Macy snuck a look at Beck who was staring out the passenger’s side window, apparently deep in thought. She’d put her ball cap back on, and with her reflective RayBans, she likely thought she was incognito, but Macy would recognize her prominent jawline and flawless skin no matter what. She told herself the attention to detail was her journalism training, but a nagging voice inside whispered her attention to Beck was more than that, and the something else was bordering on perilous. Whatever it was, they’d barely exchanged two words since they’d gotten in the car, and she was afraid to break the spell. She hadn’t expected Beck to take her up on her offer to ride along, but she didn’t regret asking.
And why not? Nothing about their meeting today was normal. Yes, she’d met subjects at the library in the past—it was a quiet, out-of-the-way place to conduct an interview, but she’d pulled punches in her interview, and she’d never done that before. She’d told herself they hadn’t finished their session. That she would have plenty of time to press her points, get Beck to push past her feelings to give real, raw answers to her questions, but she wasn’t entirely convinced it was true. She needed to stop treating Beck like she was too delicate to handle tackling tough questions.
After-work traffic was still heavy, but she zipped along side streets, finally reaching the section of the bike trail she was looking for, about four miles from where the last body had been found. She sucked in a breath. As much as she wanted support for her theory the Parks and Rec Killer was back, the idea of another young woman lying dead and bound was abhorrent.
She turned on the road near the trail only to find patrol cars blocking off the road and, unlike on her last visit, no place to park. She circled the area twice and finally settled on the parking lot of a small convenience store not too far away. It would be a hike back to the scene, but a thunderstorm earlier in the day had cooled temperatures to the eighties—a welcome relief from the recent heat wave. She shut off the car and turned to Beck. “Unless you have a special method for getting closer, I think this is as close as we’re going to get.”
Beck’s gaze remained trained on something in the distance. “I don’t think I should go with you.”
“You don’t think you should go at all, or just not with me?”
“Either.”
“Suit yourself.” Macy turned away and started to walk across the parking lot. She was annoyed she’d asked Beck to join her at the scene and annoyed at herself for ignoring how problematic that might be for both of them. This connection she felt to Beck was problematic, but if she bailed on the profile piece now, she’d have to deal with Jerry and his insistent need to please the board. Besides, who knew how long it would be before she’d be able to get her hands on the cold case files. FOIA requests were all fine and good, but the only one who ever really knew she was getting all that she’d asked for was the one producing the documents and she didn’t trust Beck’s boss, Mendoza, to comply.
She stopped walking when she reached the first patrol car and willed her brain to focus. She’d deal with the profile on Beck and the cold case files later. Right now, she needed to find out if the body on the trail was another victim of the Parks and Rec Killer, and the best way to do that was to suss out the weakest link among those assigned to guard the scene. She surveyed the group of officers standing over to the side and spotted one a few feet from his colleagues, looking like he was about to throw up. She strode over to him, while keeping a careful eye on the others.
“It’s that bad, huh?” she said as she approached him from behind.
“Gross as hell. Wish someone had found this one as quick as the other.” He coughed into his hand, stood, and turned to face her, his eyes widening with surprise to find he wasn’t talking to a colleague. “Hey, you didn’t hear that from me.”
“I promise ‘gross as hell’ won’t make it into the paper, but you’re going to have to give me something to take its place.” She replayed his words. “When you referred to the other, do you mean Jody Nelson?”
“Shit. You’re not supposed to be here.”
He flicked a glance over at his buddies, but she stepped into his line of sight and waved her hand. “I won’t quote you at all, but I need something. Male or female? Age?”
“Macy Moran, since when did you start showing up at crime scenes?”
She turned at the sound of the familiar voice to find Claire Hanlon standing behind her. “Hi, Claire. Just doing my job. I am curious why the squad commander is showing up at crime scenes lately. This one’s related to Nelson’s death, right?”
Claire grabbed her arm and steered her away from the uniformed officer who sighed with relief at being saved from further interrogation. When they were about ten feet away, Claire faced her with a stern expression. “Seriously, what’s going on?”
“I’m a reporter and I’m reporting.”
“You taking over for Rob?”
“I’m sure he’ll be here any minute. Late as usual. Let’s just say I have a special interest in these cases. Kind of like you.”
“You should find other interests,” Claire said. “We’ve got enough to do here without you breathing down my neck.”
“I’m not going to get in the way, but our readership has a right to know if there’s an active serial killer in the area.”
Claire snapped. “I need you to stop throwing that kind of language around, right now.” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Seriously, Moran. Are you trying to start a panic?”
