“Good skill to have.” Kendra looked at the one remaining person, an impossibly youthful man with tortoise-shell spectacles and thick brown hair. “And why is the junior high kid here?”
Metcalf smiled. “That’s Trey Suber. He’s with the FDLE. Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He’s young, but by all accounts, he’s one of the best criminal profilers in the world. He’s a total serial killer geek. He knows serial killers the way hardcore baseball fans know player stats.”
“Or the way you know Star Wars trivia?”
“Better. He probably knows details about your own cases that you’ve forgotten long ago.”
“Impressive … and a little creepy.”
“Sometimes impressive and creepy is exactly what we need around here.”
She could see what he meant. There was no one more creepy than Zachary, and someday they might have to fight fire with fire … or ice with ice. “Agreed.”
Griffin had spotted Kendra and Metcalf and was waving them over. Metcalf turned to her. “Ready for this?”
She braced herself. “Absolutely. Time to meet the dream team.”
They walked toward the assembled group. Griffin motioned toward Kendra. “Gentlemen, Kendra Michaels. Some of you are familiar with her work as I suspect she may be of yours.”
Griffin made the introductions. As Kendra spoke with each of the men, she was amazed at how spot-on-the-money Metcalf’s impressions had been.
NYC FBI Agent Richard Gale was every bit as unpleasant as his reputation suggested. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back, and his face was carved by deep creases in his forehead. He wordlessly shook her hand, barely making eye contact as his attention went to an attractive young assistant on the other side of the room.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Kendra said.
“Uh huh,” he grunted, “I might have to talk to you later.” He turned and walked away.
Definitely not a people person.
But Washington, D.C., homicide detective Arnold Huston had people skills in spades. He was probably one of the oldest cops she’d ever met, close to seventy, with a warm handshake, twinkling eyes, and a deep, mellifluous voice. “How’s your friend today?” he asked. “Is there anything we can do for her?”
“She’s fine. Olivia’s a strong person.”
“She must be. Look, I know we’re each presenting on our cases this morning, but if there’s anything I can tell you about my experiences in Virginia with this guy, I’m available. Any time. Don’t hesitate to call, okay?”
“Thanks. I appreciate the offer.” She could see why he was so good in witness interviews.
LAPD detective Edward Roscoe also shook her hand. “Call me Eddie,” he said. “We’re practically neighbors. Funny we haven’t run into each other. Of course, this is more of a sideline to you, isn’t it?”
His laid-back charm made it easy to see why Matthew McConaughey had been tapped to play him even though they really didn’t look much alike.
“A sideline,” Kendra repeated. “You might call it that.”
“But I’ve heard about you. I’m almost afraid to ask … But how much do you know about me?”
“Just the little bit that Metcalf told me. I never saw the movie if that’s what you mean.”
“That’s not what I mean. The movie got almost everything wrong. I’m talking about that thing you do.”
Uh oh. He’d obviously heard about her parlor tricks.
She smiled. “I know everything about you that I think I need to know.”
“Are you gonna let me in on it?”
“Maybe later.”
“It could be the stories about you aren’t true,” he said speculatively.
“Maybe not. Guess you’ll have to stick around and find out for yourself.”
He leaned close and flashed a sly smile. “Guess I will.”
Hmm. Metcalf hadn’t told her that he was such an accomplished flirt.
FDLE profiler Trey Suber looked older than he had from across the room, but not much. He was probably twenty-three or twenty-four, but he still could have passed for a high school kid. He dispensed with the pleasantries in order to ask about what really interested him. “Dr. Michaels, I’d really like to talk to you about Eric Colby. Would that be possible?”
Hearing that name aloud literally gave her chills even after all the time that had passed. “I’m surprised you— I don’t see how that has any bearing on this case.”
“No, of course not. It’s just that there hasn’t been a lot written on Colby yet, and first-hand information is hard to come by.” Suber pushed up his glasses. “You knew him better than anyone. He was one of the most notorious serial killers of the last decade and you beat him twice.”
Serial killer geek, indeed.
“Sure, we’ll talk.” But not anytime soon, she mentally qualified. One monster at a time.
He smiled and raised his right hand as if to give her a high-five. She patted his arm instead and pointed to Griffin, who was motioning for all of the investigators to take their seats at the front of the room.
Within a minute the presentations began, accompanied by larger-than-life PowerPoint slides. One by one, the investigators took them on a graphic tour of some of the most brutal and depressing murders she’d ever seen, all apparently the work of one sick man.
Four and a half hours later, she felt drained of body and spirit. In addition to her sheer revulsion, she was most struck by the difference between the cases. No wonder they hadn’t been linked until now. The placement and character of knife wounds were similar in the stabbing cases, but there were almost no other similarities.
After the last presentation Griffin called a break and said the session would resume with individual discussions in the war room. That probably meant she’d be subject to questions and not-so-subtle examinations from the other investigators.
And she’d be surrounded by all those hideous photos.
