Devil's Rock Read online

  He laughed good-naturedly. “You probably think an old man like me, stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, has never seen a crime scene before.” He tilted his head. “You’d be mostly right. We’re not a high crime area, that’s for sure. But Andi, she’s taken the lead on this. She went to all three sites, she found the bodies. If she says it’s not the murder scene, then I believe her.”

  “That would be Andrea Sullivan, the deputy who showed me in?”

  He nodded. “She’s seen enough horrors in LA. She did say that just because the dump site wasn’t the scene of the murder didn’t mean they weren’t murdered out here somewhere. But this is a pretty vast area. Without a clue as to where, it’d be hard to stumble upon that.”

  “That could very well be, seeing as how they’ve not been able to find the murder scenes yet. Well, they have a possible one in Tucson but they’re waiting on lab results to be sure.”

  “I had Andi e-mail that Agent Collie. She shared that scenario with him. She also sent him a file of some stuff she’d dug up on other unsolved murders. He seemed to think she was out of line for even suggesting that. He didn’t give her serial killer angle much credence, let alone murdered somewhere out here and then dumped someplace else.”

  “Well, Agent Collie is...” A fucker. “He’s not one to take suggestions, really, unless it comes from his boss,” she said as diplomatically as she could. “People have different definitions as to what constitutes a serial killer. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a look at her findings.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said, rummaging on his desk. “I’ve got a copy of it somewhere here.”

  She smiled. “It would be helpful if it was an electronic file, Jim.”

  He laughed. “I guess I’m one of the few who still like to hold paper in my hands.” He got up and opened his door. “Andi? Come on in here.” He turned back to her. “If you need someone in my office to assist you, Andi’s who you want. She’s got the most experience.”

  “Thanks. I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  “What a cutie,” Joey said, his neck still stretched out as he tried to stare into Sheriff Baker’s office.

  “Cutie? That woman would probably break your arm if she heard you say that.”

  “Did you see her biceps? Did you see how her T-shirt clung to everything? Man, I bet she’s got six-pack abs.”

  Andrea smiled. “Trust me, Joey, you’re not her type.”

  “Oh, I know. I saw the way she was looking at you, Andi. But a guy can look, can’t he? I mean, she’s really cute.”

  She shoved her chair back, shaking her head. Cutie? The woman was far too arrogant to be called cute, although Andrea conceded she was attractive. She stood at Sheriff Baker’s door, waiting for them to finish their conversation. He waved her in immediately.

  “Andi, come in. Agent Ross here—”

  “Cameron, please,” the agent said, interrupting him.

  “Cameron, yes. Andi, Cameron wants to read your file. The one you sent to that other agent.”

  Andrea nodded. “I e-mailed Agent Collie a file I’d worked up. He told me I was way out in left field, I believe those were his words.”

  “Yes, well, Collie is an ass,” Agent Ross said bluntly. “I’d be interested to read it.”

  “Okay, sure.” Andrea took the business card Agent Ross handed her, noting the e-mail address as well as cell number.

  “I’ve got a few things to tend to this afternoon, but I’d like to take a look at the dump sites first thing in the morning. Jim said you’d be the one to take me.”

  “Okay. Two are close to town, up Oak Creek Canyon. The other is up on Rim Trail in Sycamore Canyon. We’ll need horses for that one, unless you want to hike eleven miles.” She arched an eyebrow, noting Cameron Ross looked more like a beach bum than an FBI agent. Her hair was thick, sandy blond, her eyes piercing blue, her skin tan. She epitomized the word casual. “You do know how to ride a horse, right?”

  “I can ride pretty much anything, yes.”

  A teasing smile and twinkling blue eyes actually caused Andrea to blush. She hated women who flirted so easily. You could never trust them.

  “No doubt,” she said dryly.

  “What I’d like to do—and Jim, I hope this is okay with you—but I’d like for the three of us to get together for an early dinner and discuss our plan, if you will. That’ll give me a chance to read the file and do a little research myself.”

