Page 16 of Hack
"Let me show you to your room." Carter led him down the hall. "I haven't had a guest in forever, so if there is something you need, please ask. The bathroom is two doors down. It's all yours. Make yourself at home. There isn't much in the kitchen food-wise, but we can remedy that tomorrow."
"Thanks." Archer set the duffle bag on the bed. "This is so much nicer than a musty motel room."
"I'm glad to have you stay." Carter started out of the room. "I was about to have a glass of whiskey before turning in, if you want to join me. It's been a long day. If not, I'll see you in the morning."
"I'll join you. Just give me a minute to use the john."
"I'll be in the kitchen." He turned, leaving Archer to do his thing.
He pulled two glasses out and set a bottle of scotch and a bottle of whiskey on the counter. He wasn't sure on Archer's taste. After pouring his own glass, he pulled out an old bag of pretzels from the cupboard, hoping they weren't stale. He thought about the large suitcase in the living room, longing to open it and dig into the files. There probably wasn't too much there he hadn't already seen, but just the thought that there might be had him feeling antsy.
"You didn't have to wait for me." Archer walked into the kitchen.
"No fun drinking alone." Carter nodded to the bottles. "Wasn't sure of your preference."
"After traveling, anything will do, but I usually stick to whiskey." Archer reached for the bottle and poured himself a glass. "Thanks for this."
"To taking down Lyle." Carter offered a toast.
"I'll drink to that." Archer tapped his glass against Carter's. "Again, thanks for letting me stay here."
"Glad to have you. It's about time the house got some use. I tend to catch cat naps at work most of the time. Sadly, I don't spend much time here."
"Well, don't let me interrupt your schedule."
"You won't. I actually think I might take a few days off. I want to dig through your files and see what you have. I have to go in for an hour or two sometime tomorrow, or I guess that would be today now, but after that, I'd like to be able to just focus on this. The guys at work know what they're doing. I don't need to be there." Carter took a sip of his drink. "Do you have anything scheduled we need to work around?"
"Nothing. I'm completely free to focus on this. I'm excited to discuss a few things. If it wasn't so late, I'd start dragging files out now, but I think I'll be better to get a few hours of sleep before we start pouring over files and maps."
"Maps?" Carter didn't expect that. "You mean the gravesites?"
Archer nodded as he leaned back against the counter. "I do. If you think about it, every gravesite is the same as the others. The layout of the bodies the same, the appearance, the flowers, the stake with the ribbon on it. It's his calling card obviously, but I can't help but think there is something more, something we're missing. He takes his time at the graves, makes sure they are laid out just a certain way. He dresses the girls in matching clothes. He focuses on the graves. He doesn't just bury them. He almost makes a ceremony out of it. I know the FBI has tried to find where he gets the clothes and trace all that, but it's all come up empty. There has to be something we're missing."
"The dresses are all homemade, but he'd still have to buy material for them somewhere, and is he the one sewing them?" Carter took a large swallow of his drink, remembering Angel in the floral dress the asshole had buried her in. "What's always bothered me is why does he need so many girls? Most pedophiles have one or two, but there's been as many as six, maybe more. He had Angel for five years, and buried six other girls about the same age with her. Why so many? If he killed six at one time, did he kidnap six more or does he have ten or fifteen at one time and do a mass kill once several age out? Locations bother me. The graves are scattered across the United States, but keeping that many girls would draw attention. He can't be moving locations all the time, right? So is he transporting the girls to grave locations?" Carter shook his head. "How do we know so little after all these years?"
Archer sighed. "This was the part of working with you I dreaded. It must be so hard for you to discuss and dig into details like this when your daughter was one of the victims. I hurt for you just thinking about what you must go through."
Carter stared at the nearly empty glass in his hand. "It's hard, and you'll see my anger and aggravation grow as I focus on the case. Years ago, I pushed myself so hard I nearly broke, but I've learned when I need to step back and take a breath. It's always there, hiding in the back of my mind. I just have to remember I can't change what's happened, but I can try to keep it from happening again. I can't save my daughter, but I can try and save other girls, other daughters, from the same fate."
He's spent years crying himself to sleep. Those days were gone for the most part. He still had moments where he would let his anger and grief take over, but now he was more focused on vengeance. He'd thought about what his daughter went through so many times that it didn't shock his mind as much as it used to. It wasn't easy to think about, it never would be, but he was able to focus now without breaking down and losing his mind or flipping out in anger.
"If it's too much, if you need to back away, just let me know. The only way I know how to do this is by talking through graphic details, and going through every piece of evidence," Archer told him.
"Which I do all the time anyway. I'll be okay, but I appreciate your concern. I may need to buy a few more bottles of this to get through, but I will get through." He poured himself another glass of whiskey.
"Fair enough." Archer set his empty glass in the sink after rinsing it. "I'm usually an early riser, but since it's so late now, I can't promise I will be in the morning. There's no point for us to start digging into theories tonight, so I think I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep. We can start fresh tomorrow."
Carter nodded. "If I'm not here when you wake up, I've run into work for a few hours. Make yourself at home. I shouldn't be too long. I'll leave an extra key and the alarm code on the counter in case you go out."
"Thanks." Archer gave Carter a weak smile. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Night." Carter watched Archer walk out of the kitchen. As he slowly finished his drink, he hoped that this was the beginning of the end. Nothing would ever bring Angel back, but taking down the man who'd killed her would go a long way in helping him find closure.
