“Enough,” she interrupted.
Kendra gave her a quizzical look. “Enough what?”
“Your head isn’t with that client right now, no matter what you say.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re on a murder case right now. Right?”
“How the hell did you know that?”
“You’re not the only one who’s pretty good at picking things up. I may not be on the FBI’s speed dial, but I know my best friend pretty well. It’s all in your voice. Quieter than usual, a little sad, slightly withdrawn … You sound like that whenever you’ve been consumed by a murder case. Is it one of those two killings here in downtown?”
“There are three now. And I’m not consumed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. But I’m extremely impressed by you and a little disturbed that the tone of my voice could give that much away.”
“Now you have an idea how it feels for other people to hang out with you. It’s incredibly hard to keep secrets when you’re around.”
“There’s no reason for you to.”
“So you say.”
“Anyway, the FBI just asked me to visit the latest crime scene. I looked around, gave them my impression, and left. No big deal.”
“It’s always a big deal with you. You can never let these things go.”
Kendra walked into the room. “This one was especially bad. I guess I’m having a tough time shaking it.”
“You wouldn’t be human if you could.” Olivia cocked her head toward her sliding glass door. “Want to sit out on my balcony and eat a box of doughnuts?”
Kendra laughed out loud. “Doughnuts?”
“I would suggest opening a bottle of Chardonnay, but I still have to write those reviews later.” Olivia motioned toward the two pastry boxes sitting on her desk. “The crew left those. There’s about two dozen still there, from The Donut Bar.”
Kendra smiled. “Sounds like dinner to me.”
“Take ’em outside. I’ll fire up the Keurig and make coffee.”
In less than three minutes, Kendra and Olivia were relaxing on Olivia’s balcony with their nutritionally deficient yet delicious dinner.
“Who was the agent who brought you in on the case?” Olivia asked.
“Roland Metcalf.”
Olivia laughed. “Ah, your FBI admirer. Did he make eyes at you the whole time?”
“Not the whole time,” she said dryly. “I guess the horribly disfigured corpse kind of broke the mood.”
Olivia finished her sour cream doughnut and licked her fingers. “I used to think you and he would be good together. He’s funny, he seems smart, and he absolutely adores you. It’s not a bad foundation for a relationship.”
“I don’t think of him that way.”
“Of course you don’t. You need a man who challenges you. Keeps you on your toes. Someone you can admire because he possesses skills and aptitudes that you don’t.”
“I think you should know, I’m rolling my eyes now.”
“You think I’m wrong?”
“It’s not that, I just have a hunch you have someone specific in mind.”
“Do I?” Olivia smiled mischievously. “So … How long has it been since you’ve seen Adam Lynch?”
“Six weeks, but I got a supremely sarcastic text from him about ten days ago. If you can call that keeping me on my toes.”
“He’s been gone all this time?”
“Yes.” Kendra leaned back in her chair. Adam Lynch was a former FBI agent who now worked freelance for whatever agency needed his particular abilities. She’d successfully partnered with him on several investigations, most recently on a case that involved Dr. Charles Waldridge, the brilliant medical researcher who had given her the gift of sight. The last time she’d seen Lynch, he was whisking Waldridge away to a secret location to continue his work in safety and solitude.
“Why was the text sarcastic?” Olivia asked. “I know you always struck sparks off each other, but the last time you were together, you were more grateful than combative. And he’s always been—” She snapped her fingers. “Waldridge. I was wondering if you’d talked him into helping Waldridge disappear. That would have been a major favor on his part. Lynch didn’t care much for Waldridge.”
“They got along well enough.” Not exactly true, but Kendra didn’t want to go into details regarding Lynch and Waldridge’s guarded relationship with Olivia right now. “And in the end Lynch was perfectly willing to do what he could to keep Waldridge’s research safe.”
“In the end,” Olivia murmured. “I wonder what it was in the beginning. And is Lynch still with Dr. Waldridge?”
“No, not for a few weeks now. He stuck around long enough to help Waldridge set up his lab, then he was off. I think he got called away to Eastern Europe and he’s been tied up there ever since.”
“Doing what?”
“Who knows? Quelling a revolution, or causing one, and maybe propping up a puppet dictator.”
“Now that’s the kind of man you need to be with.”
“A bit too much of a challenge if you ask me.”
“I don’t think so. A challenge is what you need in every part of your life. Otherwise you’d get bored.”
Kendra thought about it. “That’s not true. I don’t need you to challenge me.”
“Sure you do. I’m doing it right now. What kind of friendship would we have if I wasn’t here to bust your chops once in a while?”
Kendra laughed. “You think I want this from you?”
“Maybe not, but it’s what you need. For all your amazing gifts of observation, I think you’re the last person on earth to realize that Adam Lynch just might be the perfect man for you.”
“He’s on the other side of the world right now, so it really doesn’t matter.”
“He’ll be back. He always comes back to you.”
“No, he comes back to his home. That’s very different.”
“We’ll see. In the meantime, it sounds like you have your hands full. How long will it take you to catch this killer?”
“The FBI and/or San Diego PD will catch this killer. I’m out of it.”
