We took the elevator down to the first floor, where the city jail was located. That time, Alex sat in box two. I was too pissed off to bother watching him through the one-way glass. J.T. and I stormed into the interrogation room right behind Captain Sullivan.
Alex raised his head from the table and groaned when he saw us. “Not the head pig and the wannabe cops again.”
I grinned when I saw the cuts across his nose and the swollen lower lip. “Eat a steering wheel lately?” I leaned over his shoulder and talked into his ear. “We missed you, Massimo.” I puckered a big kiss and smacked it next to his cheek.
He pulled back angrily. “Get the hell away from me, bitch.”
“That’s Ms. FBI Bitch to you. Get it right, punk.”
Sullivan took a seat across from Alex. “Looks like we have a breach of contract here, Alex. You didn’t live up to your end of the bargain.”
“Yeah, what bargain was that?”
“Don’t act coy. It doesn’t become you.” J.T. rubbed his chin. “Actually, nothing becomes you with that greasy, stringy hair. Take a shower, man. Anyway, you reneged on advertising that you were in the market to buy human blood. You know, on your vampire websites, or rave sites, whatever you call that foolishness.”
Alex snarled. “That’s why your asshole cops chased me down the street? My lifestyle isn’t any of your business, and it isn’t foolish.”
J.T. looked at me, I looked at Sullivan, and we all laughed.
“What would you call a grown man who likes to wear fangs, has a god-awful hairstyle, only wears black, and drinks human blood? I’d call him foolish, or better yet, a horse’s ass. I mean at some point in life, don’t you want to grow up and act like a real man, or is that too tough for you, Massimo?” I wanted to get his goat, and I was succeeding. I saw the veins pop bright blue along his temples. “Am I making you mad, Elvira?” Alex jerked his head forward and tried to head-butt me but missed. I laughed. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. An attempted assault on a federal agent is a one-year prison stint. We can even throw in a thousand-dollar fine as a chaser. You’re lucky your aim sucks because that would have been an automatic eight-year stay in the house of corrections. We can haul your horse’s ass away now or you can cooperate. You have thirty seconds to decide or it’s off the table. If you think I’m joking, go ahead and try me.”
Alex pounded the table with his fist. “Nobody can know I’m working with you.”
J.T. piped in. “You don’t call the shots, we do.” He glanced at the clock above the door. “You have fifteen seconds left.”
“Fine! What do you want?”
Sullivan pushed back his chair. “I’ll be right back. Hey, Alex, why don’t you entertain the agents with some knock-knock jokes until I return?”
“Go f—”
I leaned across the table. “Excuse me?”
Alex placed his head on his arms and turned away without saying another word.
While we waited for Sullivan to come back, I texted Amber. At that time of day she was at work, likely running radar, but sitting in a patrol car still afforded her time to read a text. I let her know we hadn’t made the progress we had hoped for and said I’d try to call her later and catch up. I hit Send and tucked the phone back into my pocket.
J.T. stepped out momentarily and said he would update Spelling on the case.
Five minutes later, the door opened. J.T. walked through first. Sullivan followed, and Charlie from the tech department, who had a laptop tucked under his arm, came in last.
Alex huffed when he looked up. “What—now the whole gang is joining in?”
Sullivan dragged a chair across the floor and placed it at the table, just inches from Alex. “You try anything funny and I promise you won’t see the light of day for years. You’re going to tell Charlie every website that you frequent as Massimo or Alex Everly, whether it’s on the World Wide Web or dark web. You’re going to advertise on every one of those sites that you’re looking to purchase human blood and if anyone has some to sell, they should PM you. Charlie will set up the private messaging link that will come directly into the police department. That way you can’t intercept the messages and delete them. Everything you do and say will be monitored, so don’t try anything cute. If we see you’re violating the agreement, you’ll be in lockup for a minimum of a year. No more chances.”
“How long do I need to do this shit?”
“As long as it takes. Go ahead, Charlie. Set it up and buzz us when you’re done. Officer Putnam will sit in here with you.” Sullivan cocked his head at Alex. “You’ll recognize him, right? He’s one of the cops that chased you down earlier. Just an FYI, Alex, Putnam wears a Glock 22 and he’s a crack shot, so don’t piss him off.”
