Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Read online

  Dean Jackson came into the room and saw the body before I could stop him. He ran from the room and vomited in the hallway. “Is that how you found our students earlier today?” he called out, still gasping for breath.

  “Exactly like that,” I answered with a sigh. There was no need to hide it, not now that he’d seen with his own eyes the kind of brutality we were handling. I walked over to the body. “He smells like he’s been here a while.”

  Flo was already covering her mouth. “Based on the stench, I’d say we’re looking at the first victim, not the third.”

  Despite the smell, I walked closer to inspect the body. Taser marks, and handcuffed, gagged, and raped before being stabbed, just like his students.

  Flo put on a glove and went right for the ankle, pulling out another card. “Here’s our third card. The king of hearts.”

  I didn’t touch the card, but took a quick gander at it before finally leaving the room. I may have had more experience, but I still didn’t like the smell any more than the Dean did. Once in the hallway, I pulled out my phone and contacted dispatch. I told them that another body had been found at the athletics building and that we needed another team to come over and secure the crime scene. I then called Captain Bancroft.

  The line picked up after a few rings. “Walker, this better be good news.”

  “I’m afraid not,” I answered.

  “What the fuck is going on over there?”

  “We found a third body.”

  “Same M.O.?”

  “Exactly, right down to the card in the sock, but this time there are a few differences.”

  “Such as?”

  “Age. The new victim is a staff member...the football coach.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch.”

  “My thoughts exactly. There’s a pattern I’m seeing here, obviously. All three victims are members of the football team and all three victims are male. We have no reason to assume that M.O. is going to change,” I said as I looked into the room again. Flo was looking around for possible clues while trying her best not to contaminate the crime scene. “The execution of these crimes is also very personal. Whoever is doing this has a lot of pent-up anger towards the football team, and I doubt it’s for their on-field play.”

  “I’ll get someone here to look into any complaints made against the players or the coach,” the Captain stated. “If there were any criminal investigations in the last few years, I’ll make sure we know about it.”

  “All right, I’ve got the Dean here. I’ll look into any possible scandals that might have been swept under the carpet.” I looked over at Dean Jackson, who had been listening to me on the phone. He knew exactly what I was implying and shook his head to indicate no such cover-up existed, but I knew we’d have to check with the President, possibly the other Deans as well; just because the first body had been found by the Arts building, it didn’t mean the other students or the murderer had anything to do with his division in particular.

  “Did you notify dispatch?” the Captain asked.

  “I did. Flo and I have the scene secure until the new team gets here.”

  “All right. Keep it that way.”

  As the line went dead, I turned to face Dean Jackson. “If there are any dark secrets or scandals that the university swept under the rug, now would be a good time to let me know about it.” Dean Jackson was sullenly quiet for a change. “I’m not here to out any dirty laundry, but if you know something that could help stop this from happening again, you need to speak up!”

  The Dean still shook his head. “If such a scandal existed, it did so without my assistance,” he answered. “Nothing ever came across my desk that would spark this kind of madness. What I saw in there was disgusting.”

  “I know,” I said as I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I’ve been working here a while and that was a lot for me to take in, as well. This looks and feels personal, though. Whoever is attacking the football team is angry at them for a reason. This person is going out of their way to torture, humiliate, and degrade them publicly. Whatever is going on...” my words trailed off.

  “I’m not sure what could have provoked this,” the Dean admitted. “The only scandal we’ve had in the past was last year’s spending scandal. I’m sure you watched it unfold on the news, as I did, for the most part.”

  “I remember that,” I said as I paced the hallway. The university had been caught giving money and gifts to some of its players. As a result, the team had been fined, and banned from bowl games for the next four seasons.

  I couldn’t imagine someone being so upset about that as to attack the coach and the players so viciously. Something had happened that we were not aware of, a secret that never made the light of day, and one that this killer was trying to force the campus and the staff to expose to the media and the public.

  It was finally time to make a call that I had hoped wouldn’t be necessary, but the time had finally come. I fished into my wallet and pulled out a card I hadn’t used in years.

  A few years ago, when some sick, demented predator was killing prostitutes in the slums, I’d had no choice but to bring the feds in. Normally, people in my profession considered it a weakness to call the FBI for assistance, but I was above pride, which to me wasn’t worth more than the lives of future victims. We had 17 dead girls before we solved the case and brought the bastard in.

  After that case, the special agent who helped me out left his card in case I needed his assistance again. Now that I was getting impatient waiting for the feds to return our numerous calls, it seemed to be that time, especially since the legal standard for a serial killer had been met with this third body, so I decided to make the call.

  I was not above asking for help, especially when I needed it to get things under control. I also had this feeling in my gut that this was not the first time this killer was striking. These killings were not sloppy and they left little or no traces behind from what we’d found so far. At least none we could connect to the suspect at the moment.

