The Zodiac Killer Read online

  He’d had this conversation with her too many times. It was time to teach her a lesson. “It’s a short skirt, though. And I have to be at my music lesson after school.”

  He snapped his fingers again and flashed a wicked grin. “Then you’ll be a very naughty girl, indeed. You shouldn’t dress in such slutty clothes. Fingertip length. Understood?”

  She giggled nervously and nodded. “Please, Bay—”

  His fingers snapped again, and he pegged her with a hard glare. “If you don’t want to play these games, Mia, then we can end them at any time, but remember, it’s you who is the dirty little slut. You’re the one stealing from your sister’s handbag and sucking cock in your mother’s house. You come in here flaunting your ass and sitting in my lap, rubbing my cock like a little hungry whore, so do I need to go on?” He knew he had her right where he wanted her, and the power over her had his cock so hard, he could drive a nail into the wall with it. He held his hand up, his fingers poised to snap, but she was already reaching up beneath her skirt, slipping the lacy pink panties down to her knees, and then stepping out of them as she held the desk for balance.

  “I feel so naughty, Bay. I just know someone’s going to see when I bend over.” She turned around and bent down to touch her toes. He’d learn soon enough if she was as pure as she’d promised him she was. They’d agreed to consummate their unholy relationship on her birthday, which was his way of manipulating her.. Until then, keeping his control over her was how he got off.

  “I can see it all, so you better not drop anything.” He held out his hand, and she deposited the panties into his palm. Bringing them to his nose, he inhaled deeply, and a blush stained her cheeks. “I’ll keep these close today, and every time I smell you, I’ll think of how naked you are beneath that skirt.”

  “You’re so bad. Can I get a kiss?”

  “You know I shouldn’t encourage such things, Mia.” He shoved her panties into his pocket as if they were some fancy pocket square.

  “Please?” Her lashes fluttered, and she leaned down and came close to his mouth.

  “You can kiss me anywhere you like. Your secrets are safe with me.” It didn’t mean that he’d kiss her back.

  Her eyes flashed, and she gave a wicked grin of her own as she leaned down and kissed him square on the lips, something he’d never let her do before.

  He patted her bottom. “Soon, Kitten.” His cellphone rang, and he glanced at it as she got up and grabbed her bag. She lingered around the door, but he shooed her out, blowing her a kiss.

  Once the door was shut, he tossed her panties in his bottom desk drawer with a few others and answered the phone.

  “Yeah?” He wasn’t happy to hear from Tad Halston. The guy was number two on Bay’s shit list for the day. The other had called just before Mia had arrived, so he already knew what this was about.

  “Have you seen the news?” Tad’s voice was hushed, as if someone might be listening. The guy had fallen on hard times and was living with his sister.

  “Are you at home?” Bay asked. “Is Hannah nearby?”

  “Dude, you don’t want to fuck with me about my sister right now.”

  “Don’t I? She’s one hot piece of tail. I bet I could have her on her knees in seconds. She’s always liked me. Besides, there’s not a damned thing you’d do to stop me, right, Pretty Boy? Not a motherfucking thing.”

  Tad’s voice grew shaky, and Bay wasn’t surprised when his cock responded with another twitch. He loved the fear and the sound of submission.

  “I just mean that there’s more important shit going down,” Tad said. “It’s all over the news. There’s some chick who got sliced up. It could throw some heat on us, don’t you think?”

  “I’ll tell you what I told the last motherfucker who called here, high and in a panic. I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “Bay.”

  “Tad.” Bay got up from his desk and went to look over the city. He ruled his universe from the three-walled, one-windowed room.

  “I have to talk to you; it’s bad.” Tad’s voice broke.

  “Jesus Christ. Like I said, you calling here high and talking crazy is stupid and unacceptable. You want to really talk to me, meet me for lunch. You know where.”

  He hung up the phone and growled. Now his day was fucked. He’d have to go meet with Tad and calm him down. At least when Logan Miller had called, he hadn’t been in a fucking paranoid panic.

  He dialed Lila’s number with the punch of a button.

