Folks,
I'm super anxious about this chapter. It's darker than almost anything I've written before. Trigger warnings are listed at the end of the chapter so as not to give anything away in the plot for those of you who don't want to know. For those of you who do, please look for my bolded note at the end of the chapter. Review and let me know what you think good and bad.
When they got to Grange Park Sam Swarek was standing over what Gail could tell was a body. As she got closer, Gail could see that the body was naked. Sam stood in front of her, and spoke lowly, "Peck, you don't want to see this. Nobody is going to think less of you if you step away from this."
"I can handle it."
"Gail, I can barely handle it and she doesn't look like anyone I love," Sam reached out to hold her shoulders but stopped himself in time.
She squared her shoulders and stepped around him into something beyond her worse nightmares. Holly, no it's not Holly, lay on the ground. Naked. Broken. Tortured. The woman lying on the ground matched Holly's description - same height, same weight, and same beautiful brown hair. Her face was beaten so badly that if Gail hadn't known Holly was behind her pulling her forensic kit out of the SUV, she'd have dropped to the ground sobbing. Gail closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She pushed everything down. Everything bubbling up to the surface she pushed it down ruthlessly. She walked close to the body and knelt down, taking everything in, writing it in her mind. Cuts along her arms, legs, torso, hands and feet. Fingers broken. Bruising along her upper thighs. Most likely raped. This victim hadn't been washed. She was bloody still and her abdomen held another message. Gail, she was a poor substitute for Dr. Stewart but I'll see her soon enough. All my love, Ross.
Gail stood up and walked behind a row of bushes and did something she'd never done at a crime scene before. She puked. Everything she'd been trying to push down, everything she'd failed at, came bubbling up to the surface so fast she hadn't been able to stop it. If Perik and Stapleton had been able to abduct Holly, that would have been Holly lying there. She threw up again. She tried slowing her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Slower. In…Out…In…Out. She wiped her mouth with her fingers and stood up. Traci was there with a bottle of water. She nodded gratefully and took a drink.
"If it makes you feel any better, I almost joined you back there," Traci said with a cheerless smile.
"It doesn't. Somebody has to hold it together," Gail responded.
"Holly looks to be doing that for all of us. She's insisting that they let her do the preliminary exam and the autopsy."
"Over my dead body."
"No, she's already done that. Now, she wants to do it over hers."
Gail began to stalk over toward Holly who was now crouched next to the body. Ryan stepped in her path. "I know what you're going to try to do. Don't. She's fine. She needs to do this."
"She shouldn't have to do this," Gail said.
"She needs this. Let her do it. She's the best I've ever seen. Let her do what she can to catch them."
"She shouldn't be doing this. This was meant to be her. This has to be freaking her out."
"Less than you'd think. She's holding it together way more than she did when the bodies looked like you."
"I don't care!"
"It's not your job to take care of Holly. It's mine," Ryan stared at her. Gail stared back. "Gail, I didn't mean…I'm s…"
"It's nothing," Gail walked away.
Ryan had argued with what she thought was every conceivable official in the Canadian government except the Prime Minister. She'd gladly go a round with him if she thought he'd make sure Holly and her team had access to the body. She'd even called her bosses in San Francisco. They'd called D.C. and someone, somewhere, had tipped the scales. So Holly was in the autopsy suite with another M.E. and together they would process the body. She figured she could live with the compromise. She understood their concerns, but Holly really was more okay with this than when the bodies had looked like Gail. She seemed to be fearless now.
She thought back to her conversation with Gail. She didn't mean to hurt her. She just needed her to back off. This was the first time since she'd known Holly that she seemed remotely okay. She didn't need Gail giving Holly a hard time when she'd finally gotten her feet under her. She'd make it up to Gail. They were all running on adrenaline and caffeine at this point. Feelings were bound to be running high as well. Yesterday, she'd nearly taken Holly's head off, and today she was so blunt with Gail that she got her to walk away. She couldn't be sure, but she felt like she'd hurt Gail. She knew better. Maybe she'd buy her some decent tequila like she had promised when they first met. Yeah. She'd do that, or donuts. Donuts would work too. She'd seen Gail eat six without taking a breath. Two dozen might start off an apology right.
In the middle of her pondering which bakery to use, Brandon came into the lab with some reports. Ryan took them and said, "Have you made any headway with Holly's phone?"
"It looks like it was copied about nine months ago. We think data was downloaded then but we don't think they had access to calls and texts after that though. Whoever did it was very good. So there's no way to trace where the information went afterward."
"Goddammit." She examined the other reports quickly. "It looks like there isn't any more information here than there was yesterday."
