[Harbinger 01.0] Plain Jane

by Carolyn McCray

  “But how?” she asked. “How can they stay so cool?”

  As much as he wanted to get out of there, he couldn’t resist it when she looked at him with such respect and wonder. You might as well give him some crack.

  “It’s called purposeful forgetting.” How many times had Kent taught the technique to FBI recruits and Special Forces alike? He taught it to special agents to break serial killers and soldiers to be able to endure torture. “How can the cop sense you’ve got body parts tucked under the backseat, if you, yourself, have forgotten? If you don’t remember you’re a serial killer, it’s a little hard to give yourself away.”

  Nicole wanted to ask something, but Glick overrode her. “That doesn’t change the fact that we’re tossing his place as we speak.” The captain’s confidence grew. “They’ve already found human blood in the sink traps. Just waiting to match it to one of the victims.”

  “Great,” Kent said as he turned toward the exit. “Call me when you do, otherwise I’ll be out catching Plain Jane.”

  Glick blocked his departure. “You’re that sure Martin isn’t our guy?”

  That sure? Kent asked himself.

  Absolutely certain it wasn’t Martin from the moment he’d laid eyes on the puny man. He pointed toward the perp.

  “Look at him. Nervous. Palms sweating.” Kent geared up as he pointed toward the man’s hand on the table. “Look at his nails, for Christ’s sake. Way too long to be fishing around in someone’s belly.”

  “That’s it? This is where you impress us with your brilliant insight, then walk off, leaving us with the mess?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Kent said as he stepped around the captain.

  “Glad to see history can repeat itself over and over again. With the same outcome over and over again,” Glick said as he moved to block the profiler again. “Oh, wait. Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Repeating the same behavior but expecting different results?”

  Nicole stepped between them. “Captain!”

  “What? Harbinger doesn’t get to act this crazy, then expect us not to mention the fact he’s a pain in the ass.”

  “Sir!” Nicole might be freaking out, but Kent felt only amusement. Did Glick really think he could try some pop psychology crap and get Kent to comply?

  “If you don’t believe that’s Plain Jane in there, then prove it, Harbinger.”

  Kent threw a thumb toward the interrogation room. “I’m sure Desperado in there is well on his way to securing a confession.”

  “Just don’t bitch if another woman dies. I don’t want to hear your ‘I told you so’ routine again.”

  He was nearly out the door when Nicole grabbed his arm but directed her comments to the captain. “Can we please keep this conversation to the present problem?”

  “What? Harbinger’s gotten really good at pointing the finger after the fact.” Glick stared the profiler straight in the eye. “But not so good at standing up for what he believes in.”

  Okay, the captain had gone too far that time. “That is bullshit,” Kent snapped. “You can say all you want about my emotional veracity, but I speak my mind.”

  Glick took a step forward, forcing Nicole out from between them. “Usually as you are running out the door.”

  “Captain!” Nicole unsuccessfully tried to wedge in.

  “If you are going to go contrary to the evidence, Harbinger, then make a stand. Make it here. Make it now.”

  “Or?” Kent couldn’t wait to hear the answer.

  “Or? You’ll stay fucked-up forever, son.”

  CHAPTER 66

  Nicole stood horrified. What had gotten into Glick? And Kent was no better. He looked ready to punch the older man, and she wasn’t so sure the captain didn’t deserve it, at least just a little bit.

  Then Kent smiled. “Luckily, that’s how I like it.”

  With that, Kent was out the door. She was too stunned to follow. He had abandoned her, again.

  They had made such progress tonight. In the car she felt that maybe, just maybe, they could overcome the last two years. But now this. Typical Kent behavior. Why stick it out when he could run?

  She should have been livid with Kent, but instead she vented on Glick. “What was that about?”

  “He’s got to change. It’s not enough to just be a profiler, even if he’s a fucking-mind-blowing-brilliant one. At some point, he’s got to be a…”

  “A man?” Nicole asked bitterly.

