After studying the list of officers and their assignments, Nick dressed and hurried back to meet the supervisor. They were headed out his office door when the phone on his desk rang. At the same time, dispatch radioed in. “Sorry, Lieutenant, this caller wanted to talk to you. I think it’s the rapist. He sounds very creepy.”
The supervisor turned off his radio and pressed speakerphone. “Lieutenant Douglas. Who is this?”
“Telling you that would ruin all the fun, wouldn’t it?” the caller replied.
“You’re having fun?” Douglas tapped the eraser of his pencil on the desk.
“Oh yeah,” the man growled. “I never knew the pursuit could be better than the catch. So you can move her as much as you like, but I’ll find her,” he said in a raspy, forced voice.
The lieutenant grimaced, twirling the pencil from finger to finger. “Who are you looking for?”
Nick rested his hands on the desk and closed his eyes, praying it wasn’t Beth. Praying he wouldn’t know her name.
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
The suspect was in a busy place, with lots of background noises. Nick listened for something distinctive. A whistle. Water. Anything they could use to track him.
“Oh, I forgot, you’re a smart criminal, right? That’s why you have to resort to forcing yourself on women….”
That obviously ticked the caller off. He was breathing hard now. Suddenly, the background noises became muffled. Was he in a closed-in area? A mall? Nick picked up a sound he’d heard before—the rhythmic clack of metal and the hum of electric generators.
“Oh, they pretend to be waiting, pretend to be pure….”
Nick wanted to reach out and grab the man through the phone. Come on, creep, you’re not as clever as you think.
The lieutenant took his time responding. They had to keep him on the line as long as possible, to give them more details to go on when studying the recording. “We didn’t move anyone. Why don’t you tell me why you’re taking your anger out on innocent women?”
The caller chuckled, a deep and sinister laugh. “It’s your job to figure that out. Mine is to find her before you find me. I’m hiding in plain sight.”
Nick heard the music from the Ferris wheel at the Harvest Festival just then, behind the caller’s voice. Immediately, he ran out the door, heading to his own car, and grabbing for his radio as he did so. “Officer 235 en route to Harvest Festival. Officer 318, code 33, contact by phone.”
He was racing downtown a minute later when his phone rang. “Nick, what’s going on?” Sarah asked.
“The rapist called from a pay phone at the carnival. I could hear the Ferris wheel. Where are you?” He pulled up to the first traffic barricade and waved himself past the security guards. He realized as he got out of his car that he could hear the Ferris wheel music for blocks. The suspect could be anywhere.
They’d had more problems with gangs in the downtown area lately, and Nick was thankful there were more officers on duty tonight.
“I’m near the chicken hut—” Sarah said quietly. The same music was playing in the background.
“I’ll be right there,” he interrupted, and disconnected. He tried to look casual as he searched for Sarah, but panic was taking over. In the crowds of pedestrians, he spotted the blonde baker they’d met in the alley the night before. Maybe she’d seen his partner.
“Hi, Officer Matthews,” she said, handing him a coupon for a discount on a costume rental. “Need a costume?”
He eyed someone dressed as a big yellow bird walking past the chicken hut. “No thanks, I brought my own. Looks like you’ve already drummed up some business.” He nodded. “Is that one of your costumes?”
“Yes, interest has been even better than I expected….”
Nick thought of the muffled sounds during the rapist’s phone call. A close-fitting mask could do that…. He didn’t have time for small talk, not with a predator on the loose. “Good, have a nice evening.”
I know you’re short, Sarah, but where are you?
The yellow bird was pacing back and forth in front of a bar overflowing with young customers, as if it was ready to pounce.
Was their suspect in costume?
The bird took a few steps, just as Nick heard Sarah say over the radio, “Suspicious party in front of the leaning…”
Suddenly, the bird took off running.
Someone yelled, but Nick couldn’t make out what was said. Seconds later the yellow-feathered creature pushed through a crowd, then ran into a man and woman, knocking the woman down. A large pink purse went flying.
Nick raced forward, dodging people and baby strollers, as screams erupted.
The man kicked the chicken, then took off, after pausing a second to look at his date on the ground.
What was going on? Was he waiting for the girl, or wanting the purse? Nick wasn’t sure who was after whom, or what was going down. He was closing the gap as the college-age female rolled over and shoved the bird away.
The bird struggled back to its feet, the bulky costume adding to its problems. It took one step toward the man then stopped as the suspect disappeared between two buildings. The bird knelt in front of the upset woman.
Nick yanked the costumed figure aside with one hand and helped the girl to her feet with the other. Neither the bird or the woman reached for the purse lying on the sidewalk.
Nick confirmed that the victim was okay, and instructed her to stay close while he sorted things out. Then he turned to the bird, which was stomping its feet, struggling to get away, as other police officers pushed through the gathering crowd.
“I had him, Matthews!”
Nick let the yellow feathers drop from his hand.
Sarah?
FIFTEEN
She was still reading Nick the riot act as yet another officer approached, pushing the crowd back. “He advertised to meet interested parties here, Matthews….” she mumbled, nodding toward the hysterical woman.
