Page 25 of Shadow Angel
“Okay but this time, we take all precautions.” Styles nodded slowly as he considered her idea. “I’ll be hiding close by when you leave the club and we’ll have Ryder as backup. He’s a fine marksman. Don’t underestimate him.” He sighed. “I know people in Rainbow. There are plenty of empty miners’ cabins we can use. To appear legit, you’ll need to have a place to stay. If you do manage to get the killer’s attention, I figure he’ll follow you to see where you live. Do you think he’ll grab you when you leave the club or wait until you reach the cabin?”
Thinking the plan through, Beth collected the bag with the Thermoses and energy bars and tossed the empty to-go cups inside. “He’s anxious and that will make him reckless. He might follow me home to see if I live alone and attack me at once. Or he’ll wait and grab me the next night. By then he’ll know when I leave the club and when I arrive home alone. If you find me a secluded little cottage, he’ll probably be waiting in my yard for when I get home. He’ll be watching closely, so if you plan on keeping me alive, you’ll need to be one step ahead of him.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Anger trembles through me as I stare at the black screen on my phone. It’s a useless object now the cops have discovered my surveillance camera. I rip open the phone, tear out the SIM, and scratch it with my knife, and then after wiping the phone clean, toss it into the fast-flowing river. I have many more stashed in a secret place, so it’s no great loss. The camera, on the other hand, will be difficult to replace, mainly because the cops would be watching to see if anyone purchases a replacement. It’s just as well, I have another set up in a cabin in the forest out at Rainbow. The cops are generally stupid. After finding two bodies in the same cabin, they’ll assume I’m going to take another girl from Rattlesnake Creek. Although maybe they’ll change their mind when they discover Vicki Strauss was out of Serenity, but they’ll never consider Rainbow.
Tempters, the sweet little club set on the back of the Little Gem Saloon, is one of my favorite places. The girls there are generous with their time but I haven’t found one I want. The last time I spoke to the manager he mentioned they had new girls coming in this week. Tempters has an agreement with a club in Bozeman to exchange girls every three months to give the clubs variety. Excitement sends shivers down my spine. I can’t wait to watch a group of new potential darlings dance so I can consider them for my collection. I’m sure they’ll do their thing and try their best to lure me, tempt me, and I’m sure this time, one will win. People don’t understand why they are so important to me. I read the papers and the trash-talking about me. Don’t they understand it’s their fault for tempting me?
My back still holds the scars from my father’s humiliation. Dragged in front of his congregation, stripped, and flogged. I never cried because I’d seen the self-flagellation scars on my father’s back. He was a sinner just like me. He died knowing his punishment didn’t work, because the day I pressed the pillow over his nose, I whispered close to his ear, “I still crave a woman’s body and soon I’ll have a hundred of them all sexy, and smiling as they wait for me with open arms.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Pushing the crime scene images, the disgusting video of the murder, and what followed in the cabin far from her mind, Beth headed for her apartment. The grime and stink of the crime scene clung to her, even with the coveralls, and she needed to scrub it away. When she’d suggested going undercover, she’d seen the concern in Styles’ eyes, so agreed to get cleaned up and then head back out to find the next two possible suspects and shake them down. Her head should have been in the game, centered on the case, but the moment Wolfe had received the phone call informing him another body had been found near Billings, her heart had picked up a beat. Jackson was on the move again and killing women. He was so sure of himself, she’d bet he was using the same scam to get the women into his van. Since his acquittal, he figured he was untouchable—and why not? The kills were so random because he didn’t need to plan anything. All he had to do was pin a flyer to a noticeboard and wait for the next victim to call him. If it was a man, he’d only need to say the position was taken and send them on their way. The workers in the roadhouses likely saw him come by frequently to post flyers because he used the noticeboards to get handyman jobs and posted them all over three towns around Billings. How easy would it be to place two notices. No one would look twice. His plan was ingenious, but she could use it to her advantage. Trying to work out which roadhouse he’d use next would be the key because once the current case was over, Beth would only have a day or two before someone noticed her missing.
As she used the hairdryer, she sketched out a plan to take out Levi Jackson. Transport was essential and she’d need to be seen somewhere away from the murder scene at the time of Jackson’s death. She’d make sure people would see her, get a motel room, and gather a few things from local stores to give her an alibi. She’d leave her phone switched off in her vehicle. It could still be traced to prove both her phone and car were miles away from her victim. If Styles suddenly decided to hunt her down, which she doubted, she’d talk her way out of any suspicion by hinting at meeting someone at a bar or something. In fact, she could easily set up something like that before she caught the bus. The lack of available women around the mining towns would make chatting to men easy. She’d get into her disguise, buy a burner, and take the bus to the roadhouse. It would be hit and miss. If she arrived and didn’t find a notice offering a room and a job as a ranch hand, she’d take the next bus back and then wait a couple of days. If a case came in, she’d have no choice but to work it with Styles. She’d wait for Jackson to kill again and recalculate the odds of where next he’d probably set his trap.
Dragging her mind back to the current case and Styles’ insistence to interview suspects after they’d grabbed something to eat, she gathered her hair in a ponytail and pinned it up. She covered her hair with a woolen cap and would wear sunglasses when interviewing suspects in the Cassie Burnham and Vicki Strauss cases because if she planned to go undercover, she’d be dealing with a very smart killer. He might recognize her even with a disguise and she didn’t plan on dying anytime soon.
