In a Heartbeat Read Online Free PDF

agreement.
    “We looked for a connection between Worthy and White, but so far, we haven’t found one,” Brad said. “Mindy worked at the hospital where White died, but she wasn’t on duty the night he was admitted.”
    Ethan spoke up next. “I’ll interview White’s old cell mate, Curtis Thigs. He was released on parole a few days ago. Then maybe I’ll talk to some of the other inmates.”
    “Good luck,” Detective Bentley said with a chuckle.
    Brad shot them a menacing look. Nothing about this case was funny. “We need to cross-check for other parolees recently released, mental patients as well.”
    “I’m on it,” Captain Rosberg said.
    “Any leads on the lumber for the coffin?” Brad asked.
    “We’re still checking it out,” Detective Anderson said. “It may take awhile. Construction crews in and around Atlanta are too many to count.”
    “Make it a priority.” Brad gestured toward his partner. “How about the first vic—a boyfriend in the picture?”
    Ethan shook his head. “According to her roommate, she hasn’t been seriously involved with anyone for some time.”
    “He’s choosing them at random?” Captain Rosberg asked.
    “Maybe.” Brad still didn’t know what to think. White had chosen all coeds. Joann Worthy had been a computer consultant. “Where was the Worthy woman last seen?”
    “A sushi bar around the corner from her apartment.” Ethan consulted his notes. “No, wait, after that, she went into a dance club called Johnny Q’s on Marietta Street.”
    “And no one saw a man with her?” Brad asked.
    “Two guys hit on her, but she brushed them off,” Ethan added. “Got a description. We’re following up. Last the bartender saw, she stepped outside for a cab.”
    “The cab companies?”
    “We’ve shown her picture. No one remembers picking her up.”
    Shit. A dead end.
    Ethan rapped his knuckles on the wooden table. “We’ll keep looking into her activities and friendships, though, see what we can find.”
    “How about our latest missing woman…Mindy Faulkner?” He nearly choked on the name.
    “Thirty, slender, dirty-blond hair, five-four, one hundred and ten pounds, blue eyes,” Captain Rosberg stated.
    “He varied again. Joann Worthy was a brunette,” Brad said. “Mindy’s a blonde.”
    Everyone nodded and made a note of the detail.
    “According to a nurse at First Peachtree Hospital where she works as an R.N., she left the hospital yesterday afternoon around three,” Rosberg continued. “None of her coworkers have seen her since. And her landlord says she didn’t show up at her apartment after work or last night.”
    “So, we’ve got several hours unaccounted for,” Detective Bentley said. “He could have picked her up anywhere.”
    Brad nodded. “Let’s get busy. The first GD kept each victim seven days and nights. This copycat held his first victim for only three. The clock is ticking.”
    The group dispersed, each officer heading out to his assigned part of the investigation.
    Ethan’s boots hit the floor. “You think there’s a significance to the time period he’s holding them?”
    Brad twisted his mouth in thought. “Yeah. White said God made the world in seven days and nights. This guy leaves a cross, keeps his vics three days. If he’s following White’s twisted logic, maybe the resurrection of the Grave Digger is symbolic of Jesus coming back to life.”
    Ethan cursed. “On the third day, he rose from the dead.”
    Brad nodded. “And Mindy’s paying for it.”
    Ethan gave him an odd look, almost sympathetic, although neither man did sympathetic. “I know you’re beating yourself up over this, Booker.”
    Of course his partner would see through him. Hadn’t Ethan’s own family been killed two years ago? It had turned him into a hard-ass, one who took too many risks sometimes.
    Brad cursed. “Mindy might die because she knew me. And the first body was dumped near my house. He’s taunting me, shoving the blasted case in my