“Now you’re just asking to have your chops busted, because I don’t believe you.”
“Believe me, don’t believe me, I don’t care. Because right now, all I want is to help little Ryan Walker reconnect with the world around him.”
“Well, I have no doubt that you’ll do that, too.”
Kendra half-smiled. “No pressure or anything.”
“Sure there’s pressure, but you thrive on it. We’ve just established that, remember? Just also remember to be careful. And if you need help with anything, remember I’m here.”
“How could I forget?” she said gently. From the time they were little girls, Olivia had always been the practical one, the grounded one. There had never been a trace of jealousy when Kendra was granted the gift of sight; just happiness and love for her amazing good fortune.
“I should get to work,” Olivia said. “So I’m kicking you out.” She thrust the box of doughnuts in Kendra’s direction. “But you have to take these with you.”
“I really don’t want them.”
“You do. You have a sweet tooth. Once again, I know you better than you know yourself.”
Kendra reached in, grabbed a triple-nut glazed, then took the whole box. “Damn you, Olivia.”
* * *
“SHH. ANY TIME NOW.”
Zachary stood over Strapping Todd in the dark closet. The young man was on his stomach, hog-tied with his bound hands almost pulled back to his ankles.
So far it had gone much easier than expected. He’d rapped at the door, Strapping Todd answered, and he’d quickly stabbed the young man in the stomach.
He’d further overpowered Strapping Todd with a few deft blows to the throat and kidneys, then dragged him at knifepoint to his back bedroom.
A bit disappointing for a student athlete, Zachary thought. B
ut of course, fending off a homicidal maniac required a far different skill set than chasing a soccer ball.
Strapping Todd grunted something through his cloth gag.
“It’s uncomfortable, I know.” Zachary smiled. “But the gag is coming off in a minute or so. We’re going to do a little experiment. Are you up to it?”
The young man squinted up at him.
Zachary leaned closer and whispered. “We’re going to see how much you care for that pretty girlfriend of yours. Sweet Anissa. She’ll be here any moment now, correct?”
Strapping Todd’s eyes bulged and he tried to scream.
Zachary shushed him, a finger to his lips. “Here’s how it’s going to happen. When your girlfriend enters the apartment, I’ll take your gag off. You’ll be free to scream and shout as loud as you want. How’s that for a deal?”
Strapping Todd’s nose was running.
“But if you do that, just know I will have to kill her. And then I’ll kill you, which I fully intend to do no matter what happens. But if I don’t catch her, you could both survive. It’s a slim chance, but a chance, nevertheless. The only chance you have. The question is, are you really willing to risk Anissa’s life to save your own hide?”
Strapping Todd’s nostrils flared.
“If you keep quiet, I’ll wait until she leaves to kill you. You have a decision to make. What kind of a man do you want to be, Strapping Todd?”
There was a sound from the front of the apartment. The door was being unlocked.
Zachary smiled as he loosened the gag and pulled the cloth from Strapping Todd’s mouth. “Right on schedule. The choice is now yours.”
The front door squeaked as it opened. “Todd?”
Anissa waited for an answer. “Honey?”
She waited again, then moved through the apartment.
They listened as her footsteps pounded on the hardwood floors. “Where the hell are you?”
She stepped into the bedroom, just a few feet from where her boyfriend was trying to decide whether or not to call for help.
For the moment he was being good and noble, not even daring to breathe.
“Honey?” she called out again.
With one hand still on the knife, Zachary raised Todd’s phone with the other hand. He silently snapped a photo of young Anissa through the crack in the door.
She disappeared from view.
Rustling fabric. More footsteps.
She was walking toward the closet.
Zachary raised his long blade. If she opened that door, this little test would come to a quick and violent end.
She stopped. “Todd?”
Strapping Todd was still holding his breath.
Another long moment of silence.
She finally turned and walked out of the room.
But she didn’t leave the apartment. After a few seconds, her voice wafted in from the living room. She was on her phone, leaving a message for her beloved boyfriend.
“What the hell, Todd? I’m here at your place. You knew we were supposed to meet Trish and David. Why aren’t you picking up your phone?”
Because I took it from him and turned off the ringer, Zachary wanted to reply.
Anissa let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, I’m leaving. If you get this, meet me at the Black Cat. Bye.”
Her footsteps moved away toward the front door …
Zachary smiled. Poor Strapping Todd. His last chance of survival was slipping away. But at least he’d shown a tiny shred of nobility by not endangering the life of this innocent young—
“Hel—!” He suddenly shouted, but Zachary silenced him with a deep slash in the throat. The blood gurgled from his open wound.
Zachary looked up. Had she heard?
The footsteps in the front room proceeded with their same unrushed pace. There was no urgency as she opened the door, closed it behind her, and locked it.
Zachary crouched beside the dying man. “You almost cost her everything, Strapping Todd. But there’s no reason for her to suffer just because her boyfriend was a selfish pig.”
Strapping Todd gasped for air through the gash in his throat.
Zachary whispered. “Should I make her acquaintance and tell her what a coward you are? Should I? Hmm, I think I may.”
