A Formidable Foe (Risky Research) Read online

  “Anything out of the ordinary and where I would hide if I were stalking someone. Show me where the telescopes were set up, where the lines formed, and where people mingled once they finished with their turn.”

  After Kevin explained the scene from an hour ago, Devyn walked toward a building that would have placed a stalker within fifteen yards of the group. If Amanda had separated herself just a little, it might have made her vulnerable.

  As Devyn slipped into the shadows with Kevin at her heels, she scanned the ground. Before long she located a broken-up pile of plastic pieces. She knelt and stared at the rubble without touching any of what she was now certain to be evidence.

  “I’m sure this is her phone. Hold the flashlight while I try to take a picture, then I’m calling nine-one-one.”

  NINE

  With his task done, the man quickly left campus. He doubted the body would be discovered before daylight, which was still several hours away. He suspected her friend would be the first to sound the alarm, and he would love to witness the pain and fear on her face. The two blondes appeared very close, so he assumed the survivor would be devastated.

  He made his way toward his car parked several blocks from campus. He’d go to work at the restaurant as he did every day. His schedule began in just a few hours. He hated working the breakfast shift, especially on mornings like today.

  His job as a dishwasher only added to his angst. His boss always demeaned him in front of the other staff. With the upbringing he had, he should get some sort of an award for holding down any job. Instead he was treated callously by yet one more uncaring female in his life. He dreamed about killing her, but he couldn’t. The employees would be the first to be looked at as suspects.

  Even though he chose the wrong victim, surely the authorities would make the campus connection this time around. Once they admitted a serial killer was stalking women on and off campus, fear would course through the veins of every woman in the community.

  The streets were still empty. No one would notice him coming home in the wee hours of the still-darkened morning. In fact, seldom did anyone notice him at all, except to taunt him. After tonight people would take notice. Unfortunately he wasn’t ready to claim the limelight yet.

  TEN

  If anything had happened to Amanda the local authorities and the campus police were going to pay. Devyn’s emergency call was forwarded to campus security. After a very inappropriate comment about why Amanda hadn’t come home, the security officer transferred her to the on-call campus police officer. When Devyn threatened to go search the campus in the dark by herself, he finally agreed to have someone from the campus police department come and take a look at the broken phone.

  That call had been an hour ago.

  “I can’t believe we’ve been waiting for this long already. If I didn’t have an ounce of common sense, I would leave you here to wait and go looking for Amanda myself,” Devyn fumed.

  “Probably not a good idea to split up,” Kevin said.

  “You the students that called in the missing person?”

  The gruff voice startled Devyn, but she quickly regained her composure.

  “They think I’m dreaming up serial-killer plots, so you explain,” Devyn whispered to Kevin.

  Devyn stood quietly by as Kevin relayed everything that had happened since he walked with Amanda to the pizza parlor.

  “You two have a lover’s quarrel?” the officer asked.

  “No. We aren’t even dating. We’re just good friends and Amanda suggested we walk together, because Devyn thinks there’s a killer on campus targeting students.”

  Devyn almost groaned out loud. She had asked Kevin to talk to avoid what she knew was coming.

  The officer squinted his eyes at her. “Oh, it’s you. I should have known. If your roommate doesn’t show up by noon tomorrow, give me a call.”

  “Wait,” Devyn pleaded as he turned to leave. “This is Amanda’s cell phone. Look at the pattern of debris. It’s clear that it was ground into the asphalt by the heel of a shoe. Amanda was as addicted to her phone as nearly everyone else. She would never have accidently dropped it. This phone was purposefully destroyed.”

  The office directed the light from his flashlight at the debris. He extended his light pattern outwards for a bit.

  “Hmm.”

  “Hmm, what?” Devyn demanded.

  “Looks like the phone’s case is over here.”

  She and Kevin followed the officer to where he indicated. They stood close behind as he pulled a bag out of his pocket and donned rubber gloves. He knelt and carefully picked up each item and dropped it into the bag. Devyn stepped closer as he stood and held one item up in front of his light.

  “Do you know what was depicted on the other half of this picture?”

  Devyn’s knees went weak as she stared at the ripped photo. She looked up into the officer’s eyes.

  “Me,” she whispered.

  The officer dropped the picture fragment in the bag and stowed the small stash in his jacket pocket.

  “Walk me back to your dorm the most likely way Ms. Hewitt would have gone. If she’s not at your room by the time we get there, I’ll call my supervisor and see about organizing a search.”

  His tone was much more sympathetic, and his concern sent fear coursing through Devyn’s body. She tried to push the unsettling thought of a potential killer walking around with her picture out of her mind. Following a few yards behind Kevin and the officer, she fanned her light out as far as it would reach. She doubted she would spot anything because if someone took Amanda they certainly wouldn’t have followed the most obvious path away from the facility plant, but doing something helped keep the panic at bay.

  As Devyn suspected, Amanda was not at their dorm room. A wave of nausea overcame her as she listened to the officer on his cell phone. She must have looked as bad as she felt, because Kevin took her by the arm and led her to a chair. He knelt in front of her and took her hands.

