by Ciana Stone
"Whoa, hold on!" Galen caught her before she toppled out of the chair, and the moment he touched her, the pain vanished. "Are you okay?"
She nodded and pushed him back so she could stand. That's when the pain returned, and she knew for sure she was feeling Leo's pain. "We have to find Leo. Now! He's hurt."
Galen wasted no time putting out the call, then followed Izzi as she ran from the room, pulled by an invisible thread to the stairs, up two flights, and then onto the floor.
"Isabelle, wait!"
She ignored Galen, continuing as fast as her legs would carry her, being pulled by that filament of energy connecting her to Leo. She could feel him and his pain. His heartbeat thundered in her ears, his labored breath constricted her chest. She had to get to him.
Izzi shoved a door open and rushed inside. Leo lay on the floor in a pool of blood. "Get help!" she screamed as she threw herself down beside Leo. Galen skidded to a stop just as she pressed down on Leo's back, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
"Doctors!" she screamed. "Get doctors!"
He turned, shouting as he ran. Izzi turned her attention to Leo. "Stay with me, Leo. Help is coming. Stay with me."
Within seconds medical personnel was moving her aside to take over. Leo was loaded onto a gurney and rushed to surgery. Izzi watched, trying to hold it together as she leaned against a bed for support.
"I told you I'd always be close. Watching.
You should have paid more attention, my love."
That voice. God, she hated that voice. Her monster.
Izzi knew she couldn't respond. If she did, she gave him what he wanted. Attention.
Gib ran into the room, took one look at her, and gathered her in his arms, despite the blood that covered her. His strength allowed her to fall apart, at least for a moment. She clung to him, feeling his vitality warm and comfort her.
"Are you okay, Iz? Were you hurt?"
"No. I'm fine."
"Did you see? Who did this?"
"Him."
"Him? The nurse, Paul Regent?"
"No. Him. The Seven Bridges Killer."
Gib pulled back and stared at her in disbelief. "That's impossible."
Just then, they both heard the voice in their comm units. It was Fiona. "They found Regent in the morgue, on a table. His heart is missing."
Gib and Izzi looked at one another. "How the hell could he have known?" Gib asked.
She shook her head, not yet willing to answer that question. At least not until she knew how to respond. Was she the reason he knew what was going on? Had he tapped into her thoughts?
No. Izzi knew she'd kept her thoughts shielded. She'd spent her life fortifying her barriers.
Then how did he know?
Izzi pulled her thoughts back to the present and looked at Gib. "This time is different."
"How?"
"In the killer nurse case, he showed us he could change the rules of the game, use other killers to further his goals. He could not only find other serial killers but somehow learn their plans and use them to show us once again how smart he is. After all, he got a kill out of it, didn't he? And he almost killed Leo.
"Now there's this. It's another step in the evolution of his power. Convincing others to kill for him and then rewarding them by murdering them."
That's when it came to her. As if she'd suddenly taken a dive into his psyche, she saw it.
"Oh god, that's it? Why didn't I see it before? He's using unpredictability to his advantage. The killer nurse in 2012, the Mississippi misdirection, killing that man and somehow placing his footprint and hair at the scene, and now this case. It all seems to lack consistency. These actions veer far off target from his typical pattern of kills. And it's all to keep us off-balance and unable to explain his moves.
"In short, he's using this strategy and the messages he gives me for one reason. To intimidate and terrorize. That diminishes our power and increases his."
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, then Galen said. "I get it. He's thrown down the gauntlet. He wants us to know that it's his game and we don't have a choice. He'll control the playing field, forcing us to defend."
"Exactly," Izzi agreed.
Gib's voice, when he finally spoke, was as deadly serious as she'd ever heard. "I'm going to bury that bastard. If it's the last thing, I do."
"Amen to that," Leo agreed.
"Vigilante justice?" Galen asked.
"You have a problem with that?" Leo asked.
"Nope, I'm in."
Izzi bit her lip to keep from whimpering as the whisper sounded in her mind. I promise you, mine will be the last face they see. You could prevent it, love. All you have to do is give yourself to me. This time for keeps.
That confirmed what she already knew. She had to figure out a way to make him think he was getting through to her, to use his need to touch her mind against him.
Because like Gib, she fully intended to destroy her monster.
Chapter Fifteen
Quantico, Virginia
Izzi stopped outside the front door and waited as Gib carried their luggage inside. He paused in the foyer and looked back at her. She didn't move, and finally, he set down the luggage and returned to her. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me."
She figured now was a good a time as any to say what she needed him to know. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I was wrong. Back then. I thought I was saving you by leaving."
Gib was silent for a moment, but she felt the wave of hurt that drifted through him. "I won't lie to you. It hurt. Still does, I guess. But I won't condemn you for the decision. If I thought it would save you, I'd disappear and never been seen again. As much as it'd hurt, I'd do it to save you."
"We're quite a pair, aren't we?" She reached up and tugged gently on his necktie.
"I guess," he agreed. "That makes twice you've left me."
