by Nancy Mehl
The closed-off alley was usually quiet. Only once in a while did someone from the dry cleaners or the insurance company in the same strip mall come out to throw trash away or grab a smoke. The only other smoker seemed to be a part-time guy who worked for the cleaners. He’d never talked to her, just looked at his phone while he smoked. That was okay with Laura. She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. The last one had hit her, and she’d promised herself she’d never put herself in a situation like that again. Besides, now that she was a Christian, she wanted something new. Someone new. Someone who would treat her with respect and love her even if she wasn’t perfect.
She knew smoking was bad for her. She’d told the person who prayed with her at church this morning that she was worried she couldn’t stop smoking right away. She could still see the kind smile on the woman’s face. What was her name? Shirley? Yeah, that was it. “Give it to God, honey,” she’d said. “He loves you just the way you are. He’ll give you the strength to get free when the time is right. He’s the deliverer, you know. You’re not.” She’d put her hand on top of Laura’s head and prayed that God would deliver her from smoking. As she prayed, something had flowed through Laura. It was like . . . warm, liquid love.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She wanted to believe God wasn’t disappointed in what He was getting. She’d gotten involved in drugs and drinking when she was younger. Even though she was clean now, her mistakes had caused a rift with her parents. After they divorced, Laura tried to reconcile with both of them. Her mother lived in another city, but they kept in touch by phone. Her father remarried, and Laura had to share him with a woman named Sheila. Although Sheila pretended to like her, Laura knew better. She tolerated Laura because she had to. Sheila was busy trying to add her father to her own family. Laura didn’t fit in anymore. She’d given up a couple of years ago. Her father had never tried to contact her after that.
She wiped a tear from her cheek. She’d gone to church only because Amy had invited her. She liked Amy and wanted a friend. It was fun getting dressed up and going out with someone—even if it was to church. First was what Amy called praise and worship. The music had touched her heart. She’d looked around at other people, and they seemed so happy. It was as if the music was alive. As if it seeped inside her somehow and touched all the hurt in her life.
Then came the sermon. She’d gone to church once. Before her mother and dad divorced. They went on a vacation and visited an uncle in New Mexico. They all went to church one Sunday, and the minister talked about all the rules people were supposed to follow. He’d talked for only a few minutes before Laura tuned him out. She was already having a hard time doing everything her mother told her to do. She knew she couldn’t follow all the rules the minister talked about. But the pastor on Wednesday night talked about a God who already knew everyone’s weaknesses. He wasn’t asking her to be perfect. He was just asking her to allow Jesus to love her.
Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself at the front of the church with several others. Even though she couldn’t explain it, when she walked out the front door of the church building, she knew she was different. That life was different.
Church had been a joy this morning, and she could hardly wait to go back this evening. Amy couldn’t pick her up because she would be coming straight from work. Laura was grateful she would have time to go home, wash up, and change clothes before meeting her tonight. She felt grungy.
She took another long drag on her cigarette before dropping it on the ground and stamping it out. She usually smoked down to the filter, but today she just didn’t want to. She walked back to the restaurant door and started to open it. She stopped at the last second and looked around her. She thought she’d seen something out of the corner of her eye, but no one was there.
Once inside, she entered the dining room and smiled at Amy. She could hardly wait until six o’clock. Life was changing, and she welcomed it with all her heart.
Adam hurried back to his car. She smoked. He wasn’t thrilled about that. This was a holy sacrifice. How could a smoker be holy? He’d only carried cigarettes and a lighter with him on his hunts because a lot of drifters smoked. But this sacrifice had to be different.
As he drove away he argued with himself, but in the end, he decided to go forward with his plan. His father had smoked the last few years of his life, and even though it killed him in the end, Adam was proud to be his son. If he rejected this sacrifice because she smoked, did that mean he was saying something was wrong with his own father? The man who had helped make him who he was today? No. The sacrifice would happen, and it would be perfect.
The trio had finished eating their lunch hours ago, and Harrison still hadn’t returned. Alex was poring over Walker’s work performance records yet again when she suddenly closed her file and stood. “Where’s that page from The Book that talks about the sixth sacrifice?”
Monty sorted through some pages in front of him, then pulled one out and handed it to her. “Something new strike you?” he asked.
“Not exactly.” She searched through the page until she found what she was looking for. “I just want to go back to what The Book says about the sixth victim. ‘This sacrifice will be holy, and the one who offers it will be elevated in the Master’s kingdom.’ We were talking before about how this sixth sacrifice will be holy.” She stabbed at the page with her index finger. “So what’s holy to Walker?”
“Trains?” Monty asked.
Alex leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. “But he knows the trains are being watched closely as well as Union Station. And I know we said some form of a train can be found at zoos and amusement parks, but those wouldn’t qualify as holy.”
“He could use an out-of-state train, but I don’t think he’ll leave this area,” Logan said. “For something this important, he’ll stay within his comfort zone.”
“I agree. But I think this decision will connect to The Book more than to a train. I could be wrong.”
