Part 11
Brooks stroked Todd's hair and covered him with a quilt. It hadn't taken Todd long to go back to sleep, stretched out on the couch, with his head in his lap, and snoring softly. He looked up when Reacher stepped into the room. The guy was tall, massive, and he'd saved Todd's life. He was eternally indebted to the man.
"Riggs and I are heading for the precinct to follow up on some leads. You should stay here, your partner needs you." Reacher hoped Avery would follow his advice, as he had the feeling the captain would have a hard time concentrating on the case. "Taking one day off from work won't cause the station to go hell. Riggs and I will keep an eye on matters." To his surprise, that merely made Avery roll back his eyes. "I used to run a MP division. I have experience running a station."
"It's not you I worry about," Brooks joked. He considered the suggestion though. He did want to stay at home and look after Todd – at least today. "Just make sure you keep Martin under control. Chaos usually follows him around."
"I resent that!" Martin shook his head. "I've been good lately! I behave these days!"
Which was true; even Brooks had to admit it. "Just be careful out there, Martin. And Reacher, make sure you've got his back. I already have Todd to worry about…"
"You can count on me, cap," Reacher assured him. "Riggs, let's go, we're wasting time!"
Martin cursed softly, as Reacher was already heading out of the door and moving toward his truck. "You're not getting any more coffee today!" He shot Brooks an apologetically look and trailed after the former MP.
"Are you sure letting Martin work this case is a good idea?" Todd partly opened one eye, but the light messed with his head, so he quickly pinched his eyes shut again.
"I've got the feeling Reacher knows how to handle him." Brooks leaned in closer and gently kissed his lover's brow. "Go back to sleep, or do you want to move back to bed?" He'd prefer that.
"Bed's more comfortable," Todd agreed, slowly sitting upright. "I need some help though."
"You've got it." Brooks supported his partner and together, they climbed the stairs. After making sure Todd rested comfortably, Brooks tucked him in. "Get more sleep, love."
"Where are you going?" Todd yawned and pressed deeper into the comfort of the mattress.
"I'll grab a bite to eat and a quick shower. I also need to call Bailey to make sure they don't wreck the place. But I'll be back shortly, I promise."
"It's fine… Just do your job… I'm going to… sleep," he whispered, drifting off.
Brooks pressed another kiss onto his lover's hair and then left their bedroom. He could run his department from home if necessary.
/
"So what do we know about Frank Simmons and Gene Richards?" Martin scanned the report, but preferred to hear it from Bailey instead. She was good in picking up details and summarizing.
Bailey got to her feet and pointed at the screen. "They were found early this morning in a garbage disposal truck, which had been taken in for maintenance four days ago. They only started working on it last night and that's when they found their remains. Scorsese examined Simmons' remains an hour ago and is still working on Richards. He found traces of drugs in Simmons' system; the same drugs we found in the other victims. It was once more the cause of death. Postmortem, the killer removed Simmons' tongue and drove five inch long screws through the man's eardrums."
Roger briefly shivered; that sounded particularly nasty.
Martin sighed. "The MO is the same with most victims. We're definitely dealing with the same killer – we have a serial killer on our hands." Which made things either way more complicated, or it would help them catch a break. "These cases feel personal, like someone is extracting revenge."
Reacher nodded. "It seems personal to me too, he wants to punish them. At least he kills them before he mutilates them!"
"They all vanished after leaving Falltime?" Roger had studied all case files and was looking for similarities. Falltime seemed to be the one thing all victims had in common.
"Yes," Bailey confirmed. "I talked to a bar keeper called Leroy. He recalled Simmons and Richards arguing when they came in. Apparently Simmons accused Richards of cheating on him. Richards proclaimed his innocence, claiming someone was badmouthing him. The two of them made up and left the bar together. That's where the trail goes cold."
"How about the others?" Roger asked. "What happened there? More cheating? Accusations?"
Bailey checked her information. "Withing broke up with his boyfriend at Falltime. The next day he went missing. Green ended his relationship at the bar too, but this time his boyfriend was the cheater. It says here Scott was single, but had picked up a man and they left together. We don't have any information on Darcy's dating habits."
