The sight in front of us was beyond comprehension. We stood at the doorway and stared. I shook my head, stepped back, and left the room. I needed a minute to process what I had just seen. No matter how horrible and inexcusable Sam’s crimes were, what we had all just witnessed gave me a split second of understanding. Everything came into focus.
Sullivan pulled Andrews to the side. “Call the ME and forensics and get them out here right away. Now we know why he didn’t show up to make the sale.”
J.T. found me sitting on the couch. He unzipped his jacket pocket and pulled out several pair of latex gloves. He handed a set to me. “We better put these on if we’re going to spend any time here.” He took a seat at my side. “You okay, partner?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just stunned, that’s all.” I slipped the gloves over my hands. “How can I feel sad for someone who committed such horrible acts against at least six young ladies? I’ll never understand people.” I shook my head again. “I just never will.”
Sullivan asked Andrews, Mills, and Stone to bring the cruisers around to Montgomery Street. “Park down the road a bit so you don’t block the ME and forensics vans.”
Andrews nodded and collected the keys. “Will do.”
A half hour later, Fitch pulled the curtain aside and looked out to the driveway. “The ME is here.” When the chime rang out on the mantel clock, I checked the time—two o’clock.
Jane Felder entered through the front door, her equipment in hand. Tom Knight followed. They both nodded when they saw us waiting in the living room.
“What have we got?” Jane asked.
“Plenty.” I stood. “Follow me. I’ll show you.”
“You sure, Jade?” J.T. asked.
I waved his comment away. “Yeah, I got this.” I led the way down the hall to the mother’s bedroom. Inside, one dim lamp lit the room, casting shadows on the walls. I opened the curtains to bring in more light.
Jane rubbed her forehead. “Wow, I’ve never—”
“Me, either.”
She walked around to the far side of the bed and assessed the scene. “I don’t want to disturb anything before forensics takes their photos.”
“So this is why all of the young ladies were drained of their blood. He was transfusing it into…?” Jane stared at the dead woman lying in bed.
“I assume she’s Adeline Ryan, Sam’s mom.”
“And I take it Sam is the dead man with the needle in his arm and the tube direct-lined to the IV port in the mother’s hand?” Tom asked.
“That would be correct.”
Tom scratched his head. “He transfused all of his own blood into his mom until his heart stopped pumping?”
I grimaced and sucked in a deep breath. “It appears so, but apparently she was too far gone for it to help.”
“You know transferring whole blood into another person is very dangerous, right, Agent Monroe?” Jane said.
“Of course I know that, but this scene tells me a couple of things. One, that Sam completely went off the deep end out of pure desperation. And two, that he loved his mom so much that he sacrificed his life in hopes of saving hers. This is one of the saddest crime scenes I’ve ever witnessed.”
I turned and saw the forensics team coming down the hall. I stepped aside to give them room and motioned for Jane to follow me.
“There are two dead girls in a room off the garage. I’ll show you where they are.” I led them to Kristen and Bethany. Then I went to the living room, where I found J.T. and Sullivan sifting through stacks of mail they had dumped out of the garbage can.
“Everything is starting to make sense,” J.T. said.
“Yeah? Enlighten me.”
“It looks like Sam was trying to get medical help for his mom through the state, but you know how slow government bureaucracy can be. Apparently, she didn’t get the help she needed in time. It looks like the bills were all past due, and the house was going into foreclosure.”
“Maybe with all the problems facing him, he wanted to die with her.”
Sullivan nodded as he dragged his fingertips through his hair. “Maybe so, but I know one thing for sure.”
Fitch tipped her head. “What’s that, sir?”
“Nobody came out a winner in this case. I guess I’ll call the station and tell Reynolds to cut Alex loose. He may be a weird one, but he didn’t commit any serious crimes.”
Andrews, Mills, and Stone were back. They walked in through the living room door. “The cars are out front, Captain.”
“You four stick around and collect evidence after forensics does their job. Tell Jane to call me on her way back to her office. We have to notify the families.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Ready to head out?”
I looked at J.T.
“Yeah, there’s no need for us to stick around,” he said.
