by Robin Mahle
“What?” Walsh asked.
“I told Fisher that I got a text and image from an unknown. It said, ‘another bomb and your girl isn’t here.’ They’re watching her, Levi.”
“What the hell? When was this and why didn’t you tell me?”
“Early this morning. Fisher said I was being paranoid and that they weren’t following Kate.”
“I call bullshit.” Walsh peered through his office window. “They know she’s working that case and now Duncan’s in the hospital? Something’s off. We’re leaving in twenty. I’ll get a lay of the land and touch base when I know anything.”
“Levi, you have to stay hyper-vigilant. Don’t give these guys the upper hand. I might be way out in left field about this, but I think they might be using the serial bomber case to find a way to keep us quiet.”
Walsh rubbed the top of his head. “I have to pull some stuff together before we go. Listen, man, I’ll keep you posted. Kate can look out for herself. I need you to remember that.”
“Yeah, well, I thought Duncan could too and look what happened to her. I’m calling Kate now. I have to know she’s okay.”
“Whatever you have to do, man. Talk soon.” Walsh ended the call and gathered his laptop and carrier bag. He wondered if Kate knew they were coming or if Fisher was about to blindside her. Either way, she wasn’t going to be happy. This was her show and by the sound of it, everything’s gone south. “Damn it.” If it turned out Quinn and the people he worked for were using the serial bomber case as cover to do what they needed to do to shield themselves, then this wasn’t going to end well—for any of them.
Walsh pulled the strap over his shoulder and started into the bullpen near the elevators. He checked the time. Five minutes to spare.
Fisher emerged from the corridor and headed toward the elevators, walking right past Walsh. “You coming?”
He hurried to catch up. “Right behind you.”
They stepped onto the elevator and started down to the parking garage. Walsh eyed his boss, seeing the obvious concern on his face. “Hey, man. Duncan’s tough as hell. She’ll be fine.”
“I know. I just can’t figure out how this went from some reject planting shitty little homemade bombs on the cars of rich people to targeting government workers, including our people.” Fisher turned to him. “That doesn’t just happen, you know that. That’s not how these people work.”
“If we could predict a killer’s intention, we could stop them before they killed. We’re good, but we ain’t that good.”
The doors parted and they hurried to Fisher’s car. “The plane’s waiting on the tarmac of the airstrip. We should be there within 90 minutes.”
Walsh climbed onto the passenger seat of Fisher’s SUV. “Did you tell Reid we were coming?”
Fisher pressed the ignition. “Duncan knows. I need Reid to stay focused on finding the bomber.”
Walsh looked on as they pulled out of the garage and headed toward the airstrip on the Quantico compound. It was only a few minutes’ drive. “I heard Scarborough filled you in on the message he received.”
“I’m aware. Look, I get Scarborough’s a friend and Reid’s husband and I share his concern. I do. But we can’t let this conspiracy talk get out of control.”
“Out of control?” Walsh asked. “We’re being silenced, man. It might be a stretch to think these assholes had anything to do with the bombing investigation, but why send the picture from the train station crime scene? Someone wrapped up in it was there and knew that Reid wasn’t. Aren’t you concerned about that at all?”
“Course I am,” Fisher snapped back. “But are you seriously trying to sell me on the idea top brass is willing to possibly kill innocent people to keep their secret? That someone helped a fugitive escape because he was the grandson of someone who was once important at the Bureau? Come on, man. Don’t fall into that trap.”
Walsh shrugged and peered through the windshield. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Think about catching this bomber because we’re here.” Fisher pulled to a stop. He jumped out and walked toward the plane that waited on the tarmac.
Walsh hurried to catch up to him. Maybe he was right. Duncan was already injured. He wouldn’t let anyone else on their team suffer the same fate. And he knew that if anything happened to Kate again, there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d recover from it this time.
Kate stood before the plastic folding table in the kitchen of Danny King’s home. “Must be where he worked.”
Surrey used his gloved hand to pick up the phones inside a basket that lay on the table. “The lives of his future targets right here on these phones.”
“Hey Tillis, you might want to come see this,” Kate said.
Tillis approached them. “What do we have here?”
“Can you get your forensics team to figure out whose phones these are? No doubt they’re clones. We just need to know the numbers and who those numbers belong to.”
“On it.” Tillis grabbed evidence bags from his kit and sealed each of the three phones inside. “Anything else catch your eye? A map of where he planned to go?” His tone dripped with sarcasm.
“If only.” She let her gaze roam. “Not much to call home. I’ll start upstairs and keep my fingers crossed.” Kate continued down the short hallway at the top of the steps and peered into the first bedroom. A double bed was pushed into the corner of the room with covers bunched on top of it. A crate was used as a nightstand and a small wooden desk and chair rested along the opposite wall. “Danny’s room.” She walked inside toward the desk. Her fingers grazed the carvings etched on the wood top. “What the hell happened in your life, Danny?”
It appeared that he’d cleared out any electronic devices. The desk was bare, the drawers were empty. Not even a pair of headphones. She opened his closet door to find a few shirts hanging. Nothing on the floor. “I don’t know why I thought you’d leave something behind. You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?”