He looked down at his shoes and said, "That's because there isn't. Except Stapleton's address in San Fran and we sent that to the team there. They are staking it out for 24 hours before they move."
"Special Agent Bishop, unless you want Dr. Stewart on that table for real in there, you'll get me more information. She was a flight attendant for God's sake! I want to know every time she's crossed the border in the last two years. Every. Fucking. Time. I want to know how she managed to communicate with Perik. I want to know how they managed to work Perik's escape. They're in this together. You know it, and I know it."
She took a deep steadying breath and continued, "I want to know everything there is to know about both of them. I want to know what his favorite type of ice cream is. I want to know where she went to elementary school. I want every piece of information I can get on them. If you can't get it for me, I'll call Quantico and get some pre-pubescent eager beaver up here to do it for you and Agent Trask. Do I make myself clear?"
He straightened up, looked her in the eye, and said, "Crystal, Ma'am."
"Good. I need it yesterday."
"Yes Ma'am," he said and turned on his heel on his way out the door.
Holly stood, scalpel in hand, next to Harry Smith, the official M.E. on the case. Apparently, it was frowned upon to do an unsupervised autopsy on someone who looked like you with your name carved on them. Never mind that she was fine. This, she could handle. The women who looked like Gail, tortured her. This. This poor woman who, Holly had to admit, bore a close resemblance to her, only peaked her curiosity. She still felt the same amount of empathy that she did for all the dead that crossed her table but no more than that. Strange. She supposed that it was, if not scientific, at least anecdotal proof that she loved Gail more than she loved herself.
Smith's voice broke into her thoughts. "Dr. Stewart, I said, if you want, I can do the Y incision."
"No thank you, Dr. Smith. I'd prefer to do it myself."
"If you need another moment, there's nothing wrong with that. This has to be, at the very least, disconcerting." He looked at her kindly.
"It is, a bit, but…never mind. Thank you for allowing me to do this under your supervision instead of making me an observer." She nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement of his kindness.
"I know what it's like to be so invested in a case. You've been on this killer's trail for quite some time. I expect you know what you're looking for, and I know what it is to be forced to the sidelines. Call it professional courtesy."
Holly examined his weathered face, framed by dark sandy blonde hair and asked, "Did you get yours?"
"We did, but not before he killed a dozen women over a two year period and over three provinces. I had to beg to even be part of the team. I'm still convinced that I could have saved some evidence. Perhaps saved lives if they'd let me be more a part of the investigation in the other provinces."
Holly nodded at him in acknowledgement. "Well, let's hope that given this opportunity, I can take advantage of it."
"Let's hope, dear," he said as she began the incision.
Hours later, Holly was closing under Dr. Smith's supervision when Ryan entered the autopsy suite. All the samples had been sent to the various techs who were now working fervently to get answers. This body had been a treasure trove of forensic evidence. Holly had collected what she was sure was semen. She'd taken teeth impressions of bite marks on the shoulders. She'd measured bruising along the ankles and wrists where the victim had struggled against her bonds. She had been brutalized and then tossed away like garbage. A pawn for them to find in this deadly game. Holly was going to make sure that her sacrifice meant something. Ryan walked close to the table and observed the last of Holly's stitching.
"What can you tell me?" Ryan asked.
"She was not washed. She was brutally raped. I collected what I'm calling semen, unless the lab says otherwise, from her. She was most likely conscious throughout due to the bruising around her bonds where she struggled to free herself. Preliminary tox screen was clear except for epinephrine."
"Epinephrine?"
"Adrenaline. I have a theory."
"A theory. That sounds dangerously close to guessing."
"I have a theory based on the evidence we've collected thus far," Holly almost huffed.
"So tell me your theory," Ryan grinned. It was good. The banter was good. Oddly, it kept them focused.
"She was conscious throughout until she passed out from the pain. They used the epi to revive her. See the puncture wounds here? So that they could continue to torture her."
"Jesus. What else?"
"Dr. Smith and I collected two distinct bite mark impressions from the victim's shoulders. We've photographed it using a new 3D photography technique which should be more accurate."
"So he bit her twice?"
"No, they were distinctly different impressions." At Ryan's blank look Holly clarified, "I'm telling you that there were two different biters."
"They both raped her?"
"That's my theory."
"Anything else?" Ryan pulled her hands through her hair a gesture Holly recognized as frustration mixed with disgust.
"She was gagged. See the bruising around her mouth and her cheeks? They had to keep her quiet. So maybe where she was kept there was at least a small fear of discovery."
"Okay, that's something to work with at least."
"She's different than the others. It feels similar but it was different. The others were washed afterward and wrapped carefully. She was thrown away, used and unimportant. She was a means to an end for them. I got enough trace off of her to keep the lab busy for hours possibly even days."
