by Mary Eason
“What’s happened?”
“Let’s talk in your office.”
Davis’s gaze slid to Kara’s. He looked worried. When they reached the office, Ryan closed the door.
“Someone leaked the names of the latest victims to the press. The switchboard’s been going ballistic. Ed hit the roof. He’s been screaming for me to get you in here.” Ryan looked at Kara. “I’m sorry about this.”
She nodded silently. What could she say? This was their worst nightmare come to fruition.
“How is this possible? None of the information on this case has been logged into the database,” Davis said at last, running a frustrated hand across his eyes. “So how did they find out the names? You checked out all the personnel working the crime scenes, right?”
“Yes. Nothing. They all check out, yet obviously we have a leak somewhere,” Ryan told him. “But it’s not all bad news. There’s been a breakthrough. Well, at least I think it’s a breakthrough.”
A small amount of hope relaxed some of the worry from Davis’s expression. “Thank God. I could use a little good news before facing Ed.”
“I thought so too.” Ryan smiled sympathetically at his friend. “I had Agent Griffin talk to Jessica’s friends as well as the people she attended classes with at UV. From all accounts her former boyfriend is a dead end. He left the area after they broke up and has since married, but the man she mentioned by the name of Alec looks promising.”
Davis sank down to his chair. “What did you find out about him?”
“You were right. He was her professor at UV. He teaches Jessica’s Criminal Behavior class. According to Molly Brighton, Jessica’s best friend, she dated the guy a few times. In fact, she had a crush on him as well. Apparently you weren’t the only one. Molly said Jessica had a thing for older men…sorry, Davis. Anyway, Molly told Sean that Jessica was the one to pursue the relationship in the beginning. But she said after a few dates, Jessica found his behavior a little disturbing.”
“In what way?” Davis asked.
“She said he was getting too possessive. So Jessica broke it off romantically and decided they should be friends instead. From little things Jessica told her, Molly had the impression the professor didn’t agree with that decision. According to Molly, he’d made some threatening comments but Jessica insisted it was just his way and nothing she couldn’t handle.”
“Wow!” Davis blew out a long breath. “This is big. We need to bring the guy in for questioning.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the problem,” Ryan added.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s disappeared. According to the university, he called in the day Jessica disappeared, claiming to have a family emergency. But Davis, the guy has no family. At least, no close relatives. His parents lived in Buckner Ridge—that’s outside Richmond—but they’re both deceased. I’m sending Sean over to check their house, which Alec still owns. Maybe he’s hiding out there.”
“It makes sense. He could have gotten the names of the victims somehow through Jessica. Maybe used her ID to log into the Bureau’s system. But what doesn’t fit is his connection to me. I’ve never heard of the man,” Davis pointed out then studied Ryan’s expression closer. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
“Oh yeah. And you’re going to love this part. Professor Alec Harrison’s fingerprints are in our database. He’s been a guest lecturer at the Academy.”
“You’re kidding!” Davis said in astonishment.
“No. I’m checking to see if maybe he lectured there around the same time Frankie attended.”
Davis got to his feet. “That would certainly fit the missing pieces together nicely. Jeez, I hope you’re right, because we could certainly use a break like this. Good work, Ryan. Have you told Ed any of this yet?”
“Nope. I wanted to share it with you first. You look like you could use a little good news,” Ryan told him with a wry grin.
“You’re right, I could.” He headed for the door. “We’d better go. Kara, will you wait for me here?”
Kara’s heart lifted for the first time in days. Davis looked exhausted beyond what any human being should have to withstand. He waited for her to nod, gave her a weary smile then followed Ryan out of the office.
Left alone, Kara glanced around, noticing for the first time there weren’t any personal items of any note here. But then, Davis and Rachel had been divorced for years, and he didn’t know about Ava’s existence. Still, the office offered no personal insight into the man who occupied it.
The minute Davis walked back into his office, Kara knew his meeting with Ed hadn’t gone well.
“What happened?” He didn’t answer right away but grabbed his laptop and briefcase and turned to her.
“I’m being asked to excuse myself from the case entirely,” he told her quietly.
“What? Why? Surely Ed doesn’t still think—”
“No, but he’s feeling pressured by his superiors after what’s happened today. Come on. Let’s get out of there.”
Davis didn’t stop until they reached the parking garage. “God, Kara, I can’t believe this is happening. This damn case! It’s like a curse!”
“Tell me what he said,” she asked, watching him lean against the car tiredly.
Instead, he handed her a copy of the Post. The front page headline screamed VCIRD head had intimate relationships with Angel’s latest victims.
“Oh my God.”
“There’s more. There are some things I haven’t told you about the case, Kara.” In her heart, Kara had always known Davis held something back.
“What things?”
“After the first case broke—Amanda Shelly—the forensics came back on the scarf used. Some of the blood found there didn’t match the victim’s.” He turned to look at her.
“The killer?” But she knew this wasn’t the case.
