The 7th Victim

Prologue

Seattle

Seven years ago

The man crouched by the unconscious woman lying on the dewy grass by the interstate and tilted her pale, still face toward the moon. He laid calloused fingertips over the pulse point on her throat. The thump, thump of her steady heartbeat drummed against his skin.

Relief collided with excitement.

Thank God. She wasn’t dead. He’d hit her so hard hours ago that he’d feared there’d be no coaxing her awake. And he needed her to open her eyes. To see his face.

Gently, the man stroked her blonde hair as a chilling, wet breeze blew over the lush landscape. Stars twinkled between thickening pockets of rain-soaked clouds, which hid a waning moon. Twenty yards behind him, cars buzzed past on Route 10.

‘Wake up!’

Several minutes passed as he patted her face, each touch growing increasingly harder. ‘Open your eyes. Look at me. You need to know what is about to happen.’

He needed fear. Her terror.

The woman’s eyes moved under her lids, but they did not open. Damn. He’d hit her too hard.

In the distance, cars rushed by. He should carry her deeper into the woods to avoid detection, but he was more worried about waking her up than discovery. He’d not anticipated heavy traffic. A horn honked. Shit.

Frustrated, angry, and worried, he slapped the woman’s face hard. This time her eyes fluttered open as she raised a trembling hand to the red-purple bruising on her pale cheek. The bluest of blue gazes stared up at him with sightless confusion.

She did not see him.

He struck her with his backhand.

Her gaze cleared, and the fear he’d so craved blossomed and radiated.

‘Where am I?’ The woman’s dry throat and mouth had roughened her voice.

‘With me,’ he whispered. ‘Look at me.’

‘I hurt.’ Her flickering panic, like flint to tinder, ignited a fire in him that quickly raged bright and strong. Yes, this is what he needed. Her pain. Her fear. Saliva pooled at the corners of his mouth. His heart raced.

In one swift move, he straddled her and grabbed her slender neck in his strong hands. His erection throbbed painfully in jeans that scraped against the gauzy white dress straining over her belly. He had already taken her twice and still he craved more sex.

He tightened his hold around her slender neck. ‘Do you know who is going to kill you?’

The woman could barely keep her vacant eyes open, but the pressures against her neck fuelled a primal need to survive. Blindly, she dug her fingernails into his hands.

She screamed, but the wind paired with the rush of traffic drowned out her cries.

Yes. This is what he wanted. Fear. ‘Open your eyes. Look! See me!’

The first time he’d seen her years ago, the beast in him had wanted him to drag her into the woods. However, logic demanded caution. And so he’d tracked her every move. Photographed her. Kept a detailed account. Nothing violent. Nothing alarming. Simple. Easy. Thrilling.

It had gone on this way for years, until two nights ago when he’d scraped together his courage to implement what he’d planned for so long. She’d had too many drinks. Celebrating. Relaxed. Unaware. And he had taken her easily.

Memories of what he’d done replayed in his mind. He squeezed his thighs against her midsection compressing her ribs and shoving the air from her lungs. She arched, kicked, and twisted her neck as more traffic roared past. A streak of lightning cut across the sky. Thunder rumbled. But he barely noticed, his focus fixed on the erotic play of energy between master and victim.

‘Look at me!’

As the woman grasped his fingers encircling her neck, tears pooled in her unseeing eyes and trickled down the side of her cheeks. Her nails dug into his flesh, as desperation oozed from her pores. He squeezed harder, his excitement growing as her fingernails clawed his hands.

‘Do you see me?’ he said. All this planning would be fruitless if she didn’t know who had brought her to death.

She wasn’t listening, but channeling her energy into the last moments of her struggle. She clung to life.

She kicked and arched, pushing her belly into his erection. A strangled cry croaked from her lips, but she did not have the air in her lungs to scream or the strength to break his hold. Her eyes closed.

In mere moments, it would all be over. She would die. But she would never know who had dominated her in the last moments of her life.

A car horn honked. The frantic shouts of men grew louder as the glare of approaching flashlights glared brighter. His capture loomed; seconds separated him from ending her life. Seconds. Tick-tock.

His grip slackened. What would be the point of her death if she didn’t see her killer’s face? Angry and frustrated, he released his grip and stumbled off her limp body, and ran into the night, knowing one day he’d see her again.

CHAPTER ONE

Austin, Texas

Monday, May 20, 6:45 am

Stop and smell the roses.

Texas Ranger James Beck’s captain had spoken those last glib words seconds after he’d put Beck on paid administrative leave three weeks ago.

The words rattled in Beck’s head as he parked his black Bronco at a murder scene located twenty miles south of Austin off Interstate 35’s access road. The day’s new sun glowed red over the haze of heat, rising over rolling, dusty western lands blanketed with rocks, brush, and scrubby trees. On the road’s shoulder sat a sidelined truck hauling lumber, a half dozen county sheriff’s cars, and a forensics van. Already early-morning commuter rubberneckers had snarled morning traffic.

