with bruises. Broken bones. I think the FBI would call him a rage killer. Unorganized and—”
Joel gave a slight, negative jerk of his head.
What she’d been hoping to see. “You don’t think there was rage involved?”
“Hell, yes, there was rage. You don’t beat men to death without rage.” And his head inclined toward her. Voice a whisper, carrying only to her, he breathed, “Is that why you wanted me in there? Because of my personal experience? You wanted to see if I thought the guy felt the same way that I—”
Her hand rose. Her fingers pressed to his chest. Right over his heart. “It’s not about how he felt. Or how you felt. It’s about the attack. Do you think it was a wild surge? Bruises and broken bones just randomly everywhere on their bodies until the vics died?”
“No.”
“This scene looks…” Ruben’s voice seemed overly loud. “Personal. And I do have another visitor coming, so how about you two take this to a different location? Joel has some magic words he wants to try on you and—”
“Fuck off,” Joel said.
She frowned at him. “That’s very rude. Ruben is someone I consider a friend. You shouldn’t say—”
“Ruben, please fuck off for a moment.”
Ruben laughed.
She shot a quick glance at him. Why were Joel’s words funny? No, no, she didn’t have time for this now. Her hand pressed a little harder to Joel’s chest as she focused on him. “Wild surge or not?” she asked, her voice clipped.
“Some of it was, sure. Once he had his victims like he wanted them, the perp went crazy. Delivered as much pain and damage as he could.”
Once he had his victims like he wanted them…
“But it wasn’t all wild. In fact, I’d say it was pretty damn organized. In each kill, he damaged the top of the spine, C1 to C4…the section that would lead to the most extensive paralysis. He pounded and pounded there. The bruises and the bone damage are the most severe for all vics in that area. He knew exactly what he was doing. There were no bruises or damage to the spine below the C8. Because, I think, after he had delivered what he thought was enough injury to the upper spine, when his vics couldn’t move, then he flipped them over. The rest of the bruises were all on the front sides of the body. The vics couldn’t fight back, and he made them watch as he beat them to death.”
All of the moisture had dried in her mouth.
“Brutal and sadistic.” His jaw was clenched. “But that’s how some people are, right? The freaks out there. The ones who like to rip your world away and give you nothing but pain and hell. Nightmares that won’t stop. You can’t breathe. You can’t sleep. Because even after you stop them, even after you send them to hell, the memory is still there, it’s—” Joel broke off. Seemed to catch himself because he knew he’d revealed too much.
Tension stretched in the room.
“I should have fucked off,” Ruben finally mumbled. “You even said please. I should have walked away. Didn’t mean to get in your business…But, I mean, it is my office. My desk right there. My window and…” His voice trailed away.
“In your professional opinion, did the killer knowingly target that particular area of the spine on all the vics?” Chloe asked Joel as she tried to get him to leave the shadows of his past and come back to her. “Was it just the swipe of a blunt instrument against the spine, or was it deliberate to—”
“It was deliberate. Deliberate and focused attacks between C1 and C4 that would result in paralysis. My belief is that the killer wanted his targets unable to fight back.”
She swallowed and glanced over at Ruben. “Do you agree?”
“I…noticed the injuries to the upper spine, but I didn’t realize they were so controlled. I mean, controlled considering, you know? Not until Joel started focusing so intently on them.” He nodded. “Yes, I would agree. The killer knew what he was doing when he targeted the spine. It’s his technique.”
“His signature.” She could hear the growl of an engine outside. Richardson had arrived. His car was overly loud. Probably should get a tune-up. “Feel free to share all of this information with the FBI.”
“Um, you know I work for the coroner’s office? You get that? It’s my legal duty to share this information—any information that I have—during the course of an investigation.”