  I immediately dialed the number and was surprised it still worked. I waited a few rings before someone finally picked up. “This is Special Agent Collins.”

  “Peyton.” I started, relieved to finally get an answer. “It’s Jake Walker.”

  “Jake!” the other replied with a profound sense of surprise. “It’s good to hear from you again, my friend.”

  “You’re not going to feel that way when you hear why I’m calling.”

  There was a long pause. “How many bodies?”

  “We just found a third in less than 24 hours.”

  “All right,” Peyton replied. I could hear him shuffling around, obviously getting ready to take some notes. “Give me the skinny. What are you dealing with here?”

  “A pretty sick individual,” I answered. “The victims are all male and members of the football team or staff of the team.”

  “All right, keep going. Tell me how you’re finding them?”

  “The victims are bound. Arms behind their backs with handcuffs and mouths covered with a ball gag.” I took a deep breath because I knew Dean Jackson was still in the hallway listening to me. “All three victims have been sexually assaulted and tortured before the killer finally finished them off with multiple stab wounds to the back. We’re waiting on forensic confirmation, but the details of all that seem pretty clear in my eyes.”

  There was another pause which was so long I almost thought the line had dropped. Finally Special Agent Collins came back with a question I didn’t expect. “Are you finding playing cards on the victims?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ve had other cities reporting the exact M.O., but this is the first time there’s been three in one city,” Collins continued. “What cards did the suspect leave with your victims?”

  “The ace, eight and king of hearts,” I answered. “Do you think this is the same killer you’re tracking?”

  “It would appear so,” Collins answered. “But there is a slight alteratio
n to the M.O. This is the first time the suspect has used any card with a heart on it.”

  “What cards were you getting in the other cities?”

  “Until you called, there were only clubs and spades,” Collins answered. “This is the first time our suspect, if this really is the same person, has used any of the red cards.”

  “I really hope the reason isn’t because he ran out of black cards.”

  “No kidding,” Collins agreed. There was another awkward pause as I could sense he was calling people over. “We’re going to mobilize as soon as we can. This is the fifth city this suspect has hit and each city was in a different state. Just the fact that you have three indicates a major escalation, especially considering how quickly the bodies are piling up.”

  “I have a feeling this state is where the suspect originates from,” I sighed.

  “What makes you say that?” Collins asked.

  “I just have this feeling the suspect is here to stay,” I replied. “Every time I see those cards, I keep thinking about what most people say about their home.”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s where the heart is.”

  5

  After speaking with Agent Collins, I contacted Captain Bancroft to give him the heads-up that the feds were getting involved. The Captain was relieved that help was on its way. I, however, held back the info that this might be the suspect’s home state. If this really was ground zero and where the killer’s break with reality had started his homicidal bender, things were going to get a lot worse here before they got better. Not exactly the kind of news I felt like passing on to my boss at the moment.

  Once the scene was secure, Flo, the Dean, and I left the building. The Dean was visibly upset so I took him aside to calm him down. “We know the suspect is targeting the football team – for what reason I have no idea – but we should move them all to a secure location, and I’ll make sure some officers are assigned to protect them. If the suspect’s beef is only with them, chances are the killing will stop and we’ll have a chance to catch up and maybe catch this person.”

  “That person is sick,” the Dean replied, still in shock.

  “I know, but we have to keep our heads or more people will die.” I was seriously tempted to slap him back to reality, he seemed to be reacting so slowly, but that wouldn’t be productive. “We need to mobilize now before it’s too late. Keep the details of what you saw to yourself. The last thing we need is a panic.”

  “All right,” the Dean finally conceded. “I’ll start making calls and make sure everyone gets rounded up.”

  “I’ll set up a place for them to stay,” I said. “We are the only ones who can know where they’re going to stay or their lives could be in danger.” I couldn’t make myself any clearer and the message finally sank in. A single mistake could cost another student or staff member their life. Things could quickly spin out of control and a full blown panic had to be prevented to avoid parents taking their kids home, and temporarily shutting down the campus, though I think we all realized that could be a step we had to take.

  Not that I wanted to argue with concerned parents. In fact, I intended to take similar precautions with Cassie. We worked off the assumption that the suspect might be from the campus, meaning he could be a student. If the suspect went home with the rest of the students and went underground, it would make the killer much harder to catch. This wasn’t what I wanted. At the same time, we had to get the football team out of harm’s way.

  I contacted the Captain and told him of my plan, and as much as I knew he hated to increase our spending, he was willing to do anything to slow the suspect down. The school made calls, and we dispatched officers to meet the players at the administration building. From there, the plan was to load them onto a bus, ship them to an undisclosed hotel, and keep them there for a few nights.