Oddly, the controlled chaos eased the tightness bunching the muscles in Beck’s lower back. He was officially back in the saddle and free of the oppressive slower pace of a forced ‘vacation.’

The seeds of Beck’s trouble began six months ago when Misty Gray, a ten-year-old girl, had vanished. The last person to see Misty had been her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Matt Dial, who reported to police that the girl had left to play with friends and then vanished.

After three days and no sign of the child, local authorities had summoned the Texas Rangers and Beck had been assigned to the case. The Rangers, often relegated to tales of the old west, were in fact a modern, elite part of the Texas Department of Public Safety, known as DPS.

Twenty minutes into Beck’s interview with Dial, he knew the construction worker was lying. But the more questions Beck fired, the faster Dial shot back denials.

Finding Misty became Beck’s personal mission, and he stayed on Dial long after media stories shifted from rescue to recovery. When Dial, who turned out to be the black sheep of a well-connected family, complained about Beck’s dogged trailing, Beck’s boss ordered the ranger to stand down until the political winds eased. Beck disobeyed, using personal time to trail Dial. Two weeks went by before the out-of-work construction worker made a midnight run to a deserted farm. Beck, trailing close, watched Dial unlock an old shed and drag out a large plastic bag that could easily hold a child’s body. Weapon drawn, Beck called out to Dial, who raised a .45 and fired. Dial’s shot trailed high, but Beck’s shots struck Dial in the chest, dropping him instantly. Misty’s decomposing body was in the bag.

Forensic investigators found childlike messages scratched on the shed walls, scattered food wrappers and empty water jugs. They theorized the girl has lasted three weeks in the shed before she’d died of dehydration.

When Dial family attorneys attacked the child’s character during the ensuing investigation, Beck’s temper had blown. He’d spoken words a politically aware man would have avoided and in the end, Beck’s commander had saddled him with paid leave.

‘Enjoy the next three weeks. Lay low. Stop and smell the roses.’

Shit.

Beck’s downtime had been spent at his grandfather’s garage getting his hands dirty under the hood of a ’67 Mustang. Never once had Beck been plagued by his own actions or his razor-sharp candour to the attorneys. When asked during mandatory counselling sessions if he had any misgivings about the shooting, he’d honestly said he had none. His regrets were for the little girl who’d suffered alone for three weeks. The little girl he didn’t save.

Beck rubbed a calloused hand over tense neck muscles as police lights bounced off the freshly waxed hood of his car and yellow crime scene tape brushed brittle, brown grass skirting the access road. He grabbed his white Stetson, standard gear for a Texas Ranger, and got out of the car.

His exile had officially ended.

Gravel crunched under his polished cowboy boots and bone-dry dirt dusted the hem of his khakis as he moved down the side of the access road past the truck and the line of cop cars.

At thirty-five he moved with the quick stride of a younger man. When teased about his fast pace he joked too many hits playing high school quarterback had left him edgy and ready to dodge.

Beck nodded to the local deputies, paused to talk to some, shook hands with others. All offered best wishes and hearty welcomes.

One hundred feet off the road he spotted fellow Texas Ranger Rick Santos. Tall, and lean as gristle, Santos pulled off his own Stetson and wiped a red bandana over his damp brow. As the thirty-something Santos glanced toward the morning sky, Beck could almost hear him curse the temperature, which was expected to kick up over one hundred degrees. Texans often said the state had two seasons: winter and summer.

The sun had etched lines around Santos’s eyes, tanned his skin golden, and left blue-black highlights in already dark hair. Santos’s uniform was similar to Beck’s, though he favoured string ties over Beck’s traditional.

Beck glanced toward the forensics van, which blocked the view of the body. The 5 AM call from Beck’s captain in Austin hadn’t supplied Beck with many case details: female, young, and found midway between the seventy-mile stretch between Austin and San Antonio. This crime scene fell smack in the heart of the Texas Rangers’ largest division, Company F, which spanned counties south of San Antonio to several north of Austin.

As Beck approached, the San Antonio-based Santos extended his hand. ‘Looks like we both were invited to the party.’

Santos clasped his hand, squeezed hard. ‘I hear the captain’s call pulled you out from under a car engine early this morning. Still working on the piece of crap you call a car?’

Too restless to sleep, too early for the first-day-back arrival, he’d gone to his grandfather’s garage at 3 AM and tinkered with the Mustang. ‘Keeps me out of trouble.’

A muscle twitched once, twice in the side of Santos’s jaw. ‘No one liked seeing you off the streets.’

Anger, he thought, conquered, clawed beneath the surface even as he reminded himself that dwelling wouldn’t help him catch the next monster. ‘Penance is good for the soul.’

Santos looked as if he wanted to say more, but he let it pass. ‘You know Deputy Eli Stiles, right?’

‘Sure. We worked a couple of car theft cases.’

‘Good. I’ll let him fill you in on the details.’

They found Eli standing just outside the crime scene tape watching his technicians work. He was a tall man with a neatly shaved head and a wide salt-and-pepper moustache. Though he’d been well muscled in his youth, thirty years in a patrol car had thickened his belly.

