Tanner thought he caught a wince on the man’s face, but it had come and gone so fast, Tanner wasn’t sure. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
Hayes produced a paper file and placed it on Tanner’s desk. “If you think it means I’m here to annoy your ass, then you’d be right. Roland James Barbery was killed late last night less than a block from where Arlo J’s body was found.”
“Okay…” Tanner wasn’t impressed since Arlo J’s body was found in a not-so-great area of Dallas. Unfortunately, bodies often popped up in that area. Though he had to admit the name sounded familiar. He just couldn’t place it.
“Roland Barbery,” Wilder said again for emphasis.
“I heard you the first time. I’m just trying to figure out where I know that name from.” It was on the tip of Tanner’s tongue, but his mind was drawing a blank. Very unlike him.
Though with how much he’d been worrying about his friends, and thinking about April lately, it didn’t surprise him. That woman seemed to put him under some kind of spell, and while his parents and some of his friends were living out the closest thing to a romance novel that he’d ever seen, Tanner just never really thought it would happen for him. Until April. This last week had flown by, and he’d loved running with her every morning and spending a little time with her afterwards.
Wilder sighed dramatically and took a seat in the chair across from Tanner’s desk. “He went by the road name ‘Baby’ with the Deathly Hollow MC.”
And there it was. If Wilder had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water over his head, Tanner would’ve been less shocked than he was right then. “What the hell?” Tanner nearly roared in a low voice.
“You and me both. Hence, our bosses have decided we should work together. So, where are you at on this case?” Wilder sat up straighter in his chair as if he was about to take point.
But Tanner wasn’t about to give up the reins just yet. “Why wasn’t I informed?”
Wilder shrugged. “I just informed you.”
“No, I mean last night when it happened. When his body was found.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Wilder said, raising both hands in the air, palms front. “I only do what I’m told. My guess, I’m thinking the higher ups aren’t too happy with you right now seeing as how you’ve been dragging your feet on the Arlo J case. If you had solved that murder, Baby might still be alive.”
Tanner swallowed, hard. He had been dragging his feet, but only because he hadn’t wanted to confront Blake and then Skyla. But this, the murder of Baby, would’ve absolutely cleared her if she hadn’t already produced proof that she was innocent. “It’s not my fault there was no evidence. And with Baby’s murder, I’m thinking it could even be an inside job. We’re not just looking at Arlo J’s enemies anymore. We have to look at all the members, too. Individually, and as a group.”
Wilder nodded with a knowing smirk. “That’s probably why I’m here. To help speed things up a bit. And make sure you don’t go around hiding or protecting witnesses, or persons of interest.”
“I would never do that,” Tanner sneered, knowing full well that Wilder was referring to how Garrett and his friends had protected Reese when she was wanted for questioning in the murder of Molly Edgar. But that was different. She was innocent and being framed by a rogue cop who happened to be her step brother. “And since you seem to know everything, how about you decide where we go from here?” If Wilder was going to give him a hard time, Tanner was going to give it to him right back.Nevermind the initial relief he felt seeing the man back on the job. A bullet to the leg wasn’t an injury many could come back from unless they planned on riding a desk for the rest of their career.
“I think you’re right about it being an inside job,” Wilder said, surprising Tanner who’d been prepared to negate whatever he said. “In both cases,” Wilder continued, “the bikers were drugged, stabbed, and alone. The location was deserted and both bodies were thrown into dumpsters like someone was trying to send a clear message. I mean what are the odds these are random kills? How would someone even go about knowing where a single biker would be at any given moment unless they were on the inside? Don’t they usually travel in packs or groups or whatever?”
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “And if this is all one person’s doing, then they also went after Nico.”
“Unless he did that for our benefit to throw us off. Are you seriously convinced he isn’t behind all this?”
“No, I’m not.” Tanner didn’t even need to give it a second thought. “In fact, I think he’s probably got the most to gain.”
“Let’s talk to the club members again,” Wilder said. “Maybe they’ll take this a little more seriously in the presence of a Texas Ranger, especially if they know they’re being picked off one at a time.”
Tanner frowned. “I think it’s a mistake to tell them anything right now. We have no idea what happened to Baby. For all we know his death had nothing to do with Arlo J’s murder.” Tanner didn’t believe that for a second, but he also hated assuming things if he couldn’t back them up with cold hard facts and evidence. While Baby’s murder sounded like it was connected to Arlo J’s, they didn’t actually have any proof yet, and his body was still with the medical examiner.
Wilder opened the file and pulled out a crime scene photo of Baby’s body. “He was stabbed, just like Arlo J. And here’s the kicker, the perp used the same knife that’s got a chip near the hilt. And before you ask, no, it wasn’t found at the crime scene. Baby was also drugged and left in a dumpster. How much more evidence do you need?”
Tanner glanced at Baby’s crime scene photos. The eerie similarity to those of Arlo J was unnerving. There was something about these images that bugged him though. Then he saw it. “No strangulation marks,” Tanner said.
Wilder glanced at the photos again. “Damn, you’re right. What do you think it means?”
“It’s definitely the same killer. Either Arlo J was more personal, or -”
“Or the killer didn’t give him enough of the drug,” Wilder suggested.
“That’s what I was thinking too.” The longer Tanner stared at the images, the more he felt like there was more to these murders. The positioning of the wounds. The way the bodies were dumped in places where they wouldn’t be found for hours. It wasn’t just similar. It was exact. Practiced. This guy had a plan, and he was sticking to it. “He’s going to kill again.” Tanner was sure of it.
Wilder’s eyes grew wide as he took a closer look at the photos, clearly catching on to what Tanner had noticed. “We need to get those guys into protective custody.”
Tanner didn’t think the members would go for that. But more importantly, if they were right about the murderer being one of their own, putting them all together in protective custody would only escalate the situation, giving the killer ample access to his next victim.
