Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner [33]
Now all the Marines were looking down. That was okay. Kimberly’s voice had gotten huskier than she intended. She was afraid of the expression that must be on her face.
“You’re right,” she said abruptly. “I should go. I’ll come back later, when an investigating officer is here.”
“That would be best, ma’am,” the Marine said. He still would not look her in the eye.
“Thank you for your help.” She hesitated, then just couldn’t help herself. “Please take care of her for me.”
Then Kimberly turned quickly, and before she did anything even more stupid, disappeared back down the path.
Two minutes later, she felt Mac’s hand upon her arm. She took one look at his somber expression and knew he’d heard everything.
“Did you get the leaf?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now would you like to tell me why you’re really here?”
And Mac said, “Because all these years later, I’ve been waiting for him.”
CHAPTER 9
Quantico, Virginia
12:33 P.M.
Temperature: 95 degrees
“IT STARTED IN NINETEEN NINETY-EIGHT. June fourth. Two college roommates went out to a tavern in Atlanta and never came home. Three days later, the first girl’s body was found near Interstate seventy-five just south of the city. Four months later, the second girl’s remains were found a hundred miles away in Tallulah Gorge State Park. Both girls were found fully clothed and with their purses; no signs of robbery or sexual assault.”
Kimberly frowned. “That’s different.”
Mac nodded at her. They were in a corner of the Crossroads Lounge, huddled over a small table, heads together and voices low. “Next year, nineteen ninety-nine. First heat wave of the year doesn’t hit until July. Two high school girls in Macon, Georgia, sneak into a local bar on July tenth. Never seen alive again. First girl’s body is found two days later, this time next to U.S. four forty-one, which happens to be near the Tallulah Gorge State Park. Second girl is found . . .”
“Inside the gorge?” Kimberly tried gamely.
“Nope. Burke County cotton field. One hundred and fifty miles away from the gorge. It’s the gorge that we searched, however, so nobody discovered her body until the cotton harvest in November.”
“Wait a minute.” Kimberly held up a hand. “It takes all the way until November to find a girl’s body in a field?”
“You’ve never been to Burke County. We’re talking eight hundred square miles of cotton. The kind of place where you can drive all day without ever hitting a paved road. There ain’t nothing out in Burke County.”
“Except a dead body.” Kimberly leaned forward intently. “Both girls fully clothed again? No sign of sexual assault?”
“The best we can tell,” Mac said. “It’s difficult with the second girl of each pair, given the condition of their bodies. But for the most part, yes, all four girls are found wearing their party clothes and looking relatively . . . peaceful.”
“Cause of death?”
“It varies. For the girls left next to roadways, an overdose of benzodiazepine, the prescription drug Ativan. He injects the lethal dose into their left shoulders.”
“And the second girls?”
“We don’t know. It looks like a fall may have been what killed Deanna Wilson. For Kasey Cooper, exposure, maybe, or dehydration.”
“They were abandoned alive?”
“It’s a theory.”
She wasn’t sure she liked how he said that. “You said you found their purses. What about ID?”
Mac’s turn to frown. He was obviously thinking of the girl they’d found that day, and the lack of ID in her wallet. “They did have their driver’s licenses,” he admitted. “IDing the bodies was never an issue. No keys, though. For that matter, no cars. We’ve never recovered a single vehicle.”
“Really?” Kimberly’s scowl deepened. She was fascinated in spite of herself. “Okay, continue.”
“Two thousand,” Mac said crisply, then promptly rolled his eyes. “Bad year, two thousand.