Page 8 of All He Takes
"Me too," Ken said. "I'm glad you said yes."
Before things could get mushy, Nicky said, "Let's focus on the case until then, though. Agreed?"
"Definitely," Ken said. "I just had to ask you while I had the balls to do it."
Nicky laughed, feeling light inside. At least one thing in her life seemed to be going in the right direction.
They went quiet for a while, and Ken flipped through the files on his lap. "You know," Ken said, "I’m reading the history of the town, and for being such a small place, Pine Grove sure has a lot of antique stores.”
"That’s a bit weird,” Nicky agreed.
“It’s like a tourist destination for thrifters,” Ken continued. “They have old car festivals here too, some years. Really high population of seniors.”
Nicky nodded. That could be relevant.
"Officers are already checking the other stores for more photos," Ken went on. “So hopefully they’ll let us know ASAP if they find any.”
“Good,” Nicky said. “The sick bastard who planted those photos might be storing others elsewhere.”
“What kind of person would do that?” Ken asked. “Just take photos of women he’s murdered and plant them in places for people to find? Hell, a kid could come across one of them and be traumatized for life.”
“A twisted individual," Nicky said. As she drove, she dove into her years of knowledge on human psychology and behavioral analysis. If she had to guess, they were dealing with a killer who thought of himself as an "artist" of some kind. He got off on the thrill of putting these photos up, and he got off on the rush of doing something so sick, it would never be uncovered.
A chill ran up her spine as she pictured this man. He was out there somewhere… real… and she would find him.
"He's a sick bastard, that's for sure," Ken said.
"It's not really about the antique store, though," Nicky said, her eyes still on the road. "He's probably putting them up in a place where he thinks someone will find them. He's not just doing it for that thrill. He wants this to be exposed, in a way."
Serial killers often wanted to be the focus of attention, and the fact that this killer would choose to have his victims photographed and put on display was a big clue that he wanted people to know what he'd done.
"How sick," Nicky said. "He wants to show off his accomplishments, as if he's won some sick game. It's like he's trying to be famous for killing."
Ken nodded. "It's like taking pride in it."
"He's proud of what he's done," Nicky said. "And he wants people to know it."
A psychopath. Someone who was completely devoid of any empathy. She knew that the FBI had a lot of resources at its disposal, but they still didn't have a lot of information on the guy. To find him, they’d have to get a whole lot more. Until then, all Nicky could do was speculate on who he might be, creating phantom images of him in her mind.
But he was real, and he was out there, lurking, maybe even looking for his next victim. She clenched her teeth tight. No—letting that happen was not an option.
They drove on for a long time, until the sun was high in the sky. Nicky knew that there weren't many towns in the world where one might find an antique shop on every street corner. She wondered if that was just because Pine Grove was so small, or if there was something else to it. Something she hadn't really considered.
She wasn't sure what she was about to find out. But she was ready for it.
There were people out there relying on her to save their lives.
CHAPTER FOUR
Nicky sped the car past Pine Grove's population sign. They had driven through a light marshland to get here, and it was in the middle of nowhere, Northern Florida. As the car slowed to a safe speed limit, Nicky took note of the small houses that emerged around them. Up ahead, she could see the downtown strip, equipped with a church and clock tower.
"Do you think it's possible that the killer is from here?" Ken asked. "Maybe he's someone who's lived here all his life."
"Maybe," Nicky said. "But it's also likely that he picked this place because it was isolated, and he had a good chance of planting the photos without being seen."
"Good point," Ken said.
"So, we're looking for a guy who's had access to a Polaroid camera. And he's either in Pine Grove or very familiar with it." Nicky rubbed her chin as she drove. "I don't know how much help that'll be, but it's a start."
