by Mary Eason
“Sure, baby. Why don’t you and Petie go find Buster? I’ll be right there.”
Once they were alone again, Davis sank down on the bed next to Kara. She’d never seen him look so at a loss.
“God, Kara, I don’t know the first thing about kids. Especially not little girls. Especially not little girls with so much insight. You’re going to have to help me with this.”
She touched his face gently and smiled. “I will, but don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”
“I think we should try to find out more about Ava’s dreams before she leaves, don’t you?”
“Davis, she’s been frightened enough for one day. She doesn’t understand what those dreams mean. She can’t help you identify him and I won’t have her gift exploited by the Bureau.”
“You mean the way we exploited you?” he asked unexpectedly. Kara didn’t answer.
“All right, believe it or not, I don’t want to see her hurt either. But right now I’m just desperate enough to go grasping at anything.”
“I know that,” she said quietly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have some of my best agents escorting Ava and Maggie someplace safe.”
“Thank you.” She got to her feet then smiled sympathetically down at him. “Come on. I think it’s time you spent some time with your daughter.”
Kara ignored her daughter’s silent pleadings and left Ava and Davis sitting together on the front porch in an uncomfortable silence with Buster standing guard close by.
Sharing Ava with someone other than her grandmother might prove to be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but Kara had made so many mistakes with Ava already, starting with the first, the biggest one of all. Not telling Davis about his daughter. Whatever happened between them in the past, he deserved to be part of Ava’s life. Ava needed her father as well.
While Kara prepared the pancakes, she listened to the silence outside until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She was halfway to the front door when Davis made the first move toward trying to win his daughter’s favor, and his first mistake. He said something unflattering about Petie.
Kara smiled to herself and then returned to the pancakes. Davis would need to sort this out alone. He’d learn in time.
By the time the pancakes were ready, Davis and Ava had decided to make nice even though they were still far from being friends. But they both were stubborn. There would be many battles ahead for them.
Maggie’s anger and resentment at being forced into protective custody hadn’t surprised Kara any. She was always like a mother bear when it came to protecting those she loved. She arrived at the house shortly after the breakfast dishes were cleared away, and barely spared Davis an angry glare. Maggie still remembered all the tears her granddaughter had shed. She laid the full blame at Davis’s door and Kara had been only too happy to let her.
Maggie waited until Kara had kissed her cheek before making her feelings clear. “You promised me you wouldn’t get involved in this again, child. Please don’t do this. For God’s sake, don’t put Ava in the middle of this.”
Kara winced at her grandmother’s accusation. She let Maggie go and glanced at Davis. “Can you give us a second?” He nodded and tried to distract Ava by pointing out a bluebird on the front porch.
“Gran, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break my promise, but something’s happened and—”
Her grandmother busily shook her head in denial. “No, I don’t want to hear it. It’s doesn’t have to be up to you to solve this one, child. Please, don’t get involved again. Don’t get involved with him again. You won’t survive it if he hurts you this time.”
Fear raced through Kara. “What have you seen?”
Her grandmother looked away and the fear spiraled further out of control. “Nothing. I just remember how hard it was for you the last time.”
She knew her grandmother well enough to know she wasn’t being truthful. “Gran, it’s not the same. Davis and I aren’t together, but the killer, he’s back, or at least someone mimicking his MO is trying to make a name for himself. I have no choice. I have to help.”
After a moment, Maggie slowly nodded. “All right. You know what’s best for you. Please, please, be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
Kara knew then that whatever dark truths Maggie had seen, she wouldn’t be sharing them and it would be pointless to prod any further.
She hugged her grandmother then went outside to say goodbye to her daughter. This would be the first time they’d been apart. Letting Ava go made the nightmare seem more real.
She knelt in front of her daughter who stood a few feet away from Davis, not looking at him. Ava didn’t fully accept Davis as her father just yet. That would take time and a whole lot of work on Davis’s part and Kara’s. Another something for her to be sorry for.
Kara reached for her daughter and pulled her close. There were tears in Ava’s eyes. Please God, don’t let me fall apart in front of my child. Help me stay strong.
“Baby, you and Gran are going on a short trip. It’ll be fun.”
Ava clung to her mother, her tears soaking through Kara’s shirt. She almost didn’t hear her daughter’s childlike answer. “I don’t wanna go, Mommie. Please. I want to stay with you.”
Kara brushed her daughter’s silken hair from her wet face. “I know, baby, but it won’t be for long, I promise, and you’ll have fun. You and Gran will have a wonderful adventure together.” She kissed her daughter’s head. “I promise, it won’t be for long. I need you to be strong, punkin, and I need you to take care of Gran for me, okay.”
Ava nodded against her mother. It took all of Kara’s strength to let her daughter go. In the end, the Angel made it possible. She could sense him growing excited. More confident. If they didn’t catch him soon, he would be unstoppable.