“I’ll talk to you in a minute,” he growled. He picked up the giant pink purse and slid it onto his shoulder. What the blazes is she carrying in here?
Nick looked at Sarah, confused. He pulled her away from the victim, as he would have separated the individuals in any fight, then scanned the crowd once more, looking for the suspect. All he saw was a woman arguing with one of their plainclothes officers. It seemed as if he’d missed catching the real suspect, for an undercover cop.
“Didn’t Lieutenant Douglas tell you?” Sarah whispered.
Nick looked around the scene, assessing the situation. Crowd of people, gangbangers lurking in the distance. They probably weren’t an issue. “Tell me what?”
“About my disguise.”
“He didn’t. And just in case the suspect is still hanging around, you’re being treated just like our other suspects. We don’t dare let on that we have cops in costumes out here. How many others are there?”
“Just me,” she muttered, as Nick pushed her up to the wall of the bar and made a show of frisking her.
“This is a family event. You should be ashamed of yourself,” he said, loud enough for the gawkers to hear. Then he added under his breath, “I can’t believe Douglas failed to tell me something this critical.” He gave her the once-over as he turned her around. “The suspect called. Douglas was talking to him. I didn’t know you’d be…a chicken. It wasn’t on the list.”
“Give her the stupid purse, then,” Sarah yelled. “Let me go.”
“You’re under arrest for robbery,” he said, pulling a set of handcuffs from his belt.
“You’re kidding me,” she growled.
“Everyone break it up,” Nick bellowed. “Go on your way. We have this situation under control.” He turned her around, just then noticing several gang members moving closer.
“What’s going on?” Sarah whispered.
Nick hated to cuff his backup, but put the cuffs very loosely on his undercover partner before handing the purse to the young woman. “I’m not
positive, but it doesn’t look good. Don’t break your cover unless it’s absolutely imperative, Roberts.”
A witness started swearing at Nick. “That’s my purse! This stupid duck knocked it out of my hand.”
“I’m not a duck,” Sarah retorted, leaning forward and playing along with the arrest. She’d learned the first week of FBI training that undercover work was the most dangerous assignment of all. Things could change at a moment’s notice. They’d never given her the chance to prove herself because of her size. This was her chance to do so here. “Don’t you know the difference between a duck bill and a chicken beak, you moron? This is a beak!” She started clucking like a chicken, startling the crowd.
Nick grabbed her by the wing and tugged her close to the coed in the miniskirt.
“Give me my purse back,” the tough-looking woman said, pushing her way through the crowd. She belonged to a gang, Sarah suddenly realized as she peered through the feathers hanging in front of her eyeholes.
The crowd was thinning, but the gang members remained, swarming around them. The woman yelled, “You’re no better than that thief, pig. Give me the purse, and they’ll back off.”
Without another word, Nick pulled the hefty woman’s arms behind her back. He pulled out a second set of handcuffs and radioed for backup. “That’s threatening an officer, not to mention what we may find when we open this bag to verify its ownership. And I’m sure your customers are anxious to make a buy…. You’ve saved us a lot of work, gathering them all together for us….”
Sarah watched in amazement at how quickly the crowd dispersed. At how Nick had taken control of the situation, without revealing that they had undercover officers on duty, mixed in with the throngs around them.
She’d been so intent on the suspect she’d totally missed that the purse was far too fat to contain the average college girl’s supply of makeup and sundries. Sarah eyed the frightened all-American coed, clean-cut, except for her miniskirt, then the hefty gang member wearing tons of makeup. Even if the monstrous purse wasn’t filled with drugs, it made no sense for the student to be traveling with it.
Besides, pink clashed with her outfit. The coed seemed the type to coordinate every detail.
The other officers were milling through the crowd, some in street clothes, a handful in uniform. They all knew Sarah’s identity.
“The bird’s under arrest for robbery,” Nick told Jared Daniels as he came to assist. “I’ve searched her, but leave the costume on, let her sweat a little.”
She knew he was trying to tell the others to keep up the charade.
“I read you. Good job, Sergeant,” Jared Daniels said with a smile.
Sarah thought of how close they’d come to initiating a gang riot, and her heart raced. Give her the cold, calculated threat of a terrorist and she was in her zone, but here in the midst of gang members she was as green as they came.
“Where’s the squad car?” Nick asked her in a whisper.
“I drove my own car,” she answered quietly. “Kinda blows the cover to have a police escort to a party.”
Jeremy Logan stepped through the crowd and handed Nick a set of keys. “My car’s at the end of the block. Take the bird and the victim, and I’ll have Daniels bring the owner of the purse in for you.”
Nick looked at Jared and leaned close. “Get those cuffs back to me. They’re my grandfather’s.”
“Will do,” Jared confirmed, then led the gang member in the opposite direction.
Nick escorted Sarah to the car, the coed—the rapist’s target—alongside. Lieutenant Douglas met them at the vehicle. “We almost had him, but good job, both of you,” he said in a low voice. “Get back on the streets ASAP. We’ll talk about this later. I expect to make sure the teardown of the festival goes smoothly, so plan to stay late to talk with me about the call.”
