Chapter 22

The stench of death clung to the air, to every inch of Aaron. From his clothes to his skin, to his hair. Even the inside of his nostrils smelt of rotten, vile decay. Of a violence and evil.

‘Devil’s Breath’, the words echoed into his mind, swirled around and rebounded driving him nearly insane. How was this happening? His hands shook as he dialed the number, with a mouth so dry he could hardly get the words out. There was only one call he could make now. He had to speak to his stepmom. She had the connections he needed to go see his father Martin Anderson—the man, better known to the public as The Reverend who killed Valmer - the original Devil’s Breath Killer. Valmer the man who mutilated, killed and then devoured Lorel Palmer’s heart. The name churned his skin.

When the call went through, even before Maureen had a chance to utter a hello he said, “I need to speak to him.”

A soft sigh came from the other side of the call. “Aaron,” she warned.

“Please, I wouldn’t call unless it was important.”

Maureen’s voice sounded as empty as he felt. “I know,” she said simply. “I was waiting for your call. But seriously?” She took a breath, checking the time. “It’s nearly one a.m.”

“I need to see him,” Aaron demanded.

“I can’t make that call. You know that,” she replied.

“Maureen, this is important. Please. He’ll only see me if you...”

Maureen who was just about to fall asleep, really felt too groggy for this conversation interrupted him. “I know what you’re thinking, son,” she leaned over to the empty side of the bed and snatched up Martin’s pillow from beside hers.

“I’m not your, son,” he told her, trying to sound firm but not unkind.

Maureen hugged the pillow, wiping at her tired eyes. “You’re stressed so I’ll forgive you, this once,” she said with authority in her voice, but her head fell to the pillow as she held the phone to her ear, her exhaustion peeking.

Before giving a reply, Aaron willed himself to calm down. He stood in the street outside the crime scene and looked up at the night sky. The stars and full moon seemed so close on such a clear night, but they also felt so far.

“Does he know, Maureen?” he finally asked. “Does dad know he might have killed an innocent man?”

Maureen, his stepmother was partly to blame, according to Aaron, for putting Martin Anderson behind bars. She was Martin’s lawyer and it had been hard to negotiate terms on behalf of the man she loved when all she wanted to do was find a loophole to get him a reduced sentence.

But of course, Martin, her husband also known as The Reverend needed to face the consequences of his actions. All murderers do.

The weight of the situation caused the words to hitch in her throat. “I’m sure he knows by now. Can we discuss this in the morning, Aaron? I’ve had a long week.”

“Mom…?” It was all it took, that one word. She’d always wanted Aaron to accept her and love her in the way she did him.

She sighed. “I’ll do what I can.”

He hated begging, but this was his father, and he’d do anything for the man who single handedly raise him and his brother on a church salary.

“Please, you know what comes next.”

“I do.” She paused. “Please don’t tell me you’re working this case, Aaron. It’s too close. I can’t see you go to jail, too.”

“I was the one who discovered her body, Mom,” that word again. “I knew her, however brief it was. I sent her in there with my partner and now she’s dead and my partner is missing…” he continued even though he’d probably said too much already.

“It was meant to be a simple sex trafficking case—but clearly, we were wrong. I don’t know how this fits in with Valmer: with dad.”

“I really hope, for dad’s sake, he killed the right man. Do you know what this will do…?” he struggled to finish the sentence, his throat tightening with tension. If his father had killed the wrong man, then he couldn’t bring himself to imagine how this would all play out. His father would be lost to him forever. As a holy man, killing was unacceptable. And as a holy man, stopping evil was his purpose too. And Martin had decided that killing Valmer was worth his own death in the end.

Maureen swore, “Shit! Aaron, is there a chance that …?”

“I don’t know, mom, I really don’t know.”

“Step away from this case. It’s cursed.”

Aaron replied, “I can’t step away. You know that. That son of a bitch took everything from us.”

Maureen jumped from the bed. “It was him, Aaron. Valmer confessed to everything.” Maureen went over to the bottle of half-open wine on her dresser. “You didn’t hear his statement. Valmer was the killer. I know he was!”

