I slept two hours, after Johnny's notion of anesthesia knocked me out. But wakefulness returned by three in the morning, and I rolled out of the bed in our suite and retired to a separate room to lick my wounds while I rehydrated my body and staved off the hangover.
My phone was charging on the bar. I picked it up and saw how many calls I'd missed. Crevan. Mom. Devlin. Chris Darnell. Sheila Julliard. Tony Briscoe. Maya. The only one I wanted to answer, whose voicemail I didn't ignore left a simple message.
"Sprout, I'm so sorry. Call me when you can."
News of David's murder traveled fast. I suppose we could thank the FBI that the media didn't hound the only two witnesses to what happened when we left the hospital.
I scrolled to Daddy's number in my address book and phoned.
He answered with, "Thank God. I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't call me."
"Daddy," I whispered.
"Do you need me to come?"
Did I? Probably not a good idea. I wasn't sure how many people were actually privy to all the details of my deal with Stephen Jarecki that essentially turned my felon father into a hero responsible for leading the police to one of the greater threats to national security that Sullivan Marcos once posed.
"I need you to stay home and make sure my babies are safe," I said softly. "And then when I get home, I'll spill my guts and bare my soul to you about this."
"About all of it, Helen. Not just what happened to David. You've held, I suspect, everyone who knows and loves you at arm’s length, and there isn't a soul in the world who knows all the pain you've been dealt over the years, not even Johnny."
"Johnny knows most of it," I sighed.
"That's not enough, Helen. He needs to know everything. So do your brother, your mother and I. We're your family, and we are going to help you bear these burdens. You've done enough on your own. It's not working anymore, is it?"
Not really a question, but I answered him anyhow. "No, Daddy, it isn't working anymore. I'm not sure it ever did work."
"Okay. Well, for the time being, I suspect the best thing for you is to capture David's killer."
"We're letting the FBI take over that part of the investigation," I said. "Johnny and I agree that we need to keep searching for Gary Gates."
"Sprout, think about this. How can David's murder not be directly related to the case you've been investigating? To think otherwise is just ludicrous."
I slumped into a chair. "Because it wasn't, that's why. We know our perp is a woman. I'm almost certain that David was killed by a park service employee who guided us up the mountain yesterday. Why he did it, I don't know."
"Maybe your killer hasn't been working alone, Helen. Think about it."
"Serial killer partners are rare, Dad. I don't care what the movies and television show, such partnerships are rare."
"Bianchi and Buono," Dad argued.
"Totally different animals," I said. "They were rapists, sadists who raped, tortured and killed, but the primary gain of their crimes wasn't murder. That wasn't their thrill. Essentially, they were rapists who killed out of necessity, not desire. Those women died to prevent them from being witnesses."
"Are you certain about that?"
"Yes," I said. "So even if the byproduct of the torture was death, that wasn't necessarily the goal. Hell, if they could've kept them alive indefinitely and continued raping and torturing, they might've had fewer victims."
"Why are you dismissing the possibility that this guy who murdered David can't be part of the investigation into your Gift Wrap Killer?" he asked. "Explain it to me as a law enforcement officer, Helen, as the profiler who drops the emotional baggage at the door, takes a large step back from the crime scene and dissects the big picture."
"I don't think I can, Dad."
"You must. Not just for David. Not even for the man you hope to find alive and rescue. Helen, you must do this for yourself. You've avoided your life, your gift of insight for far too long. I know the pain you've tried to bury for the past eighteen months, sweetheart. It won't go away until you face it."
Gia Malone…a family annihilator of another variety. I shuddered and replayed that horrible, impotent moment in my mind again. My arrogance resulted in three deaths that didn't have to happen. My propensity for dishonesty caused Gia to distrust me at a rare moment when I was absolutely telling the truth.
A sob tore from my throat.
"Let it go, Helen. Step away from the pain. What's happened cannot be undone, but you can help more people than you realize if you'll just use your gifts now."
I swiped at the light drizzle under my nose and nodded. He must've sensed it, since he certainly couldn't see it.
"Good girl. Now explain to me why you're almost completely certain that David's death was just a horrible but unrelated event. Better yet, explain that fraction of a percentage of doubt you have, because the way I see it, that's the more significant note in all of this."
I sniffled, "Well, um…it's not like people, uh, the media I guess, don't know that Jeremy Rhodes was helping David and me look at these old cases."
"Yes," Dad's quick affirmation urged me to continue.
"And if this psycho has been following the news," I paused to frown, "which statistically is a given, since we know these assholes crave the growth of their legends, she'd certainly know that we'd been to Colorado. Maybe, and I don't know this for certain, but given the timing that she hustled Gates out of Darkwater Bay, she was expecting the attention."
"Did it happen in the past?"
I made a rude sound. "Jesus, Dad, tell me that was a rhetorical question."
"I've not been a free man for very long, Helen, and the lion's share of these crimes took place in far flung locales while I was still incarcerated. Presume that I don't know, because it's the truth."
"It was front page news in the papers, on television, even the national media picked it up on their nightly news broadcasts. You know they don't generally cover such things, Dad."
"They don't. So tell me why they picked up on some of these cases. I presume there was less national attention on the first case."
I sat up straighter. "Uh-huh, and just a little more on the case in Atlanta. Some ambitious reporter linked the MO to the case in New York. When it happened in Omaha, it was big news, and even bigger after the case here in Colorado."
"So that explains why that odious former-prosecutor turned media personality has taken up residence in Darkwater Bay."
