Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(70)

“Best guess, Tobi was his first kill. Tobi was intoxicated, he lured her to the hayloft, and something went wrong. Maybe she was inebriated. He wasn’t getting the jolt of fear he hoped from his rape victims, so he graduated to strangulation. God knows how long it went on.”

Nevada studied the woman’s pale features. “She looks like Tobi.”

“I know. Any word from Bennett on the roommate?”

“Not yet.” His gaze skimmed the area around them. “Why leave her out for us? There’s enough open land around here to ensure a body wouldn’t be found for weeks, months, or even years.”

“You know the answer to that,” she said. “He saw the press conference, and he wants you to know he’s here and still a force to be reckoned with.”

Macy rose, wincing a little as her right knee groaned. She walked around the body, searching for something that would make her better understand this killer. “How he is perceived matters to him. He values his reputation.”

“I see a monster,” Nevada said.

“No argument here. But the nuances matter to him,” Macy said. “If it’s the same killer, he’s matured in the last fifteen years. He’s craving a greater challenge. When stalking didn’t satisfy him, he raped. And when that wasn’t enough, he killed. I’ll bet money he’s killed in other jurisdictions.”

“In the moments when he has his victim all to himself, he’s everything to her,” he said, almost to himself.

“And when he takes life, he sees himself as a winner. And when he gets away with a crime, he wins yet again.”

“Leaving this body here is going to make it easier for us to catch him.”

“He’s upped the stakes of the game,” Macy said. “He keeps raising the stakes. I’m almost certain he’s gotten away with other rapes or murders. And now he craves a greater challenge to prove he deserves the win.” She shook her head as the insects buzzed around her.

Boots crunched on the gravel behind her as Bennett walked up. She stared at the body, unable to take her eyes off of it.

“What is it?” Macy asked.

“I went by to check on Debbie Roberson. She was packing to spend the night at her parents’ house. But her roommate, Beth Watson, was still not at home, so I asked Debbie for a picture. I snapped copies with my phone.” She turned her phone around to reveal the stern, unsmiling face of a young woman in her late teens. Macy glanced at the body.

It matched the image on the deputy’s phone.

“He wasn’t watching Debbie, but Beth,” Nevada said.

“He could have been stalking them both, but Debbie went out of town unexpectedly,” Macy said.

“Leaving Beth behind,” Bennett said.

As they studied the body and the area immediately around it, the sun rose just as the state’s forensic van crested the road and parked in front of the sheriff’s vehicle. Two technicians exited. Both were dressed in dark-blue slacks and gray shirts with the Commonwealth of Virginia emblem over the right breast pocket.

Nevada ducked back under the yellow tape and strode toward them. He introduced himself, and the three spoke briefly before the technicians began to unload their equipment.

Bennett stared at the body, her face an ashen color.

“You’ve worked death investigations before, correct?” Macy asked.

“Car accidents, a meth lab explosion, and a convenience store robbery. Nothing as evil as this.”

Macy stared at the rolling hills around them, covered in a fresh carpet of fall leaves. “Easy to think it can’t come to a remote and beautiful place like this. But it’s always here. In fact, it never left.”

“Do you think he’s gotten wiser regarding DNA?” Bennett asked.

“DNA is what tied his rape cases to Tobi Turner’s murder. It’s his signature. If it truly is the same guy, and he left Beth Watson out here to be found, he’s left DNA on the body to be found. He wants us to know it’s him.”

A rumble of noise washed over the growing crowd, and Bennett turned and immediately muttered a curse only Macy could hear. “Greene is here.”

“It’s the biggest case this part of the state has seen in years. You should have expected it.”

Greene wore khakis, a white shirt, a windbreaker, and a white Stetson. He could have passed for law enforcement, and she guessed that was exactly the kind of look he wanted to project.

“Has he always worn the hat?” Macy asked.

“Nope. That’s a new look,” Bennett said.

“Riding in to the rescue?” Macy asked.

Bennett glowered. “I’m sure he sees it that way.”

Macy had juggled her share of local politics. The actors might vary, but the basic dynamics were the same. Everyone thought their way was the best. Everyone wanted to look their best. Including the perpetrators.

And honestly, Macy wasn’t so different than the former sheriff. She wanted to solve this case herself. She wanted the win in her column.

Bennett glared at Greene. “There was a time I really believed in that guy. I still want to. But when I think about those kits under the carpet, I question everything I knew about him.”

“And he lost because of what he did. But for now, don’t alienate Greene,” Macy said. “He knows this county better than anyone. One day soon he might come in handy.”