Fire of Life (Fiery Soul Series Book 1)

Chapter 18

After dropping Eric off at the school, Tobias just wants to wrap things up and get some sleep, which he desperately needs after everything. The aura and cases tax him more than it used to when he was younger. While he desires to sleep, he sees Geoffrey whirling around the room like an energizer bunny on crack.

"Don't you ever sleep?"

Despite the joke, the look of obsession on his partner's face is familiar to Tobias, which he recalls late-night research to answer disturbing questions. So, he wonders what nugget the desk jockey found if the man realizes that Tobias enters the office.

"The latest attacks are weird," Geoffrey expresses as he sips his coffee. "Outside of the one member per crime M.O."

The words came so fast that it took Tobias a moment to capture and assemble it all in a logical order. His partner takes a few calming breaths after seeing Tobias stumble.

"Okay, Dr. Fry matched the chopped-up body to Dr. Aida Ruescher, which doesn't lead to much yet," he says before sliding a folder over. "That included four sins between all that was done to her."

Tobias writes down the woman's name for future reference as his partner opens another file. The photos from the Roberts' crime scene show different spray-painted letters.

"John Roberts' home was attacked by wrath, lust, and greed, which falls outside the pattern for this group."

The discrepancy catches Tobias' attention as the M.O never deviated in Salem. Upon examining these two cases, Geoffrey sorted instances between ordinary Men of Sin attacks and ones that don't follow the M.O. The pattern on the whiteboard shows the two recent cases were outliers.

"So, I went to see if this happened before," Geoffrey motors out before patting a few stacks of cases. "And I found an explosion of cases from nineteen years ago."

Tobias' mind blows away after learning the biker gang is older than he thought, but then his brain goes into how organized the group is. Rather than a chaotic group randomly attacking, they always seem one step ahead of the police, which suggests that lessons learned in the past made them more efficient.

"Same M.O. except for the First Aid Butcher massacre at Griffin Hospital," Geoffrey notes as he opens a case file. "Evidence shows more than one participant."

"Big hospital?"

"Except some victims were captured Men of Sin," his partner says as he pulls out morgue photos of various men with brands. "That makes it a possible hit."

Although a desk jockey, the research, and analytical skills of Geoffrey surpass any ally with a gun. The intel gives insight into how dangerous the group is, and lead to possible motivations. On a roll, Geoffrey pulls out the morgue pictures of John Roberts.

"So, I re-examined Robert's file, and found a startling clue in the morgue photo."

On John's chest lays a brand of the letter P, which the two barely make out due to bullet damage.

"With the gang taxonomy, that would stand for pride, but that means he was a member," Tobias comments.

Geoffrey seems one step ahead of him as he lays down printouts of John Robert's public records.

"Pretty thin, so I decided to research John Roberts," Geoffrey utters as he flips through printouts. "Before nineteen years ago, John Roberts was barely a blip on the radar."

The desk jockey lays an adoption form and profile information before Tobias, and the breadth and depth of knowledge make the detective wonder if his partner ever sleeps.