Free Murder Stalks by Sara York

Tony
answered. His confidence in their assessment of the evidence was
growing. “Most serial killers escalate their violence level as time
progresses. This guy seems fairly violent already.”
    Rex’s looked up, making eye contact for the
first time. Tony reigned in his surprise. Rex’s eyes were bloodshot
and dark smudges made them appear sunken, but his trademark smile
flashed for a moment, making him look like the Rex Tony knew him to
be.
    Rex’s shoulders relaxed. He grasped a pen in
his left hand and started clicking the top, an annoying habit, but
one that assured Tony that everything was fine in Rex’s life. His
best friend looked like hell. Later, Tony committed to finding out
what was up, but for now he was happy Rex was starting to act close
to normal again.
    “ I think we need to put
the force on alert. Look for men sitting on side streets in cars.
Anyone suspicious needs to be questioned. I know this might be
overkill, but we have to stop this guy.” Tony’s stomach flopped as
he remembered the way Kelsey Ingles had looked, her body bruised
and battered.
    Tony listened as Janice and Michael debated
their suspect’s profile. Why did they think this guy was
intelligent? Tony wondered. How smart could you be if killing was
your way of life? Tony and Rex hadn’t mentioned the Ashley angle to
either Michael or Janice. At the time, Tony had held back, not
wanting everyone to think he had cracked up. But after the initial
shock wore off, he still didn’t want to divulge the
information.
    Unusually quiet, Rex leaned back in his
chair, not contributing to the discussion on their profile. His
face was stoic, and his emotions were closed off. Rex was hiding
something. Tony’s gut reaction was to pull Rex out of his chair and
shake him.
    “ I’m ready to get out
there and canvass the neighborhoods,” Janice said as she stood,
clearing off the table in front of her.
    “ Sure, I’ll be right with
you,” Michael replied. He picked up his material, filing it into
his briefcase.
    “ Michael, I know you guys
in Dallas saw more murders than we do down here. Do you remember
anything like this while you were there?” Tony asked.
    “ No, nothing at all.”
Michael closed the case and turned to go.
    Tony looked out the window towards the
beach. Why was this happening in his town? There would be more
victims unless they found a way to stop this guy. “Thanks guys,
keep your cells on. And this room is now our war room.” To
emphasize his point, Tony took the pictures of Angela Longfellow
and Kelsey Ingles and pinned them to the wall. “Now there’s no
avoiding what this guy is capable of. We stop him before he does
this to another woman.”
    The room was quiet after Tony tacked up the
photos. Janice stared for a long moment at each picture. With her
back held straight and her gait purposeful, she followed Michael
out of the conference room.
    The tension in the room grew as Tony stared
at Rex over the long central table. When Rex looked away, Tony
closed the door, giving them privacy. He pushed the seat next to
Rex back, and stretched out.
    Rex picked at a piece of paper and toyed
with it. Placing it on the table, he pushed it away and averted his
eyes. The thick tension increased the pressure on Tony. He wiped
his hand across his brow, searching his brain for the right
words.
    “ You’re going to try to
figure out what’s wrong with me, aren’t you?”
    “ Why don’t you tell me?”
Tony said in an even voice, hiding his trepidation.
    “ Don’t do the
psychoanalyst junk with me. I just had a long night.”
    “ You can have long nights.
Just don’t let it affect your job.”
    “ Deal.” Rex loaded papers
into his briefcase. Edginess still clung to him, making his
movements seem stilted. He snapped his briefcase closed and moved
to open the conference room door. Hesitating, he glanced back at
Tony. Rex’s hand clung to the door handle. The pressure in the room
kicked up another notch. Tony saw the change