Dreamscape Read Online Free Page B

involved.” Jackson eased back into the chair. Thorpe sat up. He felt they’d begun a game of chess and he needed to weigh out his next move.
    “I’ll hear you out, but I’m not exactly certain of what you’re hoping to accomplish here,” Thorpe said.
    “Then I’ll tell you what I have,” Jackson said without taking his gaze from Thorpe. “Each victim was single, between eighteen and twenty-two. None of the victims seem connected, as in, knowing one another. Similarities in appearance: slender, attractive, intelligent girls. Unusual for a serial killer, normally they pick easy victims. These he had to work for.”
    Thorpe sat without comment, trying to assess what Jackson had tried to bring about. He didn’t have to wait long.
    “As you’re aware, there are all sorts of serial killers,” Jackson said directly at Thorpe. “It’s my understanding that you were responsible a while back for arresting Michael Richards.”
    Thorpe slowly blew air out of his mouth, taken back for a moment. He stared at the agent. “I’m not exactly sure what that case has to do with this one.”
    “Let’s just say I specialize in cases such as these. Special cases. Special circumstances. If I’ve done my homework, that case might not have been solved if not for you. The unit thought she’d been taken out of state.”
    “The case happened seven years ago, to be exact. Different set of circumstances. Neighbor. Opportunist.”
    “Yeah. Geographically stable serial killer. This new one we’re looking at now is, I believe, a thrill-seeking serial killer, killing for the sheer joy of doing so.” Jackson nodded.
    “Look, Agent Dunn,” Thorpe said, his irritation growing.
    “Please, call me Jackson.”
    “You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You’re trying to make some point that’s getting lost on me. Understand my interest is in this case. I don’t like bodies being found on my beaches.”
    “You’re an impatient man, Chief Thorpe. It’s important to understand what you’re dealing with first.”
    “And that would be?” Thorpe countered.
    “Power. The ultimate power in his view. The man we’re looking for seeks power. I believe this one’s entire focus is on total destruction of his victim. He either strangles them, or stabs them with a knife. He enjoys the feeling of his victims’ lives being drained away at his will.”
    Thorpe studied Agent Dunn and quickly surmised the agent’s determination to make his point. “Go ahead.” Thorpe flipped his hand toward Jackson to carry on.
    “The problem with this guy is by day he probably seems like an ordinary working soul. He hides behind a mask. He’s playing a game where he alone makes the rules and he has no intention of losing.”
    “You know, Agent Dunn, that sounds all well and good, but what can I do to help catch this guy? That’s what I’m interested in. I don’t have time.”
    Jackson’s face broke into a sly smile. “Okay, Chief Thorpe. I’d like to re-interview her coworkers, roommate, anyone that had contact with her. Look at it from a different angle. Not looking for someone with a grudge, someone that might have seemed interested in her. Like to get a look at the location. What did you think of the autopsy?”
    The autopsy report sat in front of Thorpe. He picked it up. “Overkill comes to mind. The exact cause of death the pathologist listed was a gruesome slash to her throat, although out of the twenty-seven stab wounds, only three were considered fatal.”
    Jackson read directly from the file. “The victim’s throat had been savagely cut. The brutal slash ended at the right side of the cervical vertebrae. The deepest thrust had been plunged through her heart, but the pathologist states he felt that was after her throat was cut. She’d ultimately lost most of her blood.”
    “I believe from the looks of the body that the girl struggled. Bruising was found under both arm pits as if the killer held her down. She had numerous non-fatal