Free Profiled by Renee Andrews Page A

persons’ reports, number of recoveries, number unrecovered. That information would provide a good starting point in identifying if there was a different initial victim.”
    “You think Molly Taylor wasn’t the first?” Zed Naylor looked skeptical. “He left all the bodies out to be found back then. Why wouldn’t we have found the first one?”
    “Maybe because he knew that kill would point to him,” Angel said. “Because it was personal.”
    “You know, that could be right.” Captain Pierce changed his tune and sounded interested in pursuing this new avenue. “We haven’t connected any possible suspects to Molly Taylor. Her family checked out, friends checked out and the girl had never done anything out of the ordinary or produced any enemies, from what the department learned back then.”
    “And I think if we find that first victim, then we’ll find the link between that person and the people who fit your profile. All of it, including the last item on your list, Agent Jackson.” John Tucker underlined the item on his page. “The killer did have some type of relationship with the first victim. We just haven’t identified the first victim yet.”
    Angel looked at Lexie and gave her a slight smile, then nodded in appreciation. “Maybe I should always request a media professional for my cases.”
    “Thanks,” Lexie said, thrilled to be an active member of the group, and even more pleased they were getting closer to finding, and stopping, the killer.
    “Missing persons?” Zed Naylor asked, rising from his chair.
    “Yeah,” Captain Pierce answered. “Pull January through April of 1985 and let’s see what we’ve got.”
    “It’ll take a while.” Lou Marker stood beside Zed. “That stuff’s still in hard copy and handwritten. Don’t think the techies have scanned that far back. Nothing will be in the system, and it’s combined with the rest of the state’s records.”
    “Fine.” The captain’s tone emphasized his determination. “See how many people we can put on it, and let’s try to have something together by morning.”
    Lexie looked at the big round clock on the wall. White circle, black numbers, and both hands pointing straight up. Midnight. Twenty-four hours before the murderer planned to kill again. Her pulse raced. They were on the right track; she could feel it. If they identified that first victim, she believed they’d find the killer. And perhaps, put an end to her personal nightmare.
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    In spite of Zed and Lou finding the surplus of boxes with missing persons’ data from 1985, the reports weren’t as detailed as their modern counterparts. To locate those identified as missing from Bibb County, they had to go through the state files one by one and search the victims’ addresses. By 3:00 a.m., tempers flared, patience was fleeting, and the group realized they needed sleep if they weren’t planning to kill each other before they finished.
    Captain Pierce announced they would call it a day, leaving Zed and Lou to continue perusing the files until 6:00 a.m., when Tucker and Sims were scheduled to relieve the pair. The captain wanted somebody on it until all potential victims surfaced and the team could determine which of them, if any, was the Sunrise Killer’s initial murder. He’d have additional police personnel to help sort the information by morning, and the task force would reconvene at 8:00 a.m. Not a lot of time for sleep, but time was a limited commodity.
    Weary from the stress of putting the pieces together and from the painstaking chore of searching for Macon addresses within those endless files, Lexie gathered her things.
    “Ms. McCain.” John Tucker stepped close.
    She tried not to react to the prickle on her skin, an immediate response to hearing him say her name, and a response she neither understood nor could control. Fear, or something else? “Yes?”
    She had to tilt her head to look at his eyes, blue eyes that gazed straight through