Tracing a Killer, page 13
He reached over and rested his palm on her wrist. “Understandable.”
She startled when her phone rang. “It’s Isla. I’ll put it on speakerphone so you can hear it, too.” She pressed a button and spoke into the phone. “Yes.”
“Hannah, I’ve got addresses to connect to those names.”
“We only need one. David Weller is the guy. Lydia had a photograph.”
“That’s good news,” said Isla. “How are you doing? You sound a little shook up.”
“I am. You know, it’s been eighteen years since Jodie died. I can’t believe that I might finally be free of this cloud that has hung over me for so long.”
“Well, that’s a good thing.” Warmth permeated Isla’s voice.
Trevor was grateful that Hannah seemed to be able to open up more to Isla than to him. It was clear the team members were close and supported each other.
“Yes, it is,” said Hannah.
“Anyway, I have David Weller’s address. Just wanted to let you know. Chase will probably want to send one of the other officers over there.”
“That would be the safest thing. Wait. Is the address clearly a rented apartment? It wouldn’t hurt for us to talk to the landlord or manager find out what kind of person David was.”
“The address does have a ‘half’ attached to it so it’s probably a basement or an above the garage unit.” Isla read off the address while Hannah put it in her phone. “Hannah, maybe you should wait until another officer is available.”
Though he understood her urgency in wanting to get the case resolved, Trevor wasn’t sure going there was such a good idea.
“It’s a weekday. The guy probably had to get to work, or maybe he’s hanging out on the island all the time. Besides, Trevor is with me.” She gazed in his direction. “We’re already over here in Syracuse.”
Her vote of confidence in his ability to assist felt good, but he still wasn’t sure they should take a chance in going to David’s place.
Hannah said goodbye to Isla. She glanced in his direction. “I can tell by the look on your face. You don’t like this idea.”
Was he that easy to read, or did she just know him so well from all the time they’d been spending together?
“I think talking to the landlord is smart, but what if David is around, he could come after you. Or if he knew you had tracked him to his residence, it might make him flee the state and he’d never be caught.”
“We’re here in town. The faster we can move this case forward, the sooner I get my life back.” She let out a breath and gazed at him. “Please, support me in this.”
“Okay, I get it. It’s no different than me not wanting to go to a safe house because I feel so much personal responsibility about the murders.”
“Why would you feel guilty?” She turned to face him. “In the transcript of your interview you said you really liked Naomi when you asked her to the dance.” Her eyes narrowed as she leaned toward him, body language that demanded a clear answer.
At least his conscience was clear about that. “I did like her. I thought she was smart and funny.”
Something in her expression relaxed when he gave his answer. “So why do you feel like all the deaths are your fault?”
“If I had spoken up all those years ago, the joke wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand,” he said. “Even if it’s Ryan York who is behind all this, an atmosphere was set in the YRC that led to Seth dumping Shelly. I had influence. I could have changed things and called my friends out.”
“I can’t argue with you there.” A note of irritation threaded through her words.
“Wait. Did you really think I would do something mean like ask a girl out as a joke?”
“I wasn’t sure until now. Now that we’ve talked, I believe you were sincere in asking her to the dance.”
“You thought I could do something like that?” Now he understood why there always seemed to be a barrier between them.
She laced her fingers together and stared at them. “I know how Naomi felt. Something similar happened to me in high school. A boy asked him out to a formal dance. I got all dressed up. Mom took me to get my nails done...and then he didn’t show. The buzz around the school was that it was on a dare from his friends. I know how mean boys can be.”
The anguish in her voice was so intense he wanted to hug her, to comfort her. “I’m sorry that happened to you. That wasn’t right.”
“It’s not just that. My last boyfriend cheated on me. I guess I’m just jaded when it comes to men.” She twisted the button on her uniform. “The group you ran with in the YRC didn’t come across as stellar examples of manhood.”
“Agreed. It wasn’t who I really was, and Seth, Brad and Aaron never got a chance to mature and change. It certainly wasn’t how my father taught me to treat women, the example he set with my mom. I’m not making excuses, it’s just that I was young. I let my peers have too much sway over me.”
Warmth came into her eyes as she reached out to touch his hand. “I’m glad we talked about this.”
He was, too. He’d seen that vulnerable side of her again. He understood a little better why she was so guarded.
He studied her profile, the subtle spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks. If she was going to be more open from now on, what did that mean for him. Did he deserve to have love in his life when his friends had never gotten that chance?
She turned and put her hands on the steering wheel. “Back to work.”
“Yup.”
Once the car started rolling, her phone instructed her to turn. She glanced down at it. “I’m only a few blocks from the address. I’m going to circle the block before I stop. Keep your eyes peeled. Any sign of him, and I’ll just drive on.”
He watched the house numbers. An older woman in a muumuu stood staring at her flower bed at the house where David lived. No sign of David. That didn’t mean he wasn’t around.
