Free Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) by Rayven T. Hill Page B

awhile. Suddenly he stopped, crossed his arms and glared at Hank. “Annie and I are willing to do anything . . . anything, to catch this scum.”
    Hank sat back and looked up at Jake. “The farmer who found the body gave me something that may be useful.”
    Annie leaned in eagerly.
    “He met a white van on the road just a couple of minutes before he saw Mrs. Gould’s body,” Hank said. “It was traveling fast and heading away from the place the body was found. It may be nothing, but then again, we have to check it out.”
    “There has to be a million white vans out there. Did he get the plate number?” Jake asked.
    “Nope.” Hank shrugged. “It’s all we have right now, but at least it’s something. I talked to Callaway and he’ll cross-check the records for any registered white vans. The only other thing we have is the area where the cell phone was found in the dumpster.”
    “That still doesn’t narrow it down a lot,” Jake said impatiently.
    “It’s a start,” Annie said. “Jake, it’s a start. We need to give it some time.”
    “It doesn’t stop there,” Hank added. “Once we get the list from Callaway, King has a detail ready to check each and every white van within a ten-mile radius of the city. Inside and out. There might be some dust on it from traveling the backroads, or perhaps something inside.”
    “I doubt if the kidnapper is stupid enough to leave anything lying around,” Jake said. “Did the farmer have anything else?”
    Hank shook his head. “That’s all.”
    “What about the location where I dropped the money?” Jake asked. “Did King and the officers find anything there?”
    Hank sighed. “No. Nothing at all.”
    “So we have an unknown white van from an unknown location.” Jake raised his voice somewhat. “And a killer on the loose. And I think the only reason he killed her, was because the police were involved. He warned the doctor and he warned me.”
    “You couldn’t have known he would kill her, Jake,” Hank said patiently.
    Jake sat back down, leaned back and took a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re right. I just feel helpless at the moment.”
    Annie was drumming her fingers on the desktop. She stopped and sat back. “I wonder why Mrs. Gould’s body was left in such a remote location. I mean, he could have left it anywhere. Why there?”
    Hank said, “I was curious about that as well, especially if she was held somewhere in the downtown area, as we suspect.”
    “To draw attention away from that area,” Jake said. “Remember, he doesn’t know we found the cell phone, and even if we can determine the approximate location of the building from the picture he sent of Mrs. Gould, it doesn’t exactly show what area she was in.”
    “Perhaps he’s operating from a remote location,” Annie said. “And he dropped the phone in the city to throw us off.”
    “Yeah,” Hank said. “There is that possibility.”
    “But he’s smart,” Jake added. “And I don’t think he would dump the body in the same area he’s operating from.”
    “We only have two choices,” Annie said. “In the city, or out of the city.”
    “My gut tells me it’s somewhere downtown,” Hank said. “But where?” He looked at his watch. “I’m anxious to see what Nancy comes up with in the autopsy report, but that’ll take a while longer.”
    “What about that cloth stuffed in her mouth?” Jake asked.
    “It was removed, as had any ties from her arms and legs.”
    “Why was she killed with a garrote?” Annie asked. “What a horrible way to die.” Annie’s hand moved instinctively to her throat and she shuddered at the thought of a wire being tightened around her neck, cutting off her breath and then her life.
    “It’s quick and clean,” Hank said. “But you’re right, strangulation, especially in that manner, is a painful way to die.”
    “He’s definitely a psychopath,” Jake said.
    “No doubt about that,” Hank said. “And that might be his