Before the Dawn(49)

The man looked the exact same way. He exhaled. "Red is dead."

Shock beat through her body.

"When Tucker found him, Red had been stabbed in the chest and in the throat."

She forced her knees to stiffen. For a moment there, it had almost felt as if they wanted to give way.

"When Tucker got to him, Red was still alive, but the guy only lasted for mere seconds."

Dawn shook her head. "That's...that's not how Jason kills."

Bowen blinked at her. "Jason?"

Oh, shit. I slipped up. I'm not supposed to say that I think Jason is still out there. People think I'm crazy when I say stuff like that. Even Tucker didn't believe me. "That's not how the Iceman kills." Her words were very careful now. "He's never attacked a man. And he doesn't leave his victims behind. He lets them die in the freezer."

Bowen stared at her. "Maybe he didn't have an option this time. If he realized Red could identify him, then he would have needed to get rid of the guy right away."

Another death. "Why is this happening? After all these years, why now?" Just when she'd gotten her life together. Just when she'd found a place-people-that she could truly connect with. It seemed as if everything was falling apart.

"Our unit won't give up." Bowen's tone was flat. "Know that. Agent Dark is right when she says that our personal ties to killers are strengths. We understand just how devastating their attacks can be...and we know that victims need justice."


      ///
       
         
       
        

She couldn't just stand there with him any longer. "Excuse me. I'm...I'm tired." She brushed past him, made sure her steps were certain. Steady.

She shut the bedroom door behind her with a soft click.

Jinx. Red. Heather Hartley. Her lips trembled. And she let herself cry there, alone in the dark.

* * *

"ANOTHER BODY FOR JULIA." Anthony gave a sad shake of his head. "I did not want the night to end this way. We needed Red to ID the perp."

The body had been taken away. The blood had been washed from Tucker's hands. Police lights still swirled at the scene, but the other folks at the motel had finally gone back into their rooms.

No one had seen anything. No one had heard anything. In that kind of place, folks tended to mind their own business. If you heard a strange sound, you didn't investigate.

And that meant a man died.

"How'd the perp know Red was in that room?" Anthony suddenly asked him. "I talked to the desk clerk. He said you didn't even come inside when you arrived..."

Tucker rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the heavy tension that had gathered there. "The door to room number 104 was open. It worried me, so I went to check it out." His gaze slid to Anthony. "That's when I found our guy." But the perp had been long gone. Damn it.

"You know this could be unrelated." Anthony put his hands on his hips. "Our homeless community is pretty big. Dawn gave the guy one hundred dollars. Maybe Red told the wrong person about that cash. I didn't see it in his room. Maybe it was just a robbery gone wrong and not the copycat we're after."

"Red was a witness. He told Dawn what he saw and hours later, he's dead." Tucker didn't move. "I'm not buying that as a coincidence."

"But it doesn't fit the killer's MO. I mean, I get that I'm just some detective to you, but I read those case files. The Iceman doesn't attack this way-"

"MOs can change. Especially when circumstances demand that change." He was certain on this. "Red saw the killer, and now he's dead."

Anthony sighed. "Did Red say anything to you? I mean-"

Tucker gave a bitter laugh. "Hard to talk when your voice box is gone." Such a sad fucking waste. "He didn't get the chance to say anything." 

Anthony looked a little green, but after a few deep breaths, he said, "There was a lot of blood spatter in there. Maybe the perp left evidence behind we can use."

Their techs were combing over the scene right then. "Maybe." Had Bowen already told Dawn? She'd wanted to come with him to the motel, but he'd been afraid the killer would be there. Waiting. Looking for her.

But the killer beat me here.

"Who gave you the tip on this place?" Anthony asked him.

"Jones." And they'd be talking to him. Seeing if the guy had mentioned Red's location to anyone else. This shouldn't have happened.

Crime scene tape fluttered in the faint breeze.

The killer was moving too fast, striking too quickly. Almost taunting them. The perp was confident and determined, and the attack on Red proved that he wasn't afraid to make a kill right under the nose of the authorities.