Easy Prey

By Ryan D. Mims

Mary Salter is a city councilwoman trying to find solutions to poverty and homelessness in her city. She has built a team of activists to support those in need. John Gordon is an FBI Agent investigating a series of murders across the South Western United States. They must team up because a serial killer is preying on the poorest members of El Cajon. 

 

They are not prepared for what they discover. Vampires are real and they like easy prey. Will John and Mary survive? 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan D. Mims
• Release date: Oct 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223218975

Ryan D. Mims

Ryan D. Mims

Book preview

Book One

Chapter 1

Murder

John Gordon climbed out of his car exhausted.  It was an unusually stormy week in usually sunny San Diego County. Although the rain had stopped earlier in the evening, the entire county was drenched.  The black drops of water on the asphalt and the larger puddles that formed in the side street’s dimpled surface reflected the lights of the cop cars that secured the area leading to the crime scene.  John reached through the open window, grabbed his coffee from the cup holder of his 2017 Chevy Impala, then turned and walked under the yellow warning tape. He trampled through the muddy ground to the ditch where colleagues from the forensic team were taking pictures of the victim.

Jane Doe was a middle-aged woman who would have been considered very good-looking if not for the gory way she had been killed. She was placed on the ground naked, looking up into the nightscape.  Her tangled hair was spread out above her body in a matted mess.  It intertwined with the mud, grass, and weeds until it became difficult to tell where her curly auburn hair ended and nature began.  To John, it looked like mother nature was slowly dragging her down to hell by her hair, pulling her into the mud and muck of the rain-soaked ground.  Her eyes stared wildly up into the night sky. A sky that was beautiful to behold, with full clouds and a brilliant moon shooting rays of light through their ethereal forms.  It made a morbid contrast between heaven and earth. She was a nightmare drained of life and sinking slowly into the brown muck of the ditch.  However, the darkening sky was filled with a brightly lit crescent moon circled by rainbows, cumulonimbus clouds, and a few sparkling stars that managed to penetrate the light pollution of Southern California.  Her eyes had lost their sheen, but the pale white skin on her forehead and cheeks still managed to reflect the moonlight that groped her dead face.  Wildflowers had been gathered and placed around the victim and in her hair.  The woman’s mouth was open and stretched taught. Her face was frozen in utter horror when she realized her assailant was killing her.  Her neck was ripped open, and the broken cervical bones of her spinal column lay exposed by the gruesome near decapitation that she had suffered at the hands of her murderer.  Her breasts sagged, and her thick thighs reflected the lights of the nearby cop cars as the forensic team continued to document the crime scene.

John Gordon had seen enough.  He sipped his coffee and strolled over to the local authorities in charge of the scene to let them know that this murder would be part of his ongoing investigation into a series of murders across California, Arizona, and Nevada.  John tried to remain as emotionless as possible while at the crime scene.  His tired face and bored posture would come across as glib to an outsider.  To the religious, it would appear sacrilegious.  To the vengeful masses, he would look weak standing there sipping his coffee, but an FBI agent working on homicide cases would understand.  John Gordon was pretending to be stoic.  He was pretending to be indifferent and aloof to protect himself from the scene stretched out before him.  It was not the FBI agent’s first murder scene and would not be his last.

Chapter 2

Philanthropist Matthew Harden

Matthew was running late.  He was hoping to arrive at the council meeting by 6:30, and he wasn’t going to make it until about 6:45. He hoped he would still have time to address the El Cajon City Council before the meeting ended.  The council did not have him on the agenda, but Councilman Sanchez had told him that if he came to an open session, he could request to be on the next agenda.  He pulled into the city hall’s tiny parking lot, took a spot in the back, grabbed the black folder containing his notes, and trotted towards the main building where the council was hopefully still conducting business.

The council was currently spending most of its time fighting over what to do about the homeless population.  Most of them were concerned that the homeless population was continuing to grow and had become more and more brazen, ignoring city ordinances around public decency. By a 4-1 decision, they recently voted to make it illegal for citizens of El Cajon to give money to a homeless person or assist them in any way. The cops were given the authority to both ticket and arrest good Samaritans who handed money, food, or clothing to a homeless person panhandling inside the city’s limits.  The city council hoped to force the homeless population east to Lakeside, Santee, or west towards the larger cities. The police department was instructed to make the ordinance a priority.