  That would have to do for now, even though there was no guarantee it would work. I asked Flo to stay with the Dean and watch over the players when they arrived at the hotel. We both agreed on a place and I called to make the reservation. When the head count was over, we had to book over 25 rooms, with two people occupying each room. Flo and I were the only two outside of the hotel who knew where they all went. I was intent on keeping it that way, too. I did one more thing to throw our suspect off the trail. I pulled out my cell and made another call. “I’m looking for Tina Carlson.”

  “Who is this?” the other side asked.

  “This is Detective Walker,” I calmly replied. “I need a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?” Tina asked.

  “I need you to report that we’ve taken the football team into custody and have them all at the station for questioning.” I waited for a response.

  “Is this true?” Tina asked.

  “Half of it is.”

  “Why do you need me to do this?”

  “To prevent the body count from going up any further.” It was the best I could do. Any more information and I would have risked giving away my secrets, which I had no intention of doing.

  “All right, but you owe me big time,” Tina said, and the line went dead.

  I looked over at Flo, who’d been listening to my conversation with the reporter, and she nodded her approval. If the suspect thought the players were all at the station being questioned as possible suspects, then they were safe because the killer might get a kick out of them being grilled for something he did. The irony would force the killer to hopefully take a breather and back away from his or her current bloodlust.

  This would buy us some time and, hopefully, with the help from the feds, the case would move ahead and we’d get to the killer before another person had to bite the dust. I had every intention of cutting this killer off at the knees, and I hoped that this person wouldn’t take their frustrations out on a new group of people. It was a gamble, but I was sure this person’s anger was only for the team, for whatever reason it was. By taking them out of the equation, I was hoping it would stop the killing.

  I left Flo and the forensic teams behind and headed back to the station. I needed to see if there was any more information from the labs, especially from the samples and the kit from Wally Bennett since that had come in first, as well as to check with the Captain about the incoming federal assistance.

  When I arrived at the station, I was pleased to see some reports from the lab waiting for me on my desk. I grabbed a cup of coffee, sat down, and started to read through them, not even bothering to complain that no one had called my cell to announce their arrival. A lot of the reports confirmed what I had long suspected ... the victim was raped by the suspect, but there were no traces of DNA. There was evidence of a synthetic plastic, which would suggest that the suspect used a condom. Based on the information that I processed, we were looking for one really sick individual. When Captain Bancroft noticed that I was there, he walked over while I was reading the file. “What do we know?”

  “Not much more than we started with.” I put the folder down and sighed. “I’m hoping that relocating the remaining members of the team and coaching staff will give us a little breathing room. This suspect is targeting this group for a reason. With them all under watch, there’s no reason the killer will strike anyone else.”

  “Let’s hope so,” the old man replied. I could tell he wasn’t happy about it. “Are those the reports from the lab on the first victim?”

  “That they are,” I replied. “It confirmed the victim was sexually assaulted, so it’s safe to say the others were, as well. There was no trace left, either, so this suspect is covering their tracks to avoid detection.”

  “So what exactly are we looking for?” the Captain asked.

  “A man who seems to have a beef with the football team and staff.”

  “Seems a little extreme to rape and kill for being cut from the roster.”

  “I would agree. Whoever is doing this is taking his revenge out on them for a reason. If we find out what that reason is, then we’ll find our man.”


  “Do we have enough to go on?”

  “A bit. We’re looking for a male now. That’s a start.”

  “What about height?”

  “We have no camera of him, not much to work from.”

  “Well, he had to be strong.”

  “That’s not entirely true. He did taze them. That might suggest he needed to do that because he wasn’t strong enough to overpower them.”

  “Or perhaps it was just to get the person out of the way before someone noticed what was going on. Either way, we’re talking about football players here – not the weakest victims.”

  “True.”

  The Captain paused for a moment. “Can’t we guess his height?”

  “Based on what?” I asked.

  “Well, he did rape them. Can’t we tell based on the size of his˗?”

  “No, we can’t,” I snapped back. “How tall is the porn star, Ron Jeremy?”

  The Captain paused for a moment. “He’s short in stature. Good point.”

  “You think?”

  “Alright, I get it,” he conceded. “Yet, our guy is attacking men.”

  “I know. It’s why I think this is something personal.”

  “We need to get a profile going the moment the FBI gets here.”

  “Yeah, like those are easy to put together.”

  “I don’t need the backtalk right now.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I realize this isn’t going to be an easy case, but I need you at your best or we won’t come close to solving it before someone else gets hurt.”

  “I know.” I rubbed my eyes again, tired from the lack of sleep. “It’s just a shame we can’t pick when killers go on a spree.”

  The Captain paused for a moment. “Is this your weekend?”

  “Of course it is.”

  I could tell what he was thinking. “Flo has things under control. Go home and come back tomorrow after you drop the girls off at their mom’s.”