July 21st, 0900 Hours
Trina was tucking Steve into the bed in the guestroom. She had picked him up at the hospital about an hour ago, making sure she got all the doctor's instructions. She wanted him to heal quickly and be as comfortable as possible.
"Jack will probably stick near you, he is very smart and very protective." She nodded towards her coydog who was watching them.
"I am sure we will be fine. I am feeling a little more mobile today." Steve said. "Thank you so much taking care of me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
She sat down on the bed beside him. "Steve, I love you. I will always take care of you."
"I like the sound of that." He smiled.
"I brought some of your clothes from your house. I put your toiletries in the guest bathroom so you don't have to climb the stairs for everything." She explained. "There is plenty of food in the kitchen, help yourself to anything you want."
"Trina I will be fine." Steve chuckled.
"I just worry about you." She smiled as her cell phone rang. "Conley." She answered her phone.
"Trina, I have great news. Lab just sent the results…..Mark Calaway is a match in our case and the case in Texas. He is definitely our killer and evidence shows he is a serial killer." Dolph told her.
"That is great news. I can't wait to shove this evidence down his throat!" Trina jumped up.
"I already faxed the test results to the authorities in Texas. I also sent copies to DA Sandow and to Jerry. I am sure Sandow will share the information with Otunga since this means a murder indictment is inevitable now." Dolph said.
"Dolph, you are beautiful. Thank you so much. I am on my way to the station now." Trina said and hung up the phone.
"I am going with you." Steve said.
"What?" she turned and looked at him.
"That was obviously Dolph telling you we got a DNA match….now you are going to confront Calaway and his lawyer with the evidence…..I am going too." Steve started to stand up.
"Steve, you just got out of the hospital an hour ago. I am not sure this is a good idea." She countered, concerned about him.
"I am fine to do an interview with Calaway, not like I have to wrestle him again." Steve started to stand up.
"But you are supposed to rest for a week. You heard Dr. Hennig." She said, but helped Steve stand just the same.
"Trina, I have worked this case all along, I deserve to be there. Especially after he shot me I want to watch him when he sees the jig is up and he can't wiggle out of this one." Steve said.
She looked at him for a moment, agreeing that he had worked long and hard on this case. She finally sighed. "Okay, I won't argue anymore. But the minute we are done with Calaway, I am bringing you home and you will rest if I have to tie you to the bed!"
"Kinky…..you sure you're not into that 50 shades stuff?" Steve winked.
"Gross, if I was into bondage that crap would've ruined it for me. Kinda the way that Twilight crap ruined vampire movies." Trina rolled her eyes. "Come on, we got Calaway's balls in a blender and I am ready to push the start button!"
Steve laughed once again at her crazy way of putting things as she guided him out of the guestroom.
0930 Hours
Trina walked closely beside Steve as they stepped inside the Davis Police Station. He was moving slowly but insisted he wasn't feeling any excess pain. Jerry and John looked up at them, surprised to see Steve there.
"Borden, I thought the doctor said you needed to rest a week?" Layfield asked.
"I already tried talking him out of this but after all his work on this case, he wants to be here and I am not going to argue as long as he takes it easy." Trina said as Steve took a seat at her desk.
"Well as long as he is sure." John eyed him.
"Mark has requested that his attorney be here, so we are waiting on Otunga to arrive. Seth is with DA Sandow going over all the evidence with him and getting the warrants so we can officially charge him with murder. I want everything done by the book so that snake Otunga doesn't have any room to argue that procedures weren't followed." Jerry said.
"Good idea, we can't let Calaway get off…he has shown he is too dangerous." Steve said.
"Look…..I wanted to run it by you guys first. West Virginia doesn't have the death penalty…but we all know Texas does and uses it. What if we tried to make a deal with Texas….think they would be willing to waive the death penalty if Calaway helps us find Renee Young's body and Layla El's head…and agrees to plead guilty and not force a long drawn out trial?" Trina explained what she had been thinking the past few days.