“It matched Amy Sinclair, the first Angel victim. He’s using the same scarves from the original killings.”
“But how—”
“The evidence was put into storage after the case officially closed. Someone got to it. The only thing missing was the scarves connected to the Angel case. Each scarf used corresponds to the original victim.”
“How did someone manage to get evidence from that case?”
“How do you think?” he asked at last, his gaze holding hers.
“Someone who works for the Bureau, who worked on the original case, took the scarves.”
“Yes. And if this gets leaked to the press, can you imagine the fallout? They’ll crucify me,” he added bitterly.
“But what about the new lead? Jessica’s professor? It could easily have been him, right? What did Ed say about that?”
Davis released a ragged breath. “He’s hopeful, but that didn’t sway his decision. What we really need right now is a miracle.”
“Davis, Ed knows you aren’t involved in this. He’s just trying to protect his own skin.”
“Maybe. I can’t say that I blame him. But there’s something else you should be aware of, Kara. Everyone around the office believed that Jessica and I were having an affair. The day I flew to El Paso to come to you, Jessica left the office with me. I took her straight home so she could get some rest, but I was the last person to see her alive.”
Kara remembered something Ryan had said about Jessica’s disappearance.
“Ryan said she went missing later that night?”
“He was just trying to protect me. He wouldn’t know when she went missing. But if she did go missing sometime that day then the timeline matches the fourth Angel victim perfectly and that makes me the last person to see her alive, except for the killer.”
“So because people choose to believe office gossip, and because you were the last person to see her, Ed wants you off the case?”
“Yes. Hell, Kara, if this wasn’t happening to me, I’d believe I was involved as well.”
“It’s just too convenient, Davis. The Angel is playing with yo
u the same way he’s been playing with me. The only question is, what do we do about it?”
“Ryan is still on my side, thank God. He’ll be heading up the case officially from here on out. He’ll keep us updated and hopefully we’ll find this professor and he’ll provide us with some answers, but I can’t just sit around and wait for the next victim to go missing.”
“Then we have to keep trying.”
“No, Kara.” Davis reached for her hand. “No, it’s too risky for you. I told you, I want you to go to Ava until this is all over.”
“We’ve been through this already.”
“Kara, do you understand how serious this is? The Angel isn’t going to stop this time. He’s going to finish the game.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? I’ve been involved since the beginning! I’m just as much a part of this thing as you. I’m involved, okay! He’s kept me in the game for six years. I’m not leaving now!”
“Dammit, why do you have to be so stubborn?” he asked with only a hint of a smile. He looked exhausted and helpless.
“All right. But you’re not leaving my side until he’s caught, and if things get out of hand like before, if there’s even a hint he’s getting close to you, then I’m calling the whole thing off.”
“Davis, he is coming for me. We both know that. But that puts us ahead of the game, don’t you think? We know what his next move will be.”
“Which puts you squarely in the path of a serial killer again.”
“I’ve been here before. I can take care of myself.”
He ran a hand across his eyes in what was becoming an all-too-familiar gesture. “It’s so hard to think clearly right now. So much has happened. Seeing you again, knowing I have a daughter as well, it makes me feel defenseless. Dear God, I hope I don’t disappoint you both.”
“You won’t.” She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles, her eyes never leaving his, showing him all the love she felt for him. The love she once thought she’d lost. “We’ll get him. I know it doesn’t seem like it now but someday this will end. And when it does…” Kara stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. Davis watched her as if the weight of the world hinged upon her next words. “When it does, I want us to be together as a family too,” she said with confidence.
“You really mean that?” he asked in amazement. He sounded so uncertain and so vulnerable.
“Yes. Yes, I do. Davis, I love you. And I know you love me. I’m tired of fighting it. I don’t want to. I don’t want to live without you in my life a moment longer. I love you and I want to try—” With a desperate sound, he pulled her into his arms, his lips claiming hers once more, capturing the rest of her words with his kiss. For the moment, Kara gave herself up to the tender passion she found there in his arms.
Davis at last ended the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers. “I love you too, sweetheart. It’s good to have you back on my side again, Kara. I’m sorry you have to become part of this again. I’m sorry I’m under investigation. I’m sorry our entire relationship will be put in the spotlight once more. But thank you for standing beside me. It’s more than I deserve.”
There was so much love in his eyes Kara found it difficult to breathe properly. She just wanted to be alone with him, but more than that, she wanted this nightmare to be behind them so she could spend the rest of her life with him.
“Call me crazy but I still can’t help but believe this key of Frankie’s is important to the case. We should focus on that,” Davis told her once they got into the car. He wanted to remain positive for her but it was becoming impossible when each new piece of evidence seemingly linked him to the killer.
“Yes, that’s probably a good idea.”
He started the engine and smiled at her, a little more of his confidence returning. It helped knowing she would be beside him through it all. No matter what happened.
“I may no longer be part of the official investigation but there’s nothing keeping me from performing one of my own, now is there?”
