyes as she shook her head. "I can't wrap my mind around it all. He's just crazy."

Dominic clicked his tongue and planted his hands on his hips. "Maybe."

Serena opened her eyes and looked at him, brow raised. "Maybe?"

"I'm not saying it doesn't take a twisted person to do this kind of thing, but . . ." He shook his head. "He doesn't have to be crazy to kill. It could just all be a game for him. What if he's not really crazy? What if he just wants us to believe he is?"

"Then that's just even crazier."

"Excuse me, I need to talk to you." Chad's voice came from behind them.

The look on his face sent worry shooting through Dominic. "What is it?"

Chad pulled him outside the shed and said, "Stephanie was in a car wreck."

Air punched from his lungs. Stephanie was Chad's ex-wife. "Is she all right? Was Mich.e.l.le with her?" Six-year-old Mich.e.l.le, Chad's daughter.

His face drawn, Chad nodded. "Yes, Mich.e.l.le was with her, but she's fine, thank G.o.d. She came out without a scratch. But . . . ," his voice hitched, "they don't think Steph's going to make it. I've got to go get Mich.e.l.le and keep her until Stephanie . . . until we know . . . until-" his eyes filled and he turned away, clearing his throat. "I've got to go get her. Stephanie's mother has a heart condition and her dad's not in the picture. I've got to go."

"Of course you do. Don't worry about this case. Get Mich.e.l.le and do what you've got to do. Your mom and dad, Hunter, Alexia, they'll all help, you know."

Chad nodded. "I know." He man-hugged Dominic and turned to head toward his truck.

Dominic called after him, "Keep me updated."

Chad lifted a hand in acknowledgment, climbed in his truck, and sped off.

Dominic returned to Serena, his heart heavy for his friend, but he knew he had to keep his head in the investigation.

She was still working. The coroner had arrived, ready to transport the body whenever she was finished. Officers still held the neighbors behind the tape.

The tip of Serena's tongue poked between her lips as she probed, took samples from skin, clothing, and everywhere she deemed necessary.

"Is Chad all right?"

"Not really."

Serena stopped and looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

He told her and sympathy flared in her eyes. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, me too."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just pray," he said softly. "Pray for Chad and Stephanie and for Hunter too. He's got enough on his plate dealing with Alexia's hunt for our father. And now this . . ." He shook his head.

With a nod and a frown, she went back to the victim. She also went back to their previous conversation. "I never would have thought you'd wind up catching bad guys for a living."

Dominic forced thoughts of Chad, Mich.e.l.le, and Stephanie to the back of his mind as he watched Serena, fascinated with her thoroughness. He gave a short laugh at her statement, though. "Yeah, well, at the age of seventeen, I wouldn't have thought it either." He shuddered at his remembered youth. He'd been on the fast track to either prison or death when his arresting officer, Marcus Porter, stepped in and took the angry teen under his wing.

Thanks to Marcus and his wife, Dominic had learned that dads weren't supposed to beat their kids or drink until they pa.s.sed out. Marcus and Rayleen had modeled what a Christ-centered marriage looked like. Sure, they had their disagreements, but they were also determined to work through them without violence or intimidation.

"Hey, you in there?" Serena's quiet question jerked him from his thoughts.

"Yes, yeah, sorry. Are you finished?"

"Almost."

Dominic looked out of the shed to see Katie and Hunter working the crowd. Hunter caught his eye and broke away to walk over to Dominic. "I just got a text from Colton."

"What is it?"

"Those nine pictures of the women in that file?"

"Yeah?"

"He's got some info he wants to share with us."

Dominic frowned. "Like what?"

Hunter looked around. "You have a minute?"

"For this? Yeah."

"All right. When Howard put that file together, he neglected to let anyone know what was in it."

"Why?"

"He was taking payoffs."

Dominic stilled. "From who?"

"We don't know. Yet. The money was very skillfully routed to a bank account in his name. Over $300,000 worth of payments since 1996."

"That's the year Lindell was sent to prison."

"I made that connection too."

"What else?" From the corner of his eye, Dominic could see Serena talking to one of the CSU team members. The man smiled and leaned toward her, and Dominic found himself tensing up. He relaxed when Serena stepped back.

Hunter was saying, "So Bell knew more about the Doll Maker Killer than he was letting on."

"Right. We already figured that out the day we talked to him. So, what was he taking money for? Did he gamble?" He glanced sideways at Serena again. She'd moved away from the man and Dominic breathed easier.

"No. His wife was dying from Alzheimer's. Medical bills were eating them alive. Then all of a sudden, the bills started being paid. Howard moved his wife to a high-dollar a.s.sisted living home and the search for the killer came to a screeching halt."

"This doesn't make sense. If Howard was covering up and taking payoffs, why would they start in 1996? If Howard had figured out who the killer was, confronted him, then cut a deal, wouldn't that have started prior to Lindell's arrest? Isn't that the whole point of paying off a cop? So you don't get caught and go to prison?"

Hunter frowned right along with Dominic. "I know. The timing doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Why start paying a cop off after you've been arrested?"

"To buy fake testimony at the trial?"

Dominic shook his head. "Maybe. But Howard testified that they'd definitely arrested the right guy and provided the evidence to prove it, so the money wasn't to buy his silence."

"Maybe not on that score, but what about something else?"

"Like what?"

"Silence about a partner?"

"Lindell didn't want anyone to know someone was working with him?" Dominic nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. But who?"

"I don't have the answer to that one. However, the nine girls in those photos? They each had a best friend."

Dominic stilled as his mind jumped ahead. "Let me guess. Each of the victims that were found."

"Yep."

"And those other nine girls? They're still missing?"

"They are."

"So Howard was covering up information about nine missing girls linked to the victims that were found."

"Exactly."

"Then we need to put all this together and figure out why he would do that."