Eleven (Brandon Fisher FBI Series)

Chapter 17 & 18

Chapter 17

PAIGE PUSHED ZACHERY CLOSER TO ME, pretty much checking him with her shoulder.

"No reason to be so pushy."

She ignored his protest and moved the mouse on the screen. "There is another folder that I haven't been able to get into—" Her words hung out there as she found the folder, hovered the mouse over it, and then double-clicked. A window came up prompting for a password. She addressed me, "I can't break it."

"Why are you looking at him," Zachery intercepted.

"You seriously have to ask. You might be a genius when it comes to what you've read in a textbook from twenty years ago, but you don't know your way around a computer."

I shoved between the two of them. "Can I?"

Paige let go of the mouse.

I entered the source code for the folder and found the password. Seconds later, the folder was open.

"Impressive, Pending." Zachery smiled at Jack. "He knows what he's doing. Sometimes. How did you know how to do that any—" Zachery's words died on his lips as the first picture filled the screen.

A young girl we all knew as Sally Windermere was tied to the stretcher in the kill room. Her eyes were blindfolded, but the shape of her jaw and the upward turn of her nose made her identity unmistakable.

"He was there," Paige said.

Zachery leaned in toward the monitor. "Forget that he was there, he was the one who killed her. Bingham was in prison."

I stepped to the side, and Paige brought up the next photo. It was a picture of the ground and the tips of two boots. It was a lower resolution when compared to the other photos. "Taken with a cell phone? And why a picture of his feet?"

I glanced over at Jack to get an idea where he was in all of this. He had retracted into the far corner of the room. When I glanced at him, he directed my attention back to the screen with a pointed finger. At first, I didn't know what he was trying to communicate, but as I studied the picture, it became apparent. The toe showing on the left was a right foot, the one on the right, a left.

"Bingham has two followers who kill for him..." The realization caused internal panic. If Bingham wanted me dead, he still had someone else to carry out that wish.

"Someone else was definitely there with him, and he took a picture of the feet to prove it. Was Royster involved with the torture and killing, or did he just get in too deep? Maybe it was keep Bingham's secrets or become victim number eleven," Paige offered.

"At this point, it's hard to know," Zachery said. "It is possible that Bingham had that much power and influence. And as for two followers it wouldn't be the first time a serial killer had that much control. Look at Robin Gecht. He led three other men in the brutal murders of at least seventeen women." He glanced at Paige. "I won't go into the details of the mutilation. But they were known as the Ripper Crew or Chicago Rippers."

"I know it has to be bad when you don't go into details." Paige's eyes made the daring request for Zachery to continue.

"Not getting into it. But the thing is when it comes to killings involving more than one accomplice they feed off each other. What one might not do if they were alone, they're not afraid to do with an audience. Both the participant in the murder and the spectator experience power and excitement."

"I know we keep mentioning that maybe Royster kept quiet because Bingham threatened him, myself included, but if Bingham wanted to, he would have killed him," Paige said.