Kendra stood up and hurried from the room. She couldn’t take it right now. It would be like having Zachary gazing mockingly down at her, laughing as he had on Olivia’s computer. She’d thought she was only going to the bathroom, but she realized that wasn’t far enough away. She had to get the hell out of that building for a while. Just a couple hours and she’d come back and finish the day.
Just a couple hours to brace herself for more horror.
She took the elevator down to the garage, where she climbed into her car, started it up, and roared away.
But she only got four blocks before she pulled over to the curb. She sat there for a moment staring blindly out the window. She was running away like a panic-stricken child, she thought, shocked. And with the self-contempt that realization brought came the anger and the determination.
You’re not going to win, Zachary. Not one hour, not one minute. I can take anything you throw at me.
She turned the car around and started to drive back toward the FBI office.
* * *
IT WAS 9:30 P.M. BEFORE Kendra arrived back at her condo. The phone rang five minutes after she let herself inside.
Olivia.
She had been expecting the call. In fact, she had expected Olivia to call earlier in the day, possibly in a rage. If she hadn’t been swamped, she would have phoned Olivia herself to see if she still had a friend. Kendra had tossed out the dice and heaven only knew whether they had come up snake eyes.
She braced herself and answered. “Hi, how much trouble am I in?”
“Big time,” Olivia said grimly. “Get down here and face the music.”
“I’ll be at your door in three minutes.”
She was actually ringing the bell in two minutes.
Olivia swung open the door and stepped aside. “Come in.” Her expression was stern. “What the hell made you think you could get away with this?” She gestured to Jessie, who was curled up on the couch. “Manipulation all the way, Kendra. We aren’t pleased.”
“I didn’t think you would be.” But she noticed
Olivia had said we and not I. It brought a tiny ray of hope. “But I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Two is always better than one. It wasn’t really safe for you to be with me, so I thought maybe if Jessie moved in with you…”
“And you didn’t remember how angry you were when Lynch hired me to guard you several weeks ago?” Jessie asked. “You were ready to throw me off the nearest balcony.”
“I remembered. But I thought perhaps the two of you could work it out. And you don’t have to guard her nonstop. Neither of you would tolerate that. I thought just having you as her roommate might deter Zachary.”
“And you told Jessie I was this weak-kneed wimp who needed her to take care of me?” Olivia asked. “I could feel all that slimy sympathy oozing over me when she walked in the door.”
“I didn’t say that,” Kendra said quickly. “I didn’t really—I tried to describe—but you’re fairly indescribable, Olivia.”
“But you didn’t push it,” Jessie said. “You didn’t want me to know what I was walking into when I showed up with a suitcase and my ‘oozing’ sympathy. I’m lucky she didn’t karate chop me and toss me out in the street.”
“I think you could have handled that,” Olivia told her. “I’m no wimp, but I’m no ninja either.”
Jessie grinned at her. “I could try to teach you. You have potential.”
“Yes I do. For all kinds of talents.” She turned back to Kendra. “And my friend here knows it, and yet she did this to us.”
“Your friend wanted both of you to be safe,” Kendra said. “And I handled it clumsily but an opportunity presented itself with Jessie and I took it. You told me forgiveness wasn’t necessary, but I think it is in this case. Forgive me.” She looked at Jessie. “I sent you in blind because I was desperate. I had confidence that you could make it work once you took Olivia’s measure.”
“We did make it work.” Jessie got to her feet. “But we had a bad thirty minutes before we decided you were the bad guy, and we were golden. Olivia figured it out that I was on your protect list, too. I couldn’t believe it. Me? The humiliation gave us an instant bond.” She came toward her. “So you’re going to get your way, Kendra. We’re going to be roommates and keep each other safe. Because we find we like each other and respect each other and for one other reason. We’ll be living one floor below you and we’ll be able to take care of you. We’ll not pay any more attention to your precious independence than you did for ours. How do you like them apples?”
“You expect me to argue? I think I got off easy,” Kendra said unevenly. “After looking at those crime photos all day, I’m just grateful that you’re not going to punish me by telling me that no way would you stay in the same condo. I’m grateful, period.”
Olivia was listening, head tilted. “Rough day, Kendra?”
“You might say that.”
“Did you have dinner?”
“A burger. Don’t coddle me, Olivia. I’m feeling too guilty.”
“Good.” Olivia swept toward the kitchen. “Mission accomplished, Jessie. We can let her up for air. I’ll make the salad, you get a drink for all of us.”
“I’d prefer a tad more punishment,” Jessie said regretfully. “She insulted my professionalism.” She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “But if you insist. Sit down, Kendra. You can see Olivia is making a virtual slave of me. What do you want to drink?”
“Anything.” She dropped down on the couch. She was relieved and just as monumentally grateful as she’d told them. It was obvious that the two women had already formed a strong bond and Kendra couldn’t have wished for anything more. “Just not too strong. I’m so tired I’m a little dizzy now anyway.”
“Well, you’re off the hook for the time being. Just don’t do it again.” Jessie was at Olivia’s small, elegant bar. “I don’t know what on earth you were thinking.”
“Neither do I.” She wearily rubbed her temple. “Something about circling the wagons…”
* * *
THE GANG WAS ALL here.
