Spider Jack (Guess The Killer Book 2) Read online

  She flipped through the folders in front of her.

  One of the men got out of his chair and made his way around to where Kent was, and muttered something to her in close quarters.

  Then they stopped, and let their gazes settle on her.

  “Erin?” Kent asked.

  “Yes, Mrs. Kent?”

  “You haven’t worked a serial murder case before, have you?”

  Erin blushed. “Oh no. You must be having me on.”

  The table stared at her.

  “Well,” Erin said quickly, “I’ve only been out of the academy for eleven weeks. They still haven’t found a proper place for me. I thought we were working towards that…”

  Kent leafed through her notes.

  The man standing over her pointed at something.

  Kent gave a short chuckle.

  “What’s funny?” Erin blurted out before she could stop herself.

  She then heard the door swing open behind her.

  A man in his early thirties strode across the carpet to stand beside her.

  “Ah, Agent Darper,” one of the men at the table intercepted.

  “Special Agent,” Darper corrected.

  “Have you spoken with Ross yet?”

  Darper cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ve spoken with him.”

  “And he told you he’s resigning?”

  “I’m not sure what Special Agent Ross’s plans are. Only … they don’t presently include me, I don’t think.”

  “How is your investigation coming along?” Laura Kent asked.

  “We have one or two leads,” Darper answered. “I’ll know more within the hour.”

  “As long as you’re making progress…”

  Darper nodded. He turned slightly towards Erin. “Hello.”

  She looked up at him. Smiled. “Hi.”

  “Special Agent Darper,” Commissioner Rhodes said. “This is Agent Leeds. She will be assisting you with Ross’s caseload.”

  “Is that right?” Darper murmured. “You know, I’m not sure if –”

  “Take whatever time you need to bring Agent Leeds up to speed on the homicides from this morning,” Laura Kent instructed. “She’s your partner now.”

  “I see.”

  Kent nodded. “You’re dismissed.”

  Darper bowed his head and left the room.

  Erin remained standing. “Does that mean me…?”

  “Run along, dear,” Commissioner Rhodes advised.

  “Keep Special Agent Darper in check,” Laura Kent said. “If anything about his behavior strikes you as odd, get on the phone with me.”

  Darper was still standing by the door, eyebrows raised.

  Erin wasn’t sure if that last remark was to be taken seriously.

  CHAPTER 12

  Outside the city, west in the rural farmlands –

  A public bus sped along the open road.

  Paddock after paddock. Field after field. The man with the briefcase looked out the window by his seat and saw the cows and the horses and sheep. But hardly a human around.

  He knew where he was. He knew how long it was going to take to get where he was going. He knew how long it would take to get back. None of the other passengers would have guessed what sort of day he was having. The places and people and things that were crawling around his head. He was nothing to look at.

  Distant.

  Forgettable.

  As he needed to be.

  But the road was coming. The road he needed to get his feet on. And the bus didn’t stop here usually. So he would have to ask the driver to let him out.

  It was time to move.

  Now.

  “You see where the sign is, just up the road there,” the man said, pointing out the front of the bus. “I want you to drop me there.”

  “Can’t do it,” the bus driver replied. “I don’t make special stops for just anyone.”

  “I’m asking you nicely –”

  “And I’m asking you to return to your seat.”

  The man sighed. The sign was fast approaching. There was nothing else he could do.

  He pulled the gun from his pants and tilted it at the driver. “I said stop.”

  RRRAAAGGGHHHKKK

  The bus’s wheels skidded across the road. The man fell into the front window next to the driver, the briefcase spilling from his fingertips. Before he could get a hold of himself, the case inexplicably snapped open and one of the jars rolled out.

  Then it shattered.

  “EEEEEKKK!!!” a woman at the front screamed as the spiders ran up her legs.

  The man turned to the driver.

  He was holding his arms up, looking bewildered.

  The man shot him in the face.

  Now the whole bus was alive with panic. Everyone was diving underneath their seats, but as more jars spilled across the floor and more spiders got loose, it didn’t seem to help matters.

  The man grunted and reached underneath the dead driver to get the lever for the door. He opened it and clamored out of the bus and onto the road.

  He looked to his left.

  Then to his right.

  Empty.

  But for how long?

  He turned back to the bus and saw two men were trying to get off. He shot one of them in the chest, the second one making out into the open road, running for his life.

  The man looked at the bus a moment, its screaming occupants at the windows.

  Then he pointed his gun down the road and took the running guy out.

  CHAPTER 13

  It had just gone three o’clock and Nadine Shields was back from her one hour per day yard time – back to her cell in the minimum-security wing at Upstate North Corrections Centre. On the plus side for Nadine, her cell was quite large and could house up to four people if needed. She had her own cupboards, fridge and kitchen sink. There was even room for a sofa and television.

  Things were cushy now, but in the coming months she would be sentenced, and then transferred out to a more hardcore and less private prison. Her previous involvement with law enforcement was only going to grant her so many privileges. The nature of her crimes would probably take most of them away.