  “I was going to say, ‘an adult.’ A citizen.” Glick’s face softened. “A partner.” When she did not reciprocate the look, her captain continued, sounding tired. “Until then, he’s just another Rasputin.”

  While Nicole searched for a retort, Glick turned up the audio feed from the interrogation room.

  CHAPTER 67

  Ruben changed the subject, keeping the suspect off-kilter. “So, Martin, how did your parents get along?”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine?” Ruben hadn’t expected that answer. This guy was trying to jack him around. That just wasn’t going to fly. Not tonight. “Really? Because I just got this faxed over.”

  Pulling out papers from a file, Ruben laid them all out in front of Martin. “Looks like the cops were regular visitors at your childhood home, breaking up your little family spats.”

  The perp shrugged. “Parents fight. It was no big deal.”

  Ruben shook his head and pointed to the emergency room photos. Some were pretty ugly. Others downright gruesome.

  “Your mother was hospitalized three times for fractures and at least once for a concussion.”

  The man averted his eyes and angled his body away from the photos. Shoving an especially explicit picture of a split lip, Ruben pressed harder. “So it didn’t have any lasting effect seeing your mom punched hard enough by your father that she swallowed three teeth?”

  The perp squirmed. “It was a misunderstanding.”

  “Oh, no. It was no misunderstanding. X-rays confirmed. It was three teeth. That time her lip took twenty-seven stitches to close it.”

  CHAPTER 68

  Despite her anger, Nicole couldn’t help being drawn to the window. Ruben was doing a pretty good job in there.

  Glick dialed down the audio. “The guy’s pitch-perfect for Ruben’s profile.”

  “But exactly the opposite of Kent’s.”

  The captain indicated the door that led into the interrogation room. “So go in there and prove him wrong.”

  “Which him?”

  Glick sighed. “Whichever one needs it.”

  With a set to her jaw, Nicole inserted the earpiece that Glick offered and entered the interrogation room. If Kent wasn’t going to hang around to prove this guy was a copycat, it was up to her.

  Torres was in the middle of a question when Nicole walked in. “Maybe Martin would rather talk about how he feels regarding women in authority?”

  Ruben went to stand up, but she put a firm hand on his shoulder. “No. Stay put,” she said, doing her best dominatrix impersonation. “I’m just here to watch.”

  Nicole strode to the back of the room and positioned herself in the perp’s blind spot. She and Ruben had danced to this tune before. Usually he leaned up against the wall while she played the ‘good’ cop, trying to help the perp. But not now. Not with a possible serial killer. A killer of women. Tonight she got to put the pressure on.

  Over their earpieces, Glick spoke in a somber tone. “Sorry, guys. It’s female blood all right, but it doesn’t match any of our victims.”

  Nicole wasn’t sure if she felt pleased or upset by the news. It hurt Ruben’s case, but supported Kent’s arrogant assessment.

  Glick continued, “We can’t count on the evidence to prove he’s Plain Jane. We’re going to need a confession.”

  By the look on Ruben’s face, Nicole knew they had a hard road ahead of them. Torres was as good as anyone in the room, well, as good as anyone except Kent. But getting a serial killer to confess?

  Unless you had a bac
kbreaking tonnage of evidence, it was hard. Unless the perp was an attention seeker, it was nearly impossible. Nicole sighed. It was absolutely impossible if the guy didn’t do it in the first place.

  Her partner rose to the occasion, though, and made a show of pressing his earpiece tighter against his ear, as if listening to a long discourse.

  Finally Torres lowered his hand, shaking his head. “The case is just stacking up against you. You should have cleaned those drains better, Martin.”

  The perp seemed genuinely unimpressed. “You don’t have anything or a DA would be here.”

  Good one, Nicole thought, but Ruben turned it right back on the guy. “Who do you think just told me that he’d be seeking the death penalty?”

  That got the perp’s attention. His eyes nervously flickered to the one-way mirror. “Then why aren’t they in here talking to me?”

  Ruben wagged his finger at Martin. “If they were willing to cut a deal, sure. But how’s that going to play in the press? The new DA making a deal with a serial killer?” Torres leaned back in his chair. “I wouldn’t wait on them.”

