Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 3 - Chasing Ghosts - III

  "You're fired, Lani," Jeremy said as he wandered back into their office. Lani looked up from whatever case he was working on now, surprised.

  "I'm what?"

  "As my sister's spy. You've been canned. Next time, just tell her to call me straight, okay?"

  Lani smiled. "Went well, then?"

  "Yes, you're both nosy as fuck. Now let me get back to work."

  His face fell. "You're not done with the case?"

  "Hell no, I'm just getting started."

  Lani sighed. "So it went terribly."

  "For you." Jeremy pulled up the video files again and jumped right back to the night that Will and company had vanished from the hospital. Lani's phone rang, interrupting his train of thought. Right as I'm getting settled in. He started watching the video again, trying to ignore Lani's conversation.

  A few minutes later, Lani was snapping his fingers for Jeremy's attention. "What?"

  Lani pointed at the phone insistently a few times before hitting the speaker button. A vaguely familiar voice echoed out. "—and normally we wouldn't call you guys, but it was just way too similar."

  "What was too similar?" Jeremy asked.

  "Lani? Is that your partner?"

  "Yes. Could you start over, Dave? Sorry," Lani said apologetically.

  "Like I was saying. We found another victim with the same type of massive bludgeoning wounds and avulsions as the original victims. It matches the pattern we saw."

  "Saw where?" Jeremy asked.

  "In Rallsburg."

  "Dave was the forensic team lead," Lani reminded him with the mute button held down. He released it. "You found another victim? Does it match anyone from the lists?"

  "Yeah. Jerry Hauserman."

  Jeremy's mind flew through his mental dossier. "The ex-con?"

  "That's the one."

  Did this really need a phone call? "Well, that's one more off our list then, I guess. Thanks for the heads up."

  "I'm sorry, that wasn't why I called. When we found him yesterday, Hauserman had only been dead for forty-eight hours. Maybe less."

  Jeremy and Lani looked at each other at the same instant. Jeremy spoke first, just as Lani was opening his mouth. "Where?"

  They didn't get any helicopters this time. In fact, Jeremy hadn't even bothered to report the excursion after the last few turned out so poorly. Lani drove them out himself, enduring the rough traffic in the afternoon to get them all the way out to Olympia. Jeremy briefly considered stopping at the hospital for another look, but the heat of the chase had them both excited for the first time in months. This felt like a real lead, a dash of hope when he'd been searching fruitlessly for months now.

  Dave met them outside the lab, ushering them in through a side door. "We're trying to keep it quiet for now," he explained as they walked. "You remember the hysteria the first time around. If news gets out that someone was found..."

  "Who found him?" Jeremy asked, taking out a pocket notebook.

  "Park ranger. He's here if you want to interview him. It was just a routine patrol though, I think. He didn't have a clue what he was looking at. No one did until they got him down to us." Dave lead them straight into the examination room.

  "Jesus, he looks like a contortionist," murmured Lani. He bowed his head slightly in respect.

  Jerry Hauserman was laid out on the nearest table. His back was nearly bent in half. One arm was torn clean off, and a hole the size of a cinder block was punched straight through his chest. His face had been beaten in to the point that it was barely recognizable.

  Jeremy turned to the forensic scientist. "You identified him by DNA?"

  "He was on file from the last time he was in prison, voluntary submission to clear his name on another case. Didn't take much to match up." Dave frowned. "I still have no clue what could do something like this."

  "Have the rangers been sweeping the forest?"

  "Yes. Started about eight hours ago. Scott found him this morning and the sweep started an hour later."

  Jeremy nodded. "We'll talk to the ranger, and then we're heading out there." He glanced over at Lani. "You good?"

  Lani lifted his head again and opened his eyes. "Let's go."