Deputy Stiles gripped Beck’s hand in an iron hold. ‘Good to see you back in action, boy.’

His intent was to avoid all inquiries, even the well-meaning ones, about the last three weeks. Time to move forward. ‘I know this isn’t a social call.’

Deputy Stiles tugged his hat forward a fraction. ‘No, sir, it is not. I have a Jane Doe I want you to see.’

Beck nodded. ‘What’s special about this one?’

‘This whole setup is off, which is why I called in the Rangers.’

Beck rested his hands on his hips. ‘Why off ?’

The deputy shook his head. ‘You tell me.’

‘Have a look at her, Beck,’ Santos said. ‘You’ll see.’

The trio ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and came up behind the forensic technician, who for a moment blocked the view of the body. When the tech shifted her stance Beck got his first real look at the victim.

The woman lay on her back, her hands folded over her chest. Blonde hair splayed out onto the ground mirroring a fully fanned skirt. She looked like some grim angel.

‘Minute I saw her, I thought about the dead woman they found in San Antonio three weeks ago,’ Deputy Stiles said.

Benched at the time, Beck’s information on the San Antonio murder had come from the newspaper. There’d been three articles about the San Antonio victim, and to his recollection, her picture had not been released. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Not a whole lot left of her after weeks, maybe months outside. What the sun and rain didn’t get, the animals dragged off. No identification found on her, but local law determined that she’d been wearing a white dress.’

‘A white dress,’ Santos said. ‘Common enough, isn’t it?’

Deep worry lines were etched into Stiles’s forehead and at his temples. ‘On one victim it might be. On two, well, call me jaded, but I don’t think so,’ he said.

Seeing this victim struck a chord deep in Beck’s memory that went farther back than a month. But the harder he tried to wrangle the memory the faster it pranced out of reach.

The three men stared at the body, the air around them pulsing.

Finally, Santos broke the silence. ‘When Stiles mentioned the San Antonio murder, I pulled up my computer files on the case.’ He shifted his stance. ‘According to the report the local sheriff used approximate characteristics from the medical examiner and matched their victim to a missing persons report. Long story short, her name was Lou Ellen Fisk, age twenty-two. She lived just north of San Antonio.’

Deputy Stiles hooked his thumbs in his belt. ‘Local boys figured the boyfriend killed her. Fisk and her man had had their share of fights.’

Santos nodded. ‘He didn’t much like the idea that she was graduating from college and moving to Chicago. They haven’t pinned the murder on him, but the cops think it’s a matter of time.’

‘He got an alibi?’ Beck said.

‘Pack of his buddies swore he was drinking with them most of the night.’

‘So what does Lou Ellen Fisk have to do with this victim?’

‘White dress, young, blonde,’ Stiles said. ‘Can’t speak to the Fisk case, but whoever killed this little gal, planned it all out.’

Beck pulled rubber gloves from his back pocket and moved toward the technician working the site. The cast of his shadow caught the technician’s attention. She rose and turned, and he recognized her immediately. ‘Melinda Ashburn.’

She’d worked the murder of Misty Gray. He’d watched her open the bag and tenderly examine and record what remained of the little girl’s body. In her late twenties, Melinda wore dark sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat that protected a stock of red hair and pale freckled skin. ‘Good to see you back, Sergeant Beck.’

‘Good to be back. What did you find, ma’am?’

‘Still taking pictures and sketching. As you can see she’s got a good bit of bruising around her neck. My guess is strangulation.’

‘Yes, ma’am, I do see that.’ The rising heat of the day beat down on Beck. The body had yet to take on the coiling smells of decay, but that would soon change. Night-time temperatures had bumped close to eighty and faint dark patches, the first signs of decomposition, had started to appear on her cheeks. Soon the body would bloat and then split. By sunset she’d barely be recognizable. If left out here a couple of days, she’d quickly go the way of Lou Ellen Fisk.

He crouched and studied the details: neatly trimmed nails, delicate hands that didn’t look like they’d seen hard labour and smooth skin unmarked by the hard Texas sun. ‘She can’t be much more than twenty.’

‘That’s my guess,’ Melinda said.

‘Any identification?’

‘None that I’ve found. But we’ll roll her prints as soon as she gets to the medical examiner’s office.’

Prints were no guarantee of identification. If she wasn’t in the Automated Fingerprints System known as AFIS, they’d start digging through missing persons reports. ‘Any signs of bruising or wounds on her face or arms?’

A warm wind skidded across the grass, teasing the hem of the victim’s white skirt. Her almost peaceful features mocked what had to have been terrifying last minutes.

Beck flexed his gloved fingers as he stared at the woman. ‘Is she clenching something in her right hand?’

‘I think so,’ Melinda said. ‘I’ll be getting to it soon enough.’

‘I don’t want to rush your process, but when you open that hand let me know what you find.’ Again a vague memory pestered.

Beck rose, thanked Melinda, and turned to Santos. A muscle in the back of Beck’s neck tensed as it did when he grabbed for a memory out of his reach. ‘Why does this case feel familiar?’