  Andrea stared at her, then flicked her eyes to Jim. Dinner?

  “That’s fine with me,” Jim said. “Andi? About six? Is that too early?” he asked, glancing at Agent Ross for confirmation.

  “Six is great.” Agent Ross turned those confident blue eyes on her. “Dinner? Six?”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Andrea mumbled, just loud enough for Agent Ross to hear.

  Again, that arrogant smile. “I rarely lose a bet.” She stood, holding her hand out to Jim. “Thanks for your time, Jim. Should we meet here at six or do you have a favorite spot?”

  Jim looked at Andrea, waiting. She sighed. “Steaks? Mexican? Local?”

  “I’m not much for steaks. How about Mexican? As long as I can get a cold beer to go with it and maybe a nice shot of tequila.”

  “Juanita’s Café. It’s off of Eighty-nine, Oak Creek Boulevard.”

  “I’ll find it.” She nodded slightly in her direction. “See you at six.”

  As soon as she left the room, Andrea whipped around, glaring at Jim. “Dinner? You just had to agree to dinner, didn’t you?”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “She bet me a hundred bucks I’d have dinner with her tonight.”

  Jim smiled. “Oh. I see. She was hitting on you?”

  “She’s arrogant. Very conceited.”

  “You think so? I didn’t get that at all. She seemed really nice. Down to earth. Not like most of those FBI agents. What did you call Agent Collie again?”

  “A prick.”

  “Yeah. A prick. I like this girl. Unless of course she’s just blowing smoke up my ass.”

  Andrea wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. While Agent Cameron Ross was nothing if not smooth, she was just a little too smooth. Proof being the effortless way she’d won a hundred dollar bet. Andrea thought it wise to keep her distance from Agent Ross.

  Cameron took a quick tour through town, just trying to familiarize herself with Sedona. Of course, as she relied on her GPS for practically everything, she didn’t know why she bothered. She did find the café they were to meet at later. It looked like a local hangout and not one frequented by tourists. That would be a plus.

  She soon turned back to the south and headed for the rig. She wanted to read through Sullivan’s file on her suspected serial killer before dinner. She was also just a little anxious to get back and see how the kitten had fared. This was the first time it had been left alone.

  After disabling the alarm, she quietly opened the door, not wanting to startle it. The kitten was curled up on the throw blanket on the sofa. It yawned widely, then sat up, stretching out tiny legs.

  “Hey, you,” Cameron said softly. “Miss me?” She scooped it up, cuddling it under her chin, again silently admonishing herself for turning into such a mush ball with the little thing. For never having had a pet, she was sure getting attached to it. She scratched it a few times under its chin then put it back on the sofa.

  Her laptop was where she’d left it and she quickly opened her e-mail, finding the file Andrea Sullivan had sent. Before starting, she went to the fridge and got a water bottle, then sat down next to the kitten. It didn’t take long for the black ball of fur to worm its way onto her stomach. Instead of tossing it back to the blanket—as she’d done yesterday—she scooted the laptop down to her thighs, giving the kitten room to curl up.

  “God, I hope you’re a girl. I’d hate to think I’m falling in love with a boy kitty,” she said, forcing her eyes to the monitor and away from her new friend.
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  Cameron was soon enthralled with the data that Sullivan had assembled. She wouldn’t have had the clearance to do more than superficial searching of the database, so some of it was rudimentary, but still, she was quite impressed with the file she’d put together. She imagined it had taken hours to compile it all.

  Cameron logged in with her credentials, pulling up some of the early cases where Sullivan had only the bare minimum of details. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot else that Cameron could find. Dallas was the only case where DNA was found. It was also going to be the one most helpful. If they could match wounds and knife patterns, then they’d know if Andrea Sullivan was on to something or not. If there was no match, then her angle was wrong and they were dealing with someone other than Patrick Doe.