With Ava gone, the silence between himself and Kara became hard to take. They’d always been able to talk to each other about anything. But then, he couldn’t really blame her for this strain. The things he’d seen over the past six years, and her absence from his life, had made him hard. He knew how to be a detective; he didn’t know how to be with her anymore or even if they might have a future together.
“What?” she asked when she spotted him staring at her.
“Nothing, I’m only thinking how different you are from the young girl I knew in DC.”
When her gaze met his again, he fought to release air from his lungs. Something he imagined lost forever passed between them. Desire. Passion. Love. All there. And she felt it too, but she was still too angry with him to accept it.
She resented having someone else dictating what happened to Ava. As much as he didn’t want to break the spell of the moment, some things needed to be said between them.
He sighed heavily. “Kara, I know this is hard, and I know you blame me for what happened between us in DC, and the way the Bureau took advantage of your talents, but Ava is my daughter as well, I have a right to help make decisions regarding her safety.”
“No…” All of her old resentments returned. She started to move away, but he reached for her hand, keeping her there.
“Yes, Kara. Dammit, you should have told me I was a father. Didn’t you think I’d want to be part of my daughter’s life?” When she didn’t answer, he went on, “Whatever happened between us, however much you hate me, I had the right to know and you kept that from me. No more. Ava’s my child and I don’t intend to ever let her go.”
Davis stepped closer and watched as all her anger left her. Kara closed her eyes, fighting it. Oh yes, she still felt something. She’d just hidden it under a wall of resentment. His fingers brushed across her cheek and she trembled. Their bodies were close enough to touch but they weren’t touching.
His lips touched the corner of her mouth. She softened against him for a moment then pushed him away.
“No! No, Davis.”
“Kara, stop fighting it. You know you feel it too.” He touched her arm and felt her pull away.
He swore softly beneath his breath but moved away from her. Kara’s gaze found his once more. The space between them seemed to shrink along with the air in the room. Everything but the woman before him ceased to matter.
“You know that’s not true.” He took another deep breath and tried to steady his voice. “You think I don’t feel how your body responds whenever I’m close?” She could no longer look at him.
“No. That’s not true.”
“It is, Kara.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m helping you for Ava’s sake, Davis—nothing more. Once this is over, you and I will work out a schedule that’s agreeable to us so that you can see Ava once she grows more comfortable with you, but that’s it.” She didn’t look at him again as she turned and left him standing alone.
For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
Davis sat alone in the living room with the files spread out before him on the coffee table. There were the new cases as well as the files of the Angel’s past victims. Without looking up he knew Kara had joined him again.
“We’ve missed something. I’ve missed something,” he amended as she handed him another cup of coffee. “I’ve been over this stuff a thousand times but I can’t see it.” His glance found her reluctant one. “You’ve been away from the case for a while. Maybe you can find what I’m missing.”
Kara sat down on the floor next to him but not too close. He figured he deserved that.
He handed her the oldest case files and studied her silently. The voices—she could hear them. It felt like old times again. This was how they’d worked the original cases. Usually at her small Westminster apartment. They’d always ended up in each other’s arms, consumed by the passion they couldn’t control. No matter how much she wanted to deny that passion now, she still felt it. Just the way he did.
The Angel’s first victim had been the only one he’d had any known connection with. Frankie’s mother worked for Amy Sinclair’s parents as their housekeeper. Amy had reportedly spurned his advances, leading to what the Bureau profilers believed had been the final straw in the making of a serial killer.
Kara picked up the photo from the crime scene. They’d discovered Amy’s nude body in an abandoned warehouse twenty miles away from her family home. The Angel hadn’t quite perfected his technique with Amy. He didn’t leave his legendary calling card of white lilacs or the biblical scripture. That came later. With Carrie Olson—victim number two.
Davis watched Kara’s familiar routine as she touched the photo of Amy. He saw it in her eyes before she shut them tight. She could feel the victim’s terror. Even now after all these years, it would be just as real and raw to her as it had been all those years ago. The photo slipped from her fingers. She reached for the pages of documentation instead.
Amy’s parents reported her missing after she didn’t return home from a date with her boyfriend. Most of the local police who were good friends of the Sinclair family suspected the boyfriend right away, because of the family’s dislike of him. Unfortunately, all the time wasted in pursuing what turned out to be a dead end also cost them precious time. The locals dismissed obvious clues early on in the investigation, which might have yielded valuable leads. It took longer than it should to connect Amy’s death with the other Angel murders.
Davis got to his feet and refilled both their coffee cups without Kara being aware of his absence. She’d become lost in the dark shadows of the past.
He watched her pick up the second victim’s folder, careful not to touch Carrie’s photo. Carrie’s abduction and murder happened a short time later. The horror she suffered at the hands of Angel would have been indescribable. He’d gone over the top with her.
“Are you okay?” Davis asked when he returned from refilling their coffee cups. Her eyes appeared slightly glazed when they met his. He could only describe this look as someone emerging from a trance. She took the mug he offered gratefully before shaking her head.
