Chapter Ten

The storm front was set to ease in an hour or two. Until then, the heavy rain and strong winds would continue to currently hammer against the windows. The double panes currently rattled with force as the claps of thunder took a backseat. Fortunately, an adequate amount of the gathering clouds had drifted far enough east to diminish the lightning.

While Bit always took additional precautions with his equipment by using surge protectors, one could never be certain of their effectiveness. The interior of the Airbnb had become so dim during the brunt of the storms that he had been forced to turn on the two lamps that had been placed on the side tables.

Bit had several monitors on the table, each with a specific purpose. One of the screens currently displayed Mary Four's social media profile. As of this morning, she had recorded herself on a live feed thanking her viewers for helping attain the attention of the FBI. She had even mentioned that she had been given twenty-four-seven protection.

The video had prompted Brook to visit the woman earlier this afternoon.

Bit wouldn't hold his breath that Mary Four would listen to Brook's advice when it came to not putting her life on social media. Surprisingly, Adam Bouras had been at the house. He had previously been scheduled to be in Flint, but he claimed that the storms had changed his plans. Brook had managed to discover who Adam's friend was who helped escort Daniel Callaghan to the parking lot, and Adam had been referring to Jason Bracco.

"Boss, Bouras' supervisor confirmed the change in plans," Bit informed Brook as she walked into the living room with a fresh mug of coffee. "Also, Bouras has a soft alibi for Mary Three."

"Soft?" Brook asked as she continued to walk around his makeshift desk. "Not definitive?"

"I put in a request for a warrant to access the hotel's security feed where Bouras was staying that night. Once I confirm that Bouras never left his hotel, then we can cross him off the suspect list."

Bit leaned back in his chair when Brook came to a stop in front of the portable monitor. She had been staring at the data on the screen since she had returned from her visit with Mary Four, which had been at least thirty minutes ago. Brook had taken her blazer off after walking into the house. The holster clipped to her belt was the same one that he was currently using for his firearm. Before working for SE Investigations, he never would have thought that carrying a weapon would turn into a daily habit.

Sylvie's attempted murder had changed his viewpoint.

Bit adjusted his headphones against his neck when some of his strands had gotten caught underneath the weight. It was interesting that the heaviness on his waist no longer bothered him. He and Sylvie had been to the range numerous times over the last couple of months, and he was more comfortable now than ever before.

A soft chime came from one of his monitors, causing him to push the soles of his shoes against the hard plastic mat that he had laid down before bringing in the long table, rolling chairs, computers, and all the accessories. He scanned the results of an application that he had run from cell phone data provided by the victims' providers.

"There were no overlapping calls placed or received by the victims from their cell phones," Bit informed her as he tabbed to the next screen. "No text messages or DMs overlapped, either."

"I'm not surprised," Brook murmured before she lifted the mug to her lips. As usual, her long black hair hung over her left shoulder. The strands were so dark that the color became almost one with her long-sleeved black blouse. "Nothing else has matched up, yet the manner of death the unsub has chosen is very personal."

"Nothing like being stabbed to death," Bit muttered under his breath as he reached for his soft drink.

While he loved his energy drinks, he liked to mix it up once in a while. The orange bubbles were a refreshing change of pace. By the time he set the can back down on the table, Brook was lost in her own world. He was always amazed by how her mind worked, but he was also aware of the reason behind such an ability to profile others.

Bit took a moment to glance at Mary Four"s social media profile again. Even though Brook had warned the woman this afternoon about putting too much information online, it was doubtful that she would listen to such advice.

"Why the shoulder blade?" Brook's question came out of the blue, but Bit was used to the figurative inquiries. She probably already had an answer queued up. "Mary One and Mary Two were both stabbed in the chest. The autopsies confirmed it was the same type of knife used on all three victims, if not the same knife. Mary Three was attacked from behind, but it was only after she fell to the ground and turned on her back that the unsub delivered the fatal puncture wound."

"Mary Three was jogging," Bit chimed in right as his cell phone signaled that he had an incoming text. Since he had diverted his messages to his main laptop, he clicked on the images that Arden had sent seconds ago. "What if Mary Three noticed that she was being followed and attempted to run faster? Maybe the unsub tackled her from behind. Not thinking he had a choice, he stabbed her in the back so she wouldn't get away."

"Considering the bruises and scrapes discovered on Mary Three's hands and knees, that could be an accurate assumption." Brook closed the distance to the touchscreen monitor and pulled up the medical examiner's file. The photographs caused Bit to glance down at his keyboard. "Or she simply stumbled forward from the force of the blow."

Bit gave Brook about three minutes to study Mary Three's injuries before he pressed a button on his keyboard. Soon, those grisly pictures were replaced with a series of cute and innocent images as they popped up on the screen one at a time.

A white kitten with crystal blue eyes had been caught in adorable poses raising her paw toward the lens. She was captured closer to the phone each time. Bit wasn't usually sappy, but he found it difficult not to be all gushy at the sight of such a pristine ball of fur. Arden had also attached a video, and Bit began to play it before Brook could stop him.