‘Bugging the hell out of me, too,’ Santos said.

Beck rested hands on hips as he mentally shuffled through old case files. Strangulation. White dresses. Blonde females. And then the memory hit. ‘Remember the Seattle murders six or seven years ago?’

Santos rubbed his chin. ‘I do. I was still with DPS then. The press called him the … Seattle Strangler.’

As mental gates opened, the memories flooded. ‘Six women were strangled and all were wearing white. Each had a penny in her hand. The penny detail had never been released to the public but Beck had heard about it through police channels.’

Santos nodded. ‘Good memory.’

‘He caused a panic in Seattle. I read about it in some report, but when the case went cold, it was pushed to the back burner.’

‘The guy ever caught?’

‘From what I remember, no. His last victim survived. The killer went dark, and I heard all kinds of theories. He was jailed. Died. Moved on. Lost his nerve.’

‘What happened to the last victim?’ Santos said.

‘A passing motorist interrupted the attack.’ Beck dug deeper. ‘The surviving victim claimed no memory of the assault.’

Santos glanced toward the victim splayed in the dirt. ‘San Antonio victim’s bones were bleached white and scattered by the animals. We don’t know how she died. And a penny didn’t turn up during the search.’

‘No one was looking for it.’

‘True. And if the killer left a penny, we had a hell of a storm last month that likely washed it away.’

As Santos turned to respond to a question from a DPS officer, Beck shoved out a breath and turned back toward the body. ‘Melinda, would you do me a favour and have a look inside that gal’s hand? Mighty important.’

She nodded and squatted by the clenched hand. Carefully, she peeled back fingers stiffening with rigor mortis. As she raised her camera to photograph her discovery, she said, ‘There’s a penny.’

Beck leaned closer. ‘You sure about that?’

‘Very.’ She snapped dozens more pictures.

Beck called Santos over and pointed to the victim’s hand.

Santos took one look at the penny and swore. ‘This nut might have resurfaced in Texas?’

‘Or a copycat.’ Beck rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He’d need all the information San Antonio had on the first victim and an identity on this victim quickly.

‘These cases could stir up a hornet’s nest,’ Santos said.

‘I believe you are right.’

Melinda bagged the penny in a small zip-top evidence bag. ‘Beck, I’ll pass it on to the medical examiner in Austin.’

‘Thanks, Melinda. Appreciate that.’ Beck turned to Santos. ‘I’ve got to get situated in the office, and then I’ll swing by the medical examiner’s office. I want to be there for the autopsy.’ He’d not seen his desk in three weeks, but he welcomed the waiting chaos.

‘Sounds good, Sergeant.’

Beck turned back toward the road and caught sight of the big rig. The massive black cab hauled a trailer loaded with lumber. ‘You said a trucker called in this murder?’

‘Yeah.’

‘He still in his rig?’

‘Yep, and getting more pissed by the minute. He’s squawking about schedules.’

‘Let me talk to him.’ Beck moved toward the truck cab and knocked on the driver’s-side door window. No one was in the cab, but these big rigs came with a rear sleep compartment. Beck’s grandfather, Henry Beck, had been a long-haul trucker in his younger days before opening his garage and often said that during his trucking days, he’d have traded a year’s worth of steak and sex for a solid twelve hours of sleep.

Beck pounded his fist on the side of the cab. Finally, a gruff, ‘Just a damn minute.’

Beck stepped back, squinting north over the median into the oncoming interstate traffic, now moving slower and slower as motorists tried to glimpse the crime scene. Soon there’d be a hell of a backup on I-35.

After some shuffling, cussing, and more shuffling the cab door opened and a tall bear of a man appeared. He wore jeans, a Dallas Cowboys black T-shirt, and a belt buckle shaped like Texas. He grabbed his hat from the cab, smoothing back thick grey hair before settling the cap on his head. ‘You here to tell me I can go?’

‘In just a minute or two. Right now I’d like a rundown.’

The trucker pulled a can of dip from his back pocket and tucked a pinch of tobacco in his cheek. ‘I already told the other cops.’

Beck shoved aside irritation. ‘And I do appreciate that. I do. But mind running it by me one more time, Mister … ?’

‘Raynor. Billie Raynor.’

He pulled a small notebook and pen from his back pocket. ‘You’re from?’

‘El Paso.’

‘So how’d you find the body? Can’t be seen from the road.’

‘’Cause I had to pee like a damn race horse. Fucking prostate. Thought I could make it to the next stop but was about to bust so I pulled over. Figured I’d drain the well and get back on the road. Then I saw the buzzards flying overhead. I couldn’t see what they saw, but thought I’d take a look. Twenty steps and I saw her. At first I thought she might be sick or asleep, but as I got closer I saw the flies.’ He shuddered. ‘Looked like she was covered in wax.’

‘Did you see anything or anyone else?’

‘No. Just the woman and the buzzards.’ He jabbed his thumb toward his cab. ‘Hightailed it back here and called the cops.’

‘Appreciate that.’

He spit. ‘Enough to let me get going? That damn deputy has held me up for two hours.’

