Elizabeth Gaskey and Senior Chief Petty Officer Jeff Gomez, were discovered.
“What was Liza doing with Navy?” I asked.
“Dating,” Tag answered.
“Really? Wow, could’ve sworn hell would have frozen over before that
happened.” Elizabeth had completed basic with me and Tag before joining a different team. Since women tended to disappear the higher you moved in the marines, we stayed in sporadic touch until we reconnected on our last
assignment.
“Yeah, things were going really well, she was happy.”
Now she was dead, and, from what the pictures showed, it hadn’t come easy.
After the guards, the crime scenes turn progressively more vicious and brutal, a
sure sign Ellery was relishing the pain and agony of his victims. At least until Kelsey. As sickening as his actions were, at least he’d made it quick for her.
Staring at the mutilations listed on each report, I wasn’t sure I could have held it together if he had taken his time with her like he had with the rest. My hand shook as I pulled my notebook closer and began to make notes.
Based on locations, it seemed Ellery had been making the rounds of the west
coast. When Jeff hadn’t reported back to base in San Diego after weekend leave,
one of his buddies went to the Marina to check his boat. He found the savaged
remains of Liza and Jeff instead. According to the coroner’s report, Liza’s eyes
had been gouged out with a small blade. She then endured another day or two of
torture before succumbing to her injuries. Jeff was just as bad. His body was a
patchwork of third degree burns and various cuts.
Nate was found early in the morning, nailed to the side of a building in a seedier section of Coronado. Death arrived in a slit throat, but his body was riddled with various sharp objects, presumably pulled from a nearby trash bin.
Pipes, nails, pens, glass—whatever could double as knife.
When Michael’s abandoned fishing boat was found stalled in the middle of
San Francisco Bay, the Coast Guard called out a search. It took four days to recover his body. Even though the aquatic life used him as a buffet, it was determined his fingers had been removed prior to death. Additional burns and cuts were identified, leading to the conclusion that he, too, was tortured before death claimed him.
Finished with the reports, I reviewed my notes. Nothing much jumped out at
me. Very little was found by way of trace evidence, which probably explained why, until he’d hooked up with me, Kayden hadn’t been certain it really was Ellery. As for me, I didn’t have any doubts. Every death in this file made it very
clear Ellery was out for payback.
The guys had left me alone. Kayden keeping a low conversation with Tag as
they sprawled on the couch. Whatever they were talking about didn’t slow Tag’s
fingers as they flew over the laptop balanced on his legs. Needing more details than what was in the file, I cleared my throat to get their attention. Their conversation stopped and they both looked at me. “What were their abilities?”
Kayden answered first. “Liza was a pre-cog.” Catching my puzzlement, he
clarified, “She was able to see possible future events. Mike healed by touch.”
“Nathan?”
“He could move small objects.”
“Telekinetic.” Nice to be able to name one psychic ability. Propping my arm
on the table, I rested my chin in my hand, trying to wrap my head around a world where fortunetellers and healers were your next-door neighbors. “And
Jeff?”
This time it was Tag who answered. “He didn’t have an ability.”
“He was collateral damage,” Kayden added, a grimness settling over his
face.
My stomach sank. “Like Kelsey, then, an opportunity kill. Somebody to use
to get what he wants.”