Hannah circled the block and parked around the corner, out of view. “Let’s try to catch the landlady while she’s in her yard.”
They got out. Hannah deployed Captain. Trevor remained close as they turned on the street where David Weller lived.
As they approached the house, he glanced around. Still no sign of David. All the same, he found himself wishing he had his gun.
THIRTEEN
Hannah’s heart beat a little faster as they approached the blue house where David lived. All these years, he’d been here probably in this town. Only a short distance away from where she lived in Salt Lake.
The older woman was bent over her flower bed, pulling out weeds. She looked up when they stood at the short fence. The woman eyed Trevor and then Hannah. She hoped her uniform and Captain’s K-9 vest would communicate that they were here in an official capacity.
The older woman straightened. “Can I help you?”
“Is this where David Weller lives?”
She massaged her lower back. “David rents a basement from me. He’s not here right now.”
That made her breathe a little easier. “Is he at work? When will he be back?”
The woman picked up the watering can that rested on the edge of the flower bed. “He hasn’t been here for days. He said he was going to take a little vacation before he started back at the job he does once the weather gets cold. What’s this about? Has David done something wrong?”
There was no need to fill her in on the details of what was going on. “We just need to talk to him about an ongoing investigation. Did he say where he was going?”
The woman’s gray curls bounced as she shook her head. “We don’t talk that much.”
Hannah assumed that David’s vacation was spent hiding on the island trying to get access to her. He probably wouldn’t return home until he succeeded in his mission.
Trevor stepped forward. “How long has he rented from you?”
“A couple of years.”
“What kind of renter is he?”
“He’s quiet and keeps to himself. Pays his rent on time.”
“Anything unusual about him?”
The woman lifted her head and thought for a moment. “Didn’t ever have any family visit him. I guess they moved away years ago. When he talked about his family, it sounded like he didn’t like them very much.”
“He was estranged from them?”
“Far as I know,” said the landlady. “He mentioned having a mom, a dad and a sister. Come to think of it, I never saw him with friends or a girlfriend.”
Interesting. Hannah pulled her business card out and handed it over the fence to the woman. “If he does show up, please call us right away.”
The woman eyed the card. “You sure he’s not in trouble?”
Hannah didn’t think the landlady was in any danger from David. “Please just call us.”
Hannah turned to walk away when Trevor touched her elbow and bent his head toward the garage, where the door was open. Hannah took a few steps and stretched her neck to see what Trevor was indicating. Inside was a white compact car just like the one that had been following them.
“Ma’am, is that your car in there or David’s?”
“Yes, that’s my car. I loaned it to David a couple of days ago because he said his car was in the shop, but he got it fixed, I guess.”
David must have had the white car at the same time he stole the green Jeep.
“What kind of car did David drive?” Hannah asked.
“Not sure of the model. It was dark blue and had one of those racks on the top for hauling stuff—his mountain bike and his kayak.”
More good information. She thanked the woman again before leaving.
Hannah could feel her mood lifting as they hurried around the block to the car. They had a description of the car David drove. Isla would be able to find out the exact make and model. She was getting a clearer picture of who David Weller was, personality wise.
After loading Captain, she slipped behind the wheel and waited for Trevor to buckle himself in.
“I don’t think there’s any need to waste precious time on staking out David’s place,” she said.
“Yeah, it’s sounds like he’s hiding out on the island,” said Trevor.
“It’s clear from the attacks that he knows I’m at the ranch. Maybe he’s sleeping somewhere during the day and going to the ranch at night since that is when the attack occurred.”
“He might change it up, though, now that that hasn’t worked. It would be easy enough to blend in the tourist crowd until he saw his opportunity.”
“True.” As she drove, Hannah thought about the landlady’s comment about David not seeming to have any social connections.
She turned onto the causeway, feeling a sense of excitement at the progress they’d made. Once they arrived at the ranch, they found Isla in the community room, along with Rocco.
“You’re back,” said Hannah.
“Yes, got to see my lovely lady and her little boy. Cooked a nice Italian meal together.” Rocco smiled at the memory.
It must be hard to be away from someone you love. Hannah asked, “Did the puppies get settled in?”
Rocco nodded. “Liana made them right at home. Such cute little guys and girls.” He rose from the sofa. “Meadow and I are on guard duty, by the way.”
“Fine by me,” said Hannah. “Chase might want to change up the plan once he hears what we found out.”
“What is that?”
Isla piped up. “We have the name of the man after Hannah—David Weller.”
“Progress,” said Rocco.
“More than that. We tracked down his landlady. He hasn’t been home for days.”
“That means he’s probably on the island twenty-four-seven,” said Trevor.
Hannah moved toward Isla’s workstation. “We need to find out what make and model of car David is driving.”
“That won’t take long now that we have a name,” said Isla.
