The Pretty Ones (A Kate Reid Novel Book 6)

by Robin Mahle

  “Run a facial recognition search on the web.” This solution seemed to just dawn on Kate.

  Nick nodded and smiled.

  “I’m on it.”

  “Hey, Kate?”

  “Yeah?” She stopped short of leaving.

  “If you need to go out there, I’ll authorize it.”

  “Thank you. I’ll let you know.”

  Upon return to her desk, Kate began searching the FBI’s FACE system. The Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluations services program accessed not only Next Gen, but also databases from several state and local law enforcement agencies, including motor vehicle divisions. At her fingertips, she had access to more than thirty million photos. However, that wasn’t the only place for her to look. Search engines also provided facial recognition searches, which in this instance, might be of more use. They would utilize a photo that had been uploaded and find similar images. This was where the real money was for Kate. The FBI’s systems would be useful in their own right, but she needed to know if any of these victims were online and on what sites.

  “You working on that case in LA?” Dwight approached with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. “Scarborough was mentioning that to me earlier.”

  “Yes. I’m searching for online images of the victims to find out if the unsub is posting pictures of them.”

  “Not a bad idea. Although, if he was, I doubt it would be easily accessible. I’m thinking if the guy’s smart, he’s using the dark web, if anything.”

  Kate stopped for a moment and closed her eyes. “Damn it. You’re right. A site with that type of imagery would surely be flagged and taken down by the ISP provider.”

  “And then reported, most likely,” Dwight continued.

  “And then reported.” She nodded.

  “Still, don’t give up. It’s a good lead and you have to start somewhere. Just remember, what you’re doing here is trying to develop a profile.”

  She turned around in her chair. “And that has everything to do with posting pictures online.”

  “It does, but you need to be looking into other areas of his personality. What do you know about him right now?”

  “The lead detective says he’s using a disguise. He found a fiber from a wig on the victim.”

  “Okay. That’s good. What else?”

  “He’s making up their faces and posing them in certain ways.”

  “Good. Start there. I’m not saying toss out everything you’re thinking as it relates to websites. There could still be something there. But work with what you know for a fact right now and build out from there.”

  “Of course.” Kate studied Dwight as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Thank you.”

  With a half-full mouth, he replied, “There’s still a few things I can teach you, Agent Reid.”

  “I’m well aware of that, Agent Jameson.” Kate smiled and returned to her computer.

  CHAPTER 7

  The keys rattled in Kate’s purse as she attempted to pull them out and open the garage door to her house–a house she still rented from an old woman and her son. And the lease was up soon and she still hadn’t given them notice. Putting it off much longer would be unfair to them, even though she still hadn’t come to a firm decision one way or the other.

  With the keys firmly in hand now, she opened the door and walked into the kitchen. The carrier bag on her shoulder was heavy with files and her laptop, and she managed to set it down on the breakfast bar. Bringing her work home was nothing new and, in fact, she often preferred it to the distractions that accompanied working in an office. She hadn’t gotten as far as she wanted and there was a killer on the loose. Only moments from walking inside, her cell phone, which of course was stuck at the bottom of her purse, rang.

  “Damn it.” Kate scrambled again and finally retrieved the phone. “Marc, hi. I just got home.”

  “Do you want me to call you back?” he asked.

  “No, no. It’s fine.” Kate kicked off her shoes and grabbed her computer, setting it on the kitchen table before pulling out a chair for herself. “So I got approval to help LAPD and the captain there pointed me to the lead detective. His name is Ray Sharpe.”

  “Don’t know him.”

  “Anyway, he sent me everything this morning and I’m really just starting to get into the meat of it. I’ll be developing a profile for him.”

  “So you’re not going to be handling the investigation yourself?”

  “No. Not this time. At least, not from what I gather. I’ll be working with LAPD.”

  “Well, that’s a start. What do you think about me pitching this story yet? You have anything worth noting?”

  She did but hesitated to say anything. It was much too soon and telling Marc that the suspect wore a disguise would certainly jeopardize the budding relationship she was developing with Sharpe. “No, nothing yet. And, Marc, you still need to understand that I can’t feed you details that aren’t being released by LAPD. I can’t jeopardize their investigation. You do understand that, right?”

  “Of course, yeah, I understand. And I wouldn’t ask you to. It’s just…”

  “I know. It’s just you’re anxious to move in on this. I get it. But not yet. Give me some time. Couple of days to get my head around this. I’ll keep you in the loop, okay?”

  “Okay. I appreciate that, Kate. I really do. But I have a feeling if another victim is found, it’ll be out of my hands. I’m sure it’ll get picked up nationally. And if it does, will you help me?”

  “I’ll do what I can. Right now, I’d like to help find this person before another victim turns up.” Kate turned her attention to the sound of a knock on her door. “Hang on a second. Someone’s at my door.” She made her way to peek through the security lens. “I’m gonna have to call you later, okay?”

  “Sure. Thanks, Kate. Bye.”

  Kate lowered her phone and opened the door. “Hey. Everything all right? Come in.”

