—
The next day was busy with paperwork and phone calls, then reporting to a crime scene of another kid murdered in a drive-by shooting, but not a minute went by when Camille hadn’t wondered how she could engage Angel to spring a trap—to get him to surface. Maybe she needed to be more sexually direct with him. But that could be a mistake and drive him away. If only she knew more about how Angel had chosen his victims.
Still thinking about it when she got home, she greeted Max, let him out into the yard for a minute, then filled his bowl with dog food. After letting him in she headed straight for her desk. Camille had gotten into the habit of leaving the computer in hibernate mode so she could get to the chat room in seconds. She tapped the space bar, and the screen appeared. Camille froze.
An e-mail program was open. Not hers. Sandy’s.
But what made her hold her breath was the IM block at the bottom of the screen. Angel had tried contacting her—or, rather, Morrigan. Sandy must have been checking her e-mail when the IM came in.
Camille focused on the last exchange. Sandy asking where Angel wanted to meet her…Angel saying the coffee stand at the new Riverfront Shopping Center at five thirty…Sandy saying she would be there.
What the hell?
Camille sat stunned for a moment, not believing her eyes. Her heart drummed so fast, the beat filled her ears.
She should have been the one who’d seen the instant message from Angel, not Sandy. And Sandy was fourteen years old—what was she doing agreeing to meet a man she didn’t know?
It was actually Morrigan, her alter ego, who had accepted.
Angel thought he was meeting her.
And Sandy would have known that!
Horrified, Camille flew from the chair and grabbed her keys. No time to call the kid’s mom. She raced to the door. Max beat her there.
“Sorry, boy.”
She ruffled his fur and blocked him from going outside as she turned and left. It was nearly five thirty now.
Camille pulled away from the curb, turning on her flashing headlights and siren so other drivers would pull their vehicles to the side. Her gut clenched and her throat closed. She had to get there on time. Had to! Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, so she gripped the steering wheel tighter, slowing only at intersections long enough to make sure they were clear.
Throughout the drive, Camille tried not to panic. She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her. Her breathing was erratic. All she could think about was that a girl’s life was at stake.
Her fault…all her fault…
Focus!
Panic would render her useless, and Sandy would suffer for it. Why hadn’t she locked her computer so the girl couldn’t access it? Had Sandy used her computer before and Camille just hadn’t realized it? Lord knows what else she may have seen. Camille often sent herself notes from the office about her cases so she could review them as needed.
She should have talked to the girl and gotten to know her better. But getting close to people was something Camille avoided. In her world, she skirted personal relationships and focused on understanding criminals and how they worked so she could track them down, arrest them, and get them off the street. Relationships were for other people. Camille was her job.
Arriving at the shopping center in record time, she parked curbside and raced to the upper-level entrance, where she’d have the best view. Once in the center of the mall, she ran to the rail and scanned the lower level. Her chest tight now, barely breathing, she searched for a familiar blond ponytail around the coffee stand. No Sandy.
Her fault…all her fault…
Swallowing hard, she raced to the down escalator, her gaze skipping from one part of the mall to the next. No Sandy. No man who appeared to be a predator—though, how would she know? They came in all shapes and sizes. She could be staring straight at him now and not recognize him.
At the coffee stand, she pulled out her star and flashed it at the wiry teenager behind the counter. “Detective Camille Martell. How long have you been working this afternoon?”
“Um, I didn’t do nothin’ wrong.”
“I’m not accusing you. I’m just looking for someone who might be in trouble”—she glanced at his name tag—“Keshawn. How long?”
“A-after school. Four.”
The kid could be a witness, then. Angel’s message had instructed her to be here at five thirty. It was now a little before six.
“Do you remember serving a girl with long blond hair?” She was looking around again, hopeful that she could still spot Sandy. “Always wears it in a ponytail. A fresh-faced fourteen-year-old.”
“Lotsa kids hang out here.”
Indeed, three girls occupied a nearby table.
She stared hard into the kid’s deep brown eyes. They were filled with suspicion, no doubt because she was a cop. “Think hard, Keshawn. This is really important. Pretty. Blue eyes. Blond ponytail. Maybe a half hour ago. She was probably alone to start, but she was meeting someone. Not a boy. A man.”
His dark face pulled into a frown. “A man? Yeah, maybe I saw her. I thought it was kind of weird ’cause the guy was way old for her, but she got all blushy and giggly. She was sittin’ with her coffee over there”—he pointed to an empty table—“then the man got up from where he’d been over there”—he pointed in the other direction—“and joined her.”
“What did he look like?”
“Longish blond hair. Kinda curly. Okay lookin’, I guess, for a white guy. He was tall and kinda built, like he works out.”
Her stomach knotted. “How long ago did they leave?”
“Five…ten minutes, maybe.” He indicated the closest exit, making Camille’s stomach free fall. “Looked like they were goin’ to the parking lot, but I got busy with a customer.”
“I’m calling this in.” She pulled out her cellphone and walked backward toward that parking lot. “You don’t leave, Keshawn. Another officer will be here shortly to talk to you. You may just have saved a girl’s life. Thank you.”
With that, she whipped around and connected to dispatch and gave them her ID. “We may have another victim in the chat-room-predator case. The suspect may have taken a fourteen-year-old girl out of the Riverfront Shopping Center. I need uniforms and crime scene investigators here as soon as possible to follow up.”
Someone official needed to talk to Keshawn and to get prints from that table. Too much to hope for DNA.
Heading out the door, she quickly scanned the parking lot. No Sandy. What had she expected? Certainly not for a levelheaded girl to leave with a man she’d just met.
The thought slammed her with a memory she would rather forget. How she’d instantly fallen for Drago Nance. How she’d left the bar with him after one drink.
Still outside, she shook away the intrusive memory and looked up over the entry doors. Security cameras were mounted on either side. That’s what she’d hoped for. The mall would be recording everything that went on. A break. Finally, a damn break!
Putting a call through to her lieutenant, she told him where she was. “Get the team here as fast as you can. If we’re lucky, we get to see what this Angel looks like for ourselves.”
And then she prayed they could nail him before guilt suffocated her.
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Loving You Is Easy Page 27
