Grunting, he bent beside her, and she saw something rubbery between his teeth. Some kind of tubing… a tourniquet.
He peeled it from his mouth and with gloved hands wrapped the tube around her upper arm, tying it so tightly that she sucked in a sharp breath. A second later, silver glinted in the dark and she saw the needle.
Terrified of what he was going to inject her with, she gritted her teeth as he jabbed the needle into her arm. But instead of the slow burn of drugs seeping into her, she realized he was drawing blood.
Helpless to do anything but lie at his mercy, she searched her memory for where she’d heard his voice before.
But as he drew vial after vial of blood, she grew weaker and weaker…
Fourteen
Tuesday
Crooked Creek
Ellie rubbed her bleary eyes. She’d spent half the night searching every database she had access to for crimes even remotely similar to the MO of the murdered woman she’d found at Reflection Pond.
Although there were a few scattered cases in other states involving necrophilia, nothing fit with the way the killer had posed his victim.
She was aching from exhaustion, yet wired from wondering why the killer had contacted her personally, as she met Heath and her captain at the station first thing.
The sheriff stormed in within minutes of her arrival. “Detective Reeves,” Bryce said, his voice loud, irritated, “why didn’t you call me yesterday about that body?”
Ellie tensed and poured herself a cup of coffee, determined to stay calm. Bryce liked goading her and she refused to rise to it. “Because I could handle it alone. I figured you were busy anyway.” Probably busy drinking on the job. “Besides, I knew the captain would get in touch with you.”
Bryce glared at her, then followed her into her office, where Captain Hale and Deputy Landrum were waiting. She explained about the message from the killer. “We’ll try to trace the call,” Ellie said. “But this guy is smart. Most likely he used a burner phone.” She paused. “I need to meet Dr. Whitefeather soon.”
Deputy Landrum looked up from his laptop. “I think I have an ID on the victim. I ran her face through facial recognition software and got a hit.”
That was fast. She’d thought they’d have to wait on DNA or prints. “Who is she?”
Heath angled his laptop for her to see. “Her name is Courtney Wooten. She’s twenty-nine, developed her own makeup line and is trending on YouTube and Twitter. She’s also apparently working on a line of party dresses.”
No wonder her face had popped up so quickly.
“Is she local?”
“Home address is Atlanta, but she has one sister, Renee, who lives a few miles outside Crooked Creek. Parents were killed in a car crash when she was ten, so she and her sister went to live with the grandmother. Grandma died last year.”
“We need to talk to Renee.”
“I’ll send you her contact information,” Heath said. “I’m studying the vic’s social media for love interests, but so far, she’s all over the map in her dating.”
Bryce looked down at the photos of Courtney and whistled. “A pretty girl, talented. I guess she has lots of interest.”
Heath nodded, a frown creasing his eyes. “I’ve just started digging into her personal life and business. There could be something there.”
Maybe it was something to do with the makeup line, Ellie thought. All beauty and fashion, yet look at how the killer had posed her.
A noise in the bullpen made them all look up, and Angelica Gomez appeared, her cameraman in tow. Ellie clenched her hands by her sides. She had been running from the press for weeks now. She’d gone as far as hiding in the woods to escape it all. But there was no escape. And she refused to tuck her tail and run now when Courtney Wooten needed her. The reporter was tenacious but she had been helpful in the last case––Ellie just had to manage her.
“I’d talk to her, but since you obviously left me out of the loop yesterday, I guess you’ll have to,” Bryce said to Ellie.
“No problem. I’ve got it.” The whir of phones and computers buzzed in the room as Ellie crossed to the reporter. Two new deputies had been brought in and were in training to assist on routine calls.
“Detective Reeves,” Angelica said. “Do you have a minute?”
“If this is personal, then no,” Ellie replied, arching a brow.
Angelica’s dark eyes narrowed. “It’s about the body you found yesterday.”
She was about to ask how Angelica knew, but the reporter could have spoken to the sheriff. Many journalists had police scanners and picked up information that way. Besides, it didn’t really matter. The public would find out. It was best to get ahead of it.
Angelica pushed her microphone towards Ellie. “This is Angelica Gomez, WRIX Channel Five news coming to you live with Detective Ellie Reeves.” Angelica smiled for the camera. “Many of you remember her as the detective who broke the Ghost case a few weeks ago. But just yesterday, in Bluff County, another murder has occurred. This time the body of a young female.” She gestured to Ellie. “Detective?”
Ellie hated the limelight, but she forced herself to concentrate on the job. “Yes, I’m sorry to say that a woman’s body was found on the Appalachian Trail late yesterday. I cannot divulge details of the case until family has been notified, but if you have any information regarding a crime committed in the area, please call the local police department.”
Her phone buzzed on her hip. “I will make a statement once we learn more,” she said, pushing the mic aside and checking the message.
Laney was almost finished with the autopsy. She had to go.
Fifteen
Bluff County Medical Examiner’s Office
Ellie would never get used to the morgue. Formaldehyde blended with cleaning chemicals, made more potent by the scent of decomp clogging the air in the sterile room.
Laney’s office, the autopsy room and refrigerators were housed on the same floor.
The walls had been freshly painted, and the stainless-steel table and its instruments shone beneath the bright light.
Lifting her face shield as Ellie approached, Laney wore a scowl.
“I have a likely ID on her,” Ellie said as she moved up beside the woman’s body. Her blue skin accentuated bruises on her torso that Ellie hadn’t seen when the woman was clothed. Now she lay draped in a sheet, the Y incision Laney had made snaking down her chest.
“Is she from the area?” Laney asked.
“Atlanta,” Ellie said. “Heath is digging into her. But her sister lives not too far from town.”
Laney gently brushed her hand over the woman’s pale blonde hair. “She was pretty,” she said, a sad note to her voice. “And so young.”
“Twenty-nine,” Ellie replied, explaining about the YouTube makeup videos. “Now, what can you tell me?”
Laney sighed. “Just as I initially thought, she died of exsanguination due to her throat being slashed.” She pointed to the laceration on the woman’s throat. “He went deep, but it appears to be one clean cut, not multiple stab wounds. Looks like a hunting knife of some kind.”