Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“If she arrived at the party.” Kane raised one eyebrow. “The car was obviously owned by someone she knew or she wouldn’t have gotten inside.”

Jenna straightened. “We know Seth Lyons drives a red Mustang.” She gave him a long look. “So why wouldn’t he give her a ride in his vehicle?”

“Maybe because it sticks out like a sore thumb, and if he’d planned to rape her, why advertise his presence?” Kane frowned. “Livi mentioned she overheard him telling her to keep their date a secret.”

Jenna’s ears pricked up. “And why didn’t you haul his ass in for questioning?”

“Oh, I’d have been all over him like a rash.” Kane eased away from the wall, dropping his hands to his waist. “He’s away with the rest of the team. He left Sunday morning and the bus gets in around nine. I heard the guys drink on the way back to campus, so to avoid an under the influence defense, we should wait to speak to him until first thing in the morning.”

Before she could reply, a swish of doors opened, heralding the arrival of Wolfe. She stared at him expectantly. “Did you find anything?”

“Sure did. I have a positive for gamma-hydroxybutyric acid or GHB.” Wolfe held up a sheet of paper. “From the concentration in her blood, I’d say she took it around eleven. It was a high dose—one pill would have knocked her out with the amount of alcohol she consumed—but I figure this was at least double.”

Jenna pushed the hair from her eyes and frowned. “I’ve no reports about anyone supplying GHB in my town.” She looked up at Wolfe. “The last case involving a date-rape drug was injected and they can’t possibly be from the same dealer.”

“Nope, the last case involved ketamine and was an injectable anesthetic.” Wolfe frowned. “GHB is a street drug, so if it’s not supplied here, someone is bringing it in. Like it or not, this drug is available all over.” He looked at Jenna. “This answers a ton of questions. The drug is fast-acting and remains active for several hours. Chrissie would’ve had difficulty speaking and certainly wouldn’t have been capable of fighting back.”

Jenna chewed on her bottom lip, thinking back on other cases involving similar drugs. “I figured date-rape drugs made a person forget what had happened, so that rules out suicide, doesn’t it?”

“Think about it.” Wolfe’s gray gaze became compassionate. “This poor girl likely wouldn’t have remembered the details while she was semi-conscious. I figure someone slapped her face, split her lip, and then threatened her. She’d have been aware of what had happened to her. She’d have been in a considerable amount of pain.”

She stared at Kane. Having a profiler on the team gave her insights into the criminal mind. “Give me something, Kane. What kind of man does this to a defenseless young woman?”

“I don’t think this attack was random. I figure we could be looking at serial rapists. We haven’t had this happen before—the suicide angle, I mean—so I don’t know if they planned on killing her. I agree with Wolfe. Threatening her would be their only option to keep her quiet.” Kane rubbed his chin, making a rasping sound. “These guys have a system. They single out potential victims, find their weak spot, and then use that as leverage to threaten them into silence.”

Horrified, Jenna swallowed hard. “Are you sure they’ve done this before?”

“It’s likely. They’re well organized.” Kane shrugged. “They all used protection, made sure the car giving her a ride was nondescript. If it’s a group, like a gang or a football team, they’ll all lie for each other. You can be sure whoever is involved will have an iron-clad alibi.”

“That may not be enough.” Wolfe stood feet apart with his hands on his hips. “The bruises on her are significant and show defined handprints. I’m sure one of them shows the outline of a ring. I’ll be looking closely at the images to see if we can use them for identification. We do have the technology to take latent fingerprints from skin, but as she was submerged in water for some time, it will be impossible.”

Anger simmered just under the surface and Jenna would use it to push to find who’d abused Chrissie. “Thanks, that’s all very interesting. I’ll need your report as soon as possible.” She sighed. “I guess I’ll have to break the sad news to the parents about the rape before the media gets hold of the story.”

“They’re coming in this afternoon. They’ll want to make arrangements and won’t be happy I’ll have to delay my findings.” Wolfe gave her a long, considering stare. “They’ll have questions and I figure I’m the best person to answer them. I’ll call when they leave so you can organize a press release if you feel it’s necessary.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that. I don’t envy you the task; there’s nothing worse than adding more misery to grieving parents.” She turned to Kane. “We’ll head back to the office. If we can’t interview Seth Lyons or his friends, I want background checks on him and every member of the football team. We’ll check out Phillip Stein as well. I want to discover everything about them. By the time I’ve finished with them, we’ll know how many times a day they go to the bathroom.”

Four

Monday evening

He’d always been logical and considered each aspect of a situation. Watching the causes and effects of people’s actions had become a way of life. He peered out from the cover of bushes to the dark driveway, taking in the array of buildings on the college campus. Streetlights lined the walkways in pools of yellow in an effort to make it safe for students to move from one place to another—but was it safe? He lurked in the shadows and could pluck an unsuspecting person at random and dispose of them in seconds. In truth, if he decided to kill them all, no one would be safe from him.

The leaves on the maple trees fascinated him. Each a replica of thousands of others, only differing in size or color. The pine he leaned his back against was the same. The bark and needles had the same design as the others. Insects too, ants, butterflies—each species in nature resembled each other as if cloned. Apart from man, most species shared a similar if not identical genetic code. It seemed only when man became involved and bred to his own preference did a species make a dramatic change. Yet nothing on earth acted like man, and having a higher intelligence came with a price. He often wondered if God created each man with a unique DNA code, to prevent people from getting away with murder.

He relaxed, used to waiting. He’d never understood impatience. Things happened in their own sweet time, and he welcomed the chance to ponder the meaning of life—or death. As the cool evening air rustled the leaves, he focused on two giggling girls in shorts and bare midriffs running along one of the footpaths with ponytails bobbing. Many things happened on campus at night. The swimming pool, gym, and library remained open until very late. Students used rooms for discus

sions and club meetings. It seemed the place rarely slept.

In the distance, he heard the shifting of gears and the whine of brakes as a bus rounded the end of the driveway, leaving a cloud of toxic fumes caught in the streetlight as it labored toward them. The group of players aboard all received special treatment from Coach, being the few he liked to parade before the scouts.

As they stepped from the bus he made his way along the shadowed walkway toward the college, mixing with the students returning to their dorms. By the conversations, some members of the team planned to use the gym and pool. He smiled into the dim light and pulled his baseball cap down to cover his eyes. Patience was a virtue he had in spades, and his was just about to pay out in silver dollars. His next strike would be tonight.

Five

Alex Jacobs stared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. He raised both arms to admire his bulging biceps and grinned. A six-two man with a brilliant white smile looked back at him, tanned with neat blond hair. He’d created his body over a few years of hard work in the gym. His efforts had paid out and he took pride in his physique. His place on the football team as left tackle was secure, as was his friendship with the quarterback Seth Lyons.

He strolled into the gym, glad to see the place empty and quiet. At this time of night, he usually had the place to himself so a slight movement in the shadows surprised him. The figure hadn’t moved and just leaned against the wall, watching him. Alex gave him a wave but had gotten no response by the time he reached the weight training bench. He’d planned to do a few reps on the weights and didn’t need a spotter. It was just a regular workout. The guy’s rudeness unsettled him. He didn’t like people staring at him as if he’d become their night’s entertainment, but maybe the guy was too shy to approach him. Being his size and a celebrity on campus, it happened.