"Is this about punishing cheaters?" Martin stared at the six men whose pictures were on the screen. "We have at least four guys accused of cheating or breaking up at Falltime." A detail like that could break open the case!
"But what was Mack doing there?" That was the question Reacher wanted answered. "Do these victims have any ties to the military?" he asked Bailey, relaying on her knowledge and skills to get him the answers.
She checked the files again. "Dave Darcy might. Give me sec." She accessed the computer and ran several searches. "Darcy was a drill sergeant. He retired six months ago and moved to LA. He was previously stationed in San Diego." She frowned, digging deeper into his background. "I can't find any mention of him being gay. According to these records he never dated men before. He was married at one point, but his wife died of cancer four years ago. At first look, he doesn't fit the profile."
"That might be our connection," Martin remarked, studying Darcy's picture. He'd never seen the man before, but that didn't mean a thing. "Was he army?"
"Yes," Bailey confirmed. "So you think Darcy is the reason your friend got involved?"
"Pretty good chance, yes," Martin acknowledged. "Maybe they knew each other. Can you find out if there's a possible connection? If they ever met? Had contact?"
"I'll do my best." Bailey looked to Cruz, wordlessly asking him for his assistance. Cruz nodded; she didn't need to ask. She already had it.
While the two of them started digging up more information, Roger moved his chair closer to Riggs. "How are Brooks and Todd doing?" He'd noticed his friend not coming in today and worried. Todd had looked bad the other day.
"Brooks is taking care of him. Todd's already moving about, giving him the slip. I doubt Brooks will let him out of his sight today, making sure he rests." Martin uncovered his phone, checking for messages and found he had one; Brooks telling him Todd was asleep and cooperating.
"I'm so sorry that happened," Roger mused aloud. "It was bad enough they went after Avery, but targeting Todd is... He's dedicated to helping people! He's the one who saves their lives when they get shot!" He was angry as hell. It was a good thing Ronnie Delgada personally supervised the case, making sure they wouldn't get off easily.
"I'm going to teach Doran some basic self defense." Reacher's goal was set; it was the one thing he would do before leaving LA. "I'll talk some sense into him."
"Good luck with that." Martin knew Todd well. "He can't hurt anyone…"
"Well, we'll see about that. Now, we have a case to focus on. How about we pay Leroy another visit? His coffee's decent."
Martin shook his head. "One day, caffeine will kill you!"
"One can hope," Reacher deadpanned. "Are you coming along, Murtaugh?"
Roger wasn't sure. Riggs caused mayhem wherever he went and he had the feeling Reacher was the same. Ah, what the hell. "I'll join you." Maybe he could act as the voice of reason!
/
Brooks shifted minutely in bed. Todd was once more asleep next to him and he used the opportunity to catch up on Bailey's emails regarding Mack's case. They'd found some promising leads and as a result, Reacher, Riggs and Murtaugh had headed back to Falltime, which worried him. A look at the clock told him it was okay. It was only one PM and the bar was still closed for business. They'd only run into staff members. He'd call Riggs once they got back to the precinct and get an update. He'd also tell them not to return there while the bar was open. They'd get into trouble and probably thrash the place and beat up the audience, which wouldn't help solving the case. They simply didn't understand the unwritten rules of such a place and needed him there. They didn't know that yet though; or even better, didn't want to acknowledge it.
/
Later that day, Reacher ended up sharing Cruz' desk. The young man intrigued him. He'd met his share of illustrious characters, but Cruz still presented him with a riddle. Cruz was doubtlessly a hard worker, had his eye on Bailey and obviously worshipped Riggs. Cruz was skilled and a team player who didn't mind letting someone else take the spotlight, even if it meant quietly doing his research and handing it over without showing off. Reacher appreciated those character traits. "So what's your take on the case?" he asked, while sipping the precinct's coffee, which was tolerable. Brooks', however, was better and he planned on tagging along with Riggs in the evening so he'd get some more before heading for his motel.