  “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left her side for a minute.”

  “You don’t believe she wandered off either?” Devyn looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

  “We were getting along great. I planned to ask her out. I was getting all the signals that she was interested. I can’t image she would have taken off with someone else. She just wasn’t that kind of girl. Even if she wasn’t interested, we went together, and she would have left with me.”

  Devyn nodded and tried to summon strength. As much as she was beating herself up, Kevin had to feel even worse.

  “Don’t blame yourself. We don’t know for sure anything has happened to her. Even though I believe the other two girls were targeted because they were students, there are over 15,000 students enrolled here and over half of those are female. What’s the chances some wacko picked her out of all the available women here? There has to be another explanation.”

  Kevin nodded, but Devyn could tell he wasn’t any more convinced than she was that Amanda would come bouncing through the door at any moment.

  “The Chief will start rallying our troops. It will take a bit to get organized, but any search will be more effectual in the daylight anyway. I’m going to go and start combing the grounds.”

  Devyn stood. “I want to help.”

  The officer cleared his throat. “We don’t know for certain that anything is wrong, but if you are correct about a killer on campus, and he’s walking around with your picture, you need to stay here with the door locked. Call me direct if she shows up or if you get any unwanted visitors,” the officer said as he handed Devyn his card.

  She nodded, took the card, and escorted him to the door. Normally Devyn would have argued when Kevin insisted on staying, but she was shaken and welcomed the company of someone she could trust.

  ELEVEN

  A plate crashed to the floor, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.

  “What is wrong with you? Dishwashing isn’t rocket science. I’m taking this out of your paycheck,
and if it happens again you’re fired. And, get a haircut before your next shift. That disgusting mop is probably obstructing your view.”

  The man cowered under the verbal assault. He closed his eyes, waiting for the hand to strike him. After several moments of feeling nothing, he opened his eyes. She was gone. Just as he was about ready to exhale his pent-up breath, the fry cook walked over and slugged him in the stomach, doubling him over.

  “You freak, now she’s going to be in a bad mood all day and take it out on all of us.”

  The scene took him back to his childhood. His mother yelling at him and one of her boyfriends smacking him around. He wanted to fight back, but he was afraid of the burly cook and he didn’t want to get fired.

  He grabbed a broom and quickly cleaned up the fragments and returned to the sink and kept washing dishes. His boss had embarrassed him. He felt like a weak victim. After escaping his mother and her boyfriends, he had vowed to never feel that way again.

  Thinking about the young woman he killed earlier tonight should have made him feel strong and powerful, but she hadn’t even fought. She hadn’t clawed at the fingers around her neck. She hadn’t squirmed. She’d just begged in a sniveling whiney tone.

  The thought of waiting for satisfaction until next semester made him anxious. He needed that sensation of control. The other blonde would be different. If he could succeed in capturing her, torturing her, and killing her he would feel strong again and regain his dignity.

  TWELVE

  Kevin refused to leave until they heard some news. He was a good guy. Devyn could understand why Amanda was so fond of him.

  As the hours without news ticked by her fear for her own safety subsided and all she could think about was Amanda. She struggled to keep the tears from falling.

  She and Amanda had been roommates since their freshman year. Amanda was the best friend Devyn had ever had. She had moved so much growing up that true friends had been few and far between. The thought of losing Amanda was unbearable.

  The soft knock on the door jolted Devyn out of her thoughts. She and Kevin bolted out of their chairs and rushed to the door. Just as Devyn reached for the deadbolt, Kevin stopped her.

  “Who is it,” he asked.

  “Captain Gaines.”

  Devyn knew it was bad news if the city police rather than the campus police had showed up. She unlocked the door, and the look on the captain’s face confirmed her worst fear.

  “I’m sorry to let you know that we found Ms. Hewitt’s body not far from where she was last seen.”

  “Strangled?” Devyn ground out.

  “It appears so.”

  After several moments of awkward silence, he spoke again.

  “We’ve already notified her parents. I understand from the campus police that you may be a target. Do you have any idea why you and your roommate would be singled out?”

  Devyn shook her head.

  “I know you’ve been convinced ever since the young woman was strangled at the state park that someone was targeting students here. The crimes seemed unrelated, until now. I’m ready to listen. Let’s sit down and you can tell me what you think and know.”

  Nodding, she turned to Kevin. “You don’t have to stay.”

  She could tell he was fighting to hold in his emotions.

  “If you warned them and they didn’t believe you or do anything about it, I don’t trust them, and I won’t leave you alone with him,” Kevin replied through clenched teeth as he glared at the officer.

  “Thanks.” Devyn chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to throw Brad under the bus, though under the circumstance she doubted he would care. She was certain he would be as grief stricken and angry as she once he learned the truth.

  After thirty minutes, Devyn had relayed everything she could without risking Brad’s job.

  Captain Gaines closed his notebook and stood to leave. “Might not hurt for you to take a break and go home for the rest of the semester.”