Heading back to the office, the smell of pizza filled the elevator. She smiled. Trust Styles to order a pizza to save time. She walked into the office to find Styles and Ryder on the phone, two empty open pizza boxes on his desk, and a closed one on hers. She nodded to them and opened the box to grab a slice. From their conversation, they were hard at work hunting down suspects. The microchip they’d taken from the camera had been entered into evidence by Wolfe, but when she checked her mail she had a copy of the video in her inbox. She had no reason to watch it again and, instead, searched the files for Levi Jackson’s kills. The murders weren’t linked to him in any files since his acquittal, and the local press had given the files a name: The Roadside Strangler.
It was fortunate that the call had come into Wolfe in their presence. Any suspicion of her scanning the files could be covered by professional curiosity. Biting back a smile, Beth read the initial statement from the first on-scene officer and the person who’d discovered the body. Crime scene photographs taken by the first on scene showed a very familiar MO. The body of a young woman was partially covered with branches and lawn clippings. She had no doubt the killer was Levi Jackson and did a search for roadhouses near bus stations in the local area of running water. Next, she accessed the CCTV camera outside the roadhouse and hacked into the files. She saw a young woman get off a bus and look around bewildered before going inside. Beth ran the video forward almost an hour before the woman came out and headed toward what she imagined was a parking lot. If Natalie Kingsley, the woman who survived Levi Jackson, had given an accurate statement, she had met Jackson in the parking lot outside the roadhouse. It was the same scenario and one he used over and over because it worked. Beth nodded, convinced this was Levi Jackson. He’d played out this scene so many times before, and after being caught once on a CCTV camera, he’d never allow it to happen again unless he planned it. It was obvious to her trained eye the roadhouse and surrounds had been reconned to gauge the sweep of the camera in order to hide Jackson’s van. Beth sighed as the young woman waved and then disappeared out of sight.No doubt into Jackson’s van and a ride straight to hell.
“Beth.” Styles pushed away from his desk. “We’ve found a couple of possible suspects and they’re in town now. We’ll split up. Cash has asked a friend to go with him to talk to one of them. We’ll take the other.”
Folding a slice and wrapping it in a paper towel, Beth pushed the box of uneaten pizza into the refrigerator. She laid the slice on the counter and pulled on her coat. “I’ll eat on the way.” She pushed a bottle of water into her coat pocket and followed him out the door. “Who have we got?”
“Joseph Crenshaw.” Styles led the way into the elevator. “He’s been known to visit the clubs and he was seen in Outlaws the night Cassie Burnham went missing. He’s a carpenter but more of a jack-of-all-trades. He gets calls to pick up donations for the local charity, so moves all over. The furniture he recycles, the rest goes to the local thrift shop. His wife runs the recycled furniture store in town, and he splits a portion of the profits with a local charity. He’s happily married with three kids—but that hasn’t stopped a man killing.” He turned to Beth. “His workshop is out back of the store. I called the gun and ammo store next door and asked them if they’d seen him around today, and Jim, the manager, said he could hear him working in his shed.”
“My guy is Rowdy Bright.” Ryder checked his notes. “Rowdy is a driver and delivers cold goods to neighboring towns. He often stays over to collect another load to bring back and frequents the clubs in the four neighboring towns. He does round trips three times a week, so matches the times the victims went missing.”
Taking in all the information, Beth nodded. “Okay, let’s see what they have to say.” She looked at Ryder. “It’s great you’ve managed to deputize someone as backup even for a day. You’ve seen the kind of man we’re dealing with, so keep your distance and don’t spook him. Keep the questions general as if you’re bored.”
“Yeah, I have the general idea.” Ryder rolled his eyes and led the way from the elevator. “I’ll call when I leave. Bright is at Outlaws, at the bar, so I’ll ask him to step outside.”
“Maybe ask TJ to do that?” Styles shrugged. “Walking into a bar in uniform will get undue attention.”
Beth swallowed a bite of pizza and stared at them as she walked from the building. “You’ve deputized TJ?”
“He was the only person I could trust not to spread information on the case all over town.” Ryder shot her a glance. “He’s respected in town. People won’t want to mess with me with him backing me up.” His lips curled into a smile. “TJ has a reputation much like Styles. If you get my meaning?”
Nodding, Beth hurried to Styles’ truck. The wind was cruel and came in hard wintery blasts. “Good luck! We’ll all meet at your office when we’re done.”
“Sure, that works for me.” Ryder climbed into his cruiser and headed out of the parking lot.
Looking at Styles, Beth raised both eyebrows. “You never told me about TJ’s reputation. He seems such a nice guy, really friendly and helpful. I like him.”
“And I figured you could profile a person or see them for their true self in an instant.” Styles grinned at her. “TJ is ex-military as well and fit. I know it’s hard to believe but you’re not the only rattlesnake in town. He might look like a teddy bear, but trust me, that guy can fight like a grizzly.”
TWENTY-NINE
Beth Katz confused Ryder. He shook his head, not quite sure what to make of her. When he pulled up outside Tommy Joe’s Bar and Grill and TJ slid into the passenger seat, he gave him a rundown on the potential suspect. “So, you go inside and ask him to come outside for a chat. Styles figures I’ll spook him if I go into Outlaws in uniform.”
“Okay, I can do that.” TJ turned to stare at him. “We go back a long way. What’s eating at you? You’ve been angry since Beth came to town. Has she been stepping on your toes?”
Not sure if he should speak his mind, Ryder headed toward Outlaws. “Kinda.” He flicked him a glance. “She’s prickly and treats me like a rookie. I figure she forgets I’m the law in my counties, not her. The FBI are only in on the case because I invited them. There are only two murders. There’s no reason to believe this is a serial killer. Not yet anyway.”
“I know the deal.” TJ shrugged. “She took some time to thaw with me too. I don’t figure she really likes anyone. I haven’t seen her interested in anyone yet and she gets plenty of attention. The guys all want to get to know her better. Smart, beautiful, and with a great job, she’s a catch.”
