Jack of Diamonds: A Mystery Thriller Novel (Detective Jack Stratton Mystery Thriller Series Book 8) by Christopher Greyson

Author:Christopher Greyson [Greyson, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683990901
Publisher: Greyson Media
Published: 2019-12-25T16:00:00+00:00

29

Jack sat at the computer desk near the window and Lady lounged by his chair while he pored over the data on the missing women. The tiny home office had been transformed into his own command center. Perfect for a task force of one.

As if reading his thoughts, Lady growled beside him. Jack looked down at the dog and chuckled. “Okay, two.” For a moment he thought she was asleep and dreaming, but then she opened one eye and peered up at him. “Now you’re creeping me out. If you’re so smart, help me figure out the link here.” Lady huffed and closed her eyes. He heard her loud and clear: they were both missing Alice.

The police had identified ten women. They’d disappeared from five different states, all in the last year. Besides their gender they had very little in common. All different ages. Seven white. Three black. Six were married. Two divorced. Two widowed.

Where does Alice fit into this? Just placing his fiancée onto the list of missing women made Jack’s stomach sour. But he had to. Serial killers usually have a pattern. Typically, there would be a commonality among the victims.

Jack needed to find it.

He hoped Special Agent Thomas was having more success. Jack didn’t care for the man personally, but right now, he was happy to have an experienced FBI profiler on his side. A lot of profilers concentrate on motive. But when it comes to serial killers, the motives involved are different from those in typical murder cases. Some killers murder because they think someone is ordering them to do so. Some kill just because they enjoy it, savoring the adrenaline rush of hunting their prey. Those are the psychopaths.

The thing about psychopaths is that they seem normal. Like they have it all together. But they’re far from sane. They were typically abused as children, and most were also bullied.

This killer was different in one major aspect. Most serial killers have a cooling-off period between killings—days, weeks, sometimes even years. But the pace was increasing, if anything. They were on fire. And that was consistent with the pressure serial killers sometimes have to kill, and kill again, around an event that’s symbolically charged for them.

Jack thought back to the rickety house on Buck Mountain. There was one clear inconsistency in the pattern: the wedding invitation. Why was that there? Did the wedding somehow bother the killer? Was the killer trying to get to Jack through Alice?

Marisa’s face flashed in his mind. He shoved the thought aside. It was ridiculous. Maybe Marisa still had feelings for him, and maybe she wasn’t exactly happy about his getting married, but she would never . . .

Always watching. Never seen. She said it. There was no denying that fact. Marisa was an artist. And she didn’t want Jack to get married.

Jack stood suddenly and Lady lifted her head, shaking her head and herself awake.

“Shhh.” Jack reassured the dog as he picked up his phone.

Even as he dialed, Jack admonished himself, You can’t ask her over the phone.

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