"You know why I left the first time. If I'd stayed … well, you know."
"I do. To be honest, I was grateful. As much as it hurt, it was easier not having you around, reminding me of my guilt."
"Don't say that. We didn't–"
"I know. But I wanted to."
Izzi nodded and put her arms around him. She did know. Now, like so many times, moments rushed back to remind her of her feelings for him.
2012
Izzi sat on the bench beside the ornamental pond, looking out over the water, trying to tap into the serenity of the place. She hadn't slept in days and yesterday she finally came to a decision. It wasn't easy or one that made her happy, but she knew it was the right thing to do.
Now, all she had to do was find the courage to stick with it. That was going to be the most difficult part.
She'd asked Gib to meet her here, away from work and from Quantico. Here no one would recognize either of them. She needed that anonymity and security. What she had to say to him was difficult and she couldn't do it in place filled with the energy of people they knew.
"Penny for your thoughts."
She smiled as she looked up at him. "You snuck up on me."
"You must really have been lost in thought."
"I guess so," she patted the bench. "Sit with me."
He took a seat, stretched out his long legs in front of him and let out a breath. "It's nice here. Tranquil."
"Yes."
"I'm guessing you needed tranquility for whatever it is you want to tell me?"
"Yes.Tranquility. Courage."
"Courage?"
He changed positions, angling with the leg closest to her, crooked on the bench and his arm stretched out along its back, his hand lightly on her back. "When have you ever needed courage to talk to me?"
"More times than you can imagine."
He seemed genuinely surprised. "I had no idea. I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel uncertain about the trust between us."
"It's not that." She decided she might as well snatch the tape off the wound.
"Then what?"
"I think you already know." For the first time she looked directly at him.
"Iz, I–"
"Please, just let me say what I need to say."
"Okay."
She took a breath, gathering her thoughts, and trying to clamp down on emotions. "I remember when you came to see me that first time. My first thought was I wished I was older. I wished you weren't married. I know it doesn't make me seem like a very good person, but that was my first reaction.
"I knew you weren't there to recruit me as a friend or lover, but as a tool to help you make the world safer. You were there to offer me a chance to learn, and even though I'd have eagerly accepted more, I was excited to accept you as a mentor.
"Over time, you became more than that. You forgave me for my affair with Leo, and understood that it was the rashness of youth, and a good measure of loneliness that had me becoming involved with a married man.
"I appreciated your honesty and your demand that I break it off. I'll always appreciate that because it was the right thing to do. You became a good friend, one I trusted and admired. Depended on. I felt honored to be accepted by your family and asked to dinner when I was in Quantico. Diana is a lovely, gracious woman and I care deeply for her."
"She cares for you, too."
"I know, and I'll always be grateful for that. And guilty."
"Guilty?"
"Yes. I've asked myself a thousand times, how could I have let it happen? How could I care so much about her as a friend and be in love with her husband?"
She heard the slight intake of his breath, paused and looked out over the water. "That's why I have to go. I can't stay here, Gib or I'll screw up. I'll let it grow stronger than my ability to defend against, and –and then you'll either have to rebuke me, or we'll betray your wife, and I don't want to do that. This isn't one of those stories that have a happy ending for everyone. I won't try and break up your marriage, and I can't be around you all the time and not want you, so I have to go.""
Izzi allowed herself to sink into memories of that time. When she left Quantico that next day, she felt like her heart was irreparably broken. The following year was misery. She struggled to keep him out of her mind, to focus on her studies. She tried to forget him by getting involved with others.
It didn't work.
Nothing did.
Gib had his own memories to contend with about their past. He'd not been blind to her feelings for him. It was clear in the energy that arced between them every time their gazes met. He heard it in her voice. It permeated the atmosphere, and if he was honest, he'd admit, he reveled in it, craved and yes, loved her with an intensity he thought had been lost with age.
Shame had been his constant companion those days. Shame for the way he felt about Izzi, a woman so much younger than he, shame that he could feel that way about someone other than his wife.
He still loved Diana and didn't want to lose her. But he couldn't have it both ways and knew if Izzi stayed, he would one day slip and admit his feelings. One day he'd give in to that pressing urge and touch her. Kiss her.
And then he would lose everything.
So, he tried to ignore his feelings, did everything he could to prove himself to be a good husband and father, and when Izzi walked away, he felt an odd sense of relief.
At least his heartbreak was her doing and not his own.
What a coward he'd been.
Gib turned away from thoughts of the past. They couldn't change was had already happened, the past was fixed. The future wasn't. "Are you leaving again?"
She pulled back and looked up at him. "No, but I'm scared it's the wrong decision."
"Why?"
"Because I hear him Gib. He talks to me and I hear him, as clearly as I hear you now. Once, I thought he just broadcast his thoughts and had no clue if I heard him. I was wrong. He knows I can hear him. I thought I could hide from him, but he's known where I am all along."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I am now."
"Why?"