Matthew knew from experience that this was a bad idea.  The rules would not push people experiencing homelessness out of the tiny municipality.  Many of them had lived in El Cajon their entire lives.  The ordinance would only punish those willing to hand a dollar to a homeless man.  The homeless would continue to panhandle. Being ticketed and arrested would never matter to people that already had nothing to lose.  Matthew had a proposal to actively meet with the homeless community and recruit a small number of them into temporary housing programs where they could get the stability necessary to land a job and become independent.  Matt knew it was a long shot but thought the money spent would do more for the community than the tickets being handed out to stop the homeless population from soliciting funds on the corner of the street or outside of gas stations.  It also would give the mayor and the politicians on the city council cover for when their no soliciting program failed.  It would also give the smart ones a project they could campaign on during their next election.

Matt needed the council to see the value in his non-profit public-private partnership to help the community through holistic, compassionate outreach to the homeless populations. The Heartfelt Project was already paying dividends to communities throughout the southwest, but the foundation’s biggest supporters wanted it to grow. They wanted to have the Heartfelt Project up and running in the most significant cities and counties like San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles Counties. Matt believed that getting El Cajon on board would lead to getting the rest of San Diego County and the city of San Diego. El Cajon would be his path to working with the rest of San Diego, which was his pathway to an agreement with Los Angeles.

Chapter 3

Councilman Carlos Sanchez

Carlos didn’t give a shit about the homeless population in El Cajon.  He had voted with the council and mayor because he knew it was terrible politics to vote against the moneyed interest. It just wasn’t smart. Or at least it wasn’t smart back when he cast his vote. Before, he had listened to Mary Salter and Matthew Harden. His vote would matter less than the mayor’s campaign pushing the new city ordinance with fascist fever. When the next election rolled around, he would blame the mayor for everything wrong in the world.  The mayor’s tough-love approach towards people experiencing homelessness was being applauded by some of the citizens of El Cajon now, but that would end soon.  It was only going to take one white-haired church lady getting a ticket for handing out a couple of bucks to a homeless man.  It was inevitable, and the backlash would leave Carlos the opening he needed to challenge the mayor in the next election.  Bullying people without power was not a good policy, and Carlos planned to ensure the mayor got what was coming to him. 

Councilman Sanchez looked out over the crowded room of the city council’s chambers, wondering where Matthew was.  He needed Matthew here tonight before he could move his plan forward.  Matthew was the critical ingredient to creating a compassionate alternative to the mayor’s tough-guy stance.  Councilwoman Salter would eat up Matthew’s proposal as the only council member that voted against the mayor’s agenda.  She was the only real liberal on the council.  Carlos thought Mary’s constant pleading for a new system that went beyond punitive measures was playing well in the news, and he would be able to get at least one of the other two members of the council to vote for Matthew’s proposal to assist the homeless citizens of El Cajon. The media would eat up a plan that was mildly successful if it demonstrated a little compassion.

Of course, this required Matthew to show up and submit his ideas during the open comments. Carlos and Mary could get the item docketed for the next meeting.  Matthew was already becoming notorious amongst his friends, business associates, and political allies for always showing up late. It was a problem, and Carlos hoped it wouldn’t put a kink in his ambitions for higher office.

If Matthew’s proposal is well received, Carlos can have his allies in the police department watch for grey-haired ladies handing out spare change.  It was a natural thing for these church-going women to do as they moved about town after a good Sunday sermon.  It would be simple. A simple setup and the mayor would go from being a tough guy standing up for the average Joe to a bully picking on little old ladies.  Carlos believed that no one gave a shit about the homeless, but he also believed that once someone’s grandma got ticketed, the religious community would move to action.

Carlos smiled as he saw the door to the back of the room open and Matthew stumbling through it.  Carlos didn’t like people like Matthew.  They reminded him too much of himself.  He believed Matthew was pretending to care about people to secure himself a little cash.  No one smart enough to help people without housing cared enough to help people without homes, in Carlos’ opinion. Something was in it for Matt. Probably money. Carlos imagined Matt would grab a large portion of any funds his foundation received for himself. Carlos was a narcissist, and he assumed anyone with a bit of intelligence would be self-serving because, in his mind, anything else was stupid. To Carlos, the world was made of winners and suckers. He was a winner.