“So what does that mean?” Logan asked.
Alex was quiet for several seconds before looking up at Logan, her eyes locked on his. “I don’t know,” she said. “But we’d better hurry and figure it out. We’re running out of time.”
34
Alex stared at the files on the table. Should they go through them again? Had they missed something? As she considered their options, SSA Ortiz came into the room.
“I’ve got a call for you, Agent Donovan,” she said. “A Randall Burkhart? He says he has some information for you.”
“That’s the cousin,” Logan said.
Alex nodded. “This would be a good time to pray, Preacher.”
“I’m way ahead of you.”
Alex followed Ortiz to her desk. She pointed to her phone. “Line three,” she said.
Ortiz walked away, so Alex sat down in her chair. She picked up the phone and pressed the line Ortiz had indicated.
“This is Supervisory Special Agent Donovan,” she said.
“I was told I needed to talk to you,” a man’s voice said. “I’m Randall Burkhart. My cousin is Adam Walker?”
“Yes, Mr. Burkhart. I know who you are. What can I do for you?”
“The police questioned me about Adam, but I couldn’t help them. I only met him once when we were kids, and I had no idea where he might be.”
“Yes, they told us they’d talked to you.”
Burkhart paused. “I don’t know why law enforcement is interested in Adam, but I assume it’s important. So after talking to the police, I looked in the attic and found my mother’s papers. I went through them, hoping to find some kind of information that might help. I’m not sure, but I . . . I may have found something.”
Alex could feel her heart beating in her chest. “Tell me about it,” she said.
“It seems there’s a cabin. Our family owned it once, I believe. I found a note about it. It reminded me of a conversation my parents had when I was a kid. More of an argument, I guess. My dad was against giv
ing away a cabin—one that my grandfather built—but my mom insisted. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time. But now I wonder if they were arguing about giving the cabin to Adam’s mother.” He paused for a moment. “This may not pan out. I hope I’m not wasting your time. I just thought . . .”
“You’re not wasting our time, Mr. Burkhart,” Alex said. “This may be a big help. What did the note say?”
“It’s like . . . well, like my mother was documenting a transaction. It basically declares that she’d transferred ownership of a cabin to my aunt Agnes. There’s no deed. Nothing legal. Just a statement. I can’t explain it except that my grandfather may have built the cabin on someone else’s property. Not illegally or anything. Someone may have allowed him to rent the land so he could build a cabin. I understand that used to happen a lot.”
Alex’s hope began to fade. “You don’t know the location of this cabin?”
“Not exactly, but my mother’s note mentions the south side of Lake Lotawana. A lot of nice homes are in other areas around that lake. A friend of mine has a house there, and he told me some of the old cabins have been abandoned. The county is tearing them down to make room for new construction. That means this cabin might not even exist anymore. Sorry I can’t be more encouraging, but I’m fairly sure Adam’s family lived there at some point. Maybe that’s where he is now.”
Alex tried to control her excitement. After asking Burkhart if he could tell her anything else, she thanked him and hung up. Then she hurried back to the table where Logan and Monty waited and brought them up to speed.
“Shoot,” Logan said. “I was hoping he could tell us something more solid. But if there really is a cabin, Walker could be there. Maybe his family too.”
“Could be,” Monty said. “But without a clue of some kind, it would be hard to find.”
Alex stepped over to the map on the corkboard and drew a circle. “Burkhart said it was near Lake Lotawana. In the woods. Probably on the south side.” But even that left a large search area. Alex stared at the map, looking for anything that would put them closer to finding Walker. Then she walked over to the door and gazed around the larger room in the CP. Except for Ortiz, some analysts, and them, the building was deserted. She’d never seen a CP with so few agents working. She realized even the people from the CDC were gone.
“I’d rather be out helping find Walker or his sixth target instead of sitting here, doing nothing,” she said firmly. She turned around to stare at Logan and Monty. She could see the frustration in their expressions.
“Well, we’re not doing much good here,” Logan said. “I can’t keep looking at this stuff. I think I’ve memorized most of it.”
“Look, this is the only lead we have. A cabin on the south side of Lake Lotawana. We need to get someone out there.” She selected a number from her directory and tapped it.
“Are you calling Harrison?” Monty asked. “Isn’t he helping the police contact area churches? I’m not sure—”
Alex held up her hand to stop Monty from talking. She didn’t need his permission to call Harrison. This was important.
They may have found the Train Man.
35
Logan didn’t say anything as Alex called Harrison, but he tended to agree with Monty. Finding some old cabin that could have been torn down years ago wasn’t as important as saving a woman’s life and stopping Walker from releasing his superbug.
Alex put her phone on the table and pressed the speaker so they could all hear. When Harrison answered, he sounded rushed and aggravated. Alex quickly explained about the cabin.
“We don’t have time to try to find a record of this cabin, especially on a Sunday,” she told him. “So I think you need to send some people out to Lake Lotawana and see if you can locate it.”