"You want to make him a deal? I figured you'd be pleading with Sandow to let Texas have him so he could be executed." Layfield was shocked.
"I have thought about this long and hard and….well if one of those girls was my daughter, I would want her whole body…even if she is dead, I would want to feel that she was whole." Trina explained.
Jerry rubbed his forehead. "Call Texas and give it a try. I agree it would help the families if they had their children whole and not in pieces. And if we can skip big long trials that is less on the families too. I don't think anyone, especially the families wants to sit in a courtroom and hear how he decapitated these girls then raped their mouths post-mortem."
"I will do that now. Thanks Jerry." Trina said.
"I will call Sandow and see what he thinks. I wouldn't want to do anything without him involved. But I am sure he would agree, Damien has a compassionate heart." Jerry said.
Jerry and Trina both went to make their respective phone calls. Trina called the Houston PD and spoke with Detective Windham explaining her idea and the reasons behind it. Windham did not like the idea of making a deal for Calaway but agreed that it might help the families. He agreed to speak with the Texas DA and get back to her.
After she hung up, she noticed Steve sitting quietly at her desk, reading over the paperwork in the case that had developed since he had been shot and in the hospital.
"How you feeling?" she asked and gently rubbed his shoulders.
"So far so good. No pain." He looked up at her and smiled. "You know how you told me it felt good to find someone that wanted you for your mind and body?" She nodded in response to his question. "I am very blessed that lady with a great mind and body cares about me like she does. It's very nice to have you fussing over me like you have."
She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "Well I love you so much, it'd be hard not to fuss over you. I might have to give you another of those sponge baths." She winked.
"Those are no fun when I have to behave." Steve chuckled.
"I hate to interrupt." Jerry said behind them. They looked up to see him smiling at them. "I just spoke with Sandow and he agrees with us about finding the missing remains of the victims. He is willing to go along with this if Texas does."
"We're just waiting to hear back from Detective Windham, he was going to speak with the DA down there and get back to us. We need to have everything in order because you know Otunga." She said.
1015 Hours
Otunga had arrived at the station and was in an interview room meeting privately with Calaway. Trina was waiting for Windham to call back so they could start their interview with Mark as well.
"You ready for this?" Steve asked her.
"I think so. I mean we have all the evidence, he can't really deny anything at this point." Trina said.
"Just don't lose your cool should he try denying anything. Some people won't admit guilt no matter what. And you never know what Otunga might try….an insanity defense or anything." Steve warned her.
Her phone rang. She reached over to answer it. "Conley."
"This is Detective Windham, I spoke with our DA." Came over the line.
"And?"
"He is willing to cut a deal and waive the death penalty only if Calaway is willing to tell us where the head of Michelle McCool is. He spoke with her mother and she insists." Windham told her.
"Anything else?"
"Yes, our DA also insists he tell us about any other victims he may have in Texas that we have not yet linked to him. If he doesn't tell us and we find one later, this deal becomes null and void and we will pursue the death penalty." Windham said. "We also want tapes and transcripts of his interviews in West Virginia."
"You got it. I'll overnight it if I have to." She promised and hung up.
"Texas authorities agreed to the deal." Trina said.
"Then let's get in there and interview him." Steve said and carefully stood up.
Trina kept close to Steve as they walked to the back where there was a small interview room. Jerry was standing outside the room, looking through the one way glass watching as Otunga spoke quietly with Calaway.
"Texas agreed." Steve told him quietly.
Jerry nodded. "Go on in and talk with him. Maybe he will give us some answers. I'll be watching."
Steve and Trina opened the door to the interview room and sat down across the table from Mark and Otunga. Mark was dressed in his white jumpsuit with his hands still in handcuffs. Trina placed her folders and notebook down in front of her. Steve set a small tape recorder on the table.
Steve pressed record on the recorder. "This is Detective Steve Borden, Officer Trinvilla Conley interviewing homicide suspect Mark Calaway, who is represented by his counsel David Otunga."
"Mr. Calaway, would you like to make a statement? I am sure your attorney has advised you of the evidence we have collected." Trina asked him, looking right into his face.
