Frank and John were trying to get over their initial shock. They were searching for answers, and possible locations Eric could hide. The other agents were informed of the situation and the manhunt was on. They were making the connections to other cases, coming up with timelines of when Eric left on business trips and murders taking place. The evidence was piling up and the other detectives working on Michelle’s murder had a witness who saw her enter Eric’s car. The coroner’s reports were back and indicating that the possible weapon used for the killings was an ice pick. The oil used to blind Jamie was also found on the tape used to cover his other victims’ eyes. Frank explained everything to Peter and he decided he would be the one to tell Sarah. Other agents were sent to Sarah’s house as precaution in case Eric decided to go after his wife as well.
“Where the hell is Lancaster?” Sandman yelled through the chaos in the office. “Hey, Justin, we’ve been looking for you and Lancaster. Where is he?”
“There’s been a break in the case. Sandstone figured out who the killer is,” one of the agents told him, and he practically dropped his ceramic cup of hot coffee.
“It’s Donald, right?” Justin asked.
“No, man, it’s not him. It’s Eric, Grace’s stepfather. We’re trying to find out where he could be hiding. Where’s Agent Lancaster?”
Justin ran to Sandstone and told him about the phone call from Grace.
“Everybody shut up right now!” Sandman yelled out to the chaos of loud voices and people panicking. Everyone in the office stopped talking. Agents held their hands over telephone receivers. Others hung up their phones entirely. Frank and John joined Sandman by Justin and Big Jay and Duke stood at attention.
“Grace called over an hour ago. Lancaster said that Senior Investigator Burbank gave her Lancaster’s number to set up a trap for the killer. She was in a safe place somewhere outside of town,” explained Justin as he filled everyone in on the details.
“That fucking asshole could get our sister killed while he’s trying to play hero agent. What if they’re dead already?” Frank said.
“Let’s stay positive. You said you had an address. Where is it?” Sandstone asked and Justin ran to his office.
“Calm down, Frank. Just because Lancaster and Grace are together it doesn’t mean that Eric knows where they are. John, get together your SWAT team. I want as much manpower as possible to assist if needed,” Sandstone stated.
“Here it is, sir, I wrote it down as Lancaster received it from Grace,” Justin said, handing the piece of paper to Sandstone.
“Where is this place?” Sandman asked Frank and his eyes widened as he looked at the directions.
“It’s a place our family owns. No one’s been there in years. It’s abandoned,” said Frank
“Okay, everyone, this is how it’s going down. I want ten agents to stay here and handle any information that comes through as well as updating me on new information. Call me if you hear from Grace, Donald, Eric, or anyone.” Sandman directed the crowd of people as he gave the orders to the first group of agents.
“You guys get the gear and meet us downstairs in five minutes. We’re going to the house. When we get there, let’s come up on the house slowly. We don’t know if this is a hostage situation or what. John will have his SWAT team go inside first along with some of my agents. No sirens, no info over the radios until we’ve entered the house. Got it?” Sandman asked then headed toward the stairs with Frank, Duke, Big Jay, and the others.
* * * *
Within twenty minutes the SWAT team and FBI agents had the house surrounded. With their guns drawn, Sandman, Frank, and the others followed the SWAT team into the house. They made their way toward the basement where they found Lancaster and Donald.
“He’s dead, Sandman,” said John as he checked Lancaster for a pulse. Now they feared for their sister’s life. Where was she? What happened?
“He’s alive, man!” yelled Frank as he helped Donald sit up against the wall.
“Grace,” Donald whispered. He was having difficulty talking.
“Where is she, Donald?” Frank asked as Sandman and Big Jay kneeled down next to him.
“She ran. The stairs. Eric’
s the killer,” he told them.
“We know, Donald. Where would Grace run to?” Duke asked, practically yelling. He was afraid they might be too late.
“Go help her. Eric is chasing her. The fields, the swamp,” said Donald as he began to pass out.
Sandman got to his feet along with Frank.
“You know this area. I don’t. We don’t know how long ago she escaped so we’re going to have to move quickly. Frank and John, you come with me. I want to organize groups to try and cover as much area as quickly as possible. Duke, Big Jay, you get the groups started. Grab whoever knows these woods and we’ll meet up as we case the area, and Frank, John, and I will head out now. Let’s go.”
Everyone ran up the stairs.
* * * *