Page 3 of Dark Angel
I hope there isn’t any.Beth looked down at her blood-soaked clothes and shuddered. The smell was getting unbearable and she needed to shower. She looked up as footsteps came close by and found a tall broad man with white-blond hair and piercing gray eyes staring at her. It was as if he was taking in the scene and analyzing it with one sweeping gaze.
“Agent Katz, I’m Shane Wolfe, the medical examiner. Why don’t you tell me what happened here?”
Keeping her story precise, Beth gave him a rundown of her story.“I heard screaming and ran from my vehicle. It was hard to miss him beside the track. He was bleeding real bad, but the girl was my first priority. She had a hood over her head and I pulled it up to check on her first. She was breathing and staring into space, catatonic. I spoke to her, but she didn’t respond. I pulled on gloves, checked for a pulse on the bleeding man and found none. As he was still bleeding, I assumed he must still be alive and tried to put pressure on the wound. He was facedown over the girl and I couldn’t see the extent of his injury at the time. Then Mac arrived. He turned over the victim and I pulled out the girl. Mac covered the victim’s face with his T-shirt to hide it from her. That’s about it.”
“Was the blood gushing or dribbling out when you arrived?” Wolfe turned to look at the area around the body. “Did you move the victim?”
Beth pressed the back of her hand to her head. “Dribbling and, yeah, we moved the body. We rolled him onto his back. He was crushing the kid beneath him. What else could we do?” She glared at him. “Like I said, my duty of care the moment I arrived on scene was the girl’s welfare. It was obvious he was attacking her.”
“Missy said she saw an angel?” Wolfe narrowed his gaze on her. “Was she referring to you?”
Shaking her head, Beth blew out a breath. “I don’t think so. She mentioned seeing a halo and would have mentioned me when Mac asked her. I really don’t look like an angel wearing this black woolen cap.” She pointed to the tarot card. “Maybe it was the person who left that card?”
“It seems that way.” Wolfe glanced over at the girl and then back to her. “Y’all know what the tarot card means? The Tarot Killer is a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands. Some say he’s a myth, but I’ve seen what he can do to psychopathic serial killers. Trust me, he’s no myth. You’re lucky to get out alive.”
Beth snorted. “He was long gone by the time I arrived, but if he is a vigilante like you say, why would he attack me? He’d already killed the predator. I wouldn’t be a threat to him.”
“Now don’t y’all go taking the Tarot Killer lightly. Don’t you have a shoot-to-kill order for him?” Wolfe lifted his chin. “He’d be aware of that by now, so yeah, all law enforcement is a threat and you’ll need to watch your back in the future.” He nodded as if to himself. “I’ll need your clothes. If you left trace evidence on Missy or the corpse, I’ll need to eliminate your DNA from my investigation. One of my team will give you a suit to cover them.” He handed her a large evidence bag. “We’ll meet up at the office later. I’m afraid you’ll be stuck behind a desk until the results of the psych test come in. Look, I know seeing a shrink is a pain but it’s for your own good.”
Agitated, Beth blew out a sigh. “Okay, but I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“You were involved in a highly stressful situation.” Wolfe examined her face. “It’s protocol, Agent Katz. People suffer PTSD after incidents like this one and we don’t want FBI agents freezing on the job. It’s not a big deal, just a psych test.”
Letting her shoulders slump in a show of resignation, Beth nodded. “Yeah, I understand. I just hate being stuck behind a desk. I’m sorry to be difficult. I’m kinda jumpy.”
“It’s a normal reaction.” Wolfe looked sympathetic. “I’m sure everything will be fine. Mac mentioned you’ve been working a ton of homicides lately. I’m sure all you need is a break for a time.”