The Anders’ ranch was a sprawling, hundred-acre piece of prime real estate outside of Donovan’s Corner.
It had been an equestrian ranch at one time, but over the years the Anders sold off most of their stock.
“Victoria told me Frankie loved coming here to ride when he was a kid.”
Kara turned in her seat, watching him as he drove along the blacktop leading to the property.
“You did a good thing, Davis—keeping in touch with Frankie’s friends and family. You made them feel important in all of this. No one else did that for them.”
“Honestly, I felt bad for them. They were victims as well. The press pretty much butchered them, saying they should have seen this coming, but how could they? Especially in light of what we know now.”
Davis had called ahead to let Victoria know they would be stopping by. She made sure the staff knew to expect them since her parents were out of the country.
“According to Victoria, the tree where she found the key should be on the southeast side of the ranch. We’ll have to walk. You up to it?”
“Don’t worry about me. Usually when I’m home I jog five miles every day. I’ll keep up.”
They found the tree in question easily enough thanks to Victoria’s description. She said it leaned to one side and had an enormous split running halfway down the tree.
Davis watched as Kara stood close and tried to read something from the area.
“Anything?” he asked finally, and saw her shake her head.
“Sorry, but it’s hard to imagine the same person I feel here as being involved with so much brutality. This man was sweet.”
Davis moved closer to the tree to examine its crevices.
“Nothing.” He took the key from his pocket and handed it to Kara. “Here, try this. Maybe something will come to you from it.”
But nothing did. Frankie Shepard was becoming nothing but a series of contradictions. The sweet person Victoria spoke about didn’t fit with the super-intelligent person capable of such random acts of cold-blooded murder.
“Davis, none of this adds up.” She handed him back the key.
“I know. It kind of reinforces what we know already. There’s no way Frankie did these murders. At least not on his own.” He walked around the tree, looking for any sign that the earth might have been disturbed. But after so many years, there would be nothing left if it had.
“The files we have on Frankie all say his intelligence was off the charts. But the person I’m feeling here is just an average young man. Did you ever talk to his mother and Victoria about this?”
“Yes, it came up several times and they were both shocked. His mother wasn’t aware of Frankie having an unusually high IQ, but then she worked a lot, so chances are she wouldn’t have known everything happening in her son’s life. But Victoria actually laughed at me when I told her about it. She remembered him as sweet like you indicated, but she said he struggled with his grades. His school records seemed to back her up on this. Frankie was an average student at best.”
“So how does an average student become a genius overnight? And how do we even know what his IQ tested out to be?”
“Because we have proof, Kara. Frankie tried to join the Bureau, remember? They do IQ testing on all applicants.”
“I just can’t picture Frankie as a genius.”
“Me neither, but according to the records he was.” Davis stopped in front of her. She had that stubborn look in her eye she got when she challenged something he said.
“Do we know who administered the test?”
“Kara, let it go. It’s legit. There’s no way he could have faked the test. You’re going down a dead end.”
“Maybe.” She still didn’t believe him. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to find the mistake. There’s one here somewhere, Davis. Something got overlooked.”
She was fighting so hard to prove him innocent. Davis took her in his arms and held her close.
“It’s ok
ay. I know you’re trying. It’s there, I know it is, Kara. For now, I think we both need to get some rest. And I, for one, want to talk to my daughter.”
“We can’t go back to the house. The press will be all over it by now.” He answered her unspoken question as they headed in the opposite direction from his quiet neighborhood.
When he turned onto the familiar street she’d once called home in the Westminster area, she looked at him in surprise.
“What are we doing here?”
He stopped the car in front of her former apartment building. “We’re going inside.” He smiled at her confusion but didn’t say anything further. Davis got out of the car and opened the door for her, but Kara didn’t budge.
“Please, Kara. Just trust me.”
She took his hand and stepped out of the car. Painful memories of all the times they’d spent together in her tiny apartment crowded in. She couldn’t speak. She waited quietly beside him as he unlocked the door and held it open for her.
Everything about the apartment remained the same as the day she’d left it that last time. She walked through each room of her former home while Davis stood silently waiting for her by the door.
“Why?” She somehow managed to get the word out over the painful lump that formed in her throat.
His expression said it all. For the first time she truly understood how difficult her leaving had been for Davis.
“Oh Davis, I’m so sorry.” She ran into his open arms. “I’m so sorry.”
He held her as if he believed she might leave him again. “I know. It’s not your fault.”
“It is!” She realized she was crying. “I didn’t listen to what you were trying to tell me. All I heard was you weren’t coming with me. You weren’t choosing me.” She pulled back a little so that she could see his expression. At the sight of her tears, Davis’s face crumbled.
“Don’t. Please don’t cry, Kara. Please.”
She brushed away the tears and tried to tell him the things she needed him to understand. “I’m okay. I’m okay, Davis. Please, just listen.”
“I’m listening.” And he was. He was hanging on every one of her words.
