I'd been wondering when she was going to get round to asking me about what she'd witnessed and heard in the morgue. "No idea," I said. "But her death was different from the other victims. Everything done to her was to make a point, probably to Vicki, since they were a couple."
"It must have been horrific." Sara's voice was soft, barely above a whisper, her distress obvious.
"We'll find him and stop him."
"Do you think you can?"
Before I could answer Olivia and Tommy emerged from out of the building, almost running in their haste. "Olivia had a call, there's been another body found," Tommy said as the hurried past.
"This is where your involvement ends," I said. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous."
"I know," Sara said, with a nod. "Just go stop him. Don't let anyone else go through what Amber did."
The journey took nearly half an hour. Tommy stopped beside two LOA agents who directed us onto dirt track which took us deep into the New Forest.
It was pitch black under the trees. I didn't have time to stop and use magic to allow me to see in the dark, so I turned on the headlights and continued to follow Tommy at a low speed — my bike was not made for off road use and the vibrations felt like they were crushing the bottom of my spine.
A few hundred yards into the forest and the dirt path opened into a large clearing with a dozen more agents milling around. Huge floodlights had been erected at one side, bathing the entire area in an almost daylight level of illumination.
I stopped the bike next to Tommy's truck, switched off the engine and removed my helmet, as a man I recognised as the one who'd pointed a gun at me back at the farmhouse walked toward us. His name popped into my head, Agent Greaves.
"Oh good, the P. I," he said when he saw Tommy get out of the truck. Without a gun pointed at me, I was afforded a proper look at the agent. Greaves was a tall, thin man with a nasty scar along his chin. His hair was long and flowed freely over his shoulders, and mud splattered against the trousers of his expensive suit. He didn't look happy to be searching the woods, and even less so to see Tommy and me.
"We're here to help," Tommy said.
"Here to get in the fucking way," Greaves snarled. "You're only here because-"
"Because of what?" Olivia called, accompanied by the sound of a car door slamming shut. No one spoke as she made her way toward the gent. "Please, Agent Greaves, feel free to enlighten us with your in-depth knowledge of why Tommy is employed on a recurring basis."
If Agent Greaves was wise, he'd have said sorry and then shut up. Unfortunately, Agent Greaves was an idiot. "All I meant, Ma'am, was that Tommy-"
"Agent, if you don't shut up and do your job, I will personally have you shipped somewhere very unpleasant for the next century. Are we clear?"
Agent Greaves darted from view like a deer given reprieve by a hunter's wayward bullet.
"I want your opinion on this crime scene," Olivia said to me.
"Okay, so where's the body?"
Another agent — this one about my height, but without my stocky build, pointed toward the woods behind him and went back to talking to someone in blue scrubs with blood on his sleeves.
I grabbed some latex gloves and Tommy joined me in my trek across the muddy ground, as drenched ferns brushed against my jeans. "You sure Sara will be okay?" I asked.
Tommy stopped and looked at me, we were alone. No one could hear us unless they really wanted to. "If she was anyone else would you ask me that?"
I didn't need to say anything for Tommy to know the answer. "She reminds you of her, doesn't she?"
"Okay, moving on," I said and walked further into the forest.
"Nate," Tommy said as he caught me up.
I spun on him, unwilling to have the conversation go any further. "No, drop it. Now."
Tommy sighed, leaving the rest of the walk in silence. As we got further from the clearing, I noticed that someone was sitting against a tree, her bare legs all that showed. The rest of the body was masked in darkness.
I breathed out and continued to the body, unsure of exactly what we would find.
At one point the girl had been beautiful. But as I looked down on her blood-soaked form, I saw that her beauty had been contorted with pain and fear, until there was no beauty left. The back of her head rested against the tree's trunk. Her bare arms were tied behind the trunk with black plastic ties. Her skin was scratched and torn as she'd tried to fight her way free. There were no marks on her face, but her clothes were soaked through with blood. Leaves had stuck to her as the wind picked up.
"Untie her," I said softly.
"We can't until the LOA have finished."
I knelt in front of her and moved her blouse, which had once been light blue and was now a dark red, up from her stomach. The ragged wound it had hidden looked like her abdomen had been ripped open. I took a deep breath and lifted the blouse higher, exposing the entirety of what had been done to her.
The gash in her stomach stretched from one side to the other. Some intestine fell out with a wet noise and landed on the ground. I allowed the blouse to drop once more and got back to my feet. "I'm going to put money on her liver and kidneys being missing," I said.
"Like the others," Tommy said.
"Let's go," I said.
Tommy stared at the young woman a moment, then mimicked my nod before we walked away in silence, neither of us wishing to say anything until we reached Olivia.
We found her talking to the agent who had pointed us in the direction of the body. He saw me and smiled, offering his hand. "Martin Reid," he said.
"Nate," I said. "Nice to meet you." I removed the latex gloves and shook his hand. "Shame it had to be tonight."
He nodded his agreement as Olivia gathered more agents, including Greaves, over to her. "So, Mister Garrett, please tell us what you found."
"Trial by fire," I said and looked around the dozen agents, most of whom certainly weren't that interested in knowing what I'd found. "Fair enough, but are you sure you want the audience?"
"I've explained to my agents that you will be helping with the investigation. And I'd rather you ask questions here than trying to find people at a later time."
"I do have a few questions, first," I said and Olivia motioned for me to continue. "The woman's car."
"It's the blue piece of shit in the corner," Greaves said.
I turned to follow his directions and spotted the small blue Chevrolet something or other, their version of the Mini. I ignored Greaves' glare which followed me as I walked over to the car and examined it, checking the interior and doors. The keys were still in the ignition, the driver's side door was open and her purse visible under the seat. "Well, it wasn't a robbery," I said as I rejoined the group.
"Good one," Greaves said. "How long do we have to listen to this idiot?"
Olivia shot him a glare and he shut up, but maintained his unhappy expression.
"She drove here herself," I said.
"Fucking idiot," Greaves whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
My patience was wearing thin. "She was murdered where you found her, and once she was finally caught, she fought like crazy."
Greaves slow clapped.
"Look at the footprints in the soil here, the toe indentation is deeper than the heel. She was running. But the footprints from the passenger side are flat, normal. He stepped out of the car and then stalked after her. He was in no hurry. He knew she'd never get away."
"Anything else?" Olivia said.
"He wasn't alone. As I said before, there are at least two people doing this. One is getting the victim here, and one is killing them. That's probably why he was in no hurry to chase after her — he knew someone was waiting inside the woods. All the other victims were the same, apart from Amber. Her heart wasn't torn out.