‘I suppose you should be grateful he’s not hauling you to the station for questioning.’

The trucker’s gaze hardened. ‘Why the hell would you do that?’

Beck grinned. ‘Killers have called in their own work before.’

‘Well, not me.’ He lifted his hat and smoothed his palm over his damp brow before replacing it. ‘Shit. I should have just kept driving.’

‘You drive all over the state?’

‘Sure, I do. What of it?’

‘Been down to San Antonio lately?’

CHAPTER TWO

Monday, May 20, 10 am

Beck got caught in the tangle of northbound traffic into Austin and arrived at the office an hour later than he’d have liked. He passed through the main lobby and paused at reception to show his badge.

A middle-aged woman with ink black hair, a barrel-shaped body, and thick-rimmed glasses grinned up at Beck. ‘Well, look what the damned cat dragged in.’

He removed his hat, grinning. ‘Susie. You’re looking mighty fine today.’

A hint of colour rose in her cheeks. ‘Glad to have you back, baby doll.’

‘Glad to be back, darlin.’ He’d never admit to Susie or another soul alive how much he’d missed the job.

‘So what you been doing with yourself these last weeks?’

‘Stirring up trouble. Stirring up trouble.’

As she chuckled, he winked and headed toward the stairs, climbing to the third floor. He pushed through the door and wove his way through the cubicles, finding comfort in the hum of ringing phones, muted conversations, the buzz of the fluorescents, and the scent of the worst coffee ever made. He was anxious to get back to the business of being a Ranger.

He flipped on his office lights and for a moment stood in his office door, silent and still, his gaze roaming over what had been so familiar twenty-one days ago.

Desk piled high with papers. Shelves crammed full of books and scattered awards. Texas A&M diploma on the wall. A print of Galveston Island at sunset. Beck standing in front of his grandfather’s garage with his mother and brother.

His return from leave barely two hours old, he stared at the picture of his family, remembering no matter how much a man wished, hoped, or loved, nothing lasted forever. He’d learned that fact the day his father had walked out. Beck had been three. His brother two. His mother nineteen.

His mother, Elaina Beck, terrified and desperate, had turned to the very man who had condemned her marriage: her father-in-law, Henry Beck. Beck remembered the fear and rage thundering through his body as he’d stared at his mother’s tear-streaked face and his grandfather’s stoic, grizzled features. As much as he’d wanted to cry, he’d squeezed his mother’s hand and snuggled close to her.

Beck shrugged off his suit jacket, carefully hung it up on a hanger dangling from the hook on his office door, and then placed his hat on the edge of his desk.

A glance at his overflowing in-box told him a Ranger’s work went on regardless of his or anyone else’s troubles. Flexing his fingers, he sat behind his desk and flipped on his computer.

‘I figured you’d slither back in here like a rattlesnake.’

The deep baritone belonged to Captain Ryder Penn. In his late fifties, the captain had been with the Rangers for over twenty-five years. Tall, lean with tanned, sun-etched skin, Penn looked as if he’d been plucked out of the American West. At his last twenty-fifth anniversary party there’d been jokes circulating that Stephen Austin himself had recruited him. Jokes aside, Penn was a crackerjack investigator.

Beck rose, kept his tone even. ‘Giving it my best effort. With luck I’ll slide back into the old routine without anyone noticing.’

Penn extended his hand to Beck. ‘Not likely.’

Beck accepted his hand and shook, burying the heated exchange they’d had when Penn pulled Beck off the job. ‘I just want to get back to work.’

Penn stepped back, casting his gaze over the in-box. ‘Hope you’re willing to hit the ground running.’

‘Fast as I can.’

Penn paused as if wrangling with unspoken thoughts and maybe an apology. ‘Santos said you’ve seen the crime scene on I-35.’

‘The victim was a woman, dressed in white, blonde. She appears to have been strangled and posed. Sheriff Stiles suspects the victim is connected to one found in San Antonio about four weeks ago. There wasn’t much left of the first victim after a month in the open, so it’s too early to tell.’

Penn’s gaze narrowed. ‘How did the first victim die?’

‘Cause of death was inconclusive.’

‘So what’s the connection?’

‘The first victim appeared to have been wearing a white dress.’

‘A white dress.’ Penn shook his head. ‘Slim. And you got a mighty full plate, Beck.’

This case had already sunk its teeth into him. ‘I’ll make room. The medical examiner is going to be doing the autopsy this afternoon. I’d like to be there.’

Penn stared at him hard. ‘Sure. I’ll give you this one. But look at your backlog before you dive in and no more lone-wolf shit.’

‘Will do.’

Penn studied Beck an extra beat and then left him alone with his overflowing in-box and an unshakeable curiosity for two murders that might or might not be related.

He spent the better part of the morning digging through his in-box and getting a handle on the active cases he’d been forced to put aside.