  “Taylor, my goodness,” Nadine gushed upon entering her cell. “I had no idea you’d be visiting today.”

  Taylor stared back coldly. She was joined with Captain McGuiness and another well-dressed woman Nadine didn’t recognize.

  “You’re okay to have her like this?” the guards asked.

  “We’ll be fine,” McGuiness replied.

  The guard nodded and stepped out, closing the door. “Shout if you need anything.”

  His footsteps echoed down the hallway.

  “My name’s Vera Redcroft,” the unknown woman introduced herself. “I’m a psychologist. I’ve done a lot of reading about you. Your story is quite fascinating.”

  “Why thank you, Vera,” Nadine grinned. “Why don’t you all sit down and get comfy?”

  Vera sat down on the sofa.

  Taylor and Rose McGuiness remained on their feet.

  “Can I offer you something to drink?” Nadine asked.

  “Sit your ass down over there,” Rose snapped at her. “Go on. On the bed.”

  Nadine shrugged her shoulders and complied.

  A heavy silence hung in the air as she sat. “I’m surprised they let you back, Taylor. You were quite agitated at the conclusion of our last encounter. And I heard you failed your breath test. Not looking too good for you, is it –”

  “Enough,” Rose boomed.

  Nadine batted her eyelids.

  “May I?” Vera asked.

  Rose nodded and moved to the other side of the room.

  Vera took out her phone. She presented Nadine with an image on the screen.

  “You passed this onto investigators,” Vera stated. “Who then passed it on to me. They said you wanted me to show it to Taylor. We’re wondering why that is.”

  “Did you not recognize her, Taylor?”

&n
bsp; “I recognized her,” Taylor said. “But how you linked me to this person, I have no idea.”

  Nadine stared at them coyly. “We’ll get to that. There’s things I want to talk about first.”

  “What things?” Rose asked.

  “I kind of … don’t want to be here…”

  They looked at each other.

  “Then you shouldn’t have killed those fucking kids,” Taylor swore.

  “Those fucking kids shouldn’t have been so delicious,” Nadine swore back. “I’m only human after all. I’m just a person.”

  “But you’re not, are you?” Taylor challenged.

  Nadine touched her forehead with her finger. “Human is me.”

  Taylor flexed her wrists. “Can you guys leave me with her? I want to talk to her alone.”

  “No,” Nadine said.

  “No?” Taylor snapped.

  “I’ll talk to Vera. Just Vera for now. She’s a psychologist. So she will understand me.”

  Vera looked to the others. “Maybe for just a few minutes. To ease her in.”

  Taylor glared at Nadine angrily and then stormed out of the room.

  “This isn’t over,” Rose said before following her.

  Nadine stood up. She leaned across waiting till their footsteps could not be heard.

  “So, you feel like talking with me then?” Vera asked, smiling.

  “If you were twenty-five years younger,” Nadine smiled back. “I’d feel like fucking you.”

  CHAPTER 14

  The cigarette went in Taylor’s mouth the moment she stepped outside. Rose quickly followed up from behind. “What was that?” she demanded.

  “What was what?” Taylor muttered.

  “That back there?” Rose continued. “You’re getting us nowhere.”

  “I know,” Taylor exhaled. “She’s just the most disgusting person I’ve ever been around. I can’t believe I used to be friends with that thing.”

  “You’re making it too easy for her,” Rose said. “I know … I didn’t help things either. But thankfully Ms. Redcroft seems to be playing good cop with her. That should give us some time to reassess.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” Taylor asked. “Like … Do I go in there and suck up her ass?”

  Rose shrugged. “She’d probably see through it.”

  “Right. God, I…”

  “Do you want to go home?”

  “What?”

  “Maybe you’re not ready.”

  “I am ready,” Taylor said defiantly. “I just have to … come up with a better strategy.”

  “Alright,” Rose said. “I think I’m going to go back in. Make sure Ms. Redcroft’s okay. You have a think about what you want to do. Even if … you really do have to turn your back to this…”

  She touched Taylor’s shoulder gently.

  Then stepped away.

  Taylor found herself wincing. Her thoughts were scattered. Her insides were trembling. She wanted a drink, a drink to clear herself.

  But at the same time she knew she had to be stronger than that. She had to rise above.

  This was a game to her opponent. Nadine was only going to let her play if she opened up. If she was willing to be nice. To act like they were friends. That was the real message here.

  Charlotte’s face flashed in her mind.

  “Goddamn you,” Taylor whispered.

  CHAPTER 15

  Nadine had her head over the side of the bed, letting the blood rush that way. She listened to the psychologist’s disembodied speech as though she were alone in the room.

  “What is the first thing you remember happening to you?” the words were asking. “When you think about your childhood, does it bring about positive or negative feelings?”

  “I had an older brother,” Nadine said. “He died.”

  “When did he die?”

  “Later.”

  “Not when you were a child.”

