He reached into his pocket and pulled out his rubber friend. “Of course, I never travel without one.”
“That sure of getting laid, are you?”
“One lives in hope. Are we going to chat all night or get down to business?”
She grabbed him round the neck and pulled him on top of her. “Less talk, more action. You’re my kind of guy.”
The sex that followed was a mixture of guiltless pleasure and frantic possession. He had every intention of using Alexina to the fullest extent. She was an enthusiastic and very willing participant, after all. Not long after the couple had climaxed, his strength started to return, and the wobbliness in his limbs subsided. He started to play with her breasts, giving her the unspoken message that he was eager to go a second time. She wriggled beneath him, inviting him to take her again. His hands went on a journey of pleasing her until they came to rest on her neck. He played with it, tickling the sides, and she moaned as her eyes fluttered shut. Then he struck. He squeezed with all his might with his hands while using his splayed-out legs and his extra weight to prevent her from struggling free from his grasp.
The last words he spoke to her as she gasped for breath were: “Thank you, but you were nothing special.”
Her lifeless eyes stared up at him. He discarded her, pushing and pulling at her body in his eagerness to get dressed. Once he was fully clothed, he tugged her body through the back door, lifted her still-warm frame into his arms, and made his way into the building. He saw no need to bother concealing her body—the police had no clue who he was. He went back to the car and retrieved her clothes and handbag, which he piled close to her head. Then he emptied the contents of the phial across her thigh, just as he had with the others. Calmly and without looking back over his shoulder, he left the girl and jumped back into his car.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sally was finishing up sifting through the monotonous paperwork thrust upon DIs nowadays—after the relaxing weekend, the chore seemed so much better to deal with—when Jack appeared in her doorway.
“We’ve got another one.” He looked downbeat, and an ominous feeling pushed away all the relaxation that had seeped into her body over the past few days.
“Crap, really? Where?”
“Different location entirely. In a disused warehouse not far from Acle.”
“If it’s disused, how did someone find the body?”
He shrugged. “Lucky break, I guess.”
“Do we know how long it’s been there? What kind of condition is the body in, decomposing or what?”
“I don’t know, boss. All I know is that a body has been reported and that the pathologist is on his way over there now, as we should be.”
“All right, Jack. Keep your toupee in place. What’s biting you this morning?”
He mumbled something as he turned away from her. Sally shuffled the rest of the paperwork together and set it aside then stood up and slipped on her jacket. The incident room was buzzing when she joined the rest of the team. “Okay, guys, you keep digging into the other two murders while Jack and I go visit the crime scene. Let’s hope the DNA is the same and we’re not dealing with either another killer or a copycat on our patch. Joanna, have you chased up the second DNA results this morning yet?”
“Not yet, boss. I’ll get on it straight away. I know it’s Monday morning, but it’s been almost a week now. I’ll remind them of the promise they made.”
“You do that. How do they expect us to catch a killer if they can’t furnish us with the DNA results? Okay, climbing off my soapbox for now. Are you ready, Jack?”
“Yep.” He walked out of the incident room without waiting for Sally.
Sally stopped by Joanna’s desk. “What’s eating him this morning? Do you know?”
“Nope. He’s barely said two words since he arrived, and that was to bite Jordan’s head off about something minor.”
“That’s not like him. Trouble at home, maybe?”
Joanna shrugged. “Probably. I’m sure he’ll tell us when he feels ready to open up.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Looks like I’m in for a fun-filled morning.”
Joanna nodded and reached for the phone. “You and me both!”
Jack was leaning against Sally’s car when she walked out of the station, his face turned upwards as if seeking out the springtime sunrays.
“We haven’t got time for you to top up your tan, Jack. Leave that until your holiday, eh?”
“What bloody holiday? We’ve had to cancel it.” He kicked out at the gravel.
“Shit! Why? No wait; fill me in on the way.”
They both climbed in the car, and Sally drove off, heading for the crime scene. The area had become more familiar to her every time they drove out that way. “So?”
“To be honest with you, I’m just too damned angry right now to discuss it, boss.”
“That bad! Surely nothing can be so bad that it forces you into cancelling your summer holiday, mate. Is Donna all right? You guys haven’t been arguing, have you?”
Jack remained silent, and Sally noticed his hands wringing together in his lap. She’d never seen her partner look so wound up. Something major was afoot, but she thought he would fill her in when the time was right. Nothing ever got Jack down. Years in the forces meant he had a chilled-out nature that was ideal for his role as a DS. So to see him in such turmoil concerned Sally greatly. “Okay, I’m taking the hint and butting out. I’ll just say one thing, Jack. I’m here if you need to chat. You know I can keep a confidence, right?”
“I know, boss. When the time is right, I’ll let you in on the secret. I just need to sort things out up here first.” He jabbed a finger at his temple.
“I understand. I hope you get things sorted soon.”
He turned to look out the window at the passing countryside. “I doubt that.”
Sally cringed, feeling helpless that she couldn’t help her partner through his difficult time. However, on a purely selfish note, she hoped his problems didn’t come with any lingering lapses in concentration where his work ability was concerned.
They arrived at the crime scene to find Simon and his team getting suited and booted beside his vehicle.
“Just got here?” Sally called out.
“Been here a few minutes, Inspector. If you have intentions of coming inside to view the body, you’ll need to get togged up first. Tony, sort out another couple of sets for the detectives, will you?”
“What do we know about the victim? Anything yet?” Sally slipped one leg into the paper suit Tony provided for her.
“Not a lot right now. Similar MO in that she had traces of semen found on her leg, and she was naked.”
“Damn, even more essential to chase up that DNA sample from the lab.”
Simon frowned. “Have you still not got that? Want me to make a phone call later for you?”
Sally let out a long breath. “If you could, that would be marvellous.”
With everyone dressed in white suits, gloves, and blue paper slippers, the team entered the building. Doubtful about falling debris from the crumbling walls and what was left of the floor above, Sally paused at the entrance. “Shouldn’t we wear hard hats instead of flimsy paper?”
“I took a quick look and came to the conclusion that the roof and floor above appeared to be sound enough, for now at least.”
“I’ll take your word on that,” she said, her tone full of sarcasm.
“There’s our victim.” Simon pointed off to the side, just feet ahead of them.
“Do you think she was murdered elsewhere and then dumped here?” Sally asked.
“Maybe.” Simon replied with a shrug.
The group approached the corpse.
Sally felt the need to cover the girl’s body, as she always did when she stumbled across a naked female victim. “Shit! Another young girl. Can you get us an ID to start us off?”
Simon nodded and removed the woman’s small handbag from the pile of clothes. He flipped open the front flap and extracted her purse. “Let’s see. Alexina Graham. A miss, according to her bank card.”