"Because he knew where I was going." She pointed to the decorative metal bench in the covered entrance of his house. Gib looked, then stepped over and picked up a metal on a ribbon. "A silver Olympic medal?" He looked at her with a confused expression.
"I'm betting if you have it checked out, you'll find it belongs to the woman he killed in Atlanta, the Cheerleader Shooter."
His brows lowered and his face flushed. "Son of a – "The rest of the sound he made was more a roar than a word. He hurled the medal against the brick of the house. "That psycho was at my home?"
"Yes."
"So, he thinks this – stunt, is going to what? Scare me? Stop me from hunting him?"
"No. He thinks it's going to enrage you, throw you off balance and make it easier for him to win the next round."
"The next round? You make it sound like some game."
"To him, it is."
"Well, it's not for me." He stomped into the house and turned, looking at her with a cross expression. "Are you coming in?"
Her first reaction was to ignore his tone and expression. If she reacted in kind, it would only fuel his anger. Which might be exactly what he needs. She realized she was tiptoeing around him, trying to protect him from what he felt when she should encourage him to let it out, so it didn't just stay locked inside, simmering and growing hotter.
So, she changed tactics. She threw her hands on her hips and stuck her chin up. "You want to alter that tone, Mister?"
"Isabelle, get inside. I'm not in the mood–"
"Isabelle?" She marched up to him. "Did you just reprimand me?"
"No, I –"
"Oh, I think you did. And I don't think I like it." She walked by him and cut a look over her shoulder. "One little bit."
"And I don't care much for your behavior."
"Well, that's just too bad, Special Agent in Charge Foster, because you're off duty now and not my boss."
"You're deliberately trying to pick a fight, aren't you?"
Izzi didn't want to smile, but she couldn't help it. "How am I doing?"
"Horrible," he said and made a grab for her.
She squealed and took off through the house. She made it to the family room before he caught her. They laughed, wrestled around, kissed, and touched, and just as he reached for his necktie to loosen it, he looked out of the French doors at the patio and pool area. His expression changed to rage faster than a blink.
She turned her gaze to see what had caused such a reaction. One look sent sick fear washing through her, that suffocating feeling of terror-induced nausea that made your heart race and lungs feel constricted.
A message was scrawled on the glass, broken into interrupted sentences, thanks to the wooden panes. Welcome home, SAC Foster. Enjoy your lover while you can. The clock is ticking.
"Son-of-a-"
Izzi interrupted him as he cursed and pulled his phone from his jacket. "Wait," she covered the face of his phone with her hand.
Gib snatched it away from her and pointed toward the door. "Damn it all, you're right. It's him. He's been to my house."
"I know. And you're reacting just like he intended."
She knew her words would hit like a slap, and from his expression, he took it that way. His head jerked and his gaze pinned her. "Would you care to explain?"
"Sure," she softened her tone. "He wants you to be angry, to feel violated and unsafe. This is your home. He's stood on your doorstep, walked around your patio. Wrote on your door. He hopes the anger and fear will throw you off balance and you won't be paying attention to what's important."
"Which is?"
"What comes next. He says it's his game and I believe he'll do anything to win because winning proves he's better. Smarter."
Gib put his phone on the coffee table, removed his jacket, and threw it over the back of the couch. He then sat and removed his necktie.
"Then, we need to find a way to return the favor. Throw him off bal
ance."
"Exactly." She kicked off her shoes and sat beside him.
"Now, tell me what you're not saying." He pinned her with a look that reminded her of his unique talent. The ability to interpret the space between the words, what people didn't say.
"We use the communication between him and me against him."
"How exactly?"
"That's something we'll have to figure out. All of us. But the first thing is to turn his stunt back on him. He said for you to enjoy your lover. Then, by all means, do that. "He can't pick up anything from me that I willfully block, but he can sense me, so I'll only allow him to sense what I want him to–namely that while he repulses me, you excite me. While I hate him, I love you.
"With luck that will make him mad, and anger will throw him off his game. Then we can come up with a plan that separates one member of the Unit from everyone else, making that person his target. He said he was going to take us all out, so let's give him a target."
"And nail him."
"To the wall," she agreed.
"I like the way you think, Dr. Adams," he gave her a smile. "And later on, I plan on showing you how much, but for now, I need to get a forensic team here, just in case there's any evidence that might help lead us to him."
"Then make the call, SAC Foster. I'm not going anywhere but to unpack."
Gib gave her a quick kiss and picked up his phone to make the call.
Izzi retrieved her suitcase and carried it upstairs to the master bedroom. She saw it the moment she entered the room and screamed for Gib. On the bed was a map, a bloody map with a knife stabbed into it. Into the state of Tennessee.
Catch me if you can.
Izzi felt rage rise hot and fast. Count on it. I'm going to end you.
She'd reached the end of the line on trying to follow morality and see this killer as a damaged man who needed help. He was a monster. A deliberate monster who, like a rabid animal, needed to be put down.
Fast. Before he hurt anyone else.
PART 3
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