  She picked up her phone, putting in a call to Agent Collie. She half expected it to go to voice mail so she was surprised to hear his voice.

  “I read over the file from Deputy Sullivan,” she said. “I think it’s quite impressive.”

  “Oh, come on Ross. Get serious. I told you, I’ve already looked it over. It’s crap.”

  “I disagree. I think you should have the ME request the records from Dallas. See if they can match the knife, see if the wounds are similar.”

  “Waste of time, Ross. Even if they are similar, it’s hardly conclusive without DNA. Or at the very least, a weapon to match it with.”

  “I’m not talking about conclusive evidence to use in court, Collie. I’m talking about being able to identify the killer.”

  He laughed, causing Cameron to bite her lip.

  “Identify the killer? As Patrick Doe? Yeah, that helps a lot, Ross. Listen, why don’t you just stick to your thing and I’ll do mine.” He disconnected before Cameron could reply.

  “Asshole. Fucker.” God, I hate that man. She quickly called Murdock, impatiently tapping her fingers.

  “Yeah, Ross. What is it?”

  “I need to get a file to the ME in Phoenix,” she said.

  “Collie is—”

  “A goddamn asshole.”

  He laughed. “Oh. So you’ve already run this by him. Okay, Cameron. What do you need?”

  “There was a case in Dallas about eighteen months ago. The deputy here, Sullivan, pieced together some unsolved cases, pretty much the same MO. I’d like for the ME to examine knife cuts, wounds, and see if it’s the same as the Dallas case.”

  “Okay. Send me what you have. I’ll bypass Collie.”

  “Thanks, Murdock. That’ll prevent me from having to shoot him the next time I see him.”

  Truth was, Collie was right. It would do little good to link the cases. It wouldn’t help them solve this one. But the possibility of identifying a serial killer—one who’s been moving from state to state at will—was enough for her to go over Collie’s head. And it would piss him off that she did.

  Chapter Eight

  “Do you think she got lost?”

  “In this town?”

  Andrea glanced again at her watch. It was only ten after six, but still, the least Agent Ross could do—since this was her idea to begin with—was to be on time. And yes, she was childishly pissed that she’d been forced to accept the dinner invitation.

  “Here she is,” Jim said, waving Ross over to their table.

  “Sorry I’m late. I was doing a little research.” She smiled at Andrea. “Your file was quite impressive, even with your limited access. I took the liberty of expanding the search and came up with a few more possible victims.” She pulled out a chair and joined them. “I also got some more information on the cases you’d targeted. I e-mailed that to you, if you’re interested.”

  “Thank you. Do you think it’s possible that—”

  “Far too early to tell,” she said, interrupting her question. “To be honest, Agent Collie thinks it’s crap, but you already knew that. I’ve requested the ME’s findings in Dallas be sent here for comparison.” She shrugged. “If it’s a match, then we have a suspect. However, seeing as Patrick Doe is just that, an unidentified person, it’s not going to help us all that much.”

  “No. But if we catch him, it’ll bring closure to the unsolved cases in Dallas. And it may lead to tying up these others I found.” Andrea gave a friendly smile to their waitress as she came over. “Hi, Rosa.”

  “Andi. Jim.” She placed a glass of water in front of each of them. “I missed you Saturday night,” she said, her voice low. “We had fun.”

  Andrea nodded. “I had a lot going on. Sorry.”

  “Maybe next time.” She took a step back, assuming a more professional stance. “Drinks? Appetizer?”

  “I’ll have my usual beer,” Andrea said.

  “Me too,” Jim said.

  “Dos Equis, please. With a shot of tequila.” Agent Ross gave Rosa a flirty smile, causing the waitress to blush.

  “Of course. Can I interest you in anything else?”

  Andrea glanced at Jim and rolled her eyes, getting a wink in return. Jim was well aware of Rosa’s intent to date her. Even though Andrea had shown zero interest in her, Rosa continued to ask.