Cruz didn't know what to make of Reacher. He didn't trust easy in general. He'd had a tough childhood and had fallen in with the wrong crowd at a young age, which had landed him in prison. That he'd eventually become a cop surprised even himself, but he had his reasons. It had also gotten him into major problems with his former gang affiliates. Cruz shrugged, unsure what to say.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Cruz was withholding something, Reacher was sure of it. "I want your opinion! Every detail's important!" He thought Cruz needed some encouragement and he gladly gave it. During his many years as a MP he had trained a number of men who'd seemed shy at first, but who'd turned out very talented, once they'd overcome their wariness.
Cruz shrugged again. "Bailey already told you."
"Come one, tell me again!" Reacher could be extremely tenacious, as Cruz was about to find out.
Cruz wanted the man off his back and spat it out. "I'm not sure we're looking for a male perp. Why drug them? We might be looking for a woman, or a couple. I'm not convinced we're looking for men."
"That thought also crossed my mind," Reacher agreed and noticed Cruz' stunned look. The Mexican had expected to be brushed off. "What kind of woman? Why is she doing this?" he challenged the young detective.
"Maybe her man left her because he found out he was gay or finally came out of the closet? He might have hooked up with someone at Falltime and she followed him there. She felt betrayed and wanted revenge?" Cruz had given the idea some thought, but he wasn't sure it made sense.
"In that case, we need to look at the first victim in more detail," Bailey said after listening in. Cruz often came up with original ideas that helped them solve a case, but the Mexican was often too shy share them.
"That was Sam Withing." Martin had already looked it up. "Found at a garbage disposal site with no noticeable mutilations. The drug cocktail killed him. Which supports your theory, Cruz. A woman could pull this off on her own, especially if she surprised her husband and he didn't know what was going on. The mutilations started with victim number two."
Cruz had a hard time believing they so readily accepted his theory. "Withing was married for two years. They were in the middle of getting a divorce. His wife Michelle was fighting it." He'd already done some research and handed Bailey the file, unaware of Riggs raising his hand to grab it. He was too used to running everything by Bailey!
"Bring her in," Roger said, who had also listened in. "Bailey and I will question her."
"Fine with me," Bailey remarked as she got to her feet. "What will you guys be doing?"
"We're gonna date!" Martin quipped. "And cheat on each other. Who wants to be the cheater tonight? And who the wronged party?"
Bailey chuckled before leaving them to their little games. She could do without their mischief.
"We might need Avery," Reacher suggested. "He knows how things work at Falltime. If we go in, unawares, we might end up making rookie mistakes and we can't afford those, not if we want to close this case without complications."
"He's at home with Todd," Martin pointed out to them. "I doubt he's willing to leave Todd alone. We'd need a baby sitter." He looked at his partner. "Rog, you'd be perfect for the job! You're a mother hen and have ample experience taking care of troubling patients like me. Plus, Brooks trusts you."
Roger didn't like sitting this one out. He wanted in on the action instead, but Riggs was right. He knew Todd, and would be out of place at Falltime. He couldn't contribute to the case, but Reacher, Riggs and Avery could. "All right, I'll take one for the team and do it, but you'll need back up if things go south!"
"We've got Cruz!" Martin grinned at their newest addition. "You'll be the man in the van." Or car, but he wasn't picky. "You'll keep an eye on us and possible perps! Just make sure you don't lose track of us!"
"I can do that," Cruz eagerly accepted. "What's your game plan?"
"Brooks and I will pretend being a couple. Maybe I cheated on him with Reacher and Brooks found out. We'll stage a nice argument at Falltime and we'll leave separately, allowing our perp to move in." Yes, Martin liked that!
"Or perps," Cruz corrected shyly. Seeing their curious looks, he explained, "The first victim wasn't mutilated, but the second one was. What if our original killer got a partner in crime? Maybe another woman or a male without any physical strength?"
Again, Martin had to admit Cruz' idea could work. "Good thinking! We should keep that in mind!" He smiled at the Mexican; it was good to have Cruz on the team!
TBC