Kate moved to the doorway and peered inside a final time before continuing on to the second bedroom. A wheelchair rested against the wall. A small dresser and side table was placed on the opposite wall. The single bed lay beneath a window while flowered wallpaper adorned the room. “Melanie’s room.”
She searched the closet. Clothes, some shoes. It looked like most of it had been packed up when Melanie was placed in the home. She walked toward the nightstand and opened the top drawer. A couple of young adult novels, a pad of paper, a hairbrush. “Damn.” There was nothing to offer even the slightest clue as to where Danny had gone.
A third bedroom lay at the end of the hall. Kate turned on her heel and headed in that direction. She opened the door to a waft of stale air. A hospital bed lay against the back wall with a chair beside it. On the other side was a tray table on wheels. The room appeared to have been left untouched since the mother died. Kate turned to see several envelopes stacked on the long dresser top. She sifted through them. “Unpaid medical bills.”
It was clear Danny King had faced a slew of challenges in his young life. Kate considered for a moment that maybe the catalyst to his final descent hadn’t been that he thought he would be caught. But that he thought he might never have his sister by his side again.
“Reid?” Surrey caught her by surprise, and she spun around.
“Whoa. This must’ve been the mom’s room,” he said.
“Looks like it. I was hoping I might find something in here. I don’t know why I thought we’d get a hit. We already know King is smart. He’s not going to make this easier on us. Our emphasis has to be the BOLO on the Ford Focus. We missed our shot, Surrey.”
Kate followed him back into the hall and stopped at a door, turning the handle to open it.
Surrey eyed her. “It’s a linen closet.”
“Yeah. And there just so happens to be a photo album in here.” She reached inside and retrieved it. “We wanted to learn if he had more family. Whatever family he has left wil
l probably be in this album.”
They returned downstairs to find Tillis standing in the middle of the living room.
“What’s wrong?” Kate joined him.
“I just got a call from Senior Unit Agent Fisher. He’s here. I mean, he’s at the field office and headed this way. So is Agent Walsh.”
Kate shot a look at Surrey who appeared just as surprised. “You didn’t know he was coming either?”
“I had no idea.”
“Duncan. He’s coming because of what happened to her.” Kate didn’t want to admit it, but Fisher had made the decision she would’ve expected from Nick. He hadn’t trusted that she could do the job after all. “He’ll want to be briefed on where we’re at,” Kate added. “I did find a family photo album. We might get lucky enough to track down any remaining family members.”
“Great. Let’s take a look.” Tillis huddled in.
The agents examined the photos while Kate flipped the pages. She stopped for a moment. “The father’s out of the picture by the look of things, but that guy right there could be Dad. It’s an old photo.”
“Should we try to track him down?” Tillis asked.
“Let’s pull the name from King’s birth certificate and see what we find,” Kate replied. “It’s hard to say what role Dad played, but it definitely doesn’t look like he stuck around while Mom was sick. Who knows if or when he might’ve taken off?”
Surrey walked away and continued to search the house, heading into the kitchen again. He pulled out the drawers and opened the cabinets. He raised his sights to the ceiling and took in a breath when something caught his eye. With a narrowed gaze, he looked closer. His face turned deadpan and without a word, he returned to the living room and stood inches behind Kate. “We need to get out of here.”
“What?” She turned to him.
“What’s going on?” Tillis asked.
In a low, urgent tone, Surrey continued. “Out. Now.”
Kate closed the photo album and tucked it under her arm, heading straight for the door.
Tillis and Surrey were just steps behind her. Kate made her way across the street to their car and waited for them to catch up. She peered at Surrey. “You mind telling us what that was about?”
“He was watching us,” Surrey replied.
“I saw what looked like a camera inside a smoke detector. If there was one…”
“There were more,” Tillis added.
“Yep. He knew we’d get inside,” Surrey replied.
“But the house was cleared of explosives,” Kate pressed on.
“I’m not talking about explosives. If he learns how we plan to find him, we’ll never get to him.” Surrey added. “That photo album doesn’t guarantee us anything, but I’d rather he not see that we have it. It might be too late. I don’t know.”
Kate regarded them. “Then he left those phones on purpose. We were meant to find them.”
Wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, Danny watched from the end of the street one block over as the federal agents and the ATF drove right past him. He’d grown up in this neighborhood and parked his car in a nearby alleyway, keeping out of sight until they’d decided they weren’t going to find him.
He shoved his hands in his pants pockets and walked over the one block until he made it to the end of his street. From there, he noticed a car remained and smirked. “Guess you guys aren’t as dumb as I thought.” It made sense to leave someone behind in case he decided to show up, which he had. But he needed those cameras inside his house. It was the only way for him to stay a step ahead. Looked like he was out of luck.
