I dug into my pocket and pulled out the Bible baggie, handing it to him. “That’s what he dropped.”
Lincoln took the Bible and studied it through the Ziplock bag. “Hopefully we can get some prints from this.”
“It belonged to my mother,” Wes said. “I’d forgotten all about it until I saw it lying on the ground outside our tent last night.”
“May I see that, Lincoln?” Dr. Reeves held out his hand, taking it from Snow. He examined it for a few seconds. “It doesn’t appear to have value other than sentimental.” He glanced at Wes. “Am I correct?”
He shrugged, waving a hand at the Ziplock. “Yeah, she got it from my father on their wedding day. When my infant sister died, it was a great comfort to her.”
“Somethin’ else happened this mornin’.” I glanced at Wes. “I haven’t had time to tell ya.”
Wes frowned deeply. “What?”
I dragged my gaze away and looked at everyone else in the bus. “Before dawn, I was woken by a noise outside the tent. There was the shadow of a figure outside. He or they bent down right before I heard the zipper rattle and start to pull up.”
“What?” Wes’ eyes were wide with shock.
“I’m thinkin’ they would have entered the tent but they ran off before tryin’ it.”
“Why?”
“He scarpered, and I scrambled after him, but he was gone. However, two men were speakin’ Spanish as they walked past. So, maybe the guy was afraid of attractin’ attention to himself, which is why he ran.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Wes asked.
I glanced back at him. “Ya were asleep and it happened so fast, I began to doubt I’d really heard and seen what I had at the time.” I reached up and ran both hands over my face. “Could’ve been a dream. It wouldn’t’ve been the first time I woke disoriented.” Everyone on my team knew exactly what I was referring to. I waved a hand as if dismissing the thought. “Anyway, they didn’t come back so I fell back asleep.”
A deep frown marred Lincoln Snow’s face. “I’d be interested to know when the man in the camp was murdered. I’m sure the ME will be able to tell us.”
“You said the victim was beaten badly?” Prince asked.
“A damn sight worse than any of those girls who were killed.” Wes sounded grim.
I felt sick knowing that he’d witnessed the bloody awful mess of the man’s face the same way I had.
“Really?” Mickey asked. I nodded as he went on. “Maybe someone was trying to get information from him.”
A chill passed through my body as I sat forward and looked at him. “Ya think he was tortured before bein’ killed,” I said, letting Mickey’s speculation sink in. The very idea of it made my stomach knot.
“You should’ve woken me up.” Wes was wearing an irritated expression.
I reached for his hand, staring deeply into his oddly colored eyes. “’Twas nothin’, luv. The guy was scared off.”
“But he could’ve been the serial killer.”
“Unlikely. How would he know who you were or that you were part of the investigation team? There’s no use speculating until we know more about this morning’s victim,” Snow said. “He might just be some random person who was targeted when he was caught stealing someone else’s belongings. I don’t have to tell any of you how dangerous camps like this can be. Little money and lack of proper food and shelter can make some people desperate.”
Everyone fell silent, probably thinking exactly the same thing I was…that there was an astronomically low probability that there could be two serial killers committing similar murders in the same geographic location. But it didn’t mean they were targeting us.
We were all thinking our own thoughts an hour later, when the door to the bus suddenly opened and Candy climbed in. He glanced around as if taking note that all interested parties were present and then looked directly at Wes.
“Mr. Chaudry, will you step outside with me for a moment? I need to tell you something.”
I felt Wes tense beside me, then caught sight of the stunned expression on his face. “Sure, I guess.” He stood and looked down at me. “Are you coming?”
“It’s not necessary, Mr. Chaudry,” Candy said, “we’ll only be a moment.”
“Candy?” I stood up, facing my boss.