Several hours passed before he tore away from his backlogged files to do an Internet search. In the search engine he typed: strangulation, white dress, female. Several unrelated hits appeared, but halfway down the page a reference to the Seattle case popped up. He clicked the link to an article that had been written five years after the last attack. The anniversary perspective outlined the history of the six murder victims – all young women who’d been strangled and dressed in white. A seventh victim had survived her attack, but police had never revealed the woman’s identity. The article also discussed the fact that police had never found the Seattle Strangler.

The hinges of his chair squeaked as he continued searching the Seattle Strangler case and reading through old online references to the case.

Six Women Dead.

One Survivor.

A Missing Killer.

Beck absently tapped his fingers on the keys to his computer, and then checked his watch. Seattle would be two hours behind, making it about 12 AM West Coast time.

He picked up his phone and dialed Seattle Police. When he was finally connected to the homicide department and got a Detective Steve Cannon on the phone, he introduced himself.

‘Well, sir,’ Beck explained. ‘We have two murders that remind me a bit of a few cases you had some years back.’ He recapped the details of what he knew about his two victims.

Detective Cannon hesitated. ‘I’ve had calls like yours over the years. Cops like you who think a strangled blonde woman is linked to the Seattle Strangler.’

‘Your victims have a penny in their hands?’

A heavy silence radiated through the lines. ‘No one has ever mentioned the penny.’ Cannon hesitated. ‘We kept that detail close to the vest.’

Beck doodled a box around Seattle on his desk pad. ‘The guy was never caught.’

‘No, he was not.’ Defensiveness sharpened the words.

Beck understood that Cannon had to have been frustrated. No cop liked losing one of the bad guys. ‘Sounds like you were pretty involved in the case?’

‘Spent a lot of hours working with my partner on it. I hated that we couldn’t crack the case.’

‘Your partner couldn’t have been pleased.’

‘Royally pissed to put it mildly. Mike was real disappointed.’

‘Mike?’

‘Mike Raines. He retired six years ago. Opened his own detective agency here in Seattle. I can tell you that Raines just about drove himself insane trying to find the killer. Shit, we all did.’

Beck understood that kind of drive. That kind of obsession. He wrote Raines Detective Agency on a yellow notepad and circled it. ‘What about the surviving victim? She still in Seattle?’

‘I lost track of her, but I’d bet Raines might know her whereabouts. Like I said, he fixated on the case. He wanted this guy in the worst way.’

‘Why’d this case get under his skin?’

Cannon sighed. ‘You telling me you haven’t had a case that got under your skin?’

Beck shoved aside images of Misty Gray’s dead body. ‘Point taken. Do you remember the name of the survivor?’

Cannon exhaled. ‘That I do remember. Lara Church. We never released the name publicly to protect her privacy.’

The name meant nothing to him as he jotted it on the notepad. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’ He glanced at Raines’s name, his in-box, and then his watch. ‘Thanks.’

‘I’d have said your guy wasn’t the Seattle Strangler, if not for the penny. Shit, I can’t believe he’d resurface after all this time.’ Cannon sounded weary. ‘Keep me posted?’

‘Will do, and if I have more questions, I’ll give you a call?’

‘I’d be mad if you didn’t. It’s been seven years, but I still want this guy caught. I know Mike would feel the same.’

‘I’ll keep you in the loop.’

‘Appreciate it.’

Beck hung up and checked his watch. The medical examiner’s autopsy was scheduled in a couple of more hours. Hopefully, he’d know if he had a connection to Seattle or not.

He glanced down at his pad where he’d written Seattle Strangler … Lara Church.

Beck’s early afternoon skidded through a haze of case files, welcome backs, meetings, and phone calls. He was knee-deep in securing a warrant when Penn appeared in his doorway cradling a mug of coffee. ‘Thought you’d be at the medical examiner’s office now.’

Beck checked his watch. ‘Delays in the ME’s office. Said he’d be starting the autopsy in a half hour or so.’

‘And you still plan to observe?’

‘As soon as I get this warrant.’

‘Let me worry about the warrant. You get to the ME’s office.’ The uncharacteristic offer no doubt doubled as the only apology Beck would get from Penn on the Gray case.

‘I’ve just about got it.’

‘I know. But go on and get. Let me get it taken care of for you.’

Beck rose, noting the stiffness in his back. ‘I’ll keep you posted.’

A wall of heat hit Beck as he moved out of the air-conditioning of the Rangers’ offices and moved across the parking lot to his car. Even late in the day, heat thickened the interior and the leather seats scorched his back as he slid behind the wheel and fired up the engine. Soon the air-conditioning hummed, and he was on his way to the ME’s office.

Out of his car, heat rose off the asphalt as he crossed to the medical examiner’s building. The thick smell of ammonia and death greeted him as he signed in and strode toward the medical examiner’s office.

A reed-thin man with a dark mustache stood behind a desk covered in stacks of files, journals, and papers. He wore scrubs and a surgical cap, which covered a stock of dark hair. ‘Heard you might be joining me.’

‘Doc.’

Dr Hank Watterson was in his late thirties and had joined the medical examiner’s office just months ago. From Colorado, he’d served in the Air Force after graduating from medical school. ‘Beck. Santos called. He’ll be here in ten minutes. Traffic delay.’

