Blood Orchids (Lei Crime, Book 1) by Toby Neal

Author:Toby Neal [Neal, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Toby Neal
Published: 2011-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Several hours later Lei hit print, put all the papers into a folder and called Stevens. The team had just finished a re-canvass of Haunani’s neighborhood and upon hearing what she had to tell him, he sent the other detectives on to Kelly’s neighborhood. Lei met him and Jeremy in the small conference room.

He’d brought her a fresh cup of inky coffee with chunks of melting powdered creamer in it and a red-striped swizzle stick. He set it down in front of her and leaned on an elbow. She wished he didn’t look so tasty; the pull toward him felt like a betrayal. She shouldn’t care about anything but the case. She pushed the folder over to him.

“You look like you need it.” He pushed the coffee toward her with an index finger in exchange. Jeremy’s eyes narrowed on her and Lei frowned back at him as Stevens opened the folder so both of them could scan the contents.

She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes. Those old monitors weren’t exactly easy for reading. She stirred the swizzle stick until the white chunks disappeared. The coffee was surprisingly good, a warm smoky mouthful of delicious.

“I can’t believe no one has put these rapes together before. They’re all listed as unsolved, different detectives on them, and no notes about them being connected.” She sucked the end of the swizzle stick.

“Looks like we’re onto something here,” Stevens said, leafing through the printouts. “What did you use for search parameters?”

“I looked for kidnap rapes with use of drugs. There were a lot on Oahu that could have been him experimenting, getting his method down. Some girls drugged at parties, waking up in the bushes with no idea what happened. But I excluded date rapes and party situations. Just kept the ones where they were kidnapped, drugged, and held captive.”

Stevens spread the photos on the table. “So it starts on Oahu four years ago. Melanie Costa, age 22. Brunette, brown eyes, mixed race. Kidnapped off University of Hawaii campus, drugged and raped at a campsite, dumped back on campus after a day. Lisa Holtzman, blonde and blue-eyed, age 19. Hit on the head at Longs Drugs late at night, drugged and raped at a remote area out in the woods, dumped at the beach after two days. Keani Taong, black hair, brown eyes, age 20. Drugged at a party. Wakes up ‘somewhere in the jungle,’ is drugged and raped.” He looked up. “Doesn’t appear to be one physical type he’s into, except that these are all older than the Mohuli`i girls.”

“There’s a lot about the Mohuli`i case that’s a little different. Like, they were bound with T-shirt strips and he used handcuffs on these others, if it is the same perpetrator,” Jeremy ventured. Lei chewed the swizzle stick, realized what she was doing, and set it down.

“So then there are two here on the Big Island in the last few months,” Stevens went on. “Jesika Vierra, age 21, waitress in Kona. Tased on the way to her car.

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