Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I went in to work because my partner called and explained that the FBI found links from this case to a case that they’re working on with serial killers,” Haze explained. “I went in because John felt like I was going to want to hear everything from them myself. I got there, and the FBI agent you know as Jefferson Evador gave me the entire explanation on four—now five—separate cases.”
“Okay, so spill,” Shasha grumbled, clearly just as impatient as I was.
I punched him in the shoulder, causing him to glare at me.
“I’m getting there.” Haze pulled onto I-75. “Agent Evador explained that there are five stages to each subsequent ‘case.’ The first case, they didn’t make as many connections as they did in the last case.”
“Hurry up, goddamn,” Shasha grumbled.
I punched him in the shoulder again.
“It’s relevant to the story, Semyonov.” Haze didn’t get upset with Shasha’s impatience.
Shasha remained silent, and Haze continued.
“Three years ago in Kentucky, what they labeled as the Amazon Review Killer made his appearance,” Haze started, making my heart leap inside my chest. I’d heard about that one! “A woman from Lewisville was picking up her packages from an Amazon Locker much like the one that Nastya went to. Only, she couldn’t get the box in the car like Nastya managed. She had to ask for help from a nearby delivery driver, and the two of them got this box into the car, but only after the box completely broke. A dead body hacked into pieces dropped to their feet.”
I remembered hearing about it because it’d been a huge deal in the Amazon review community.
All of the message boards had exploded with guesses as to who’d done it.
“And then the lady died, right? The one that got the package?” I confirmed.
“Yes. But only after about six months of them suspecting her for the murder,” Haze agreed. “For the second one, much the same thing happened, only the man that picked up his package made it all the way home before he found out the contents. He died a little over five months later.”
“Three and four, we finally made the connection that there was a serial killer running around killing people that made it their living to review products and post those reviews online.”
“Like Nastya,” Shasha murmured.
“Like Nastya,” Haze confirmed as he exited the interstate. “But with the fourth woman that died after receiving a dead body that was sent to her in a package, things went off script a little bit to the point where they thought that there might be a copycat killer. The first three deaths had a timeline. They received the first package, then a second. A third. A fourth, and then a fifth. After the fifth package was opened, they were killed. But only after the package was opened.”
“How did they know it was opened?” I wondered.
“There’s a transmitter in each box,” Haze explained. “The moment the package is open, an alert is sent via a satellite phone to a burner phone. Once it’s known that they have opened it, they die within twenty-four hours. The copycat killer, which they’ve now deemed a serial killer due to three other cases that are similar, doesn’t have the same patience.”
“So are y’all thinking this particular case involving Nastya is a copycat killer or the original?” Shasha asked.
He’d echoed my thoughts, and I was eager to hear Haze’s thoughts.
“They’re thinking it’s the original since it fits a timeline.” Haze expounded, “He kills once every three months. Doesn’t move on until all five packages are delivered and opened. Once the last package is opened, there’s a twenty-four-hour window after the package is opened that the murder then takes place. And it’s always at the person’s house.”
Shasha didn’t need to say a word for me to know where he was at. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer this time.
I’d be moving back home whether I wanted to or not.
Dammit.
“And the copycat?” Shasha asked.
“We think that he wants to help. But the original killer is too disciplined. The copycat is impatient and volatile, and we think that today’s bombing was a good indication that the copycat isn’t happy that the Amazon Review Killer isn’t letting him join the team. He tried to take you out before the original killer could finish his routine.”
“But seriously. How are you differentiating? How are you sure that this is the copycat that blew Nastya—or in reality my wife’s—car up?” Shasha asked.
“Because it fits his MO,” Haze said. “After examining the back of the Jeep, and the projectiles used for the bomb, we’ve determined that it’s him.”
“Why?” I pushed.
“Because the man uses human teeth in the bombs. Teeth of his kills.” Haze looked sick.
“That’s what y’all pulled out of Dima’s side?” Shasha hesitated. “A tooth?”
“A tooth,” Haze confirmed.
“So what does that mean for me?” I asked. “Do y’all know anything about this guy? Either guy?”