“It doesn’t get easier. Even after all these years. Even knowing we did everything we could for them. It’s still hard.”
“I know they’re hard to take. Don’t look at the photos, Kara. Just concentrate on the evidence.”
Davis sifted through the files and found the first new case. “Here, you start with Amy and I’ll start with Amanda, the Angel’s first new victim. The DC police found Amanda on the anniversary of Amy’s murder at a similar location. An abandoned warehouse.”
She looked at him strangely before asking, “Do you realize what you just said?”
He drew a blank. “What? About the DC police finding Amanda’s body in an abandoned warehouse?”
“No, you referred to the killer as the Angel. You believe this is his work as well. You don’t think Frankie Shepard had anything to do with these murders, do you?”
“I don’t know. I guess maybe I don’t,” he admitted slowly. “God, Kara, where the hell has the killer been for six years?”
Kara didn’t answer. She turned her attention back to the files, scanning through the information she could almost recite word for word before closing it.
“Davis, I don’t know what else to look for here. Maybe you’d better read what you have. What’s the first victim’s name again?”
“Amanda Shelly.” He saw her reaction and added, “Yes, I know. It’s like he’s duplicating them all over again and yet he’s not. Amanda wasn’t from a wealthy family. She worked for a high-tech company in Richmond. She’d been working late, catching up on some paperwork the night he took her.”
“He took her from her office building? Was there video?”
Davis shook his head. “The machine had been broken for weeks. Probably by the Angel. He would have been watching her for some time. One of the office staff reported her missing around five thirty the next morning when they arrived at work. No one remembered seeing anything out of the ordinary happening during the weeks before. No reported problems in her life as far as her parents knew. She had the perfect life. And now she’s dead.”
“Boyfriends?”
“Well, that’s where the similarities with Amy end. Amanda’s parents told us she’d decided to take some time off from dating to focus on her career.”
“Were they the same age?”
“No, Amy had just turned twenty-one. Amanda was thirty-eight. Different birthdays as well.”
“What about friends…acquaintances. Did they know any of the same people? I realize they ran in different social circles and they weren’t the same age, but maybe there’s a connection somewhere in the people they knew.”
He’d known this would come up eventually. It was the first rule of police work to try and find a connection between the victims. He knew he’d have to tell Kara everything soon, but he wasn’t ready to go there just yet. They weren’t at a place in their relationship where she was ready to hear about the others.
“I thought of that. We’ve checked them all. They didn’t know any of the same people or even hang out at the same places.” He couldn’t tell her that the only connection they’d found between any of the recent victims had been himself.
“What about Rachel?” Kara finally asked.
“No. There’s no indication that Rachel knew any of the original Angel’s victims, or the latest ones for that matter.”
“None of this makes any sense.” She put the folder down and rubbed her eyes.
“I know… Why don’t we try looking at this from a different angle. Suppose for a minute Ava actually did see into the mind of the killer—for whatever reason,” he added when he saw her fear. She knew the only reason the Angel would choose Ava would be because of her connection to Kara. “And he planned on targeting Justine Yamez for his next victim.” Kara read his thoughts. She grabbed the file on the Angel’s fourth victim. Jan Yates.
“It fits. Oh. My. God!” she whispered, and he glanced at the
name of the next Angel victim.
“Kara.” Davis dropped the folder he held and reached for her. For once, she went into his arms without hesitating. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Davis, the next victim was Alicia Mathis. AM—Ava…Martin! Davis, he has to know Ava is your daughter otherwise he’d be targeting someone with the last name starting with B. How did he know? I haven’t told anyone but Gran. Oh my God, do you know what this means? He’s coming after our daughter!” He would have given just about anything to deny this truth but she needed to know. Just as she needed to know she would be killer’s sixth target.
“KB. Kim Billings,” Kara said almost to herself and then moved out of Davis’s embrace. “Davis, we had no reason to consider the names before now. KB. Kara Bryant. We’ve always assumed I was to be the Angel’s next victim, but maybe that wasn’t what he intended at all. What if his intention wasn’t to kill me back then? Maybe this was what he had planned all along. Maybe he’s just been waiting for this moment. Maybe this was just part of the game.”
Davis studied her expression for a moment. “Kara—”
“Think about it. It makes sense. The Angel never made a single mistake until me.”
“This could all just be a coincidence. We don’t know for sure this is the same person. It could be just some new creep copying the Angel’s MO. Until we do know this is the Angel, let’s not panic. We have Justine and Maggie. Ava’s safe and so are you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do. This is the same killer. The Bureau, we, framed an innocent man. Frankie Shepard was no more the Death Angel than I was. We screwed up the last time, Davis.”
Something didn’t add up. He wasn’t telling her everything. Kara wanted to ask him what he was hiding but he was too close for her exhausted mind to think clearly.
She looked away as his fingers cupped her face. In a moment, he would kiss her. She couldn’t let him touch her and shatter her fragile control. She tried to get to her feet but Davis stopped her.
