Page 15 of Pike’s Redemption

This time it was a woman. She was clothed, which I suppose was a mercy, but her blouse had been unbuttoned part way and shoved over on one side for the ‘x’ to be marked over the heart. Pike looked at the photos and then at me, his face set. My stomach sank. He knew who this was. There was no reason to hide it since they would find out. It would have made them suspicious if he had hidden the connection now. I nodded at him to answer them.

“This was another foster placement of mine from when I was a kid. Pretty sure the name was Hubbard.” He rubbed the back of his neck, rolling it out. “Mary, maybe? She made us all call her Mrs. Hubbard. It used to make me think of that nursery rhyme,” he chuckled darkly and moved the photos around on the desk. There was no doubt in my mind by the look on his face that she wasn’t a nice person.

“Any idea why these victims?” Macmillan asked.

“Do you know if these are pre- or postmortem injuries?” I asked, cutting off the question. Nothing good would come of the answer, I was sure. If both victims were foster placements, they had a direct connection to Pike. That wasn’t good at all.

The other officer chimed up eagerly, “The throat is the kill blow, the coroner said. The other stuff is done after.” Macmillan shushed him, and the younger officer blushed, shoulders bowing inwards.

“Well, if that’s all. My client is a busy man, and I was actually sleeping soundly when you interrupted.” I rose to my feet, indicating that our business was concluded. “Best of luck, gentlemen. I’m not comfortable having a killer running around.” I gave them a condescending look. “After all, I’m new to town and have my safety to consider.” Pike looked like he was having trouble holding in a laugh. It wasn’t exactly a lie. I wasn’t comfortable that some serial killer was wandering around, but if they were dropping child abusers, then I could live with that. Not to mention, I could take care of myself.

The officers excused themselves reluctantly after Macmillan gave me a sour frown. Cross followed them, but I suspected that it was to make sure that they found their way directly to the front door and didn’t take any detours. I sat in one of the chairs across from the desk, letting Pike have his space back.

?

“Well, what else do you know?” I finally asked. There was obviously something going on inside his brain. He’d given them the name and that she had been another placement, but that was all. I wanted to help him and be there for him if I could. Things that I didn’t understand were simmering on the surface here. Typically I wouldn’t dig into something so private, but here was a classic case of secrets that were going to keep coming back to bite you in the ass.

Pike fiddled with a stapler on his desk, clicking it randomly, his jaw clenched. Suddenly, he flung it as hard as he could at the wall without warning. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” The stapler exploded against the wall, components flying. Pike was out of his chair, pacing, and then his fist slammed against the wall. He seemed wild, fraught with emotion. I wasn’t sure if I should intervene, try to calm him, or let him get his emotions out. Instead, I leaned back in my chair and schooled my features to a mask of calm and patience. An outburst like this was something I’d witnessed before, but it’d gone very badly. Sometimes, clients didn’t react well to things, and I did work with predominately male clients. Even though I didn’t know Pike well, I felt oddly safe with him, which made me feel better.

Finally, he leaned over his knees, sucking in deep breaths. He stood back up to his full height. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” He rubbed his hands over his back pockets and straightened his cut. I could see him building back up his mental walls brick by brick, trying to calm himself. “Everything feels like it is coming back.” He pulled a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “It seems like it’s all catching up to me. I guess I’m going to need to talk to you about it. Tell you everything. I haven’t ever had to, but there’s no getting around it. I guess.” His body had calmed down, but his eyes were wild, full of emotions that were hard for me to name. Pike’s hair stood nearly on end, rumpled. “Can we do this outside somewhere? Dimitri’s or my place on the patio? I can’t talk about this inside. Inside is just too much.” He scrubbed the back of his neck. There was so much to unpack, but I nodded.

Since we’d met, I’d noticed his anxiety with space and anywhere that lacked windows, and he’d come right out and told me some of it, but that night out in the desert when he’d been pulling in deep breaths as if he could finally breathe had clued me in. Being inside didn’t work well for him. Standing immediately, I gathered my things. “Absolutely. Either place is fine. Wherever you’re most comfortable, I’ll follow you. I have my car.” I wasn’t sure about riding with him when he was so agitated.

“Ok.” He looked around the office. “Sorry if I scared you with the stapler thing.” Then he stomped to the door without waiting for confirmation, his boots thundering on the shitty floor. Stiffening my spine, I followed him down the stairs.

