Chapter Thirty – There's A Ghost In My Lungs That Softly Speaks

While Olivia waited for back up, she managed to find the number for Charles's vet. She quickly dialled, explained who she was and the urgency of the situation. The vet, a tall round woman with kind eyes, arrived before backup did. Charles tried to get to his feet again, his tail wagging in greeting. The vet offered Olivia her hand as she went to kneel beside Charles.

"I'm Violet by the way. Charles, what have you been up to young man?"

The tail started again and Charles licked he hand as she stroked him. She spoke to him gently as she examined the burn to his neck.

"Looks like a stun gun of some sort. In a smaller dog, that kind of thing would have killed them. Thankfully, Charles here is made of harder stuff. So what is it you need?"

"The evidence in his mouth. He bit the person who took Fiona."

Violet frowned.

"It was Cullen, wasn't it?"

Olivia nodded.

"How do you know that?"

"When Charles first bit him, he sent through a request to my office to support his petition to have him put down. The funny thing is, Charles has no issue with anyone else. In order for Charles to bite or to show any kind of aggression, you have to do something that he perceives as a threat. And Cullen was it."

Violet extracted some long handled tweezers from her medical bag, one that reminded Olivia of Walter, before turning back to Olivia.

"Can you hold his mouth open?"

Olivia nodded and carefully held open Charles's mouth, watching as Violet carefully extracted the material, placing it in a medical back. She then scrapped at Charles's teeth, getting some of the blood there. She frowned.

"You'll find his DNA in that blood sample too. Looks like the shock caused him to bite his tongue."

"Thank you."

"Oh and this?"

Violet waved the bag slightly at Olivia.

"Looks more like skin then cloth."

"Olivia!"

Peter came busting into the room, his face tense. He took in her, the vet and Charles, whose tail had started up again, and released a breath. He looked at Olivia, examining her face.

"You ok?"

Olivia shrugged.

"Fine. Did Astrid run the name?"

"Yeah. Luka Oliver was the little girl that A.J miscarried."

"We have to find her stone."

Olivia turned back to Violet.

"Could you please take Charles back with you to the clinic?"

Violet nodded.

"Sure. It's closed for the night but I can take him home. He needs a bit of love and attention after this."

Violet packed up her supplies and Peter gently picked Charles up and took him back outside, placing him in the back of Violet's car. Olivia gave his ears one last stroke before watching Violet drive away with him. With that done and with the crime scene people now starting to process the house, her and Peter got into her truck.

"How did you even get here?"

"Hitched a ride with the back-up."

"Where is she buried?"

Peter sighed.

"Rose Valley Cemetery."

"Ok."

Olivia swung her way through traffic. She could feel Peter watching her.

"Do you have a plan for this?"

Olivia shrugged.

"To do exactly what he asks. To find him before he can hurt A.J or Fiona."

"How?"

"Not sure yet. But it will be alone. Otherwise, they are both dead. And I didn't come this far to let that kind of shit happen."

Olivia glanced at Peter as she paused at a set of lights. He was thinking about something.

"What?"

"That's why she locked up her writing."

"Sorry?"

"Mike must have looked at it. She kept her writing under lock and key, remember?"

Olivia nodded slowly, the pieces gliding into place. She had been seeing the parts, not the entire puzzle. Cullen had gotten to Brookes through Alfonso. He had everything he had needed in just the information that A.J had gathered. He would have seen that she was doubting Alfonso's story and used it for his own advantage.

"Why not just kill her?"

"Because suspicion would have fallen on him."

"But who would doubt it if she showed up looking like a serial killer's victim?"

"Precisely."

"A hand's free murder. But what changed? He said that she was still alive. Why would Brookes keep her alive?"

Peter chewed his lip as he thought. When he suddenly slapped his hand on the glove compartment, Olivia jumped. He turned to her, his eyes flashing.

"Her writing!"

"You've lost me."

"Heather said serial killers are arrogant sons of bitches. Alfonso wasn't playing the part right. And Brookes wanted to make sure she knew the truth."

"So he took her."

Peter nodded.

"It makes sense. But how did he communicate with Alfonso?"

Peter shrugged.

"No idea."

When the big, tall gates of the cemetery came into view, the conversation stilled. Olivia, rather morbidly, found cemetery's peaceful. Everything stopped here. The normal sounds of the world didn't seem to apply here. She pulled up and with directions from Peter, it was fairly easy to find the tiny grave. It was simple, just a stone with gold writing.

"Luka Jane Oliver."

"Pretty name."

Olivia moved closer, frowning as she spotted a small piece of white sticking out from under a vase of cloth flowers. She glanced at Peter before leaning forward and carefully extracting it.

Toplands Cove.

Olivia frowned.

"What the hell is Toplands Cove?"

Peter's lips were pinched in a tight line.

"I know where that is."

"Where?"

"The old train tracks. It's not far from them."

Olivia tucked the note in her pocket and strode to the truck, talking to Peter as she went.

"Heather said that serial killers tend to live around the area of their killing ground. I just never thought it would be that close."

"Makes sense."

She was about to start the truck when her phone rang. She paused, glancing at the screen.

"Dunham."

"It's Broyles. We did an urgent run on the samples from Jeremiah's car."

"And?"

"According to Walter, six of the samples from the bodies match. He hasn't finished with the other victims."

"So we can keep him?"

"Until he explains the DNA, yes."

"Good. We are heading back to headquarters. We know where Cullen is."

"Where?"

"Toplands Cove."

"Ok. Get back here and we'll get some agents together."

"He wants me alone."

"We can't always get what we want."

"He'll kill A.J and Fiona if he sees anyone else. And from what I can remember of the tracks, it will be a little hard to hide that I have back up."

Broyles let out a huff of air.

"Well, you aren't going in alone."

Olivia finally hit on something that could work.

"I think I know how we can do this."

"How?"

"The wonders of modern technology."