  “That will get us started. Thank you,” Ross said. As soon as Rosa was out of earshot, Cameron grinned at Andrea. “She’s cute. Are you two an item?”

  “No. Not that it’s any of your business,” she added.

  “True.” She took a sip from her water. “Jim said you’d been to all three sites,” she said, changing the subject back to the case.

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re certain they were just the dump site? Is there any possibility that it was the murder scene?”

  Andrea shook her head. “No. Victims with their throats severed like that—there would be a lot of blood. These sites were too clean. In fact, very little blood. There was no evidence of a struggle, no evidence that the victims were dragged. They were placed very carefully, all laid out in a similar pattern.”

  “Please don’t think I’m questioning your ability, Andrea. I just need to be certain.” She paused as Rosa brought their drinks.

  “Here you go,” she said, placing a beer in front of Jim, then Andrea. She saved the Dos Equis and tequila for last, smiling brightly at Agent Ross. “I hope the tequila is to your liking. It’s our best.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Thank you.”

  “I’ll come by a little later to check on you. You’re staying for dinner, I assume?”

  “Yes. But we have some business to discuss first, so we’re in no hurry.”

  Rosa nodded. “Let me know if you need another drink.” She smiled slightly at Andrea, and Andrea wondered if Rosa thought she was making her jealous by fawning all over Agent Ross.

  As soon as she left, Ross was all business again.

  “Do you have exact locations of all the bodies?”

  “What do you mean? Can I find the spot again?”

  “Longitude. Latitude,” she explained. “I’ll need exact locations. I don’t know which algorithm I’ll use. For that matter, I’m not sure what data to use.”

  “I don’t understand,” Andrea said. Algorithm? What the hell?

  “My assignment isn’t actually to try to find the killer,” she said.

  “Then what the hell are you doing here?”

  Agent Ross looked at Jim. “I’m sorry. I thought I explained—”

  “You did. I didn’t fill Andi in. My fault.”

  Andrea glanced between them, waiting for one of them to explain. Agent Ross downed her shot of tequila first, following that with a large sip of her beer. She cleared her throat.

  “Good stuff,” she said. “Excellent tequila.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Andrea murmured, quickly losing her patience.

  But Ross laughed and pushed her beer aside. “My job is to find some sort of pattern in the dump sites using an algorithm. The FBI has spent a lot of money and research time developing several different equations.”

  “So you’re like a math geek or something?”

  The agent
laughed again. “Hardly. My training has been to enter the data then decipher the results. How it all works, I don’t have a clue.”

  “And how exactly is this going to help with this case?”

  “Well, ideally, you would get other potential sites and you would use the one with the highest probability.”

  “Are you serious? And what? Catch him in the act?”

  “That would be the plan, yes. Providing the group in Phoenix doesn’t catch him first.”

  “And that’s Agent Collie?”

  “Yes.”

  “So that’s the plan?” Andrea put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I don’t know much about math, and I know nothing about algorithms, but I’d guess you’d need more than three sites to hope to get a pattern.”

  “Yes. The more data you have, obviously the more accurate the results are.”

  Jim, who had been quietly sipping his beer as he watched the exchange, finally spoke. “No offense, Cameron, but this plan seems a little high-tech for Sedona. And like Andi, I don’t know anything about your algorithm stuff—in fact, I don’t even know what an algorithm is—but just because your computer can tell you the next potential dump site, doesn’t mean it’s true. A killer may be a poor excuse for a human being, but he’s still that—human. Something could come up. He could change his mind at the last minute. Anything. And we’re sitting somewhere with our heads up our asses waiting on him and he goes someplace different.” He drank the last of his beer. “Just my opinion, of course.”

  “I understand. In fact, I used to think the same way. But when it works, it works.” She too, finished off her beer. “Like I said, that’s my assignment. And until Collie and his team can find a murder scene, can find some evidence, then there’s nothing much else to do.”

  “So Collie has a team? Why don’t you?”

  “I work alone,” she said. “Besides, I was offered your services.”