  “Everything’s fine.” Nick walked inside. “Sorry to drop by unannounced. I was just on my way home and, well, you’re only a few minutes away. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “No. Not at all. Come have a seat.” Kate closed the door. “You want something to drink? I don’t have much. Soda, maybe wine. I think I’m out of beer.”

  “I’ll just take some water.” Nick followed her as she made her way into the kitchen. “I heard you talking to someone.” He began looking around. “Do you have company?”

  “No. I was on the phone with Marc Aguilar.” She noted his suspicion with curiosity before grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Here you go. You haven’t said why you’re here.” Kate walked toward the sofa and curled her leg up on one end of the couch while Nick sat on the adjacent chair and propped his elbows on his knees. He looked painfully serious and she began to worry. “What’s going on?”

  “I—um, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something and I guess, well, I guess I haven’t found the right time. And so, I thought maybe it’d be better to discuss it outside the office.”

  “Okay. You have my attention.”

  He held her gaze and finally began, “Last week, late last week, I was asked to meet with the section chief at BAU headquarters.”

  “I remember you mentioned that briefly in our meeting.”

  “What I failed to mention was the real reason why I was asked there.” He began rubbing his hands together and stared at them with great intent. “Kate, I was put up for senior unit agent.”

  “Well, that’s great. Why would you hesitate to share such good news with me?”

  “It would mean me leaving the WFO. I’d be transferred back to Quantico for the position.”

  “Oh.” She cast her gaze everywhere except on him. “Still, that’s fantastic news, right? I mean, you’d be in line for unit chief after that, right?”

  He nodded. “Eventually. If I get the position, it’d likely take effect after the first of the year.”

  Kate swallowed hard. “Wow. That’s like
what, less than eight weeks?” She nodded to the point that verged on obsessed. “So, what would happen to our team?”

  “Dwight, of course, would be the next in line. He’s ready for the spot.”

  “You already told him about this?”

  “I did.”

  “Oh. Okay. And how does he feel about it?”

  “He’s excited for me. He’s excited for the opportunity for him. And, you know, you’re not on probation now, or won’t be by that time, so you’d eventually be in line to follow in his shoes. And I’m sure they’d bring in another agent.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me when you told Dwight?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I was nervous. I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t be happy for you?”

  “No, not at all. I—I don’t know what I thought.”

  “Well, of course I’m thrilled for you. And for Dwight. You both deserve recognition for your work. You’ve put in the time. I know you have. And you’ve had to make some very difficult calls.”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at his hands, which he rubbed together with increasing agility. “You’re not pissed at me?”

  “What for?”

  “Because I told Dwight before I told you?”

  “I understand. I do. Things have been—difficult—between us these past couple of months. I know you’ve felt it too and, well, maybe this is the best thing for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, Nick. I’ll miss the hell out of you, but you need to do what’s best for you.”

  He pushed off the chair. “I’ll let you alone. I just wanted to come by and talk to you. I know I shouldn’t have waited so long, but…”

  Kate followed him to the door. She tried to hold a smile, but couldn’t. “Thank you for telling me. Goodnight, Nick. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He took hold of the door handle where her hand remained fixed and peered into her eyes. The two seemed to bore into one another with their stare. Nick leaned forward and reached his free hand around her back, pulling her close.

  She knew he was going to kiss her and a million thoughts raced through her mind all at once. It would be a mistake. She didn’t love him. She was sure she didn’t love him. But he was leaving and the possibility that he would no longer be there for her day in and day out, well, Kate wasn’t as strong as she thought she was.

  His lips finally touched hers and she didn’t pull away. In fact, quite the opposite. Kate pushed into him firmly and held him as close as she could. She wasn’t ready for things to change so dramatically, no matter how much she thought she was. The simple task of deciding whether or not to move from this house almost paralyzed her. Why couldn’t she act? What was stopping her when she’d been so damned determined to move on with her life and had, up until now.

  She was encouraging him and, with that, he held her more tightly and with greater passion than she’d expected. A moment’s regret flashed before her, but Kate couldn’t stop. Nick had been by her side for so long. Helped her through so much and she him. Why was she so afraid of this? She knew why, but those thoughts faded with an expediency like never before.

  Nick stopped and pulled back, staring at her, consuming her with eyes that held an infinite desire.

  He was asking for her permission without saying a word. And he would do as she wanted without saying a word, whatever that might be and however difficult. But she could see his longing and it mirrored her own.

  A tilt upward from the corner of her mouth. That was all it was, but it was all he needed to know that they wanted the same thing. Kate reached for his hand and turned away from the door, leading him to her bedroom.

  Inside, she freed her hair from the elastic band and let it fall against her shoulders.

  Nick caressed her silky locks and again held her close. “I didn’t think it would happen like this. I didn’t think it would happen at all.”

  “Do you want to stop?” she whispered, unbuttoning her blouse.

  “God no.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Nick sat up on the edge of the bed and bent down to reach his clothes.

  “What are you doing?” Kate pulled the blanket over her now chilled body.

  “I’m sure you’d like to get some rest. I was going to head home.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled.

  “You don’t have to leave.”

