Two Graves (A Kesle City Homicide Novel) by D.A. Graystone

down at the small table.
    “Tell me about the sign.”
    “Sorry, Lou. About all I can tell you is what it isn’t.”
    “Which is?” Mann said, deflated.
    “I have spent a lot of time on the computer. This is not a gang mark that shows up in any of the databases.”
    “Ya, Kydd already gave me that. What about a religious angle?”
    “You know we have never had a satanic cult killing, right? That’s all movie stuff. There have been individuals like Ramiez and Sean Sellers that say it was for the devil but these are rare. That said, the sign could have some satanic overtones. It could be a goat, common symbol for the Devil. Normally, the horns would have more of a curve at the end but the guy wasn’t using a magic marker to draw the thing.”
    Mann just nodded and stared at the calendar.

Chapter 19

    As she reached for the button, he slipped the rope around her neck and jerked her backwards. The groceries spilled on the floor as the doors slid shut. He released her long enough to push the button for the lower basement. She almost struggled away from him while he was distracted.
    She was stronger than he remembered but it didn’t matter. By the time the elevator doors opened, she was unconscious. She wasn’t dead, yet. He couldn’t let her be dead, yet. Just in case someone saw them, he wanted to be able to say that Jane passed out. Besides, he wanted her to see his eyes while she died. She needed to remember.
    His heart slammed against his chest as the elevator lurched to a stop. The doors slowly slid open. Crouched beside the bag of groceries, he looked out at the hallway, willing it to be empty. As it had been each day this week, it was deserted.
    Shoving the toppled lettuce back in the bag, he slipped one of her arms around his neck. Hefting her up, groceries dangling from the other hand, he struggled to stand. God, she was heavy. He staggered out of the elevator, the door hitting his shoulder and sliding open again.
    In the hallway, he hitched her up on his hip and turned right. He moved as quickly as possible past the laundry room. The two women chatting loudly over the sound of the dryers did not even see him dragging her. At the end of the hall, he shoved Jane through a door. She fell in a heap on the floor. Taking one last look down the hall, he slipped into the room.
    Preston stood, leaning against the door, trying to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat from his face and adjusted his glasses. When he could finally stand straight, he took a deep breath and removed a rubber wedge from his pocket. Preston kicked it under the door. He tugged hard on the door, pulling with all his weight. When he was satisfied that nobody could get in, he turned to the crumpled figure on the floor. She was beginning to come around.
    Before she became fully conscious, he caught her left wrist in a slipknot in one end of the rope. Dragging her across the room, he propped her against a metal storage shelf. He looped the rope around the storage shelf and tied the other end to her right wrist, stretching her arms out straight with her back pressed tight against the shelves. The pain brought her around. Before she could scream, he tore off a piece of duct tape from the roll in his pocket and slapped it across her mouth. She thrashed and tried to trip him with her legs.
    Preston kicked her in the ribs without hesitation.
    Tears formed in her once defiant eyes and she pulled her knees up to protect herself.
    “Don’t do that again or I will really hurt you,” he said, stepping back.
    He stared between her legs, disappointed that she was wearing panties under the skirt. But it was more than he had seen in High School.
    Staring down at the tears running down her face, he remembered his date with Jane.
    “Guess you didn’t think you’d see me again, did you Jane?” he asked.
    She tried to say something, shaking her head violently. He almost thought she looked puzzled.
    “Don’t you recognize me, Jane? Well, I know you, Jane.