A Ranger spent a good bit of his time in the car covering his territory and understood stalled traffic, storms, and a dozen other delays could slow him down. After more pleasantries, Beck donned a surgical gown and gloves and followed Watterson into the autopsy room. The victim lay on a stainless steel gurney. A white sheet covered her slight frame except for the shock of blonde hair, which peeked out by her shoulder.

‘I did a quick look at the body this morning. The bruising around her neck is consistent with strangulation, but I’ll make the official call once I’ve done a full exam.’

Dr Watterson’s assistant, Fran, a slight woman with mousy brown hair, nodded to Beck as she clicked on the overhead light and double-checked the instruments. ‘Ready Doc,’ she said.

The doors pushed open, and Santos appeared unruffled and ready to work. ‘Give me a minute, and I’ll be good to go.’ He removed his hat and, like Beck, donned surgical gear.

Santos stood shoulder to shoulder with Beck as the doctor began the external examination of the body.

She’d been a pretty little lady: petite, delicate frame, high slash of cheekbones. She had no signs of drug use and sported a yellow rose on her right ankle.

The doctor did a full set of X-rays including her neck, which he put on the viewing screen. The hyoid, a horseshoe-shaped bone in the center of the neck, had been snapped.

‘She was strangled,’ Dr Watterson said. ‘The snapped hyoid is consistent with strangulation.’

The internal exam showed no stress to internal organs. This woman had lived a clean life. What had attracted the killer? Her beauty and youth could have been factors. And her small stature would have made her an easier target.

When Beck stepped out of the autopsy room two hours later, the digital clock read 7:02 PM. His stomach growled and he realized, except for a pack of nabs, he’d not eaten since a bagel at the garage. Coffee and a steak would tank up his reserves and keep him moving for hours.

Dr Watterson emerged from the exam room. ‘Here are her personal belongings.’

Beck and Santos tossed their scrubs in the hamper and took the plastic bag filled only with a white dress. The simple dress was made of white cotton and brushed. Lace trimmed a scooped collar and a hem long enough to brush her ankles.

‘There’s no label,’ Beck said as he inspected the inside collar.

‘It looks handmade,’ Santos said.

Beck rolled a length of lace between his calloused fingers. ‘I called Seattle this morning about their Strangler case.’

‘Kind of premature.’

‘Maybe. But the killer took his time and Seattle never caught their Strangler.’

Santos shrugged stiff shoulders. ‘What do you know about the survivor?’

‘Only a name. Lara Church. The lead investigator has retired but is still in Seattle. A private detective now.’

‘So you gonna call him?’

‘I want to dig more on our end. See if there are more connections.’

‘What’s that in the evidence bag?’

Beck dug out a small plastic bag containing a penny. He studied the coin through the plastic. ‘The penny is dated 1943. A heavy patina suggests extensive circulation, but there is nothing remarkable about it.’

‘So why put a penny in her hand?’

‘Why dress her in white and why lay her on the side of the road? Crazy’s got its own set of answers.’

Beck didn’t have to wait long before he got identification on his Jane Doe. He’d been back at his desk less than an hour when a detective in Austin’s Missing Persons division called.

‘Jim Beck,’ he said cradling the phone under his chin.

‘Detective Walter Cass, with Austin Police Missing Persons.’

Beck leaned forward in his chair. ‘Detective Cass, what can I do for you?’

‘I think I might have a hit on your Jane Doe.’

‘Really?’

‘We started a file yesterday on a Gretchen Hart, age twenty-two. She’d been a waitress at a diner near the university. Her boss got worried when she didn’t show up to work three days ago. He sent one of the other waitresses to her apartment, and when she didn’t answer, the gal got the manager to open up Hart’s place. No signs of trouble, but no Gretchen.’

‘She could have just taken off.’

‘Not her style according to the boss. Punctual and hardworking. She was a student studying English at the university and using the waitress gig to pay bills.’ Paper rustled through the phone. ‘I’m looking at your autopsy picture, and it matches the pictures I have.’

Beck scribbled the woman’s name on a pad. ‘The victim’s prints have no hits in AFIS.’

‘I doubt this gal would be in the system. Seems squeaky clean. What happened to your victim?’

‘Strangled. Body found this morning on the side of I-35.’

Cass released a sigh. ‘Sorry to hear that.’

‘What can you tell me about her?’

‘I don’t have much else other than a DOB, height, and weight. But I can give you her boss’s name. Mack Rivers of the River Diner.’

‘Can you send me her picture?’

‘I’ll upload it now.’

‘Thanks.’ Beck hung up and checked his watch. Ten-fifteen. Minutes later the picture arrived in his email. A quick look and he knew he had his victim. The image featured a bright-eyed young girl who stared directly into the camera. Long, full blonde hair framed a face with skin as smooth as porcelain. His thoughts flashed to the crime scene and what the killer had done to this young woman. ‘Damn.’

A quick phone call to the River Diner told him he had two hours before closing. Standing, he stretched the knots from his back and crossed to his door where he retrieved his coat. He grabbed his hat and headed out.