Sarah took a deep breath, thankful that she could hide behind the chicken head for the moment. She’d blown it big this time.
SIXTEEN
After Nick put both women into the backseat, he briefly explained to the victim that Sarah was not a purse snatcher, but an undercover cop, and had recognized her date.
“Do you know the man you were having a drink with?” Sarah asked.
“No, I’d just met him,” she said quietly. “Why? What did he do?”
“We’re not at liberty to say. But we’re going to ask you to talk with the detective working this case.”
Sarah closed her eyes and realized it was going to be a very long night. She was certain she recognized this girl from Coedspace, but couldn’t recall if she’d listed Waiting for Marriage as one of her social groups. Despite Nick trying to put the cuffs on loosely, the steel cut into her thumb as she tried to move. Not only that, her cheek hurt from the suspect kicking her.
As soon as he opened the back door of the car at the station she climbed out and turned her back to him. “Get these off me.”
“Sorry I had to do that,” he said gently, and her heart melted. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I need some ice for my cheek. I’ll go get some from the lounge.”
“The detectives are going to talk to her. Meet me in observation room four right away.”
Nick and Sarah listened in as Wang and a female detective questioned the coed. Pretty soon, Wang brought a laptop into the interview room. He had her sit down at the computer and show him where the suspect had contacted her.
Between tears and sobs, the young woman led them to the Coedspace site.
“Yes, thank you!” Sarah mumbled, glad of the soundproof walls in the room. “That’s it! I knew it! Every one of the sexual assault victims has personal information posted on this site.” She jotted a note to deliver to the detective. “I’m going to have him ask if she’s involved with the Waiting for Marriage group.” She stepped out of the room to do so, and a minute later was back.
Nick nodded at her. “How’d you know that?”
“Know what?”
“The caller said ‘they pretend to be waiting, pretend to be pure.’ I think you’re right, he’s targeting the abstinence members.”
They waited for the detective to ask the question. The victim scrolled down, searching frantically for the guy she’d planned to meet. “His picture was on here. It’s gone now. He was part of the Waiting for Marriage chapter. He seemed so nice online….”
Sarah felt the blood drain from her face, and the ice pack she held sent a wave of cold through her veins. She and Nick listened as the detectives went through everything the girl remembered about the man, from their online conversations to their meeting.
“What was his screen name?” the computer expert asked.
The coed turned red. “BadBoynomor. He said he’s reformed from his bad boy days. I met him through a chat that the abstinence group held last week.”
Sarah got on the phone, relieved when her father answered. “Dad, is everything okay there?”
“Fine, what’s up?”
“We have another lead, but I need Beth’s membership list for her Waiting for Marriage chapter.”
“We just packed her paperwork. The Realtor called and said we can start moving tomorrow, so I went over and finished packing up her old house.”
Sarah couldn’t even think about the move right now. “Sorry to make you unpack, but this is really important. Call me when you find it.” She hesitated, then added, “Oh, and I’ll probably be home a little late, so don’t worry about me. I have more paperwork than usual tonight.”
She rolled her eyes when her dad told her to call and he’d be waiting outside when she got home. Did he really expect her to do that? She was a police officer.
She said goodbye, then met with the department artist to come up with a sketch of the man she’d tried to bring in.
Nick handed her a fresh ice pack. “So how did you come up with the abstinence link?”
“After work last night, I logged on to check my e-mail. Beth had been using the computer, and I told her to l
eave all her windows open, that I’d close them down. I noticed several conversations she was having with girls from the group. All of a sudden, someone sent an instant message, and it was clear they thought I was Beth. She hadn’t logged off the main chat room, apparently.”
“And?”
“I had a hunch,” Sarah said vaguely.
Nick looked at her suspiciously. “That’s it?”
She nodded.
The artist, M. J. Daniels, arrived and introduced herself while she got her supplies from a cupboard. “Hi, Nick,” she added with a smile.
He greeted her and asked about her new grandson. He and M.J. had obviously known each other’s families for a while.
While they visited, Sarah tried to erase the drawing from Beth’s neighbor’s rape from her memory. It was difficult. This suspect matched too closely.
M.J. started asking questions, and she tried to answer as accurately as possible. “The last victim had him portrayed so well, it’s difficult to think if there was anything different,” Sarah said at last.
“Close your eyes, Officer Roberts,” Nick suggested. “Concentrate on his face. Nothing else.”
She followed his instructions, but listening to the deep timbre of his voice was killing her concentration. All she could see was the shock on her partner’s face when he’d realized she was the chicken. The way Nick said her name had changed, too.
In her mind, he had become not her training officer, but the man who had held her at her sister’s house. The man who had comforted her. Supported her. The man she wanted to fall in love with.
“What d’ya see?” Nick said gruffly. “Come on, Roberts, we need to get back out there and get this guy.”
Tonight he was the angry partner with trust issues again.
He’d changed in the last week. It seemed as if he’d been trusting her, been interested in her, but now she’d broken that trust. And it would be that much harder to rebuild. Tears stung her eyes.
“Go work on the report, Sergeant Matthews,” she said finally, her eyes still closed. “I’m close to having him in my head again,” she lied.
Badge of Honor Page 10