I made my way back through the Pit, my mind racing with the implications of this additional murder and how it would affect everything. Clearly, the police realized Pike wasn’t responsible, but it made me nervous how closely connected the victims were to him. The music and chatter around me seemed distant, and my focus was solely on the task. Someone could be following us, so I needed to watch out for that, but we needed to start making connections. I also needed to keep a close watch on Pike. This all added up to a mess.

Once outside, the heat was a nice change from the overly chilly air conditioning and the smoky interior of the bar. Pike stuck close as we left his head on the swivel. He was looking for the person following him, too. I spotted Cross on our heels, skulking in the shadows behind us. There was no reason to bring it up, but I was sure this was to see if someone followed. It was definitely a good idea; they could catch the person in the act.

“You’ll follow?” Pike asked in that Neanderthal grunt. I swear the man had zero social skills. The only way he’d gotten laid so far had been by club bunnies looking to take a ride on that magnificent cock of his. Well, let’s be fair. Talking wasn’t needed. Ugh, I needed help if I was thinking about his cock right now.

“Yep,” I said, keeping it short and out of embarrassment more than anything else. I was conscious that he watched me the whole way as I headed to my car, his eyes nearly boring into me as I skirted around the hood of my car. Thankfully, I was only parked two spots away from his bike. I started the engine and pulled out onto the road, waiting for Pike to pull in front of me and keeping a discreet distance from his bike as he left the Pit.

Driving through the quiet streets of Morinrock, I dialed my sister. There was no way she was asleep. She answered on the second ring, her voice a mix of curiosity and concern. “Hey, Nat. I figured you’d be calling. After you left, I started scouring reports to see why Pike might have called and asked for you. I’ve already downloaded the crime photos to the case files in your Dropbox, and I should have the officer’s reports shortly. Those are a little harder because they are so old school, but I’ll get them. The autopsy should be complete in a few hours.” I should have known Ronnie would have already been all over those files; actually, I’d counted on it.

“Thanks, Ronnie. You’re so on top of everything.” I didn’t know what I would have done without her on this case. She was coming in clutch. “You’re doing such a good job.”

“I knew something was up when you left in such a hurry,” she replied. I could tell she was still wired even though it was late. She did her best work at night. “Tell me what you need.”

“Well, I’m following Pike right now. We’re going to talk. Hopefully, he will give me a little more information about what he thinks the connection is. He said that the victim was Mary Hubbard, another foster placement.”

“Hubbard,” I could hear fingers clicking in the background. “I see her on the list. She had a reputation with the State. They liked her because they could use her as an emergency placement. She was approved for over capacity.”

“What does that mean?” I wrinkled my nose. “Overcapacity?” That didn’t sound good.

“Yeah. She liked to take in as many kids as she could. In it for the paycheck. Some kids complained that she didn’t feed them, but the complaints were discounted.” Ronnie was quiet for a few minutes. “There are just so many kids and not enough places to put them.”

“Any other abuse in her file that kids complained about?” Porter had complaints in his case files, too.

“Both she and Porter were shut down. They weren’t allowed to take in fosters—allegations of abuse and neglect. I have a database of placements with Porter and caseworkers. I’ll start on one with Hubbard and cross reference. See if there were children or caseworkers with whom Pike may have crossed paths.” We were turning into a small apartment complex. Pike’s bike went up the slight incline of the parking lot.

“What about the names from the prison? The guard O’Conner and the prisoner …” my brain scrambled, “Virgil.”

“So O’Conner was killed in a riot,” Ronnie read off. “And Virgil Holder is out on parole as of last year. He was in for a drug charge and assault. Did ten years. Somehow, he got permission to move to Yuma and has been checking in with a parole officer there.” There was skepticism in her voice that I’d like to follow up on. Did she think that maybe he wasn’t really checking in? Pike was parking his bike, which was my cue for getting off the phone, so I needed to save those questions for later.

“Thanks, Ronnie. I’ll check with you later. I’m going to talk to Pike about all this. Get his take.”

“Love you, keep those peepers open for that stalker. I’m calling Maxim to find us a place in town. You know we can’t keep hogging space at Dimitri’s.” I noticed that she threw in the thing about Maxim, saying it super fast.

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