  “I know.” He stood to pull up his dress pants and turned toward her.

  What a strange feeling to see him this way, Kate thought. He was a handsome man, that she already knew and so did everyone else. But to see him standing in front of her, bare-chested and about to slip on his shirt; it was surreal. This was Nick. The man who convinced her to change her life and it seemed he was about to do it again, even if he hadn’t realized it.

  “I just think it’d be better to go on home so you can get some decent sleep.” He began to walk around the bed with his shoes in his hand and leaned in to kiss her. “Goodnight, Kate.” He held his palm against her cheek and smiled.

  Kate thought she spotted regret behind that smile but didn’t ask. Maybe he’d seen regret in her eyes too, although that didn’t seem to be exactly what she was feeling. She didn’t really know what to feel right now.

  “Don’t get up. I’ll show myself out.”

  Moments later, she heard the door close and had to get up anyway to re-lock it. She slipped on a t-shirt and walked into the living room where the headlights from his car moved across her front window.

  She locked the deadbolt, turned to the darkened room, and walked into the kitchen for some water. “Well, I sure as hell opened one giant can of worms.” She returned to the couch and turned on the television. It was then that she realized it was only 9:00 and turned on the TV to CBN just in time to watch Marc’s show. His on-screen persona had changed dramatically from his earlier days and she was glad for that. He seemed humble, sincere, even truthful, which was a feat for any journalist, she supposed.

  As she watched him deliver stories of no real significance, Kate’s phone buzzed on the side table. Upon reaching for it, she noted it was an incoming text from Nick.

  “You okay?”

  She typed her reply. “Yes. You?”

  “Yes,” he responded.

  “Get some sleep.” She sent another, but he didn’t reply.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Andre Knight stared at the ceiling of his bedroom in the darkness. A glance at the red glowing numbers on his clock showed it was one a.m. He’d come to bed more than an hour ago and had yet to find sleep. Dina had, though, and she was snoozing right now as he struggled to control the thoughts in his head. He turned to look at his wife. She was facing away from him and curled up on her side. That was how she always slept. He likened it to a child. She was a petite woman too, which made her appearance all the more child-like. He turned back to the ceiling and flashes of the ones whose lifeless bodies he’d seen appeared as though on a slide show.

  He’d begun to lose control and he would have to do something to rein it in. It was on the news almost nightly. Although, in this city, murders were always making headlines. So much so that he’d begun to think people probably stopped paying attention. Except for Dina. She’d made the comment the other night and Andre nearly shit his pants.

  But he paid attention to the stories. He knew the cops had no leads. That was one benefit to living here. No one talked. The oil on his shirt, though. That could’ve been disastrous and he would need to take greater precautions.

  At least his job was a good cover. He could use the old excuse of having to work late and Dina would never question it. She had absolute, unwavering trust in him. And he used that to his advantage.

  For now, Andre would need to cool his heels. Let some time pass before getting back out there. He had to be smart—smarter than the cops. Wait for the story to die down, but that was out of his control.

  So Andre would go to work tomorrow and the next day and the next. He would wait. But there was only s
o much patience in him.

  He began to turn on his side when he heard Dina’s voice.

  “You still awake, baby?”

  “I’m okay. You go back to sleep.” He felt her hand caress his shoulder and gently slip away as she returned to dreamland.

  CHAPTER 8

  Raquel’s skin glistened from the heat inside the nightclub, but as she and Vanessa grew tired of waiting for a cab and decided to walk home, the cool night air brought her relief. High heels dangled between their fingers, and the young women laughed and stumbled their way along the two-mile walk.

  “It’s cold as shit out here, right?” Vanessa rubbed her free hand along the opposite arm. “We should’ve just called Uber.”

  “Stop your bitchin’. We’ll be home in fifteen minutes. Besides, it’ll help you sober up.”

  “Me? What about you? You’re fucking drunk as shit.” Vanessa continued alongside her friend in the early hours of the morning. The street lamps shone down on them, illuminating their breath as they exhaled.

  “Fuck!” Raquel grabbed her right foot. “I fucking stepped on a piece of glass!” She reached out to Vanessa for balance. “I gotta sit down and pull this shit out.”

  Vanessa made a clicking sound with her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Come on. Don’t be such a fucking baby.”

  “I’m sorry, do you see this blood?” Raquel raised the bottom of her foot.

  “All right. Shit. Over here. We can sit down over here.” Vanessa helped her to a low wall that bordered the sidewalk and a vacant piece of land where a building once stood.

  The girls perched atop the masonry wall and began to examine Raquel’s foot.

  “We should’ve waited.” Raquel cringed as she gripped the shard of glass with her index finger and thumb.

  “We should’ve kept our shoes on is what we should’ve done.” Vanessa scanned the sidewalk. “All the fucking broken beer bottles and shit.” She looked at Raquel again. “Just take it out so we get home. I’m getting really cold now.” Her tiny form-fitting dress offered little in the way of warmth but always got her free drinks in the bars. And for a twenty-two year old with only a part-time job and taking a few online college classes, that meant something.