Danny walked back to his car and stepped inside. He pulled off his hat and gripped the steering wheel. Mel waited for him back at the cabin. If his grandmother turned on the TV, it wouldn’t be long before she figured out why he’d brought Mel to see her. Danny’s face would be everywhere and soon. She was just the kind of crusty old bitch to call the cops and have them waiting for his return. It was time he faced facts. He took Mel to the old cottage where they’d spent many a summer night because getting back at the people who made him this way was going to cost him. He’d gotten Mel out of that facility, but if he didn’t get out of this alive, she’d end up right back there and would blame him for it.
Danny keyed the ignition. “Fuck it. Just do what you came here to do.”
25
The doctor finished writing in Duncan’s chart and continued to study it. With a raised brow, she peered at her. “You still have a concussion. It would be best if you stayed overnight so we can keep an eye on you.”
“I appreciate your concern, Doc, I really do.” Duncan buttoned her blouse as her legs hung over the edge of the bed. “But I have a job to do.”
Fisher stood before her with arms folded. “I agree with the doctor. I don’t think you should leave yet. One night here isn’t going to hurt anything. We’ll get a handle on the situation and now that Walsh and I are here, we can pick up the slack.”
“You know what? I’ll let you two speak in private.” The doctor left the room.
“I can’t stay here, Cam. I can’t sit here watching television while you all are searching for Danny King. I helped get the team this far, I have to see this to the end.”
Fisher leaned in for a closer look at her head. “I don’t know. You have a lump the size of a golf ball on the back of your skull, Eva. The doctor doesn’t think you should leave yet. She’s the professional here.”
“She’s also not demanding that I stay. All I heard her say was that she didn’t want me to leave. Not that I couldn’t leave. Obviously, for you and Walsh to be here now means you see what’s at stake. I’m checking out of here and you can’t stop me.”
He stepped back. “For Pete’s sake, Eva, why are you so damn stubborn?”
“Because I’ve worked with you for the past five years.” She grabbed her things. “Everyone’s at the field office. We need to come up with a plan to find Danny King. He was right to say we didn’t know what he was capable of. I’m not sure we do even now.”
Fisher took her by the arm and helped her to the door. “I talked to Reid just before coming in here.”
“How’d she sound?”
“Normal, I guess. Why?”
“Your being here is going to make her feel like you don’t trust her to do the job she was hired to do.”
“Her job is to profile, which she did. It was Tillis’s job to track down the bomber. But like so many other times, we find ourselves a part of the investigation rather than contributing to it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Duncan asked.
“It means we might be overstepping. It’s too late now because we’re in it, but…”
Duncan stopped and turned to him as they stood in the hall. “I don’t understand. How many times have we helped the local agents and law enforcement with tracking down an unsub? Since when are you against that?”
“I’m not against it, I’m just tired of risking the lives of my team.”
“The team’s lives or mine?” she asked.
“Yeah, okay. I’m talking about what you just went through, but what about Reid only months ago getting taken hostage? And all this shit now with Quinn? Look, I’m just saying that since Scarborough, we’ve gotten our hands into a lot of risky situations.”
“What shit with Quinn? What the hell are you talking about?” Duncan demanded.
“Nothing. It’s not important.”
She held his gaze. “This is our job, Cam. We need to get to the field office. Reid and the others are waiting.”
The sight of Levi Walsh always brought a smile to Kate, even in the face of disappointment. “I’d hoped I wouldn’t see you until this was over, but I can’t say I’m not glad you’re here.” She pulled him into a brief embrace.
“I figured you three had things under control, but I think Fisher was worried about Duncan.”
“I’m sure that’s what it was.” Kate smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Anywa
y, we need to get you up to speed. When is Fisher due here?” She spun around at the sound of steps behind her.
“Right now.” Fisher walked into the ops room with Duncan next to him.
“Eva, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the hospital,” Kate said.
“I’m fine. I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine and I need to be here.”
Tillis and Stallard made their way over. “I’m Grant Tillis, this is ATF Agent Chris Stallard. Looks like I have the entire BAU here at my disposal.”
Fisher offered his hand. “Senior Unit Agent Cameron Fisher. This is SSA Levi Walsh. I apologize if it feels like we’re taking over. Just so you know, that’s not our intention.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Stallard muttered.
Fisher shot him a sideways glance. “With one of my agents hurt and a suspect still at-large, given what happened this morning, I felt it was in the best interest of the investigation to have all hands on deck.”
“I understand and welcome that decision,” Tillis replied. “We have a kid out there who appears to have his back up against a wall and he chooses to lash out by blowing things up. Just to get you up to speed, Reid, Surrey, and I searched Danny King’s house until Surrey noticed a camera inside a smoke detector.”
“He knew we were there,” Surrey added. “We all think it was his intention to get back into the house and take a look. See if he could learn what we had planned.”
“And did he?” Fisher asked.
“No. We kept an officer on sight in the event King tried to show his face. Tillis recovered additional phones that we’re sure are clones of his next intended victims. That’s where our focus needs to be at the moment. Learning who they are and how we can get them under our protection,” Surrey replied.
“And what about the case workers?” Fisher continued. “The two who are still living, anyway.”
“They’re here. Both are pretty scared at the moment. We have people looking after them,” Tillis replied.
