Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) by James Kipling Read Free Book Online Page B

room.
    “Did you get in touch with the coach for us?” Flo asked.
    “Not yet,” Butler answered.
    “What’s the hold up?” I asked.
    “He left to go on a scouting trip a few days ago,” Jackson answered. “He should have been here and back by now.”
    “You don’t know where he is?” I asked.
    “He hasn’t been answering his calls,” Butler answered.
    A sense of dread came over me. I looked over at Flo and I could tell she was thinking the same thing. “Where’s his office?”
    Flo and I left the second crime scene as Dean Jackson walked us to the sports facility where the coaches and sporting staff offices were. It wasn’t a short walk, but we made it quickly. The place was pretty empty. “Where is everyone?”
    “We’re between seasons,” Jackson answered. “Usually things don’t pick up until mid-summer when they start to get ready for the new season.” We walked down the deserted hallway on the fourth floor and Jackson finally pointed to a door. “His office is right over there.”
    The closer we got, the easier it was to tell that the door was already open. I held up a hand and took the lead. Considering what we were dealing with, it was the kind of situation warranting we err on the side of caution. I took out my gun and slowly walked to the door, nudging it open a bit more.
    Leading with my pistol, I slowly crept into the room to discover that there was no one standing. The stench in the room led me to look behind the huge desk in the office, only to find the third victim. The coach was on his stomach and killed in the exact same way that his two players had been found.
    Dean Jackson came into the room and saw the body before I could stop him. He ran from the room and vomited in the hallway. “Is that how you found our students earlier today?” he called out, still gasping for breath.
    “Exactly like that,” I answered with a sigh. There was no need to hide it, not now that he’d seen with his own eyes the kind of brutality we were handling. I walked over to the body. “He smells like he’s been here a while.”
    Flo was already covering her mouth. “Based on the stench, I’d say we’re looking at the first victim, not the third.”
    Despite the smell, I walked closer to inspect the body. Taser marks, and handcuffed, gagged, and raped before being stabbed, just like his students.
    Flo put on a glove and went right for the ankle, pulling out another card. “Here’s our third card. The king of hearts.”
    I didn’t touch the card, but took a quick gander at it before finally leaving the room. I may have had more experience, but I still didn’t like the smell any more than the Dean did. Once in the hallway, I pulled out my phone and contacted dispatch. I told them that another body had been found at the athletics building and that we needed another team to come over and secure the crime scene. I then called Captain Bancroft.
    The line picked up after a few rings. “Walker, this better be good news.”
    “I’m afraid not,” I answered.
    “What the fuck is going on over there?”
    “We found a third body.”
    “Same M.O.?”
    “Exactly, right down to the card in the sock, but this time there are a few differences.”
    “Such as?”
    “Age. The new victim is a staff member...the football coach.”
    “Son-of-a-bitch.”
    “My thoughts exactly. There’s a pattern I’m seeing here, obviously. All three victims are members of the football team and all three victims are male. We have no reason to assume that M.O. is going to change,” I said as I looked into the room again. Flo was looking around for possible clues while trying her best not to contaminate the crime scene. “The execution of these crimes is also very personal. Whoever is doing this has a lot of pent-up anger towards the football team, and I doubt it’s for their on-field play.”
    “I’ll get someone here to look into any complaints made against the players or the coach,” the Captain stated. “If there