*
Dominic didn’t want to leave the graveside until the coffin was up and open and he was staring at Peter Galveston’s rotting corpse. But as he watched Ava follow the clergyman who could barely keep his tongue in his mouth, Dominic didn’t want to leave her alone with the guy either. That was more a personal preference than a professional one so he stayed where he was. Apparently, Mr. Loner had gotten used to his beautiful shadow over the past few days.
Get a grip.
Ava Kanas didn’t need his protection. She’d taken down dangerous fugitives and drug dealers and that was just in the last week. Hell, she’d taken on the mob at an age where most kids were playing dress up. What had he been doing at age seven? Probably crying because his mother was dead and then crushing his brother at Mario Kart.
He drew his attention back to where the digger was lifting bucket upon bucket of heavy black soil out of the ground. The noise of the machinery meant it was impossible to carry on a normal conversation. Two more federal agents arrived, probably to check out the proceedings. It wasn’t every day they dug up a serial killer.
Dominic used the time to center his thoughts about the case.
This killer had planted C4 in Chavez’s speedboat and sent a pipe-bomb to Sandra Warren that had maimed her husband. He, or she, did not care if other people got hurt. They didn’t care if kids got hurt.
If it was Caroline Perry then what was her motive? What was her connection to Galveston?
Dominic raised his gaze to the tombstone and read the inscription. Older sibling. Parents. Nothing for Peter except his name, date of birth, date of death. The man had been an only child after the early demise of his brother. Dominic would bet the farm that Peter had had something to do with that premature death. Psychopaths did not like competition for attention.
The guy had had plenty of friends, but they’d all scattered like roaches after he was shot and claimed they had no idea about the man’s murderous pastimes. They were probably telling the truth. Most of them. The FBI had never been able to connect any of them specifically with his crimes.
Dominic walked around the obelisk and rocked to a halt. Someone had left the bastard a teddy bear. It was an expensive make, he knew that from the label on the foot. Who the hell left a serial killer a stuffed toy? Someone who loved him, that’s who.
He took out his cell phone and snapped a photograph and sent it to Lincoln Frazer. A minute later he got a call from the man.
“Where is that?” Frazer asked.
“Peter Galveston’s grave.”
“Give me the GPS coordinates.”
Dominic texted them and waited silently on the line.
Frazer finally came back to him as the digger hit something solid in the earth with a slight thump. The people around the grave jostled in excitement.
“Alex Parker managed to isolate a cell phone number that had been active around the bar in Fredericksburg, Van’s house, and the area where Caroline Perry’s body went into the water. It also pinged the tower nearest your house a couple of times. Parker checked, and it pinged the tower nearest your current location on several occasions over the past year.”
“Send me those dates.” He needed to show the pastor a photo of Perry, see if the guy recognized her. “Where is the phone now?”
“Hasn’t been turned on since Tuesday night. Around the Medical Examiner’s time of death for Perry.”
“What does the teddy bear tell you?” Dominic asked the profiler.
“That someone had strong feelings for Galveston and wanted to prove someone loved him. Probably a female.”
Dominic grunted. Men didn’t tend to buy teddy bears for loved ones—unless it was for a child. Galveston’s parents were both dead.
“This could be the work of more than one person,” Dominic stated.
“At this stage, with this many agents targeted, the UNSUB definitely had help,” Frazer agreed.
“Gotta go.” Dominic hung up.
So, who had left the toy? Could he bag it for evidence? For what end? It wasn’t a crime to visit a grave, or to leave an offering.
The gravediggers and laborers had placed chains under the coffin. The earth moving equipment was now doing double duty as a winch. Four men steadied the casket as it came clear of the ground and eased it onto the grass beside the hole in the earth.
Dominic looked around impatiently for the ME. Where the hell was the guy? He was about to open the casket himself when a van rolled into place. Two men, both carrying heavy bags, trudged across the dried grass to meet them.
Dominic held back his irritation but obviously not well enough.
“What’s the hurry people? It’s not like our fellow is going anywhere.”
Dominic forced himself to smile and use his upbeat, friendly voice even though his angry voice wanted to tell them to hurry the fuck up. “It’s part of a current investigation that’s time sensitive.”
“Copycat?” the ME frowned.
Dominic was sure the last thing this man wanted on his table were raped and murdered girls.
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss an active investigation at this time.”
The man grunted and scowled up at the sky. “Really want the tent up? It’ll take thirty minutes to erect.”
Dominic thought about it. All they needed was a photograph of the corpse in situ and to take a quick DNA sample. “You have any umbrellas in the car?” he asked Agent Pine and the ME’s assistant.
Both men nodded and trudged off to fetch them.
The man and woman in the churchyard were watching with interest.
“You guys can leave. We’ll call you when we need you again,” he told the gravediggers and laborers.
The remaining Feds formed a short wall. Pine handed over a golf umbrella and held a second one himself. Dominic opened the umbrella just as Ava slid up beside him to help form a barrier. The canopy was wide and blocked any viewers from seeing inside the casket from above or the side.
The ME and his assistant both donned masks and then lifted the top half of the coffin lid.