He was quiet for a moment before cursing loudly. “Listen to me, Agent Donovan. We’re trying to warn churches in Walker’s hunting ground. If we can stop him from this next killing, we’ve stopped him from using that virus . . . at least for a while. He has to have the last sacrifice before he begins to infect people. I don’t have the time or the personnel to send on some wild goose chase.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I appreciate the effort, but this isn’t important right now.”
“I disagree, sir,” Alex said sharply. “Maybe that’s where Walker and his parents lived after they left Kansas City and before he and his father lived alone in Independence. And if that’s the last place his mother was with him . . . I think it could be his sacred place. The spot where he plans to offer his holy sacrifice.”
“But you don’t know that,” Harrison said, anger obvious in his tone. “And you’ve said yourself it’s far more likely he’d stay in his comfort zone.”
“I don’t know, but let us check it out,” Alex said, pleading now. “The three of us. We’re just sitting here. We could do it.”
“You’re not field agents. You’re behavioral analysts. You don’t belong out there.”
“Is that your final word?” Alex asked.
“Yes.”
Harrison hung up. Alex stared at her phone as if she’d never seen it before. Finally, she clicked it off. “He’s wrong,” she said. “We need to find that cabin.”
“Absolutely not,” Logan said just as sharply as she’d spoken to Harrison. “He told us to stay here, Alex. And he’s right. I know you’ve spent a lot of time in the field, but now you’re part of the BAU. What you’re suggesting . . . We could lose our jobs.” He hated telling her not to follow her gut. He couldn’t be sure she was wrong. What if she wasn’t? Still, he couldn’t disobey Harrison’s order. None of them could.
“I agree with Logan,” Monty said. “The Bureau has assigned agents to different divisions. We each have to do what we’re called to do. If we don’t, we cause confusion. You gave him the information. We need to stay here and wait.”
“He may think about what you said and change his mind,” Logan added. “Let’s just sit tight for a while, okay?”
The expression on Alex’s face changed. Logan had seen this look before. Stoic. Unreadable. He didn’t care as long as she listened. If she went against the ASAC she could be out of the FBI. They ran a tight ship. Going against orders wasn’t looked upon kindly.
“Okay,” she said. “I just hope he does change his mind.” Her eyes locked with Logan’s. “I’m right about this.”
“Maybe you are. But we can’t go rogue. Let the system work.” He glared at her. “I mean it, Alex. Leave it alone.”
She walked to the table with the coffee and poured a cup, then stayed there for a while, just sipping her drink. Finally, she turned around. “Let’s at least talk about this cabin. I doubt he’d take his wife and kids to a ramshackle place like that, but it sounds like he may have spent time there as a child. How would that affect him?”
Monty started to answer her, but Alex shook her head. “Hey, can you hold that thought? I need to make a run to the little girl’s room. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
After Alex left, Monty leaned closer to Logan. “Do you think she’s right?”
“I don’t know. The cabin could be important. Unfortunately, it’s not my job to determine what’s important and what isn’t. We’ve got to follow orders. We have no choice.”
“But it is our job to understand this guy—to understand him so the agents in the field can find him.”
Logan shook his head, but his gut told him Alex was right. She had an amazing instinct for understanding criminals.
“What should we do?” Monty asked.
“I think I’ll call Harrison myself and try to impress on him that this could be really important. Ask him again to find some people to send out to the lake.” He shuffled through the papers on the table. “The KCPD looked up Walker’s car registration, right?”
Monty nodded. “I think he has a silver Honda Accord, although none of the alerts have turned it up. My guess is he may be using a different car now. He has to know we’re looking for it.”<
br />
“Yeah, here it is. A 2016 model.” Logan stared at the information for a moment, then looked at Monty. “I agree with you. Maybe he parked it at the cabin. If we spotted it, we’d have that clue we need.”
“Look, Logan, I’m willing to stick my neck out if I have to. But this does seem like a wild goose chase. This cabin might not be standing anymore. We’re going on just a hunch.”
“I know, but it’s Alex’s hunch, and she’s done some incredible work in the past.” He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before saying, “Walker is looking for a holy place for the last sacrifice. What if Alex is right? What if . . .”
Logan felt like a diver getting ready to jump off a high board. Alex was in the water, and Logan was next in line to take a leap.
“Walker’s mother had disappeared by the time he and his father moved to Independence, the place he lied about Agnes leaving them. What if the family lived in that cabin those missing five years? And what if Charles killed Agnes?”
He took in a deep breath. “And what if Adam saw that killing as somehow holy based on The Book’s teachings? Maybe something like that could have set a twelve-year-old on the path Walker’s on now. Propelled him toward this book his family believed in. And now, here he is, fulfilling his so-called destiny. So he takes this sixth victim to the place where everything changed for him. He offers her as a sacrifice where he became the Train Man. Everything has come full circle.”
Monty leaned back in his chair and studied Logan. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “A lot of what ifs in your supposition. Not sure this has anything to do with behavioral analysis.”