"I have advised my client to invoke his 5th amendment right." Otunga answered.
Steve nodded. "Mr. Calaway, your DNA has been found inside the mouths of two homicide victims, Renee Young and Lana Barnyashev."
"Your DNA has also been linked to the murder of an unidentified woman in Houston, Texas." Trina said.
"Again, I must advise that my client invoke his 5th amendment right." Otunga said.
Trina and Steve looked at each other. They knew they needed to get Mark to talk and that Otunga was going to be a huge hurdle.
"Mr. Calaway…..I know the case in Texas was why you refused to voluntarily submit a DNA sample to West Virginia authorities when asked. You couldn't risk your DNA being linked to a cold case back in Texas so you made up the story about trying to avoid a paternity test." Trina said, Mark's eyes flashed for a moment but he remained silent.
"This is your chance to tell us your side of things. We have all the evidence we need, I am sure you and your attorney are aware of that. This is your chance to tell us your version of events." Steve said.
Mark stayed silent, leaning back in his chair. Trina decided to try pushing Mark's buttons to get him to talk.
"Look, Mark…can I call you Mark?" she asked and Calaway rolled his eyes. "Mark, I know you have some strange fetishes; some kinks that not everyone is accepting of. I spoke to Sara."
Mark's head snapped up and he glared at Trina. Inwardly she smiled, knowing she had found a way to get to him.
"Tell us what happened." Steve said. Mark ignored him as he continued to glare at Trina.
"What happened Mark? Did the ladies laugh at your weird kinks? Maybe you couldn't get it up with a breathing female anymore." She looked right at him, not lowering her gaze for a second.
"I have nothing to say to you!" Mark roared. Otunga put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm Calaway's rising temper.
"Right now we are all you got!" Steve shot back.
"We spoke with the authorities in Texas. They are willing to offer you a deal." Trina pushed her notes about the deal across the table to Otunga. "You cooperate with us, help us find the heads of Layla El and April Lee and the body of Renee Young….and you help the authorities in Texas find the head of Michelle McCool…..and you confess to any other victims you have killed in the state of Texas and they will take the death penalty off the table."
"I am sure you are aware of Texas' long tradition of the death penalty." Steve told him.
"However, if you withhold information and later Texas is able to conclusively link you to a victim you have not admitted to, this deal becomes null and void and you will be facing a needle in the arm." Trina told him, not backing down an inch. "And I have no doubts that DA Sandow would be happy to let Texas have you, knowing they could execute you."
Otunga looked over her notes and then whispered something to Calaway. Trina and Steve glanced at each other and she felt him gently squeeze her knee under the table.
"I have advised my client to accept this deal….but for murders he committed only." Otunga said.
Steve leaned over to Trina and quietly whispered. "He must have knowledge of other murders, maybe he has a friend with similar tendencies."
"We have already offered the deal, we cannot force him to confess to crimes committed by other people. But it gives us something to tell Texas authorities." She whispered back.
Steve gently leaned forward. "The deal still stands, it has been approved by the DA in Texas and DA Sandow. However, it clearly states any murder he committed which includes any murders he committed as part of a team."
Otunga whispered quietly with Calaway for a moment then looked back at Steve. "Agreed."
"Let's start with why you came to West Virginia. You don't know anyone here and from our investigation you went to great lengths to get a job with that construction crew…even buying pre-paid cell phones and getting someone to lie for you." Steve looked at Mark.
Mark sighed, realizing they truly had dug into his past. "I needed to get out of Texas. This homicide detective, Barry Windham was on to me, he just couldn't prove it. I knew he wouldn't let it drop so I decided to get out of the state….change my name and all."
"Who helped you with the fake references? The companies were real but the phone numbers were for those pre-paid cell phones. Who answered them pretending to be employers and gave you fake recommendations?" Trina asked.