  “Hey, Daddykins.” Her voice was like honey, and he cringed a little and slapped on a fake grin as if she were standing before him. She’d started calling him Daddy when he’d bought her the four-legged varmint she called a pet.

  “Hey, precious. I’m afraid Daddy can’t meet you for lunch. I’ve got to go meet with a client.”

  “Oh no. I wanted to talk about the house. I finally found a decorator I want for the guesthouse.”

  “Yeah? That’s great, baby. You should call your sister and see if she can get away for a bit. I know she’d love to talk to you about the guesthouse, since she’s been staying there. You know she’d love a drop-in from her big sister.” He knew the two would never mention his name, and the whole subject was going to put Mia on edge even more.

  He ended the call and headed down to his private penthouse where he did some of his more intimate dealings. He searched the news on his phone, and now, he understood why the others were concerned.

  Tad knocked softly on the door, and Bay hit the remote locks from his high-backed leather chair.

  “You know the drill,” Bay said as he stood.

  Tad went to work on the buttons of his shirt. He peeled the cotton off his shoulders and dropped his shirt to the floor. Then he slipped off his shoes and undid his pants while Bay poured a drink.

  “Is this fucking necessary every time?” Tad asked.

  “Come on, you should be used to undressing in front of people, and you’re the only one who fucking complains.” Bay turned and faced the man as he slipped off his shorts and spun around, showing Bay there was no wire attached to his body. He even lifted up his balls and spread his cheeks.

  Bay smirked. Making them strip was a necessary evil, and besides, he knew it put people on edge, right where he liked them. “See? You like showing all your stuff.”

  Tad had been ashamed ever since he’d had to take on prostitution to pay the bills. Bay had gotten him out of that seedy lifestyle and gotten him back into modeling, hooking him up with an escort company instead. Now that Tad was living with his sister, he didn’t want anyone to know his dark past, especially her. Bay liked to fuck with him. It was the way he maintained control over people.

  “Fuck you.” Tad pulled his shorts back up.

  “No thanks. You know me. I don’t go that way.” He chuckled and sipped his drink, not bothering to offer Tad a glass. He could fix his own, and he knew it. It wasn’t the first time he’d been to the place.

  “You saw the report, right? They say that girl was killed with the fucking Zodiac tattooed on her back. She was carved up and—”

  “It’s not the same,” Bay said. “And the next time you call me up and—”

  “Listen, I know her. Knew her.” Tad was pale.

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah, so you see why I’m flipping out?” Tad asked.

  “Stop acting guilty, or are you just paranoid high again? Still using?”

  “No more than you do, probably.”

  “Ah, but the difference is, I’m in control. I don’t use like a fucking junkie, and I can take it or leave it. What about you? Have you learned to leave it?”

  Tad curled his lip, and Bay smiled. “Must be nice always being in control,” Tad said.

  “It is. So, as I said, stop freaking out and acting like you sliced up that woman. If the cops come sniffing around, you simply tell them you didn’t know her.”

  “Easier said than done. Do you know who is on the fucking case, or
did you miss that, too? Darek fucking Blake. He’s going to know this is similar.”

  “And he’s not going to do anything to incriminate himself, either. You leave this to me. But I gotta ask. Did you have anything to do with this chick’s death? Did you fuck her the same night? Did you share a fucking bump or a cab? Anything I should know about?”

  “No, I fucked her months ago, and I got her into the loop with a few of the good customers. We did a couple swap once with this married couple shortly after. She was bi, and into it. It was easy cash for us both.” Tad shrugged on his shirt and made busy with the buttons. “How do you know Blake won’t fucking trip out on us and throw us all under the bus? He’s bound to have some fucking connection.”

  “He’s no better off than the rest of us,” Bay said. “Worse even. He’s got his eggs scrambled from his old man dying. He’s been medicated since what happened, and from what I hear, he’s so repressed that he’s not even sure anything happened back at Camp Victory.”

  “That’s hard to believe.” Tad cringed, and Bay stared through him.

