She'd also mentioned Cheyenne had been abducted and asked the public to notify the FBI if they knew or heard of anything that may lead to her safe return and the capture of the serial offender.
Last night, Shaun had questioned the two officers who were supposed to have kept an eye on the house. They had told him there was a report of a domestic abuse down the street, and since they were the nearest unit, they went to check it out.
The report turned out to be false.
By the time they returned, Cheyenne must have already been taken.
Shaun was looking into the nine-one-one call.
Aidan began studying the photo album the offender had left for him. He went through the FBI database and scrolled through the cold cases to see if anything matched the victims in the album.
So far, he came across a few of the faces he recognized throughout his career. They were all murdered in 2003 or 2005. The interesting thing was that the cold cases Aidan matched weren’t said to have been tased. Strangled, yes, but not tased. And although they were strangled, they weren’t strangled by a thin wire. The reports suggested the killer had used something to the effect of a stocking.
And the very first victim was stabbed. The crime scene photos showed blood staining the walls and sheets. The next five victims had been beaten and then strangled with bare hands. Aidan could see the prominent finger marks wrapped around their necks. The fourth one started with the stockings and that lasted until 2003. The wires came after, and when the year 2006 rolled around, he’d stuck with the wires and started using a taser.
It was unusual for a serial offender to change the way they committed murder, but not unheard of. Although there were typical ways a killer killed, the sky’s the limit.
But Aidan kept wondering why the sudden changes in MO? Was he bored with his methods of torture and killings? Did they become close to catching him at some point, so he decided to rise as someone completely new?
Aidan considered why he stepped out of his comfort zone to take Cheyenne.
From the get-go, The Carnations Killer wanted his attention, even if Aidan didn’t realize it until a few years ago.
Well.
If he didn’t have it before, he had it now.
“You okay?”
Aidan looked up to see Shaun looming over his desk.
“I’m fine.”
He grabbed a chair from the empty cubicle nearby and sat at the desk, all the while gazing at Aidan. Shaun shook his head.
“I don’t believe you.”
Aidan gave him a weak smile, hoping it would assure him he was fine.
Shaun's lips turned down in a frown. “Are you sure you’re up for this, Aidan?”
Sighing, Aidan leaned back in his chair.
Instead of answering him, he told him about the call the night before. Shaun’s eyes grew with curiosity as he listened with intent.
After Aidan told him about the texts, Shaun cursed and drew in a heavy breath.
“Did you ask for a trace of the call?”
“First thing I did this morning before I took the shower. I’m waiting on the techs now. Chances are it was a burner. But with any luck, we’ll be able to pinpoint where the call was made.”
Aidan tapped his pen against the edge of his desk with a despondent sigh as Shaun continued to scrutinize him.
“Everything will be fine. I’m going to find Cheyenne, and I’m going to find the offender.”
Shaun hesitated, and opened his mouth, then closed it as though he wanted to speak, but thought better of it.
“What? Go ahead and say whatever you’re thinking. Tell me you think I’m not capable of focusing on work.”
“Look, it’s not that,” Shaun replied. “But you can’t treat Cheyenne as your girlfriend. She’s going to have to be another—”
“Stop.” Aidan held his palm in the air. “Just stop.”
Aidan flipped the photo album shut and sat straight in his chair. He ran a hand through his hair.
“Don’t talk to me about Cheyenne, okay? Let’s move on. Now, I’ve matched a good amount of the victims in the album he left us,” he said. He mentioned the differences in the murders. “I’ve marked them, but we’ll have to scan the others into the database and see if we can find any matches for the others. I've already started contacting the local police departments. They’re sending over some of their cold case files.”
Shaun leaned over and grabbed the album. “I’ll take a look at this. Monroe wants to speak with you.”
Aidan watched as he walked away, and then headed to the special agent-in-charge's office. When he arrived, he knocked and opened the door when he heard her tell him to enter.
Monroe flipped a folder shut and opened her file cabinet. After thumbing through her confidential files, she slipped the folder in its slot and turned back to Aidan, muttering something underneath her breath, then rolled her chair to the side.
“Have a seat, Agent O’Reilly. Would you like coffee?”
“Please,” he said, as she grabbed two Styrofoam cups and began pouring the coffee.
As she did so, Aidan told her about the phone call and texts from the night before, and that they were in the process of tracing it.
She nodded as she set a cup in front of him and began to sip from hers.
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
Aidan wondered if she was going to insist he go home and take a few days. He knew she wanted him to, but he hoped that wasn’t the case. He wanted nothing more than to keep his promise to Cheyenne’s killer: be there