  “No he was around then.”

  “What do you remember about him?”

  A pause. “He was annoyed by me. Or he found me annoying. I was an inconvenience to him.”

  “Did you find him annoying?”

  “He was just there. In the background. He often had friends over. They blocked me from him.”

  “How did that make you feel?”

  A shadow emerged from Nadine’s peripherals.

  She forced herself upright and absorbed the head-spin.

  “I was never sexually attracted to him, if that’s what you’re asking,” Nadine answered.

  “That’s … an odd response.”

  “Odd? You think I’m odd?”

  Rose McGuiness cleared her throat. “Are we actually getting anywhere here?”

  The psychologist blinked a few times. “What do you think, Nadine? Are we getting anywhere?”

  “You know when I think about all the things I’ve done, the crimes I’ve committed. The violence, the blood. And how it all turns out. How I wind up here. You know I … I think there’s something revelatory about my rite of passage.”

  The eyes hovered over her.

  “Yes?” Vera prompted.

  “If I wasn’t caught then more people would like me.”

  The eyes looked at each other.

  “Like the more you know someone, the less you like them. I’m only one example, sure, but nine times out of ten you two were both on the toilet at six o’clock this morning taking massive shits from yesterday’s feeding. It’s not like your friends and family got to be in that room with you, watching your legs gyrate and your cheeks go red. So the only difference is really that a spotlight fell on the worst of me. But the worst of everyone else … it’s still out there, hiding away. In the dark…”

  Taylor’s meager face edged through the doorway.

  “Well,” Nadine said, “show me your tail.”

  Taylor glared at her. “Tale?”

  “It’s between your legs, isn’t it?”

  Taylor snapped her fingers and pointed to the door. “Alright get the fuck out of here.”

  Rose raised her eyebrows. “You mean us?”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Nadine stated. “Leave this room and I won’t say another word today.”

  “Come on,” Taylor said to Rose. “I’m not messing around. Give me this now.”

  Rose sighed. She turned to Vera. “Let’s go.”

  “You’ll regret it,” Nadine said stubbornly.

  “Are you sure?” Vera asked. “She was opening up to me…”

  Taylor grabbed Vera away from Rose and forced them both out the door. “Thank you, thank you, goodbye.”

  She slammed the door.

  So it was just the two of them in the room.

  Alone together.

  Alone at last.

  “This didn’t work out so great for you last time,” Nadine said. “You sure you want to go down this road?”

  Taylor folded her arms and leaned against the door behind her. “If I don’t get what I want from you this time … only one of us is leaving this room alive…”

  CHAPTER 16

  The path ahead said one thing, and the path behind said something else. As difficult as it was not to look back, to not gaze upon the distant rising smoke, he had to keep going. The map said he was almost there. Sweat lashing his forehead, his lungs spent, he trudged up along the side of the gravely road as a car or two sailed past him.

  It was unfortunate.

  This was a day he would be remembered.

  But there wasn’t time for going back now. The plan had been carefully laid out for what was to transpire. His job was to follow it.

  He stopped where he was a moment, panting, hands on hips. He could see a street sign just ahead of him. But he was too far to read the words.

  It was moments like these that captured his inner monologue. Not back there at the bus. Not last night with the mother and child. It was there he was as far away from thinking as possible. Unlike now.

  And what thoughts
…

  What thoughts entered his brain?

  Were they wicked? Were they cruel? Were they sick?

  Was this a man suffering from a mental ill?

  Or was he none of those things?

  Was he simply…

  In his worst moment –

  CHAPTER 17

  “Your threats are empty, Taylor,” Nadine said after a moment of silence. “I know you. You’re a good person. A good detective. You’re not going to waste your life on me. On this petty vendetta between us. But what you don’t realize is, I want to help you. That’s why I reached out. I know what you must think of me. What everyone thinks of me. But it’s important to understand that in spite of what I’ve done, I’m not the worst person in the world. I’m just a cat whose had her fill of mice. While the rest of you starve…”

  Taylor lowered her eyes. It was a test of her strength to not argue with the garbage Nadine was putting out there. It wasn’t the reason she was here. Nadine knew things. Things that could help people out there.

  Things that could help Taylor.

  “Why don’t you sit back down?” Taylor said motioning to the bed.

  “So we really are locking heads together for round two, are we?” Nadine fired back.

  “Sit.”

  Nadine studied her. “Alright.”

  Taylor grabbed hold of the chair Ms. Redcroft had been sitting on and pulled it out from the wall.

  There was a couple of feet between them as she sat down.

  Then they stared at each other for a bit without saying anything.

  “Let’s make this an even playing field,” Nadine said.

  “Pardon me?”

  “Let’s pretend I’m not in here and you’re not out there. Let’s just be friends like we used to be.”

  Taylor shook her head. “No.”

  “Then not friends, but partners. Working a case together.”

  A pause. “How much do you know?”

  “About what?”

  “How much do you know that I need to know?”