  “Even if he does, he’s a married man. He’s got a lot to lose, and he’s not going to jeopardize his chances at the FBI over some dead and bleeding whore.”

  “What about the others? Have you heard from any of them?”

  “I heard from Logan. Lane’s moved back to New Orleans. The others are scattered to the winds, but you know me, I keep in touch.” He downed the last swig of his drink and slammed the glass down on the table. Not only did he keep in touch, he kept in control.

  7

  Darek

  The traffic in the office had died down with the other officers finally heading out into the field. The morning had been uneventful, but that all changed when Agent McNamara showed up looking good enough to cheat. Eat. He pounded the word into his brain. He wasn’t a cheater, but he could appreciate how fine she looked in her knee-length pencil skirt and a purple blouse that his wife would call plum. Colors weren’t colors. Red was rose, orange was tangerine, and even blue was ocean or sky.

  He tried not to notice the plum-colored blouse and how far the neckline dipped. Or how long and toned her legs were. She didn’t have the knees of a tomboy.

  “Hey, Darek. You’re looking handsome this morning.” She gave him a wink as he approached and smiled when he raked his hand through his hair. She had to be kidding. “We’re going down to see the medical examiner. Are you ready?” She took one last sip of her coffee and dumped it in the trash.

  “I’m ready. You seem chipper this morning.”

  “I had a good night,” she said. “How about yourself?”

  “It was okay.” As okay as his morning, which wasn’t as interesting as he’d have wished. He tried not to be so turned on by her, but she was so sexy, he couldn’t help but want her. He blamed Megan for not putting out. It had been a while since he had gotten a decent nut, and he regretted not making better use of his time in the shower.

  He and Megan used to be like two wild animals. She would dress up and role play. They’d gone through their phases of public sex, kinky sex, and any other nasty little turn on he could imagine. But now, it was like all the fun was gone. He missed the days of casual fucking, fucking on a whim, fucking just because he had the time and nothing better to do. Back when she seemed to want him.

  “And you’re ready to go?” She pressed.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m ready.” He got up, feeling a bit silly for being zoned out, and knew he had to keep his head in the game. The last thing he needed was for McNamara to see him spaced out or having a spell. She didn’t seem like a tattletale, but he was certain she’d mention it to her boss.

  They went down to the medical examiner’s office and found Dr. Cobb wrist deep inside a man’s chest while one of his assistants observed. Another woman was at a desk across the room busy on a computer. “Sorry about this,” He said as he went about feeling around inside the cavity like he was digging for change in a couch cushion. Darek turned his head as the corpse’s penis jiggled. He didn’t want to see that. It didn’t seem to bother Lizzy at all.

  “We’re here to talk to you about Alicia David,” she said.

  Dr. Cobb finished what he was doing and walked over to a sink where he stripped off his gloves and then washed his hands. Then he gloved up again and passed out gloves and masks. Both detectives put on their gloves, and while Darek opted to use the mask, Lizzy left hers down.

  The man opened the cold chamber and slid out the center drawer where the girl was lying with a sheet covering her face. He pulled the sheet back and called his assistant over so the two of them could turn the body. The task went much smoother than Darek expected, and soon enough, they were staring at the victim’s back, which had turned an ugly shade of blue and brown.

  “The tattoo was newer for sure,” Dr. Cobb said. “There were still some signs of scabbing in even the oldest parts. The breakdown is listed in detail.” He gestured to the table next to us, and Lizzy took the folder and thumbed through it. “I normally don’t go over tattoos so much, but since you said it was important to the case, I did as you asked. The arrow-shaped symbol, being Sagittarius, was the last one she was given. The entire outline of the wheel and this symbol here—which resembles a seven but is actually Capricorn—was done first. All the others were done in one long session, approximately two weeks before this one. I’d say this was three sessions; three meetings.”

  “You know your signs,” Lizzy said, impressed.

