Chapter 8- Life of a Murderer

A few hours later, Gina, Mick, and Prophet made their way to the Wingina Police Station. They had remained there till midnight going over the case files again until they decided to head to the hotel and get a few hours of sleep.

Since it was only 7 o'clock in the morning there weren't that many police officers at the station. As they made their way to their designated work area Gina glanced in the direction of Sheriff Howard' office and was happy to see the man, seated behind his desk reading a case file.

As they placed their belongings on top of the small wooden table Gina looked to Prophet and Mick as she said,

"I saw that Sheriff Howard was already in his office. I'm going to ask him to join us so we can ask him about Ryan Jacobs."

Both Prophet and Mick nodded in agreement to her words. When Gina left to retrieve the sheriff, Mick and Prophet continued to unload and set up their computers. A few minutes later Gina returned with Sheriff Howard in tow. The two agents looked up from what they were doing and nodded in acknowledgement to the sheriff. Sheriff Howard nodded in return as he said,

"Agent LaSalle said that the three of you wanted to talk to me about something or possibly someone."

Feeling the need to get right to the point all three agents took their seats at the table, and Prophet waved his hand to the empty seat across from them for the sheriff to sit. As Sheriff Howard took a seat in the offered chair Prophet folded his arms together, and decided to start,

"Sheriff we were hoping you could tell us about someone we just learned worked for all three of the men who were murdered at a time. His name is Ryan Jacobs; can you tell us anything about him?"

Sheriff Howard's forehead creased as he thought hard about the name they had given him. A look of recognition spread across Sheriff Howard's face as he looked up at the three agents and said,

"I know Ryan Jacobs; I was friends with his father. What exactly do you want to know about him?"

"Anything you think may be important," said Mick, trying to be helpful.

Sheriff Howard nodded his head in understanding. After wracking his brain Sheriff Howard said,

"The deaths of his parents seemed to have had a bad effect on Ryan. He was only seven when his father died and nine when his mother died. He was never the same after either accident. He became quiet and secluded. His aunt and uncle were his only living relatives he had, but they had four children of their own and couldn't take him in. Because of this Ryan was placed with a foster family. The Johnson family were nice people, they even allowed Ryan to visit his aunt and uncle. Unfortunately the Johnson's found Ryan to be troublesome. He wouldn't obey their rules, and was in trouble constantly, at both house and at school. Ryan was then placed with the Miller family. They too allowed him to visit his aunt and uncle. Ryan seemed to get along great with the Millers, and he managed to stay with them till he turned eighteen. It was then, with two out of their four children in college that Ryan's aunt and uncle allowed Ryan to live with them. Ryan even helped his uncle on his contracting projects."

Inclining her head to the side as she listened to Sheriff Howard's words Gina finally asked,

"Are Ryan's aunt and uncle still alive by any chance?"

A somber expression covered Sheriff Howard's face,

"No unfortunately they died a month ago while on a trip to Maryland. They were killed in a car accident, but since it happened in another state that is all I know. But I can tell you that their deaths had an even worse effect on Ryan than when his parents died."

Hearing this piece of information Prophet immediately knew that they had found Ryan's stressor. Glancing to Gina and Mick Prophet could tell that they were all thinking the same thing- they needed to talk to Garcia. As one all three agents rose to their feet with Sheriff Howard following suit. After shaking his hand and thanking him for his help they excused themselves in need of continuing to work on the case. Understanding that, Sheriff Howard exited their designated office and returned to his own office.

Moving over to the fourth computer in the center of the table Mick connected the link to Garcia. In a matter of seconds Garcia's face came up on the screen. Her usual witty grin appeared on her face as she said,

"Ah just the three special agents I was looking for. I relooked over Ryan Jacobs' records again like you asked, and I also dug a little deeper, and I think I may have found something new."

Before she could elaborate Prophet interrupted, "Did any of the new information talk of Ryan's foster families, and his biological aunt and uncle?"

The shocked expression of Garcia's face upon hearing Prophet's question was priceless. Covering his mouth with his hand Mick tried to disguise his laugh as a cough. Feeling annoyed at Mick's child like behavior Gina quickly slammed her fist hard into Mick's shoulder which abruptly ended Mick's disguised laugh. At that same moment Garcia was awoken from her shock. A look of confusion replaced the look of shock as she asked,

"Ok how did you know that? Did you guys do your own digging?"

Prophet could tell that she was becoming flustered by his question. A friendly smile spread across his lips as he shook his head no and replied,

"Nah P., we just talked with Sheriff Howard. He's lived here all his life, so he basically knows everyone. We asked him if he knew Ryan Jacobs, and he was able to tell us a little of what happened to him after his parents were killed."