“You can’t blame me for jumping to conclusions when you give me nothing to work with. And you know there’s going to be blowback if it gets out you have enough evidence to connect these two cases and you didn’t share it with the public.”
“You’re killing me, Moran.”
“Just doing my job. Seriously, can’t you give me anything?”
Claire sighed. “Off the record.”
“Sure.” Macy waited, tense with anticipation. She cared more about getting the information than being able to attribute it to a particular source.
“The victim is female, likely in her twenties. Looks like she was jogging.”
“Bound? Strangled?”
Claire sighed. “Bound for sure, but as for the manner of death, the body’s been here a few days, so I’ll leave that question for the ME.”
Macy’s mind whirred. If the body had been here a few days, that made the time between Nelson’s death and this one less than a week. The Parks and Rec Killer had spaced his victims out over the course of a year. She filed the fact away to be examined more thoroughly later. “How soon on the autopsy?”
“I know you’ve been stuck in the office for a while, but I’m pretty sure you realize we just found the body. The medical examiner’s office isn’t even here yet.”
“Of course, but I also know you, and I bet you called one of your favorites from the ME’s office to show up and they’ll rush the report for you. Am I wrong?”
Claire sighed. “Dr. Sophia Reyes is on the way, but we won’t have the report for a few days, and it won’t be the final version until the tox screens come back weeks from now. You know the drill, so I’m a little confused about why you’re asking.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here again? I thought you’d graduated out of showing up at crime scenes and slumming it with the rest of us.”
“Just trying to keep from getting stuck at the office,” Macy said, mimicking Claire’s tone. “Anything else you can tell me about the scene?”
“Call me next week. I may know more then.”
“Come on, Claire. Give me something to take back.”
Claire gestured to the area behind Macy. “You’re welcome to talk to the lookie-loos. Whoever did this, might still be hanging around.” She jerked her chin. “Maybe it’s whoever that is.”
Macy followed her line of sight and spotted Beck standing about twenty feet away. Shit. She’d acted too impulsively, bringing Beck along with her. She stared for a moment longer, contemplating how to get her away from here without drawing the attention of the other officers who were stationed nearby. With sunglasses on and her hair stuffed into the ball cap, Beck wasn’t likely to be recognized, but if the other officers figured out Beck was here, that would become the story of the day, and Macy needed their focus on this case, not on some meta version of Beck’s story.
“She’s with me.” Macy instantly wished she could reel the words back in, but it was too late. She studied Claire’s face, but there wasn’t much to see since she had turned back toward the crime scene, having apparently lost interest in the now identified spectator. “I’ll leave you to your work. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Next week.”
“Sure, whatever,” Macy said, tossing the words over her shoulder because she was on the move. When she reached Beck, she grabbed her arm and marched her back toward the main road.
“Easy there,” Beck said, shaking off her grip.
“You want easy? Maybe don’t show up right when I’m in the middle of talking to one of your so-called brothers in blue.”
“Wasn’t that Claire Hanlon?”
“It was. See, she’s definitely taking a personal interest in these cases.”
“She has a reputation for being hands-on, even after being promoted to squad commander.” Beck shoved her hands in her pockets. “And don’t call these people my brothers in blue. They aren’t my family.”
“Which I guess begs the question of why you even want to keep your job?”
“I didn’t sign up for the force to make friends. I did it to make a difference.”
“How’s that going for you?” Macy stared at Beck until she finally flinched and looked away. Pushing her might be the wrong thing to do, but she couldn’t help it. “Look, I’m sorry to be the one to point this out, but I seriously doubt things are ever going to change for you, but if you really want to make a difference, get me access to those case files and let me do what I’m good at.”
“Only if you tell me you have enough for your story, because I don’t feel like answering any more invasive questions.”
Macy drew a finger across her chest. “Cross my heart. I can make it work.”
“Fine. Meet me at Sue’s. Eight o’clock, Saturday.”
Realizing Beck was done with her for the day, Macy pointed at her car. “I’ll be there. You ready to go?”
Beck held up her phone. “I’ve got a Lyft coming.” She pointed down the street. “They’ll be here any minute. I should go.”
“Sure. Okay. Whatever.” Macy was disappointed they wouldn’t be sharing a ride back to the library, but she knew it was probably for the best considering her disappointment didn’t stem from anything professional. She trudged to her car and slid behind the wheel but didn’t start the engine. What she should do was get home and add this latest death to the wall and check in with Unfrozen to see if anyone else was starting to draw the same connections she was. But instead, she sat and watched until an SUV pulled up in front of Beck and whisked her away. Yep. Beck Ramsey was a distraction, but she could hardly wait until tomorrow night. She was in trouble for sure.