The tiny kitten, all fluff and paws, was fiercely battling a pink ball. The silver bell inside jingled with each swipe, which only enticed the kitten to continue her daring pursuit. Either that, or it was Arden's encouraging words in the background. Bit was pretty sure it was the twitch of the kitten's whiskers that caused Brook to finally break down and smile.

"I think Arden is going to have a tough time handing over that handful of energy."

"Considering how much we travel, Gumshoe will definitely get some quality time with the furball," Bit said as he replayed the video. It was a nice change of pace to witness Brook soften her stance. He would never say such a thing out loud, but the color of her irises matched that of the kitten's eyes. "What do you think Little T will name her? Snowball?"

"Knowing Sylvie, she'll think outside the box." Brook's smile faded slowly as Bit closed out of the video and made sure there were no traces of the images for Sylvie to find once she got back from Lansing. "Speaking of Sylvie, she's not driving back until Monday. She wants to speak with the staff of the high school, along with Ava Reynolds' teacher at the lower school."

"And Big T?"

"Returning tonight." Brook stood in such a way that it afforded her the ability to study the screen and carry on a conversation with him. "What did you find on the substitute teacher?"

Bit had rolled his chair to position himself back in front of the computer that he was previously working on, lines of codes shifting and scrolling with precision. He was pleased with the program that should produce results on whether there had been any social media crossover with the victims. His first program had yielded nothing, but he had been able to adjust some parameters that would confirm the previous results.

"The substitute teacher is Eric Langdon," Bit said before minimizing the code window to reveal the man's profile. With a press of a button, the information materialized on the portable monitor. "Twenty-nine years of age with a bachelor's degree in education. His minor was in history, but he has yet to land a full-time position with the school. Langdon grew up in the area, graduated from that particular high school, and his father still lives in the same house."

"Mother?"

Bit wasn't surprised in the least that Brook focused on Langdon's maternal parent. Most serial killers had issues with their mothers, and their victims tended to share the same maternal traits. Langdon didn't fit in with those types of individuals, though.

"Langdon's mother was never in the picture. She died from an aneurysm the day after giving birth to him." Bit made sure that the mother's name was highlighted on the screen. "Her name was Abagail Rose."

"Does Langdon have alibis for the three dates in question?"

"Two out of the three," Bit replied as another alert caught his attention. "Langdon doesn't like social media, so it's difficult to know about the day that Mary Two was murdered."

"And Mary Two is the Mary Jane Reynolds who knew him personally," Brook said softly before walking toward the couch. She had kicked off her high heels upon entering the house earlier, so she was able to tuck her feet underneath her as she made herself comfortable on the cushion. Her tablet had been on the arm of the couch, and it didn't take her long to settle in to read the latest notes entered by Sylvie and Theo. "Sylvie will be able to press Langdon on Monday. In the meantime, we'll continue to search for a connection between the victims. It's there. We just need to find it."

Bit remained silent as he read over an email that wasn't directed at him. He adjusted his knitted hat after the third read-through.

"Bit, spit it out."

Bit glanced to the left of the monitor, noting that Brook's attention was on the tablet instead of him. She had a knack for knowing when something was wrong, but he doubted that she was ready to hear what he had to say about Jacob.

"It's probably nothing."

"If it was nothing, then you wouldn't have lost color in your face."

Bit was well aware that he had pale features, partly due to his genetics and the other part because he preferred to stay indoors behind his screens. Besides, he remembered to take supplements now and then in case of any vitamin deficiencies.

When he didn't reply right away, Brook finally switched her attention from the tablet to him. She was the most difficult person to read in any situation. Now was no exception. He sensed that she had braced herself for what he was about to reveal, but he couldn't be certain.

Monitoring government systems wasn't the wisest thing to do when he was on their radar, but risks had to be taken when it came to Brook's brother. Seeing as Bit swept his space every morning, as well as ran his own programmed scan of any devices being used on a daily basis, it was doubtful that the FBI was listening in on their conversation.

Still, he was always careful with what he said aloud.

"Did you hear about the outbreak at the federal prison?" Bit asked casually, though he wasn't sure that he had pulled off such an attitude. "Influenza A, apparently. A few of the prisoners were transferred to a local hospital."

"Such an article hasn't come across my newsfeed, but I can see why the subject would garner interest from the press," Brook responded in a measured tone. She casually stood from the cushion, leaving her tablet on the arm of the couch. She picked up her phone instead. "I should probably make a few phone calls."

Bit continued to tap his thumb against the table as Brook left the living room. The inbox that he had been monitoring belonged to the warden of the federal prison where Jacob was being held, and Bit had set up a program where keywords were tagged…such as transport. There were a couple of names listed in the body of the email, but Jacob's name had not been one of them. The hospital would have sectioned off a wing of the hospital to avoid any threats to the other patients. Guards would also be stationed in and around the hospital depending on the prisoner.

Regardless, the team needed to take the necessary precautions to guarantee Jacob's name was never added to such a list. Bit couldn't hear Brook's side of the phone conversation, but he was certain that the topic of solitary confinement would be part of the discussion. Only time would reveal if such a request had been made before possible exposure to the virus.