  “I looked them up. I’ve never seen a tattoo of them, and I guess I was intrigued. She’s a beautiful girl. Seems such a waste.” He shook his head and looked back down to the body. “The carving, in my opinion, wasn’t as haphazard as it appears. Notice the offset of the word ‘end.’ Notice the careful location of the last stroke of the ‘N.’ It seems to line up with the deliberate, deeper marks which are just over the kidneys. A puncture to each organ through the lines of the letters, it’s a big coincidence. The marks that were deeper just happened to hit their mark dead on? Possible, but unlikely. It’s very deliberate.”

  Lizzy ran her finger along the wound. “You think it was planned? Or the writing could have been a last-minute attempt to cover the actual death blows?”

  Darek shook his head. “That’s too big of a coincidence. Besides, that’s one extreme dot-to-dot.”

  “Stab to stab.” Lizzy shrugged. “We need a few new pictures now that you’ve got her all cleaned up. I’d like to show this around again; take it with us to all of the locations. Someone did this or knows who did.”

  “I already took fresh photographs and made you a few copies,” Dr. Cobb said. “They are in the envelope as well. You’ll find that she was also drugged. There was warfarinin her system, it’s an anticoagulant, and I’m sure that didn’t help with the stab wounds. There were also traces of meprobamate, which most likely put her in a euphoric state.”

  Darek thought that was interesting and hoped the girl hadn’t suffered much.

  Dr. Cobb gave Lizzy a warm smile, and even though he wasn’t the most handsome man in the world, she gave him one of her pearly smiles and a flirty wink. “Thank you. I’ll go over your full report. Great job.”

  When Darek and Lizzy left minutes later, they headed back to the station to regroup and see if Max had gotten anything else in.

  Darek heard her stomach growl. “We should do lunch at that new Italian place across town.”

  She gave him a look. “As long as it’s not a pizza place. I’m burned out on pizza.”

  “How can you get burned out on pizza? But no, it’s not.”

  Max rushed up and handed Darek a piece of paper. “Here’s the list from the escort service. Oh, and that was tattoo ink on the floor. Good call.”

  “Arm Candies?” Lizzy laughed. “What a name.”

  She slipped the page in front of Darek, and he glanced down to read it. His breath hitched as a name caught his eye. Tad Halston. He stared at the name and then closed his eyes, remembering. We’ll ea
ch take a turn. Shut her up at least. Run! Have to keep going. He stopped to catch his breath, and her hand lost its loose hold on his arm and dangled toward the ground. She was gone. He placed her in the mud and ran back toward the cabin.

  “Are you okay?” Lizzy asked.

  Darek opened his eyes to see her giving him a strange look. He had to think fast. “I was just thinking about the Capricorn. It was the first symbol tattooed on the victim, right? Maybe it was the victim’s zodiac sign?”

  Lizzy stared through narrowed eyes. “No, she was a Gemini, like me. See? May twenty-fifth.”

  “You too, huh? When is your birthday?” He shifted on his feet and let loose a long breath.

  “May fourteenth.” She smiled, but he was sure she wasn’t sold on him being okay. “Remember that. You can buy me something nice.”

  He hoped his cover had worked and knew he had to be more careful. This case was bound to drag up some of his past in ways others hadn’t. He couldn’t let her see it was getting to him. “So, I guess we need to follow these leads. Do you want to split them up or tackle them together?”

  He hoped she’d want to split them up, and he was prepared to go see Tad Halston alone.

  She gave a shrug. “Together is best, in my opinion. In case one of us zones out in the questioning. Plus, I want to know what it’s all about.”

  There had been twelve of them total. One for each sign. Twelve people from his past who could be connected, based on the nature of the killing. As Lizzy looked over the paper and made notes on her phone, he thought about where the others could be.

  He knew Tad, Logan, Lane, and Bay were all still somewhere in New York, most likely the city, while the rest were scattered across the US. Corey was in Phoenix. Seth was in Dallas. Alan Lowe had stayed in Vegas and now owned his father’s security company.

  Darek knew the key to them was Bay Collins. The guy had kept up with everyone, while Darek had tried his hardest not to see any of them. That time in his life was so much better forgotten, and although he was ashamed to say it, he didn’t want to remember anything, not even the girl or what had happened after she was found.