Page 33 of Marked

“I’m not sure how much clearer I can be.” I keep my tone kind.

“No wonder the monster cops were called in for it,” he hisses. “Who else would do that to that poor girl? Better yet, what would?”

“Sheriff, I should warn you that both my partner and I are these monsters you seem to resent so much.” Jack’s warning is subtle but clear. “We are doing what we can on our end to find out what happened to Janelle North and would greatly appreciate your help.”

Anderson sputters over his words. “Of course, I meant no disrespect.” He clears his throat before continuing. “So, we need to make sure that your Jane Doe is actually Janelle?”

I flip through the file Latisha gave us and pull out an image of a monarch butterfly tattoo. I set it down on the desk and tap it to get Jack’s attention.

“Correct,” Jack states, looking at the photo. “Are there any definable characteristics on her body? A tattoo, or birthmark?”

There’s more typing through the phone before the sheriff speaks again. “Looks like she has a black and orange butterfly tattooed on her hip. Also, a mole on the back of her shoulder.”

I find the photo in the file and show Jack. “Looks like it’s a match,” I state.

Anderson sighs through the phone. “How did she get all the way to Las Vegas?”

“We aren’t sure. Her body was frozen at some point so we can’t properly determine the time of death,” I explain.

“Frozen?” He breathes. “What the hell kind of perverse thing is that? Is it a monster thing?”

Jack takes over the call before I can snap. “There were also traces of Natron in it, which is a type of salt. Any chance you have a local stash of it?”

He snorts. “This is Nebraska. We use Natron to dry out our fish and meat. There’s loads of it here.”

“That’s what I assumed,” he says and looks at me. “We still can’t assume she was murdered there.”

“How would you keep a body frozen from Nebraska to Nevada? A freezer truck?” I suggest.

“It’s not impossible.” Jack agrees.

“Do you have any leads at all? I have to tell her family something.” Anderson says with another heavy sigh.

I frown at the speaker. “It’s an ongoing investigation. We had another victim that was killed in the same manor a few days before we found Janelle. So, we—”

“Wait!” Anderson shouts suddenly. There’s a furious tapping of keys before he sucks in a gasp. “Holy shit. Let me guess, decapitated head and ripped open chest? No heart?”

I balk and look at Jack. “That’s right. You have something similar?”

“A few days before Janelle went missing, a county over found a body like that. They ran her through the FBI DNA database, but nothing came back. The only reason I know about it is because it was on the local news.”

Jack’s intense gaze holds mine. “Three victims make a serial killer.”

“Fuck,” I curse and run my fingers through my hair. “Sheriff, do you know of anywhere else this may have happened? The only reason we knew to call you was the DNA match from the father.”

“No,” he rumbles unhappily. “She’s still unidentified and was buried as such.”

My heart aches at the thought of her never getting a proper burial, of her family never knowing what happened to her. “We’ll find who’s doing this.”

“I hope you do. Janelle’s family is going to want to have a funeral for her.” The Sheriff says with a brief tone of anger. “Solve this so we can bring her home.”

“We’ll do our best. Thank you for your time, Sheriff.” I press down the receiver and end the call. Turning to Jack, I add, “We have to stop them before they kill again.”

“We’re going to try our damn hardest.” He knows better than to make that kind of promise. In our line of work, it’s almost bad luck to make that kind of vow.

“I know.” I turn back to my computer and start googling news articles that correlate with our scenes. I’m going to catch this bastard if it’s the last thing I do.

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