  Perhaps Ruben went too far, because the perp nearly peed his pants. “Maybe… Maybe, you know, I should think about getting a lawyer, then?”

  Nicole moved in before he actually requested counsel and invalidated his signed waiver. “Need protection? Feeling a little guilty, are we?”

  She hovered behind Martin, just out of sight. Yet the man seemed to gain resolve. Her eyes met Ruben’s.

  They were losing him. Soon some high-profile lawyer would take the guy’s case just for the headlines, and not only would they never get a confession, but a conviction was equally unlikely.

  Then a familiar, sultry voice came over her earpiece. It certainly wasn’t Glick.

  “Lean forward,” Kent repeated.

  Nicole’s eyes darted to the mirror. Had she really heard correctly? Had the profiler really come back? By the frown on Ruben’s face, he thought so as well.

  “Do it,” Harbinger encouraged.

  With a feeling slightly akin to a beer buzz, Nicole leaned in. Close enough she could smell the perp’s cheap cologne but was not quite touching his clammy skin.

  “Ask him how that feels,” the profiler prompted.

  She leaned in so that her lips were nearly brushing his ear lobe. “So do you like your women close?” The perp’s respiration rate skyrocketed. He did not answer.

  “Closer,” the voice in her ear whispered as if it were Kent she snuggled up to.

  Complying, Nicole brought her chest level with the perp’s cheek. “Or closer, Martin?”

  Flustered, the guy tried to keep his eyes facing straight forward. Like a compass to the north, he kept sneaking peeks at her cleavage.

  “Let that left breast just lean against him.”

  Ruben’s head turned sharply toward the window.

  A movement that was not missed by the perp.

  “Tell him you found blood mixed with semen.”

  Nicole did not hesitate. “No biggie. We found more blood in the shower drain pipes.”

  “You did not.”

  She tsked-tsked before she continued. “I was not done. It was mixed with jizz. I can only assume your jizz.” Nicole moved from the right side of his face to his left. “Did you go and beat off after you killed her?”

  CHAPTER 69

  “Get that left breast in play,” Kent urged Nicole even though he felt Glick’s disapproving presence. The profiler watched through the mirror as she leaned in.

  But her voice was sexy even muffled over the audio feed as she whispered to Martin. “Does it excite you? Proximity? Being this close?”

  The detective worked her magic, but this guy was scared. Even more scared than horny. They needed the big guns. And they needed them now. “I’m telling you, Nic. Get that left breast front and center.”

  Kent matched his respiratory rate to Martin’s. As her chest glanced the guy’s shoulder, his breaths skyrocketed.

  “Yes,” the man exhaled more than spoke.

  The profiler could sense that Nicole knew she had the upper hand, for her tone was coy. Her words soft. “You just wanted to be close.”

  The guy nearly shook with excitement. “Yes.”

  Martin was theirs. He was nothing more than clay to be molded. “Told you. That left one has magical properties, doesn’t it, Julio?”

  Kent smiled as Ruben glowered. Nicole, however, had overcome her reservations and was in such close contact with the perp that even he felt a twinge of jealousy.

  Nicole sounded as if it were pillow talk. “Tell me.”

  Breaking the mood that Kent and Nicole had so carefully cultivated, Torres cleared his throat loudly.

  Martin’s eyes darted nervously. “I can’t.”

  “You can,” the temptress encouraged.

  “I’m not saying another word.”

  As the perp crossed his arms, it looked like Nicole’s breast had lost its magic. However, Kent had more in his arsenal than just her mammary tissue. It would take Nicole trusting him, though. Completely. Unquestioningly.

  “If you won’t talk to me…”

  Nicole dutifully recited Kent’s words. “If you won’t talk to me…”

  “Then show me.”

  Again the detective parroted the statement. “Then show…” Nicole stumbled, then regained her footing. “Me.”

  The harsh metallic scraping of his chair announced that Ruben was up on his feet. “That will be enough.”