The diner was less than a ten-minute drive from his office and within twenty minutes he sat in a booth scanning a menu. The place was nice enough. Fairly new, but built to resemble a classic fifties diner. The waitresses were young and wore matching pink T-shirts that said THE RIVER DINER.

Beck ordered a burger, fries, and a soda and asked for the owner. The waitress hesitated and eyed him carefully for a moment and then left.

Minutes later a man approached him. Early forties with dark black hair and olive skin, he wore the same T-shirt as the waitstaff, but grease and flour stains covered his. ‘I hear you wanted to see me.’

Beck rose. ‘Sergeant Jim Beck with the Texas Rangers.’

‘Mack Rivers.’ He wiped his hands on his kitchen apron. ‘Does this have to do with Gretchen?’

‘It does.’ Beck nodded toward the booth seat across from him and waited until Rivers sat.

‘Did you find her?’

‘I believe we have.’

Rivers shoved out a breath. ‘This isn’t good news.’

‘No, sir. We found her body early this morning.’

Rivers sat back as if the wind had been knocked out of him. ‘What happened?’

‘She was strangled.’

‘What?’ He shook his head. ‘That doesn’t make sense.’

‘No, sir, news like this never does.’ He pulled a pad from his breast pocket. ‘She have any boyfriends or family that you know of?’

Mack’s face paled as he fully absorbed Beck’s news. ‘No. Said she didn’t have time for a boyfriend. She was either working here or going to school.’

‘What about patrons or any guy that might’ve been giving her a hard time?’

‘Everybody liked Gretchen. Sweet kid.’ Mack rubbed the back of his neck as if trying to distract himself from strong emotions.

‘Where’d she go to school?’

‘UT here in Austin.’

‘She have close friends?’

Rivers pinched the bridge of his nose as if fighting tears. ‘Everybody liked Gretchen. She was a good, hardworking kid. Are you sure it’s her?’

‘The picture you sent to Austin Missing Persons matches the victim we have at the morgue. We’ll match fingerprints and dental records to seal the deal, but I don’t anticipate surprises.’

He dug his fingers through his hair. ‘Good lord.’

‘Did she have family?’

‘Came from back east. Family in Maryland, I think. Living in Texas on her own and paying her own way.’

Beck glanced around the diner, which even at this late hour maintained a lively pace. ‘There been anyone hanging around here that might have shown a special interest in Gretchen?’

He cleared his throat, drawing Beck’s attention to a large snake tattoo that coiled around the guy’s neck. ‘Like I said, not that I know.’

‘Would you have known? The place is busy and there’s a lot to keep up with.’

His gaze sharpened. ‘I look after my girls. If there is a problem, I hear about it.’ He shook his head. ‘Shit.’

‘Can you give me her home address?’

‘Yeah, sure. I’ve got to look it up.’ Rivers rose and walked away, his shoulders hunched.

The waitress appeared again. ‘Your order is almost up.’

‘Can you make it to-go?’

‘Sure.’ Small, pale hands clenched at her sides. Her name badge read DANNI. ‘This is about Gretchen, isn’t it?’

‘It is.’ Heavy eyeliner couldn’t hide the blonde waitress’s youth. She couldn’t be more than seventeen.

‘I’m the one that went by her place and got the manager. She’s not the type to blow off work.’

‘I’m surprised your boss sent you.’

A dark brow arched. ‘Why? Because I’m young?’

‘Exactly.’

She shrugged. ‘None of us figured we’d find real trouble.’

‘But you did.’

‘There were a couple of newspapers in front of her door and a notice from a delivery company. She’d been waiting on a new exercise video and wouldn’t have just left the sticker on the door and not gotten the package.’

‘There anyone out there with reason to hurt her?’

‘She is like the ultimate Goody Two-shoes. She never made anyone mad.’

‘Danni, how long have you known her?’

‘Not super long. A couple of months. She was nice.’

‘No one gave her trouble?’

‘No one. The customers loved her.’

‘You get lots of regulars?’

‘Eighty percent of the business is repeats. Our cook makes good food, and it’s cheap, so people keep coming back.’

Rivers appeared with a notecard that he handed to Beck with a hand that slightly trembled. ‘Here you go.’

‘Thanks.’ He glanced at the address. Apartments near the campus.

It was late, but Beck wanted to visit Hart’s apartment. ‘Thanks. If I’ve got more questions, I’ll give you a call.’

Danni and Rivers promised to answer whatever questions he had, and after leaving them both his card, he left. He called Santos. ‘It’s Beck. I spoke to the owner of the River Diner. He’s given me Hart’s address.’ He repeated the address to Santos.

‘I’ll meet you there.’

‘How long will it take you to get up to Austin?’

‘I’m halfway. A half hour.’ Rangers worked until the job was done. Didn’t matter how long, they just kept working. ‘The diner people give you any idea who might have done this?’

‘As far as they were concerned she was an angel.’

Mary Burton

THE 7TH VICTIM

PENGUIN BOOKS

Contents

THE 7TH VICTIM

Prologue

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO