The Tower

Chapter 28

Once he was safely past the roadblock, Allander removed the bathrobe and nightgown and peeled off the beauty mask. Underneath, he still wore the comfortable blue silk shirt and loose pants. After taking out the curlers and applying a generous amount of gel, he parted his hair to one side and slicked it back neatly over his ears. Big sunglasses covered his eyes, and he had pushed cotton balls into his cheeks and under his lips to change the shape of his face.

Having already taken care of an important stop that he had planned, he relaxed and hummed along with the classical music pouring from the car's topnotch speakers. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, allowing himself to enjoy the simple perfection of a Mozart symphony.

A green sign appeared over the highway just ahead of him, announcing the next exits. It was followed by a smaller blue sign with crude symbols for food and transportation. Having still not fully adjusted to driving again, he gripped the steering wheel tightly as he put on his blinker and cautiously pulled over, exiting the freeway. He passed a Greyhound station and found a deserted factory several blocks from the main road.

He slid open the rusty gate, leaving the car humming. The gate's lock had been smashed open already and it hung from the fence. Allander inched the Mercedes through the gate, pulling up in an alley between a warehouse and an old building. He climbed in the backseat and curled up on the fine leather, content to pass the night planning and dozing.

The house was crawling with agents by the time Jade got there. He wandered through it, thinking that only hours earlier Allander himself had walked through these very rooms, had seen the same table, the same flower arrangement, had probably gone to the bathroom here and eaten from the refrigerator.

So close in time, so far away. Allander's presence still hung about the house the way a man's shape fills a shirt after it's been worn. Jade could sense him, sense that he had been here, and he walked around the house as if in a trance, feeling the walls and floor.

When Travers arrived a half hour later, Jade ignored her. He didn't have time for distraction until he'd made his first complete pass through. The other officers weren't sure what to make of him, but Jade hardly noticed their presence. He was alone in the house with the scent of Allander.

The door to Leah's room was slightly ajar, and Jade rested his forearm on the frame as he gazed in. The letters of her name on the wall made him smile. Allander would have appreciated them.

The bed was still wet with urine, and Jade crossed the room heavily and looked at the stain, a dark mass spread across the soft pink comforter. He touched it absentmindedly, gazing around the room.

Jade closed his eyes and imagined Allander's approach to the house in the early light of morning. The ground was cold under his bare feet. He rang the doorbell and waited. He heard approaching footsteps. His stomach was nervous but excited. The footsteps stopped and he leaned forward, driving an instrument through the peephole. He pushed the door open and it stopped when it hit the man's body. The body slid as he opened the door the rest of the way. He stepped over the corpse and he was inside. What was he thinking? Was he imagining the feel of children's skin against his fingertips? Was he nervous at the likelihood that there was a woman in the house?

An agent with a clipboard bumped Jade as he passed and Jade spun around, startled. The agent saw Jade's wild eyes and backed around the corner, mumbling an apology. Jade turned back to study the letters on the wall.

These killings were his worst fears confirmed. Allander had spent his years in jail developing an elaborate fantasy, and these deaths were the result. This was not an immature murder. Younger, inexperienced killers start with older women, prostitutes, or kids. Easy to target, easy to isolate, easy to dominate. That's where Allander had been when he'd first gone to jail at the age of eighteen. But he had matured since then, Jade thought. Matured into a master killer.

His feet sank in the thick carpet as he made his way back to the living room. He noticed two brown lines on the love seat, edges of foot marks. The bloody letters remained on the window. The woman's body lay crookedly beside the man's, her stomach open in a bloody gash. Jade heard Thomas's words rolling around in his head: One foot still in the womb, so to speak.

He mumbled to himself and wandered back into the foyer. The other agents looked at him expectantly.

"You. What's your name?" Jade asked, pointing at one of the younger agents.

"Daniel Harris," he said nervously. After a short pause, he added, "Dan."

"I figured. Check for the toolbox. See if there's a hammer missing."

"Where would it be?" he asked.

"You're an FBI agent. Figure it out. Start with the garage."

Dan looked angrily at his colleagues before leaving the room.

Travers walked in from the back bedroom. "Still working on those people skills, Marlow?"

Jade turned to her. "The girl. Leah. She didn't talk to him much, did she? The kids were scared and quiet."

Travers looked at him, surprised. "Yes. That's what she said. Why?"

"Because they lived. As for the woman, magnet on the refrigerator says 'Ask Mom, She's the Boss.' Next-door neighbor described her as the ice queen of the decade. Exact words.

"Check the bedroom. Phone ripped out of the socket, traces of blood. Both wounds on the woman are from the hammer. She woke up in bed, saw Allander, and threw the phone at him. She was tough. She would've reacted tough. She scared him, so he killed her.

"Look at the marks on the love seat. Marks from his dirty feet. He killed the parents, dragged them out here, then stood on the sofa and looked down on them. Got the upper hand, so to speak.

"The kids both lived. He must have felt complete control over them. He wouldn't kill them if they were completely nonthreatening. Nothing for the anger to grab hold of. Plus, it wouldn't be a challenge. He's after a challenge here."

Travers nodded.

"Bullshit," an agent in the foyer said. "He's a fucking coward. Held little kids hostage."

"A coward," Jade repeated, shaking his head. "He's cold, hasn't eaten, just broke out of a prison and swum to shore in freezing water. He walks up to a house and takes it on. Full frontal assault. No idea who's in here. Do you know the balls that takes?"

The room was silent for a moment before Jade continued. "If he was a coward, he would've just beaten an old lady to death and I wouldn't be bothering with this case. You clowns could handle it yourself. We're dealing with a powerful mind here, Agent."

Dan stumbled through the front door. "Found the toolbox out in the shed to the side of the house. He definitely went through it. Hammer's missing."

Travers sighed. "And probably a screwdriver. That explains the broken peephole." She glanced into the living room at the bodies. "Pretty gruesome sight. The posing and the letters. It's horrible."

"It's fantastic," Jade replied. "The more he does, the more he leaves me to analyze."

Travers started to respond, but her beeper went off. She checked it and went to the kitchen to answer the page.

The other agents stood around awkwardly. Dan coughed nervously, bringing his fist to his mouth.

"Notified family?" Jade asked.

"No, not yet," Dan replied. "Not looking forward to explaining this one."

"Well, I want full grave-site surveillance. Get those bodies in the ground so you can watch them."

Dan shook his head. "Well, I don't think-"

"That's good, Harris. Don't think. It's a long shot, but killers sometimes go to the grave sites. Could be a hook."

Travers came back in from the kitchen. "That was McGuire," she said. "We have another body. Doesn't look like our boy's work, but it's in the area, so McGuire wants us to check it out."

"I'd be surprised if it was Atlasia," Jade said. He expected Allander to have some kind of cooling-off period, as most serials killers do. At least twenty-four hours. If he was cycling this quickly, they were really in trouble.

"It's a different MO and a robbery, so I don't think so. Local police on it already."

"Let's go," he said. "I'll give you a ride."

"Why don't you come in my car," Travers said. Before he could respond, she continued. "Radio contact."

She turned and walked out the front door. Jade followed.

A cluster of agents stood in the shadows, to the side of the garage. They turned away when Jade passed.