Chapter 4

Councilwoman Mary Salter

Mary Salter watched as Matthew stumbled into the council chambers.  His hair and beard were slightly unkept, and his shirt was only partially tucked in.  Matt was always running late and always seemed a little discombobulated.  She smiled at him, and he smiled back.  She was so glad that he was here tonight.  She only hoped Councilman Sanchez would be a reliable partner in this endeavor.  Maria had been burned by Carlos before, and she was not entirely sure she could trust him now, but something needed to be done.  Criminalizing homelessness was not the solution to El Cajon’s growing list of problems.

Mary had spent the last six months fighting with the mayor over his plan to pass City Ordinance 47, outlawing homelessness and any act that would encourage or enable homelessness inside the city.  The ordinance made it illegal to organize planned events to offer or distribute food at no or minimal charge to the public.  It ended all city social programs to help people experiencing homelessness. It even pushed county programs out by refusing to partner with the county programs designed to aid in El Cajon. In addition, the ordinance makes panhandling, sleeping on sidewalks, and temporary encampments against the law. 

Mary believed the mayor’s campaign calling for Real Change, Not Spare Change was heartless and cruel.  The mayor, surrounded by his business allies, was adamant that the only way to help the drug addicts and the alcoholics was to cut them off from the supply of money that fueled addiction.  He claimed that by cutting off their free supply of food, money, and services, the homeless population would slowly disappear, providing a genuine service for businesses and homeowners that formed the backbone of the community. The mayor didn’t seem to care too much about how people without housing disappeared from El Cajon as long as they disappeared. Mary believed most people without housing in El Cajon would not leave. Still, the mayor believed his actions would force enough people without housing to move south to other cities, and he intended to use the ordinance as a campaign talking point during his re-election. Others would be arrested and sent to prison. Either way, when re-election rolled around, he would cite a lower homeless population in his campaign literature and at campaign events. Mary could picture the headlines already.

When it came time to vote, Mary represented the lone no vote on the five-person city council.  The council was made up of the mayor and four council members. Now eight months into the experiment, things were worse than ever, but no one seemed to care except Matthew.  He had slowly become her middle-aged knight in shining armor with his ideas about natural solutions for the city’s homeless population.  Somehow, he had managed to get buy-in from Carlos, and she was hopeful that with a bit of planning before the next council meeting, Matt and Carlos would be able to find another vote on the city council to help them put a more compassionate policy in place.  She did not believe that her lobbying efforts would sway the opinion of the other two council members in favor of Matthew’s plan.  They were both conservative and generally dismissed her ideas without even considering the merits of her proposals.

She was stunned by how easily they could sweep people under the rug when it did not suit their political or financial ambitions.  Even now, the other council members looked half asleep as Vietnam Veteran and war hero William Henderson spoke to them about the connection between the homeless population and veterans with PTSD. 

Chapter 5

Veteran and Homeless Activist William Henderson

William Henderson expected very little from the El Cajon City Council or the mayor.  He was not expecting a win, but he hoped that Mary could use Matthew’s proposal to implement an agenda to help people experiencing homelessness in El Cajon. He wanted robust legislation to help people without housing in El Cajon instead of just criminalizing their plight.  William was furious when the mayor and the other three council members had voted and acted as one block in passing the ordinance to criminalize the homeless population.  Mary was his lone ally on the council, and he did not think she could get the others to go against the mayor and change the city’s position on homelessness. 

Currently, it is estimated that there are about 100,000 people in El Cajon’s 14.5 square miles.  Roughly 400 of the 100,000 were homeless, though that number changed because of the transient nature of homelessness.  According to most studies, eleven percent of all Americans living without homes in the United States were veterans, meaning roughly 44 homeless veterans currently slept on the streets and in the parks around El Cajon.  William Henderson believed that number was much higher in El Cajon and throughout San Diego County.  San Diego was the home of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Naval Base San Diego, Camp Pendleton, and several other smaller DoD facilities.  In addition to the county’s strong connection to the military, it had near-perfect weather.  If you are homeless, you’re better off in San Diego’s consistently warm climate than just about anywhere else in the United States.

William held up the purple heart he had received as an infantryman in Vietnam. William talked about his struggles to fit into society after receiving a medical discharge from the military in the 70s.  He gave an impassioned speech at the council chambers about how they could do better. He hoped it would help them to consider Matthew’s proposal to create an outreach program to help shelter, employee, and provide a path forward for El Cajon’s homeless. William was desperate for change.