We drove back in our cruiser. Sullivan, in front of us, drove alone in his. We arrived at the station and parked in the visitors’ spot on the fourth floor, five spots away from Sullivan. He was already parked and placing his vest in his trunk. We got out and did the same. The captain leaned back against his car and waited for us. “You two heading back to Milwaukee today?”
“Yeah, we still have plenty of daylight left. We’ll wrap up our paperwork with you, gather our stuff, and head out.”
Sullivan patted my shoulder as we crossed the footbridge together. “It was an honor getting to meet both of you.”
“And likewise, sir,” I said. “That goes for your entire team. I hope the families can find some peace when it’s all said and done.”
For the next hour, J.T. and I filled out paperwork about the case. Finally, after making a dozen copies, we headed to Sullivan’s office. I knocked, and he ushered us in.
“Wrapping it up?”
“Yeah, we’re about done here.” I counted out six copies and handed them to Sullivan. “Here you go, sir.”
“Thanks, Jade. Got your case files?”
“Yep.” I patted the folders under my arm. “We’ve got everything. Now to check out of the hotel we didn’t spend much time in.” I grinned. “It’s been a pleasure, sir.”
Sullivan shook our hands, and we followed the hallway to the main entry.
J.T. nudged my shoulder. “How about you driving for a while?”
“Sure thing, partner.”
I climbed in behind the wheel and drove south to our hotel. It took only fifteen minutes to gather our belongings and check out. We returned to the cruiser with our go bags in hand. I tossed the keys to J.T.
“What the hell is this?”
“I drove for a while, so I’m good.”
He shook his head. “Women.”
We hit the interstate twenty minutes later and were on our way north to Milwaukee. I was anxious to get home. I had barely spoken to Amber the entire time we were gone, so I sent a quick text saying we were on our way back.
As J.T. drove, I called Spelling. Even the condensed version of events took a good fifteen minutes to relay. I said we’d give him our detailed report at the regular meeting in the morning.
“Go home and get some rest. Sounds like you two have had a busy week. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a great idea. I’m beat. Good night, sir.”
“Good night, guys.”
I clicked off speakerphone and hit End Call. My phone rang just as I dropped it in my pocket. I pulled it back out and looked at the screen. A wide smile crossed my face.
J.T. grinned. “Must be Amber.”
“It sure is.” I clicked Talk. “Hey, little sister, how have you been?”
“I’m good. Can you talk?”
“Sure. Is it private, because I have you on speakerphone?”
“No, it’s okay. Remember a few nights ago when I said I had a surprise to tell you but wouldn’t tell you in a text?”
“Yes, I do remember, now that you mention it. What’s the surprise?”
I suddenly heard two voices chime in at once, “We’ve been promoted!”
I laughed. “Is that Kate I just heard squealing with you?”
“Damn straight.”
“You’ve been promoted to what?”
Another voice took over the conversation. It was deep, manly, and very familiar.
“Jack? What the hell is going on?”
He chuckled. “They’re both moving into the bull pen under my wing and supervision. I’m their new boss. If everything works out right, these two ladies will be detectives by next summer.”
I had to pull the phone away from my face to avoid a broken eardrum. I laughed again. “It sounds like congratulations are definitely in order.”
“That’s why I’m calling. Please meet us at the Washington House when you get to town. We’ll be there celebrating.”
I recalled the last celebration we had there back when Kate and Amber got accepted into the police academy. We all had a hell of a hangover the next day. I knew better, but she was my little sister and I’d do anything for her.
I chuckled. “You got it, hon. Sleep is overrated, anyway.”
THE END
Thank you for reading Donors, Book 3 in the new Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Series. I hope you enjoyed it!
Follow the complete Jade Monroe saga starting with the Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series. The books are listed in order below:
The Jade Monroe FBI Thriller books follow on the heels of the conclusion of Exposed, Book 5 in the Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series. Currently available books are listed in order below:
Stay abreast of my new releases by signing up for my VIP email list at: http://cmsutter.com/newsletter/
You’ll be one of the first to get a glimpse of the cover reveals and release dates, and you’ll have a chance at exciting raffles and freebies offered throughout the series.
Posting a review will help other readers find my books. I appreciate every review, whether positive or negative, and if you have a second to spare, a review is truly appreciated.
Again, thank you for reading!
Visit my author website at: http://cmsutter.com/
See all of my available titles at: http://cmsutter.com/available-books/