Todd stared at him with a look of total panic, an expression that remained even after life left his body.
CHAPTER
3
THE CHARRED FACE WAS still staring at her.
Kendra turned over in her bed. That horrible sight was there every time she closed her eyes. She’d been a fool to think she could just leave it behind.
She sat up and yanked the covers away. Her mother always urged her to leave town whenever a case preyed on her psyche, but it was no use. She knew wherever she would go, that vision would still be with her. The awful sights, smells, and excruciating details always followed her.
And the Feds knew it, she thought bitterly. Griffin had called in his favor knowing this would happen. Even if she could turn her back on that poor woman and the two other victims, it was harder to ignore the possibility of the victims to come. This murderous sicko was clearly enjoying himself and there would be more. Soon.
How in the hell could she turn her back on them?
She picked up her phone and punched Griffin’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“Kendra Michaels,” he said with more than a hint of annoyance. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“It’s two-thirty in the morning. Ask me if I care. I’ll be extremely disappointed if I didn’t wake you from the sleep of angels.”
“Oh, you did. I’ve just gotten very good at eliminating that groggy, half-asleep tone in my voice when pain-in-the-ass colleagues call me in the middle of the night.”
She made a choking sound. “Ugh.”
“Are you okay?”
“No, I almost threw up at the thought of us being colleagues.”
“I believe I detect a tad of annoyance in your tone.”
“More than a tad. You knew what seeing that victim would do to me.”
“I didn’t think you were just calling me to hash over the Padres game. What’s on your mind, Kendra?”
She paused for a long moment. Was she really going to do this?
Shit.
“Griffin, I want to see the files for the other two murders.”
He was ready for her. “Written reports? Crime scene photos?”
“Videos, lab results, whatever you have.”
“Okay. Swing by the office tomorrow morning and we’ll—”
“Now. Have somebody meet me there in half an hour.”
“Nobody’s there, Kendra. Just a skeleton crew.”
“Get somebody there.”
“At three in the morning? Be reasonable. Come by at nine A.M. We’ll give you every—”
“Do you want my help or not?”
“Come on, Kendra…”
“You want me to repay your damn favor. Well, I’m working tomorrow. At my real job. I have therapy sessions booked at my studio, and it’s too late to reschedule.”
“Then shouldn’t you be getting a good night’s sleep?”
“You pretty much destroyed all hope of that when you dragged me into this case.”
He sighed. “And now you’re going to make me pay for it.”
“That’s not what this is about. Call it … a pleasant side benefit.”
“You’re not hurting me. This is Metcalf and Carson’s case. They’re not going to be thrilled at the thought of dragging their asses to work at this time of night.”
“Guess they shouldn’t have signed up to work for the FBI, huh?”
“You tell them that when you see them. That’ll put ’em in a really good mood. Meet them in the building lobby in thirty minutes.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation
San Diego District Field Office
Kendra was seated in the building’s main lobby for a full ten minutes before Spec
ial Agent Gina Carson arrived looking bleary-eyed and slightly disheveled.
“This is some kind of hazing ritual, isn’t it?” Gina said sourly. “The San Diego office does this to all their new people?”
“No hazing. Just the Kendra Michaels trial by fire, I guess.” Kendra flipped open the lid on the box Olivia had given her. “Doughnut?”
Gina just glared at her.
Metcalf entered from the door across the lobby. He looked even more bleary-eyed than Gina. “Not cool, Kendra. I’d only been asleep for an hour and a half when Griffin called.”
She looked at him with mock concern. “Up late cataloging your comic book collection?”
“Hah. That’s hilarious.” He shrugged. “Actually, I was playing the new Mortal Kombat Playstation game.”
“Ooh, even geekier.”
“Afraid so. Wanna go look at some gory crime scene photos?”
“No. But that’s why I’m here.”
They took the elevator upstairs to the third-floor conference room, which was centered by a long conference table. Metcalf motioned to two bulletin boards covered with printed photos. “Here are the first two crime scenes. I’d just as soon show you on the television monitor. But you know Griffin. He’s old school. He insists on printing the photos and sticking them up here with pushpins like in 1985 or something.”
Kendra stepped over to the bulletin boards. “I like it. It’s good to be able to see everything at a glance. Sometimes it helps you make connections that are hard to see otherwise.”
Metcalf turned back to Gina. “It’s a rare and beautiful thing when Kendra agrees with anything Griffin does.”
Gina crossed her arms and stifled a yawn. “She persuaded him to stir us from our nice warm beds, so there was bound to be some sadistic common ground there.”
“Who is this?” Kendra was staring at the photo of a young woman’s pale, bloated corpse. “First victim?”
“Yes.” Metcalf picked up a manila file folder and opened it. “Meet Sofia Williams, age twenty-six. She was abducted outside her apartment building Sunday night. Her car door was still open and keys, purse, and phone were left on the passenger seat. San Diego PD fished her out of the bay the next morning.”
Kendra nodded, trying not to dwell on the family and friends left behind, the years of joy taken from this woman. This wouldn’t help now.
Look Behind You Page 3