We left interrogation room two and walked to the bank of elevators. Two were on one side of the hallway and two were on the other. We waited and watched as the light above the doors indicated where the elevator had stopped. Sullivan crossed his arms over his chest, and J.T. paced. I stared at the light. The elevator was making a slow but continuous descent. Finally, the bell dinged at level one, and the doors parted. Inside, J.T. pressed the button for the fourth floor. We rode up in silence.
Sullivan pushed off the back wall as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. “Let’s go in my office. We’ll do some brainstorming of our own.”
We walked down the hall and passed through the bull pen. After we reached his office, J.T. and I dropped down in Sullivan’s guest chairs. He closed the door and rounded the desk. I heaved a frustrated sigh.
“Jade, have something to say?”
“Only that we’ve done everything and followed up with everyone I can think of. We’re putting in the time—hell, we all are—but nothing has surfaced. J.T. and I have been here for four days, trying to add our expertise. The guy is a ghost.”
“Nah, don’t beat yourself up. He’s human just like the rest of us, and he’ll make a mistake.”
“Hopefully he does sooner rather than later.”
“Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way and it isn’t about selling blood to make money,” J.T. said. “If that were the case, the guy would have been doing it ever since Corrine was murdered. Maybe he actually needs blood.”
Sullivan furrowed his brows, which touched at the center of his forehead. “You mean like a hemophiliac?”
“Possibly.”
“Then what, he’d transfuse other people’s blood into himself? That isn’t even safe. He’d need plasma, not whole blood, wouldn’t he?”
“And what about health insurance?” I said. “Why not go the usual route where you aren’t killing people to get medical treatment? And, he wouldn’t need blood unless he was injured, would he?”
J.T. shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just throwing ideas out there since most hemophiliacs are male.”
Sullivan’s office phone rang, and he jerked his chair forward and reached across his desk. “Excuse me for a second.”
While we waited, J.T. pulled out his cell and checked messages. I checked my cuticles.
“Hell no! Son of a bitch! Tell them not to touch a thing. We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Sullivan slammed down the receiver. He picked it up again and pressed a few buttons. “Mary, call Jane Felder at the ME’s office and get her out to Dasher Point. Call the sheriff and get some deputies out there too. I’m not sure if that location is within the city limits or not. Tell forensics to head out and call Mills and Stone. I want everybody there now!”
I was already standing and ready to bolt out the door. “What the hell is going on, Captain?”
“A man walking his dog discovered a body at Dasher Point. What are the odds?” He dialed Putnam downstairs. “Bruce, it’s Sullivan. Throw Alex Everly in a cell and leave him there until further notice.”
I jerked my head at J.T. “Come on. Let’s grab our coats. We’ll meet you at Dasher Point, sir.”
With our coats in hand, J.T. and I pushed through the doors to the parking garage and climbed into the cruiser. I slammed the passenger side door at my back.
“Do you remember how to get there, or should I pull it up on the GPS?” I asked as I snapped the seat belt over my left hip.
“I remember. We should probably go in the front entrance, though. I don’t know what road leads in there. Check that out on the map.”
“Yep, I’m pulling it up now. Okay, make your way to Franklin and go south like we did the first time we drove there. When you come to Countyline Road, you’ll turn left. We’ll have a three-mile drive, then it looks like we go right on Greenfield for a mile or so. The main entrance was originally off Greenfield.”
“Okay, just remind me as we go.”
I watched the street signs as J.T. drove. “Do you think Alex has anything to do with this?”
J.T. raised his brows as he glanced toward me. “Maybe, or maybe it’s one of his groupies, coven, or whatever the hell they’re called. Alex isn’t a blond, but I bet we can find some of his followers who are.”
“Good point. It looks like the left-hand turn for Countyline is coming up in a quarter mile.”
J.T. clicked his blinker and made the turn.
“Okay, three miles and then a right on Greenfield. That’ll take us to the mill. I’m sure somebody is ahead of us. There’s probably a half dozen people there already.”