  Devyn didn’t really have a home since her parent’s passing. When not at school she lived with an aunt. Besides she had no intention of cowering and running away to hide. She would stay and hound the authorities until Amanda’s killer was brought to justice.

  “You need to go too,” she said to Kevin. “I need some time alone to process everything. I’ll be fine.”

  Kevin gave her a long hug before turning to the officer. “My dad is a lawyer. Rest assured I’m telling him and Amanda’s parents everything, including how your ineptness cost a kind and beautiful woman her life.”

  THIRTEEN

  He cut his hair. Everyone stared at his birthmark and his co-workers made cruel jokes, but at least his boss hadn’t fired him. It had been over a month and his hair had started to grow back, but he feared if he screwed up at work she would make him cut it off again. He wanted to quit his job, but he needed his small paycheck for food, rent, and gas.

  Without gas he wouldn’t be able to drive to campus and watch the strong beautiful blonde. Her grief had been visible for weeks after the passing of her friend. He felt certain she was still grieving, but her bold and confident stature was slowly returning. She no longer surrounded herself with the man who had been with her friend that wasted night or the other young man who clearly adored her. She was more observant again, like she used to be before he took her friend, making it more dangerous for him to get close.

  Every time his boss berated him, his angst grew, and he feared there was only one way for him to regain control over his emotions and his dignity, but it was risky. Or was it? If the authorities had finally accepted the pattern, they wouldn’t expect him to strike until next semester.

  As he sat in his car several blocks from campus staring at her picture, he felt the desire to touch her, to see the expression on her flawless face when she realized it was him, to hear her beg for mercy, and to watch the life drain out of her vibrant body.

  If he could dominate this potent woman, maybe someday he would have the confidence to face his boss and his mother. He hadn’t seen his mother in five years, but he thought about her every day. He hoped now that he was no longer there for her boyfriends to smack around, maybe she would get a taste of her own medicine and regret allowing that element into her child’s life. But, he doubted anything would make her see the light. She was selfish, and her own pleasure would still be all that mattered.

  It wasn’t very dark, nor did he have a plan. He debated about starting his car and driving away. If he saw her and the opportunity presented itself, could he walk away? The voices in his head battled. One said to be cautious, the other screamed for satisfaction.

  Ignoring the more sensible voice, he got out of his car and walked toward campus. It was Wednesday. She usually went to the gym after classes, so she would be walking back to her dorm soon. He would wait by the pond for her to pass by, and then he would follow her. If no one was around, there was one place where he might have an opportunity to grab her. The thought of getting his hands on her lovely neck made his adrenaline surge. She seemed so untouchable, but that only made her more desirable.

  He reached the pond without anyone giving him a second glance. He found an empty bench looking across the water toward the sidewalk. Excitement boiled. He hoped she didn’t stand him up. If she didn’t walk by like she did most Wednesdays that would only make him angry.

  FOURTEEN

  Sweat rolled down Devyn’s back as she climbed out of the ring. After she had proven her skills in the gym, she found several women and a few guys willing to spar with her. She doubted the men were putting everything they had into their jabs, not that it would have mattered since she seldom let them land one. None of her sparring partners were collegiate athletes, just students like she was who wanted a good workout.

  After a quick shower, Devyn dressed in a loose-fitting pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Evenings were getting cooler, but she was still able to make it back to her dorm without a jacket. She had let Brad or Kevin walk her home after her Wednesday wor
k out for the first month after Amanda’s death, but she was tired of feeling like a victim, and she felt guilty when Brad took time off of work.

  She was glad the police had never figured out that Brad had fed her information now that they were finally investigating. They had retrieved prints from Amanda’s phone case, but those didn’t match any in local or national databases. They didn’t seem any closer to catching the psychopath who’d stolen her friend, but at least they were working on it, and campus security had installed five more cameras and additional nighttime lighting.

  Devyn zipped up her sweatshirt and left the gym. Several other students were milling about. She wished there were more. She didn’t want to let the tragic events force her to live in fear, but she couldn’t help but feel like someone had been watching her recently. She hoped it was just her imagination on overdrive.

  As she reached the pond, she spotted a man sitting on a bench. He was on the other side of the pond, but something about him was familiar. She was very good with faces, but he was too far away to be certain if she had seen him before. She continued to look in his direction until he got up and turned away. A sudden flash of déjà vu hit her.

  Several months ago, she and Amanda were walking by the pond. She remembered seeing a man with long scraggly hair sitting on a bench. She didn’t think much about it until she detected someone following them. She’d turned and glared at him and he veered off in another direction before she could properly see his face. That man’s hair was much longer than this one’s, but the mannerism were the same.

  Devyn’s mind ran through her options. If this was Amanda’s killer, she couldn’t let him get away, but was she strong enough to avoid a similar fate if he got his hands on her? As she reached the fork in the path, she quickly assessed the two possible routes. Straight would lead her along a well-lit, well-traveled path to her dorm; and the left fork would leisurely wind its way around the pond. The walking path was frequented during the day, but as dusk closed in and with fear ripe on campus she doubted there would be much, if any, traffic.