Zachary smiled as he walked down Fifth Street. He had spent an exhilarating half hour watching the dream team arriving at their digs at the San Diego Hilton. They’d each arrived in their own rental cars, looking oh-so-impressive as they’d strutted toward the tall glass doors. The men didn’t look as if they’d aged a day. Except Gale, whose lines had grown deeper and skin had gotten grayer. Those New York winters hadn’t been kind to him.
But it was good to see them all.
He was quite sure they’d spent their day trying to get to know him, desperately attempting to slot him into their ridiculous psychological profiles. Didn’t they know what a unique animal he was? He’d beaten each of them all on their own turf, although Detective Rosco had gotten closer to catching him than anyone ever realized.
He’d created his own unique profile for each city and the know-nothing investigators had fallen for each one.
He knew each of them better than they would ever know him, he was certain of that. He even knew how they would spend their evenings. Richard Gale would order in room service and watch some kind of sporting event, probably the New York Knicks if they were playing. Arnold Huston, the oldest man in the bunch, would have a sandwich in the hotel coffee shop before going to his room, calling his wife, and turning in. Young Trey Suber, the serial killer enthusiast, would type up his impressions of the day before cross-referencing them with his own database of killers that he kept in his trusty laptop. Ed Rosco would have dinner in the hotel bar before enjoying a few drinks. He’d hit on the young women who might be impressed that he’d once been portrayed by a big movie star, even if the film was one they hadn’t actually seen.
Did their years of experience give them any idea what he’d planned for them? Doubtful.
And are you sensing the storm that’s coming, Kendra? If anyone could guess what he had in store for those fools who thought they were so clever it would be you.
His pace slowed as he felt himself being drawn away from those egotistical detectives he had just left. As much as he enjoyed thinking about his old sparring partners, his heart was a few blocks away, with Kendra Michaels. He wanted to go to her with a yearning that was almost hunger. She was so close after all this time of preparation. He had reached out and touched her when he’d sent that message through her friend Olivia.
He wanted to touch her again. He wanted to reach out and stroke her and let her feel his power.
But he didn’t dare go near her building, he realized with frustration. The authorities were on high alert after his drop-in at her friend’s unit, and he needed to keep his distance for the time being. And letting Kendra and all those idiots who were gathered here to trap him know that she was the target of choice put additional heat on the situation.
It didn’t matter; he could wait. Now that the game had started and Kendra realized that his every move was aimed at her, every moment was going to be exciting.
Are you feeling it now, Kendra? Are your palms sweating? Did you feel sick when you knew that your Olivia was mine to kill?
Yes, Kendra was a worthy addition to this so-called dream team, and there were many things about her that he found especially intriguing. Was it the allure of the shiny and new, especially since he had already outsmarted the rest of these world-class investigators?
Partially.
And, of course, it was also her famous reluctance. She was different from these others, who seemed to live for their work. Kendra was on his trail despite herself, drawn only by her intense desire to do good. It would be easy to dismiss her attitude as arrogance, as if she was the only person in the world who could crack these cases.
Good and Evil. Life and Death.
The eternal battles that she should realize she could never win. Darkness always overcame light in the end.
But she did win them.
And the more he’d researched her, the more he was convinced she was right; she had undoubtedly saved dozens of lives and jailed several killers who would still
be walking the streets. She had gone through hell and torment to meet the challenges she had encountered, but she had triumphed.
Was that why he’d chosen this woman, in this city, for the grand finale of his master plan?
Sometimes he thought that challenge was the reason. But at other times he was aware of something so dark and malevolent that he could see hovering over Kendra that he knew it might be something else. It might be the sheer pleasure of planning the depth of suffering that would bring her to her knees.
The excitement was growing within him as he thought about her. He had to control it. Think about the plan in its entirety. That would calm him.
He’d done his homework. It’s what separated him from the pathetic amateurs who would grow old and die behind bars, he thought scornfully.
He was no amateur.
If they were the dream team, he was about to become their worst nightmare.
CHAPTER
7
“WAKE UP, KENDRA.”
Even in the depths of sleep, she could hear the hardness and biting anger that edged that deep voice.
She could also recognize that voice.
Her eyes flew open.
Lynch was standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Even in the dimness of the light streaming in the window she was able to read his body language. It echoed the harshness of that first sentence.
Excitement. Electricity. Desire. Joy. These first emotions she was feeling made no sense, she realized dazedly. They were all wrong in this situation. It must be because she was still half asleep. “Lynch?”
“Shut up.” He was across the room and pulling her out of bed. “I need this. We’ll deal with everything else later.” He was kissing her. Passion. Hard and hot and breathtaking. His hand was on her butt, pushing up her night shirt. Touching. Squeezing. Bringing her into his body and rubbing her against him.
It was like some crazy, bewildering, erotic dream … but she was awake, she realized. Lynch was somehow here, in her bedroom.
How in the hell…?
Then sensation after sensation was searing through her and it didn’t matter how. It was only important that he didn’t stop.
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