Caught up to speed Garcia nodded her head as she said,

"Apparently Ryan Jacobs didn't appreciate being placed with a family he didn't know. Now according to his file and I'm sure Sheriff Howard told you, Ryan Jacobs didn't have a great experience with his first foster family, the Johnsons. He repeatedly got in trouble at school and at home, he even set the family's pet cat on fire. That was the last straw for them, and Ryan was taken away. Now the second foster family Ryan was placed with, the Millers was a completely different story. There must have been something about them that reminded Ryan of his real parents because his attitude was the complete opposite of that with the Johnsons. According to the statement that the Millers gave social services, Ryan was a caring, well behaved boy. He must really have been if he was able to remain with them till he aged out of the system."

Curiosity creased Prophet's brow as he asked, "What about Ryan's biological aunt and uncle? What can you tell us about them? All Sheriff Howard could tell us was that they were killed in a car accident while in Maryland."

Glancing over at the screen to the right of the webcam Garcia appeared to give it a quick search before answering,

"Jackson and Meredith Breyers. Jackson was Ryan's mother's younger brother. At the time that Ryan's parents were killed they already had four young children, and they knew they wouldn't be able to support Ryan. Now Jackson Breyers was a contractor, and when Ryan came to live with them after he turned eighteen, Jackson enlisted Ryan to help him while on the job site. I'm guessing Jackson did this so Ryan could connect with his dead father. It really seemed to work; Ryan came to enjoy working on the job sites. Now onto your question about their car accident, while on vacation last month in Maryland Jackson and Meredith Breyers were struck head on by a drunk driver going the wrong way. Both of them were killed instantly."

A somber expression was present on all three agents' faces after listening to the details of the Breyers' death. Clearing his throat Mick asked quietly,

"My darling Penelope, was Ryan informed of his aunt and uncle's deaths first hand or did he learn about it from someone else?"

Garcia bit her lower lip slightly as she searched through her many electronic files. It was a habit that no one had ever seen her do before. Before he could comment on her new habit Garcia replied,

"From what I could find it would seem that Ryan was the first person contacted because he was the oldest out of all the kids. Even though he and his oldest twin cousins are the same age, Ryan is a few months older. Then after receiving the news Ryan then informed each of his cousins, each living out of state."

Wanting to make sure that Garcia would be able to see her Gina scooted her chair closer to Prophet's before she looked at Garcia on screen and asked,

"Garcia, can you find any current or past residence for Ryan Jacobs, and send it to our PDA's."

With a nod of her head Garcia replied, "Will do. Back in a sec."

Turning her head to face Prophet Gina said,

"While Garcia is finding an address I am going to talk to Sheriff Howard and tell him to talk to his deputies and other officers about keeping an eye out for Ryan Jacobs."

Prophet nodded his head,

"Alright, we'll wait for you to get back here before heading out."

Quickly nodding her head Gina made her way to Sheriff Howard's office. Seeing the door was still open, and the sheriff back in the same position as he was when they first arrived Gina knocked gently on the door frame. Hearing the knock Sheriff Howard raised his head, and nodded his head as he asked,

"Agent LaSalle, is there something else you and your team mates wanted to talk about?"

Gina stepped into the room, "Actually sheriff I wanted to ask you to inform your deputies and other officers to keep an eye out for Ryan Jacobs. We're having our technical analyst look for his current address, but he may not be there, so it would help to have extra eyes out looking for him."

Knowing that it was only a precaution Sheriff Howard nodded his head in understanding,

"Of course agent LaSalle, most of my men know everyone who lives in Nelson County, but I will make sure each of them have Ryan Jacobs' photo."

Satisfied with his plan of action Gina nodded her head in return,

"Thank you sheriff that would be very helpful to us."

That said Gina backed out of the office and made her way back to the teams' work area. Walking in Prophet and Mick already had their work bags hanging on their shoulders. Looking over at the table Gina saw that her computer had already been placed in her bag, all she had to do was place it on her shoulder.

Grabbing the bag off the table Gina glanced over at the two men and said,

"Thanks."

Both men shrugged their shoulders to say it was no big deal. As Gina slung the bag over her shoulder Prophet said,

"Alright, Garcia found a current address for Ryan Jacobs. It seems that he now lives in his deceased aunt and uncle's house. He had apparently been living there to keep it from going on the market."

Gina nodded her head slightly, "Alright well Sheriff Howard said he would inform his deputies and other officers to be on the lookout for Ryan Jacobs."

With a slight nod of his head Prophet said,

"Good, that should really help us. Well if you're ready Garcia sent Ryan Jacobs' address to all of our PDA's, so we should get going."

With as simple yeah from Gina the three of them headed out to the SUV to make their way to Ryan Jacobs' house.