Mark sighed. "A couple friends of mine in Texas. Dan Spivey, an old friend of mine. He had no idea why I was really leaving Texas. I gave him the same story about trying to avoid a paternity test and that I was leaving to avoid the woman. Spivey is an okay guy, he agreed to help."
"Who else?" Trina prompted.
"Another friend of mine, Paul Dangerously…he was willing to help me leave Texas as well." Mark said.
"So you get your friends to lie for you, leave Texas, get a job on the construction crew, and start killing here in WV." Steve frowned.
"If you have these strange fetishes…bondage, violence, multiple partners...whatever…..why not just hire a prostitute? Those girls get paid for their….services and usually do what the customer wants. Or why not just go to a bondage club? Why pick on hitchhikers?" Trina asked.
"I tried that for a while but I was banned from the club I had been going to. I am not a believer in safe words. Then I tried hookers..…started seeing one pretty regularly. Like you said, they do as the customer wants….as long as I had the cash, she went along with whatever I requested….rape fantasies, forced sodomy….anything." Mark said.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"Bitch gave me the clap." Mark snapped. Trina had to force herself to not roll her eyes at Mark not realizing that wasn't a big surprise. She then remembered the dead hooker from Texas had an STD that was found during her autopsy.
"So the next time you picked her up, you killed her. She is the unidentified woman isn't she? Her autopsy revealed she had an STD." Trina said.
Mark stared at her, then sighed again. "It didn't start out that way….I just meant to rough her up a bit…I was pissed as hell."
"But once you started you couldn't stop?" Steve tried to nudge him along.
"Something like that." Mark said.
"You got off on it." Trina relied on her profiling and her instinct. "Hurting a woman for real was a bigger thrill than one just playing along with a non-consensual fantasy. You found that you enjoyed hurting a female for real more than just pretending to."
Mark stared at her. "I came so hard I nearly blacked out!"
Inwardly she recoiled at such a thought, but refused to let him see that. She stared right back. "That still doesn't tell me why you started targeting hitchhikers?"
"With hitchhikers there was less chance of disease. They just want a ride, they don't expect an attack." Mark kept staring at her.
"So let's go over the girls you killed here in West Virginia." Steve tried to redirect Mark's attention away from Trina. "You found them hitchhiking or needing a ride….all in or around Blackwater Falls Park."
"That's right….that short one, April…she was hitchhiking along the highway. That Russian girl was at a gas station asking for a ride. The curly-headed one…her car had broken down and she flagged me down for help. And that blonde girl…Renee….she said she decided she didn't want to go to the beach and was looking for a ride to a train station." Mark said.
"Okay, so you get the girls in your truck. They trust you to just give them a ride, then what?" Steve asked.
"I'd drive somewhere secluded, none of them even realized there was a problem until it was too late. They didn't know the area." Mark said.
"And then you'd strangle them." Steve stated and Mark nodded.
"Then you would decapitate them and make up the head how you liked and use it for oral sex like some twisted sex toy! Sara told me you had a thing for oral sex." Trina said.
"Fuck, are you like psychic or something?" Mark snapped at her.
"Or something." She deadpanned.
"How did you get the girls into your motel room to decapitate them?" Steve asked.
Mark shrugged. "That was easy, wait until late at night and just carry them in. If anyone saw they must've just assumed I had a date or she was drunk."
"So you decapitate them in the bathtub, easy clean up, drain the blood out in the tub, very little mess. Keep the head, discard the body. Use the head as a toy." Trina said.
"Does anything shut you up?" Mark glared at her.
"Nothing we have found so far." Otunga rolled his eyes.
"How did you discard the bodies?" Steve asked, quietly chuckling that Trina wasn't backing down and that it annoyed Mark that she wasn't.
"The first three were easy, carry it out in a garbage bag in the middle of the night, no one around…..and just toss it." Mark shrugged.
"And the fourth girl? What did you do with the body of Renee Young?" Steve asked.
"I cut her up and threw her in different dumpsters around town. I am not sure I can lead you to where she is, but I can tell you which dumpsters I used." Mark said.
"Why dismember her body and not the others?" Steve asked.
