Taken! Alphabet Series - 26 Original Taken! Tales (Donald Wells' Taken! Series Book 14) Read Online Free PDF Page B

grinned.
    “Near as I can tell, they were saved by two guardian angels.”

TAKEN! H – THE SUSPECT
    (The events in TAKEN! H took place weeks prior to the events in TAKEN! )
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    F ort Jones, Arkansas, 2012
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    D etective Cal Washburn stared at the Task Force Murder Board for the hundredth time, while reading the names of the victims, victims of a serial killer who had been active in his city for the better part of the last year.
    A serial killer nicknamed, The Reaper , who also taunted his pursuers by leaving insulting notes at the scene of his crimes, notes that declared his superiority over the cops that were hunting him.
    Eleven beautiful young faces stared back at Washburn from eleven photos, and beside each picture was a list of the decedents’ friends, relatives, acquaintances, places of work, venues of play, and any other facts that were of pertinence during their short lives.
    The eleven women were all between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three. Eight were blondes, while the other three were brunettes, but all of them were beautiful and each had left behind a grieving family. Still, other than their youth and attractiveness the women shared no common bonds, at least none that would lead to a suspect.
    Detective Washburn was not young, nor beautiful. He was sixty-four and a forty-three year veteran of the force who had worked homicide for most of those years and was staring mandatory retirement in the face. Washburn was exceptional at catching killers and had solved more homicides than anyone else who had ever worked in the department, however, The Reaper was a killer he knew he’d never catch, and with only six months left until retirement, it would also be the last big case of his storied career.
    One of the Fed’s experts, a man skilled in something called Discourse Analysis, claimed that his examination of the killer’s typewritten notes led him to believe that they were looking for someone in law enforcement, and not just anyone, but someone with years of experience, such as Washburn.
    Washburn hated the conclusion, but saw how the man had reached it, since a few phrases in the notes were ones he used himself back in the day, when he still wore a uniform.
    He looked away from the board and over at his new partner, Rich Connelly. Connelly was a rising star in the department and rumored to be up for Sergeant, something that made Washburn’s blood boil, as it would make the young man his boss.
    As far as he could tell from the three weeks they’d been partnered together, the twenty-eight year old Connelly was a lazy, overrated bum who skated by on good looks and family connections. After all, it never hurt to have a father who was a Chief of Detectives.
    “Connelly! Are you asleep over there?”
    Rich Connelly opened his eyes and winked at Washburn.
    “I’m meditating on the facts of the case.”
    “You’d better not let Captain Rodgers catch you ‘meditating.’”
    “Who? Karen? She’s like an aunt to me. I’ve known her since she and my father were partners.”
    “Yeah, well, don’t forget we got company here today. Dr. Jessica White, the profiler. They say that woman can work miracles.”
    Connelly made a sound of derision.
    “It’s just more of the FBI’s bullshit. Just like that Discourse Analyst they had looking over the notes. That man was supposed to be the best in the business, and what was his conclusion, he blamed the murders on a cop.”
    “The evidence points to it I’m sorry to say, and from what I hear, Dr. White agrees.”
    “Why? Because of those few phrases in the notes? Hell, lots of people know those, even me. I grew up in a cop household and heard them all the time.”
    “They’re watching us; you know that, don’t you?”
    Connelly sat up suddenly.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “The Feds, they’re following everyone on the task force. I think they’re convinced that one of us could be The Reaper