Aaron tugged at the collar of his t-shirt. “I can tell you this now—Valmer was not working alone. How else do you explain what I saw? What was done to this poor girl? I have to stop it. Even if it means I bring the real killer to light and lose my father. I don’t have it in me to choose. This girl needs justice, Mom. And I know that your heart is set the same way.”

Maureen snickered. “You’re just like Martin in that way,” Maureen said after taking a big sip of red wine, feeling the dark liquid burn down to her chest.

Aaron shook his head. “I’ve a bad feeling. It doesn’t feel like a copycat. In fact, it’s more like this is the master.”

“Son,” there was urgency in her tone, “I don’t think this obsession is healthy.”

“I’ll be the one to decide that. Get me a pass to see dad. You owe me that much.”

It was the next night, the stars shone bright and the moon a big pale circle rising over the hill when Aaron found himself in front of that mansion once again. A haze of blue and red lights made their way down the narrow streets toward him.

A call came in, ringing into the night, but Aaron ignored it and pocketed his phone as he realized he couldn’t ignore the calls from his captain anymore, because now the captain was here. He stepped onto the pebbled sidewalk and ducked in behind the yellow tape as a sign that he was not backing down from the case. The SUV stopped with the screech of tires before him. Aaron stood, anticipating the fallout.

The door swung open, and the captain jumped out, his dark brows knotted together with a deep frown, his face flushed with anger. “Aaron!”

When the captain called him by his first name, it only meant bad things.

“You’ve been ignoring my calls all day,” he said slamming the door behind him. “Internal affairs…” Bryce’s eyes darted from Aaron toward the lights coming their way.

“I needed more time,” Aaron pleaded.

Bryce shook his head. “Time for what exactly, Anderson?”

“To think.”

“To think about how insane you must be for ignoring me, knowing full well you’re not supposed to be on this case. Internal affairs had a freaking leash on you the moment you…” Bryce didn’t get a chance to finish as Aaron interrupted.

“That’s exactly why I ignored your call, Sir. To protect you.”

Bryce pressed his lips together, narrowing his eyes on Aaron. “I’m here to officially pull you off this case. It’s too close, Aaron. Far too close. And the victim. What the hell were you two thinking taking a civilian with you? I can’t even begin to…” The captain took a breath hardly able to keep from blowing his top.

“They’ll blame you for her death. At this moment, I’m kind of leaning that way, too. She was Makayla’s friend. What the hell were you both doing?”

Bryce shook his head in frustration. “You need to hand in your badge, and your gun, I’m going to have to take you in.”

Aaron nodded, his hands slipping into his pockets.

“But not yet,” the captain said, looking to see how much time he had before I.A. arrived to arrest Aaron.

“Walk with me. Now!” The captain growled and took Aaron by the elbow all the way into the yard of the mansion. The crime scene was virtually empty by now. Forensics, local detective and the sheriff had scoured the scene for more than twenty-four hours and collected everything they could, which wasn’t much, according to the local authorities.

“I know that look,” Bryce told Aaron.

Aaron’s eyes focused on the pool as the wind picked up causing waves to splinter the moon’s reflection across the liquid surface.

“This is the work of a copycat, Sir,” he finally said, no conviction behind his words. “It’s close but not too close. There’s no reason I can’t work this case.”

Bryce shot him a look, already sensing the lies Aaron was trying to use to sell his involvement.

“And the civilian?”

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose hard and shrugged. “Makayla thought it would make her less conspicuous. She didn’t think there would be any danger. It was meant to be a quick in and out to gather information. Nothing was meant to go down. She was just showing her face. The real bust was meant to be next week.”

He sighed, looking to his feet. “But you know that part of it already, Sir.”

Bryce narrowed his eyes on Aaron. “There is something you are not telling me.”

Aaron titled his head back looking up at the moon. “I have a theory. I just need time to prove it.”

Blue and red lights flashed across the sky, painting the walls of surrounding structure bright and blue, red and ravenous in their hunt for Agent Anderson.

“Bryce!” A voice called from behind the white walls.

“Punch me!” Bryce gripped Aaron’s arm.

“Pardon?”

“Punch me.”

Aaron obeyed, punching Bryce in the jaw real hard. As Bryce fell to the floor, Aaron made a run for it…