"She annoyed me." Mark said as if that was an explanation.
"So you discard the body, use the head a few days until it starts to decay and then you throw it out as well." Trina said.
"That's right." Mark said.
"Having an oral sex kink is one thing….but wouldn't you rather receive it from someone who is alive and into the act?" Steve asked.
"I think that is enough questions. I wish to have my client examined by a psychiatrist." Otunga said. "He will comply with the terms of the deal and help you find the missing remains of the victims."
"Officer Layfield will speak with him about that later. And you should contact DA Sandow about a psych evaluation. Detective Windham will be calling as well." Trina told them.
"I believe we are done here." Steve said and stood up.
Trina reached over and picked up the recorder shutting it off. She then glared at Mark. "By the way, you are damn lucky he survived his gunshot wound. Otherwise I would've never contacted Texas about a deal to save your sorry ass. You only get to live because he does."
She followed Steve out of the interview room. Jerry was waiting for them outside.
"You got him to talk." Jerry commented. "Quite the team, Trina pushing him and Steve calmly guiding."
"Damn, you had him profiled well and it helped. You really should consider furthering that skill, it's a gift really." Steve smiled.
"You were great, I think the fact you didn't openly act disgusted helped him open up to you as one man to another…in a weird way." Trina said.
"I think you two showed what a great team you really are." Jerry smiled. "I don't think you two working this case was an accident…professionally or personally."
"How are you doing?" Trina checked on Steve.
"I am okay. Just moving slowly." Steve reassured her.
"Take him on home. I will make the calls to Sandow and make copies of the interview to send to Texas and such." Jerry said.
"No, I'll be okay a bit longer." Steve said.
"The doctor said you were to rest a week and you are going to. I will help Jerry as soon as I get back and Seth should be back soon too." Trina insisted. "You shouldn't even be here now."
"Go on, it's easier than upsetting her." Jerry chuckled.
"Okay, Okay…..I know when I am outnumbered." Steve chuckled.
Trina walked slowly with Steve out of the station, knowing that he was still feeling some soreness from his wound. She was proud of all the work he had put in on this case. She made sure he was seated comfortably in the passenger side of her Jeep, then climbed in herself and started the vehicle, heading towards her farm.
"Looks like Otunga is going to try an insanity defense." Trina said.
"Can't blame him. Something is definitely off with a man that gets his kicks from killing woman and admits it gives him intense orgasms." Steve said as she drove.
"I doubt it will work. A lot of serial killers with…strange habits have tried the insanity defense without success. Dahmer, Gacy, DeFeo…of course it has worked enough that it worries me." Trina said.
"I doubt it will work, he knew good and well what he was doing. He was aware enough to take steps to change his identity trying to avoid Windham. He also took steps to avoid being caught here. He is in control of his actions. He even admitted he chooses victims to avoid disease." Steve said. "I am so proud of you."
"I just did what needed to be done." She shrugged. "I couldn't have done a lot of this without you. You helped me not get too involved, helped me stay focused….you have really helped me grow."
"I think Jerry is right…we make a great team." Steve took her hand.
"I think so too." She smiled at him.
Author's Note- Story is almost at an end. I am still up in the air about a sequel but leaning towards doing one even if it is shorter. Also have another story in mind. I might do two at once, who knows. LOL But I can't thank you guys enough for all the support while writing this story. It has been such a great time reading reviews, getting feedback and having great story fans. You guys are awesome and I hope you continue to read my writing after this story ends. Paisley2 (Glad I made you laugh!), Batistasprincess (Isn't Karma great? LOL) Debwood-1999 (I am glad you enjoy the humor I sneak in. I have hopefully written it so that if I decide against the sequel there are no loose ends but set up enough that a sequel will be possible.) jcott3 (That was meant to be semi-gossiping but more like Naomi sharing good news of karma. LOL), carlyrosanna1983 (Yay a vote for a sequel!), XoxoShonKV (Yay, another sequel vote), Lordban (Luckily, this time he doesn't.)