Hannah let out a breath and rested her hands on the table. A theory had begun to form in her mind. David’s estrangement from family and apparent anti-social behavior was a red flag.
She thought about how the RMK repeated the pattern of shooting his victims in a barn because it was symbolic. David Weller liked to kill by drowning even when he had other easier options. Was the water symbolic? “Can you check on something else for me?”
“What’s that?” Isla smoothed her dark brown hair.
“I’m curious if there have been other drownings in the area in the years since Jodie died.” As a profile of David Weller emerged, Hannah wondered if David had killed before.
“Give me a little time,” said Isla, “and I’ll have all that information for you also.”
Hannah stepped toward the kitchen with Captain following behind her. Trevor joined her a second later.
She opened the refrigerator. “You want something to drink? Looks like there is some iced tea in here.”
“Sure,” he said. “Why are you having Isla look up if there were other drownings in the area?”
She handed him a can of iced tea. “As I learn more about David Weller, I’m starting to wonder if we’re dealing with a serial killer.”
* * *
Trevor felt a tightening through his chest at the idea that David Weller may have murdered before. As if he wasn’t a sinister enough figure already. “If that’s the case, your being able to identify him and connect him to Jodie’s murder must have really set him off.” He pulled the tab off the iced tea and took a sip. “He’s gone all this time without getting caught.”
“It’s just a theory. We’ll see what Isla comes up with.”
“Scary though, to think about,” said Trevor.
She nodded. “It’s part of the job. The clearer the profile we have of David Weller, the easier it will be to catch him.”
He saw the fear in her eyes. His knuckles brushed over her cheek. “I’m here for you.”
She met his gaze. “I appreciate that.” Her voice was soft and lilting.
Rocco poked his head into the kitchen. “Isla found something.”
They stepped away from each other, though Rocco had probably noticed how close they’d been standing to each other. They both entered the seating area. Hannah took a seat beside Isla while Trevor and Rocco peered over their shoulders at the screen Isla was looking at.
“First, I looked up to see if David Weller had ever had any criminal charges brought against him.”
Hannah shifted in her seat. “Anything?”
“No, not so much as a parking ticket, no restraining orders, nothing.”
Trevor relaxed a little and took in a deep breath. Maybe that was a good sign.
Isla fingers flew across the keyboard. “Then I looked up to see if there were any other drownings, either accidents or homicides, in this area. There was one a few years after Jodie died.” Isla brought up a page of a Syracuse newspaper.
Trevor read the headline. “She died in a pool in a Syracuse hotel.” The article featured a photograph of a woman who was maybe in her late forties.
Hannah leaned forward, scanning the article. “Was it an accident?”
“When I pulled up the coroner’s report, the cause of death was listed as inconclusive. She did have some alcohol in her system, but there was also some bruising on her wrists and neck.”
Trevor looked closer at the article. “She was traveling by herself.”
Isla typed some more. “Then we have this just last year. A man drowned in one of the freshwater springs here on the island. They do think it was a homicide. Those streams are not that deep. The man was hit on the back of the head. They never caught the guy who did it.”
Trevor stared at the photo of the man. Probably about the same age as the woman.
“Any connection between any of the victims including Jodie?” said Hannah.
“None that I could find. The crimes seem fairly random.”
“Man, woman and child,” said Trevor. “Like a family.”
Isla turned in her chair and looked at him. “Exactly.” Her eyes lit up. She swung back around and typed some more. “I wonder.”
“What are you looking up?”
“Trying to find out about David Weller’s family. Give me a minute. This might require some digging.”
“The landlady said that she thought they had moved away from here,” said Hannah.
Trevor and Rocco both stepped away. He wandered over to where Cocoa sat at attention, then brushed his hand over the dog’s head and peered out the window that faced the gravel lot where the cars were parked. Outside, Chase had just pulled up in his vehicle, an expression of concentration on his face as he opened the door so Dash could dismount.
Chase entered the room. His face had a slackness that suggested fatigue.
Rocco, Hannah and Trevor all looked in his direction.
“Any developments?” asked Rocco.
Despite his obvious weariness, Chase squared his shoulders. “Actually, we got a little bit of a lead. The RMK was spotted at White Rock campground during the day yesterday. When we went to the campsite the witness had indicated, no one was there. That means he’s moving around from campground to campground.”
“Maybe sleeping during the day,” suggested Hannah.
Chase shifted his weight and ran his hands through his brown hair. “Yes, and then taking off at night while Cowgirl is sleeping.”
“Probably to come watch the ranch to wait for his chance to get at Trevor,” said Hannah.
“We don’t know that for sure. Trevor hasn’t been attacked while at the ranch,” said Chase. “Even if he eluded us again, we gained some information from the witness. The RMK is in one of those vans that has a bed inside. He can conceal Cowgirl in there. No windows in the back. The witness thought it referenced a rental company on the side. He couldn’t remember the name.”