  Nicole must have known where Kent was leading and she seemed eager to follow. “Maybe you should leave the two of us alone?”

  The tall Hispanic clenched his fist. A gesture Kent was sure was meant for him and not the perp. “Never.”

  “Then sit down.” Nicole’s tone was dominating. It brooked no argument. Damn, but she had never been hotter, Kent thought.

  The perp must have thought so, too, as his respiratory rate ticked up and his cheeks flushed red.

  Once Ruben was back in his seat, Nicole continued in a cajoling tone, “We’ve got the evidence. We’ve got the break-in.” She sounded almost sympathetic, plus Kent couldn’t help noticing that the left breast was back in play. “You’re going to prison for a very long time, Martin.”

  In a move that even impressed Kent, Nicole stroked the perp’s cheek. “When’s the next time you’ll be this close to a woman again?”

  Martin looked at Ruben, who still fumed, then back to Nicole. He seemed uncertain, but at least he was not talking about getting a lawyer.

  The perp mumbled something.

  “Speak up, Martin. Tell me what you want.” Nicole encouraged like an experienced pro that wanted her money.

  Martin cleared his throat. “You’ll need to un-cuff me.”

  CHAPTER 70

  Nicole looked toward the mirror. Toward Kent. What the perp asked was well beyond regulations.

  “Is it any wonder people think I’m disturbed?” The profiler asked rhetorically in her ear. “If you want a confession, darlin’, you’ve got to go where the weirdo’s lead.”

  With a harsh glare at Ruben to keep him seated, Nicole pulled out her keys. With a click, the perp was un-cuffed.

  “There you are, Martin.”

  The man rubbed his wrists, then looked at Ruben. She had to give her partner credit, he looked away rather than -argue and upset the delicate rapport she had built with the creep. Finally Martin turned toward her, but did not approach.

  “You’re going to show me?” Nicole asked

  He licked his lips and nodded. “Oh, yeah.”

  The perp did not move. Kent remained silent on the other side of the glass. She was on her own. “Do you like them facing you or away?”

  “Facing me.”

  With hands outstretched, the perp came at her. Obviously intent on groping her.

  Nicole squirmed, waiting for Kent, but the profiler continued his silence. Had he abandoned her? Was she really going to let this pervert touch her? Her anx
iety increased as the man inched forward, almost as surprised that he was going to reach the Promised Land as she was.

  “Yeah, like he ever gets that action,” Kent joked.

  Relieved, but slightly pissed that the profiler had let it go that far, Nicole knocked Martin’s hand away. “I don’t think so,” she said. “This needs to be just like you did it.”

  The perp looked frustrated, and his jaw worked back and forth. The guy probably grew up with a retainer. Probably had a tooth guard at home by his bed. Nicole felt gratified. That was the type of insight that Kent might have had. Being this close to a psycho, the detective’s learning curve was steep. Nicole didn’t have to wait for Kent’s instructions. She knew what was needed next.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, Nicole circled the perp, running a finger along his shoulders, then his back. “This is what you want but never get, isn’t it?” She came around to face him, her finger still lightly touching his chest. “So close. But they always say ‘no,’ don’t they?”

  “Don’t forget the power of that left breast,” Kent reminded her.

  As she passed by Martin again, she made sure her breast made contact with his elbow. When the perp spoke, it was so husky that you could barely make out the words.

  “They shouldn’t have.”

  “No,” Nicole tried to sympathize. “They shouldn’t.”

  Martin’s voice firmed. “Turn around.”

  Nicole hesitated, suddenly not so sure this guy wasn’t Plain Jane. A possible murderer un-cuffed and inflamed.

  “Do it,” Kent’s instruction was blunt.

  Nicole turned around. “You like them to be surprised?”

  CHAPTER 71

  Good girl, Kent thought as Nicole completely turned her back on the freak. For a second there, he thought she might balk, but Nicole had done her duty.

  He knew how vulnerable the detective felt, yet those feelings just fueled this guy’s fantasy. In a few moments, Martin would completely forget he was in a police station, and they would see his true colors.