Bitsy Faith. "She'd be aware of the original case, since she was a prosecutor in one of the five boroughs, Dad. Of course, Jeremy's involvement probably made the murders in Darkwater Bay leap to the national level in a hurry. And most of his documentaries air on that network, um… you know the one," I snapped my fingers trying to recall the name of it.
"Justice TV," Dad supplied.
"Right."
"So it's probably safe to say that this woman pays attention to the press."
"What you don't know," Dad began, "is that Johnny didn't leave Darkwater Bay without a significant bit of fanfare. It would've probably been better if Devlin had gone in his stead. Johnny's profile is far too high for him to provide any kind of covert investigation. I'd wager his flight hadn't landed in Denver yet before the breaking news was splashed all over the local stations. He was following a lead to Colorado, where they speculated on what that might be."
I groaned. "Including tips that might've led him to the location of the killer."
"Precisely," Dad said. "Now tell me about this suspect he did in fact follow to Colorado."
"Daddy, how can you possibly know that?"
"Your friend Devlin avoids me like the plague, but your brother and he remain on good, friendly terms. He mentioned it to Crevan. Crevan told me."
"Fine," I muttered. "We think our perp is a woman by the name of Harriet Sue Fletcher. We've already learned that she had professional contact with at least three of our victims. The one from Colorado had even more contact. Apparently the Markinson family lived down the street from her."
"So she's the likely killer."
"Yeah, I think she might be. Finding her has been a challenge. We were headed to a parcel of undeveloped land she owns in Jefferson County," I said.
"Adjacent to this state park where David died?"
"Yes," I said.
"If she's a local woman, would it be conceivable that this guide of yours might know her?"
"Dad, if he killed for her, that springs this into a partnership, and I don't believe that any of the murders have been anything but a single perpetrator acting alone."
"Back up. Let's go at this from another angle," Dad said. "What if he just knows her. They're old friends. She tells him the police are harassing her, trying to ruin her life or her professional reputation. Maybe she even tells him she's being framed."
I scowled at my foot where it rested against the edge of the coffee table. "Or maybe, he knows her because she's complained about encroachment from hikers. He gives her a head's up that someone is actually planning to invade her sanctuary before conveniently volunteering to be our guide."
"Keep going," Dad said.
"So she tells him she'll take care of it, suggests the route for him to take to bring us up to her land. She asks him to help her teach these trespassers a lesson. Maybe that's his sole involvement. He could've left the camp and left us to her whims when he told me he was going to go dig a hole for a latrine."
"Maybe she asked him to abandon you, to go back to the police vehicle and slash the tires. If this is about teaching a lesson, why not underscore the point even more by stranding you up there?"
I nodded. "Okay, and that's not so farfetched, actually."
"Finding Maynard has to happen, Helen, if for no other reason than to rule out the fact that he might've been a pawn in your serial killer's game. I don't have to tell you how important it is that you get as much information as possible about H. S. Fletcher."
I frowned again. "Daddy, I never mentioned that she goes by H. S. rather than Harriet Sue. Is this another little detail that Devlin let slip to Crevan?"
He sighed. "Well, if nothing else, I'm glad that grief has not obliterated your senses completely."
"Start talking."
"Of course Crevan told me. He was enlisted by Dev to do some background research on this Fletcher woman."
"And?"
"And I offered to help him. If you must blame anyone for my involvement, let's put it where it truly lies. Your mother is determined to see you back home with your children where she thinks you belong. And while I don't disagree that you do need to be with your children, Helen, I also know what a valuable asset you are to Johnny in the field. I think it's important for you to embrace both roles in your life, because for the life of me, I think you were really born to do both."
"You've made your point, Daddy. We want justice for David, but I'm almost desperate to save at least one victim in this nightmare from death."
"It would do your heart good to have such a victory. When was the last time that you felt like you saved a life?"
Ironically, it was Stephen Jarecki. I laughed softly. "Point made again, Dad. If you guys turn up anything particularly interesting about Harriet Sue, please call me right away."
"On my word of honor, Sprout. Call me if you need to talk, otherwise we'll table the heavy stuff until this case is closed. I miss my daughter, the incredible woman who has an iron will that matches her physical strength. I don't want you wasting away and avoiding your calling simply because you couldn't save everyone. Understood?"
"Without a speck of confusion," I replied. "I love you, Dad. Thanks for calling before, for the pep talk and…well, everything."
Johnny's hand rested on my shoulder before I could put the phone down.
"Wendell?" he asked.
I nodded. "Good pep talk."
"Need to share anything?"
"Yeah," I said. "Other than the fact that I think my father is planning a family intervention to get me to spill my guts about everything to all of you so that nobody's in the dark about my very long list of flaws and crimes, he got me giving another thought to Billy Maynard."
"Oh?" Johnny perched on the coffee table in front of me. "Tell me what he thinks."
I explained why Dad wasn't so easily swayed into dismissing Maynard, and how I agreed that we needed to make sure that what happened to David wasn't related to the Gift Wrap Killer case.
"Makes perfect sense. I figured you'd come to that conclusion on your own."
"Were you placating me?" I asked.
"No, I was just giving you until morning to reach the proper conclusion. I like Wendell's theory though, about using Maynard as an unwitting accomplice."
It was almost an afterthought.
"It was odd too, how much Maynard expressed his hate for Jeremy. People love the guy."
"Speaking of Rhodes," Johnny said, "he called last night after you fell asleep. He'll be here before first light to tell us what his team managed to dig up at your request."