When he was done speaking, he walked back through the council chambers to a smattering of applause from allies in the community.  Matt was moving down the aisle to be the final speaker of the night. Before they crossed paths, William stopped Matthew, put both hands on his shoulders, and said, Good luck.  There are so many people counting on your proposal.

We‘ve got this, Matthew replied, and William was uplifted by the man’s confident assertion that help would be coming to the downtrodden people of El Cajon.  Help for his people who time and time again get robbed of their dignity and humanity because, in the end, nobody cares about them, or at least no one in power cares about them.

Chapter 6

Agent John Gordon

John was back in his office reading over the case files of the murders that the FBI had assigned him to work on.  If the average Joe knew precisely how many unsolved murders he was dealing with, they would freak out.  He was confident he was dealing with a serial killer operating across state lines.  At least one victim every six months for the last five years, maybe longer, and if retired Agent Marty Cromwell was correct in his assessment, this was the most prominent case in America.  John’s predecessor retired with this shit still on his desk, and it looked like there were currently no worthwhile leads.  The killer was a ghost in the night.

Victims matching the killer’s M.O. had been found in Arizona, California, and Nevada.  It was even possible that there were victims in other states, but John knew that he had more than enough to work on with the grisly murders in the Southwest corner of the United States.  All the victims had been murdered in roughly the same fashion.  Their necks were ripped out, their blood drained, and their bodies stripped of all personal possessions before being dumped.  There didn’t seem to be a pattern to where and how the killer dumped the bodies, which indicated that he might be intentionally trying to spread out his kills across multiple law enforcement agencies and regions to stay out of the media and avoid too much scrutiny from a single jurisdiction.  Many of the victims in the file left behind by retired Agent Marty Cromwell were still unidentified. John was wondering if their family and friends were holding onto hope that one day their missing loved one would return home.

Jesus Christ, John cursed to himself while looking through the files.  How had the FBI allowed this to go on for so long, and why weren’t these deaths a higher priority?  It didn’t make sense to John, and he wanted to talk to his director.  By his estimate, the killer was the most prolific serial killer in modern history.  More senior agents should be assigned to these cases, he thought.  For Christ’s sake, there should be a whole team working on these murders, and there should be a special task force commissioned. 

John picked up the phone from his desk and called Senior Special Agent Sarah Penske, hoping she would pick up her phone.  It rang two times before she answered. 

Agent Penske, how are you doing today.

I’m fine, John; what’s going on?

I have some questions about the murder last night and the case files I received from Marty after he retired.  Do you have time to talk?

I have a moment, but from the sound of your voice, I think you want more than the five minutes I can spare right now.

You’re absolutely right.  I can’t believe that I’m the only agent working on these murders and that there is not a special task force assigned to follow up on the files that Marty has put together.  If Marty is correct, then I’m dealing with the most prolific suicide killer in US history.

John, Marty didn’t just retire.  He was forced out.  Sit on that for a little bit, and let’s schedule a meeting for Wednesday at 11 am.

Forced out?

Yeah, that file you’re sitting on is a bullshit conspiracy theory by a man that didn’t solve a meaningful case in over a decade.  He thought every homeless person and prostitute that went missing was part of the same case.  Don’t go looking for a serial killer when there isn’t one.  Work on the Jane Doe you found in the ditch last night.  Solve cases one at a time.

"Then why did I get his entire case file? John asked, perplexed.

Look, you got his leftovers.  Sort through them and try to throw out anything that has gone stale.  Okay!  We can talk more on Wednesday at 11. Sarah hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

Chapter 7

The Jane Doe

Agent John Gordon put his phone down and returned to work on his case involving the unidentified woman from Alpine. The unknown woman’s corpse was moved from the crime scene to the county morgue for an autopsy and identification two days ago, but she has remained unidentified.  The local officials were already tracking all missing person reports in the area to see if any matched the woman’s description.  She was approximately 45 years old, of Caucasian descent, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and 165 pounds, with green eyes and auburn to dark brown hair.  The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Forensics Team uploaded Jane Doe’s data into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, immediately but didn’t find any leads.

She was one of four unidentified corpses currently in the county’s morgue. Two out of four of them had died of natural causes resulting from complicated lives being homeless, without shelter or healthcare.  The other was a John Doe that was found washed up on Imperial Beach near the Mexican-American Border.  His cause of death was unknown, but the border patrol agents