"When can we have the preliminary reports?"
"If we work through the night, mid-morning."
"Alright. I'll let the team know. Do you need anything?
"Caffeine but I think Dr. Smith and I can manage that on our own."
"I'm increasing your protection."
"Ryan…"
"Holly. Cleve is going to take the night shift. I'm going to go over to 15 with what you have so far. Work with Luke, Traci, Sam and Gail," Ryan said and saw Holly's façade of calm professionalism crack.
"Do you know if…"
"I don't know how she's doing but when I go over I'll check for you. Want me to text you? Or should I pass you a note in class?"
"You're an ass and the boys still have my phone."
"They're done with it. Data copy done about nine months ago but only whatever was on your phone then. Nothing since."
"Well, I guess I should be thankful for that at least. About Gail, I'm just…"
"I know. Tell you what, I owe Peck some donuts. I'll take over a bribe. That'll probably make her feel better no matter what is happening."
Holly inhaled and closed her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."
"It's not a problem. It's kinda my job," Ryan said as she flashed Holly her most charming smile.
When Holly was finally able to get to the conference room the next morning, she saw Gail clutching a box of donuts like her life depended on it. She looked around for Ryan. She said quietly to her, "You didn't give her a box of a dozen donuts for herself, did you?"
"What?! Noo!" Ryan said, her face a failed mask of innocence.
"Ryan Parker! Did you give Gail a dozen donuts?" Holly narrowed her eyes. "It was more wasn't it?"
"Look, it made her less grumpy. It was better for everyone involved."
"Save Gail's blood sugar."
"We all have to make sacrifices."
"Hmm."
Oliver called them all to attention and ended any further disagreement Holly could offer. "Alright. Listen up." Traci, Sam, Luke, Gail, Ryan, Brandon, Marc, and Holly all looked at him and gave him their undivided attention. "Yesterday's raid on the apartment didn't really get us what we were hoping for. We have some photographs and some known associate interviews and that's about it."
Ryan added, "Brandon and Marc were able to determine that Holly's phone had a data copy done about nine months ago but they don't believe that they still have access."
Oliver nodded at the information. "So then we have the body. Dr. Stewart?"
Holly began, "We were able to identify her as Denise Lambert. I sent that information over to the detectives last night."
"Yeah, she was a nurse, worked in an urgent care clinic. She hadn't even been reported missing yet," Sam said ruefully.
Holly began to carefully go through the forensic data, most of it, she'd already laid out for Ryan. The lab confirmed that it was semen and it matched Ross Perik's DNA which was on file. She watched the anger on the detectives faces, watched the FBI cyber guys try to act like they weren't shocked and disgusted. She did have one more piece of information. Something that had even shocked her. "The lab checked all the body fluid evidence we found. We cross-referenced anything with the hair we'd already found to see if anything matched."
"Did it?" Luke asked.
"No, but it was a familial match."
"A what?" Traci said.
"A close relative."
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Sam said.
After a moment, Oliver put his tongue in the side of his cheek, and said, "Okay folks. We're gonna get 'em. Sammy, you and McNally are on today. Go tell her, and have her be your partner today. Nash, Peck and Callahan, go home and get some sleep for a few hours. We have every available officer out looking for them. You all have been on for over 24 hours. Come at this fresh tomorrow."
"Oliver," Gail began.
"Not a word, my petulant Peck. Not a word," Oliver said and Gail pressed her lips together in a tight line. "I mean it, Peck." She narrowed her eyes further but said nothing.
Gail continued to stew as she was escorted to her apartment. The two officers cleared the apartment and said the same thing they always said. "We'll be out in the patrol car if you need us. We can see your door from our spot. We'll be doing random patrols in the complex throughout the night. Just call if you need us."
Gail managed a "thank you" that she didn't think sounded snarky.
Gail took off her service weapon and put it on the coffee table. She left on her light jacket. She was cold. She didn't know if it really was getting cooler or if she was just in a little bit of shock. She took out her notebook and began looking through it but realized that her eyes were so tired she couldn't read it. She turned on the television. She couldn't concentrate. She was restless. She'd much rather be working on trying to find these maniacs. Waiting was nerve-wracking.
She'd been home about two hours when she fixed herself a late lunch and opened a beer. Halfway through it, she realized something was very wrong. She had just enough time to hear her locks being picked. She tried to stand, get to her gun, but her legs gave way. She looked up from the floor to see Megan Stapleton standing above her.
"Gail, it's so nice to meet you at last. Uncle Ross will be so pleased." Then everything went black.
Trigger Warnings for mentions of rape, abduction, torture, and incest.