The last thing Beth needed was a break. She wanted to be up close and personal with killers, so she had a choice: take them in or take them down. That couldn’t be achieved sitting behind a desk but for now she’d be the perfect agent and go with the flow. She needed to keep her job. Being out of the loop on crime would make her lose control and then the hunter became the hunted. She looked at Wolfe. He was well named: his alert gray eyes wouldn’t miss a thing. “Can I get out of here now? I stink on ice.”
“Yeah, suit up and you’re good to go.” Wolfe turned back to speak to one of his team.
After pulling blue coveralls over her blood-soaked clothes, she found Mac. “I’m heading back to the office. The forensics want my clothes and I need a shower.”
“Hang on, I’ll get someone to drive you.” Mac looked around.
Beth removed her gloves and tossed them into the evidence bag. “I can drive myself, Mac. I’m fine.”
“Technically, you’re under evaluation.” Mac shook his head. “I’ll get one of the cops to drive you.”
Annoyed, Beth shook her head in disbelief. “Give me a break. How will that look to the uniforms? I’m not a head case and right now I look like a blood-splattered blue snowman. I’ll need my vehicle to drive home.”
“Okay.” Mac’s gaze moved over her and he frowned. “You still look way too calm to me. That’s not a good sign after experiencing a traumatic event.”
“It’s been two hours. The shock has come and gone.” Beth walked away, giving him a wave. “I’ll see you back at the office. Now we know the perp’s name, I’ll see if he’s left a trail on the net.”
Beth climbed into her sedan and headed back to the highway. Making sure no one followed her, she slipped into a busy parking lot. She pulled open the coveralls to remove the razor from her pocket, and slid it into a concealed sheath attached under the seat. She didn’t need anyone finding that on her when they took her clothes. Minutes later she was inside the office, grabbing clean clothes from her locker and heading for the shower. Her skin tingled as her mind replayed the kill. She’d planned it right down to the last second and hadn’t left any evidence behind. Finding Jared Small and being there just at the right time hadn’t been a fluke. Already a suspect due to the rusty old vehicle he drove, Small was interviewed by them at the school months ago on a different missing child case, but Beth recognized the signs. He was oh so nice—the charmer hiding behind the mask of a monster and he’d fooled everyone, except her. She’d gone deeper and discovered he was a member of a group of predators using the dark web to share their experiences and disgusting image files in a chat room. They believed the group was safe from prying eyes and no doubt law enforcement, but nothing buried deep on the dark web or anywhere else in cyberspace was safe from her. She existed in data streams and had been able to manipulate code from the moment her young fingers touched a computer.
It amused her that some of the men like him found it necessary to boast about their crimes and plans. She’d traced his whereabouts easily enough and read his posts about his “dates.” He liked to visit his killing field once a week and gaze on the victims he’d tossed down an old well. Patience being a virtue she had in spades, she’d watched and waited until he’d led her to the Clawsfoot Mine.
Beth smiled as she dried her hair.He hadn’t counted on me spying on him.Persistence always paid off, and after reading his last post, she’d hit the streets, telling Mac she had a hunch about Small and would be cruising the neighborhood around the school. When Small left the schoolgrounds, she’d followed him to the mine. The next minute the call came in about the missing girl. One thing for sure, Jared Small would never harm another child. He was gone and her dark side was appeased for a time.
She headed back to her desk and turned on the computer. After bringing up Small’s dark web files, she heard voices behind her. Mac was giving her a concerned stare and Wolfe was speaking in hushed tones beside him. Were they discussing her?
“The forensic team has discovered six bodies down a well at the mine.” Mac moved closer to her desk and shook his head in disbelief. “This Tarot Killer, whoever he is, saved number seven. There’s no evidence at the scene, not as much as a footprint. Are you sure you didn’t see or hear anything, Beth?”
Beth pushed both hands through her long damp hair and stared at him. “I’m sure.”
“I know, y’all figure this Tarot Killer is some type of cult hero, but committing murder even when it’s a killer is still homicide.” Wolfe looked at her closely. “We can’t have people taking justice into their own hands—even if we figure they deserve it.”
