The Tower

These killings were his worst fears confirmed. Allander had spent his years in jail developing an elaborate fantasy, and these deaths were the result. This was not an immature murder. Younger, inexperienced killers start with older women, prostitutes, or kids. Easy to target, easy to isolate, easy to dominate. That's where Allander had been when he'd first gone to jail at the age of eighteen. But he had matured since then, Jade thought. Matured into a master killer.

His feet sank in the thick carpet as he made his way back to the living room. He noticed two brown lines on the love seat, edges of foot marks. The bloody letters remained on the window. The woman's body lay crookedly beside the man's, her stomach open in a bloody gash. Jade heard Thomas's words rolling around in his head: One foot still in the womb, so to speak.

He mumbled to himself and wandered back into the foyer. The other agents looked at him expectantly.

"You. What's your name?" Jade asked, pointing at one of the younger agents.

"Daniel Harris," he said nervously. After a short pause, he added, "Dan."

"I figured. Check for the toolbox. See if there's a hammer missing."

"Where would it be?" he asked.

"You're an FBI agent. Figure it out. Start with the garage."

Dan looked angrily at his colleagues before leaving the room.

Travers walked in from the back bedroom. "Still working on those people skills, Marlow?"

Jade turned to her. "The girl. Leah. She didn't talk to him much, did she? The kids were scared and quiet."

Travers looked at him, surprised. "Yes. That's what she said. Why?"

"Because they lived. As for the woman, magnet on the refrigerator says 'Ask Mom, She's the Boss.' Next-door neighbor described her as the ice queen of the decade. Exact words.

"Check the bedroom. Phone ripped out of the socket, traces of blood. Both wounds on the woman are from the hammer. She woke up in bed, saw Allander, and threw the phone at him. She was tough. She would've reacted tough. She scared him, so he killed her.

"Look at the marks on the love seat. Marks from his dirty feet. He killed the parents, dragged them out here, then stood on the sofa and looked down on them. Got the upper hand, so to speak.

"The kids both lived. He must have felt complete control over them. He wouldn't kill them if they were completely nonthreatening. Nothing for the anger to grab hold of. Plus, it wouldn't be a challenge. He's after a challenge here."

Travers nodded.

"Bullshit," an agent in the foyer said. "He's a fucking coward. Held little kids hostage."

"A coward," Jade repeated, shaking his head. "He's cold, hasn't eaten, just broke out of a prison and swum to shore in freezing water. He walks up to a house and takes it on. Full frontal assault. No idea who's in here. Do you know the balls that takes?"

The room was silent for a moment before Jade continued. "If he was a coward, he would've just beaten an old lady to death and I wouldn't be bothering with this case. You clowns could handle it yourself. We're dealing with a powerful mind here, Agent."

Dan stumbled through the front door. "Found the toolbox out in the shed to the side of the house. He definitely went through it. Hammer's missing."

Travers sighed. "And probably a screwdriver. That explains the broken peephole." She glanced into the living room at the bodies. "Pretty gruesome sight. The posing and the letters. It's horrible."

"It's fantastic," Jade replied. "The more he does, the more he leaves me to analyze."

Travers started to respond, but her beeper went off. She checked it and went to the kitchen to answer the page.

The other agents stood around awkwardly. Dan coughed nervously, bringing his fist to his mouth.

"Notified family?" Jade asked.

"No, not yet," Dan replied. "Not looking forward to explaining this one."

"Well, I want full grave-site surveillance. Get those bodies in the ground so you can watch them."

Dan shook his head. "Well, I don't think-"

"That's good, Harris. Don't think. It's a long shot, but killers sometimes go to the grave sites. Could be a hook."

Travers came back in from the kitchen. "That was McGuire," she said. "We have another body. Doesn't look like our boy's work, but it's in the area, so McGuire wants us to check it out."

"I'd be surprised if it was Atlasia," Jade said. He expected Allander to have some kind of cooling-off period, as most serials killers do. At least twenty-four hours. If he was cycling this quickly, they were really in trouble.

"It's a different MO and a robbery, so I don't think so. Local police on it already."

"Let's go," he said. "I'll give you a ride."

"Why don't you come in my car," Travers said. Before he could respond, she continued. "Radio contact."

She turned and walked out the front door. Jade followed.

A cluster of agents stood in the shadows, to the side of the garage. They turned away when Jade passed.

Chapter 29