by Debra Webb
All five, including his former step-daughter, had been found alive because of Jess’s unrelenting determination and innate skill at looking beyond the routine.
He shook his head, kicked himself again for taking the easy way out. Andrea was still his step-daughter. Their relationship hadn’t changed just because the marriage to her mother had ended. On some level he had convinced himself that the connection to a victim was part of the reason he’d needed Jess’s help on that case. Or maybe somewhere deep inside he’d recognized that Jess had always been better at everything than him.
Instead of offering her the position of deputy chief over a new unit, he should have stepped aside and urged the powers that be to offer her his position.
Dan scrubbed a hand over his face and blew out a breath wrought with frustration and mounting uncertainty.
“What the hell are you doing?” Wells needed him and he was hiding in the men’s room feeling sorry for himself. Anger, mostly at himself, howled with the need to make this right. To rescue Wells and stop the Player when no else had been able to.
Squaring his shoulders, he straightened his tie. Time to stop wallowing in guilt and to do his job.
The Bureau had backed off to some degree until, they insisted, there was evidence this was, in fact, the Player – the deviant Jess felt certain was Eric Spears. As a courtesy an agent was on duty, along with a BPD uniform, with Jess’s sister. Manning was here for the strategy briefing or, more likely, to keep tabs on Jess’s involvement. That was the extent of the Bureau’s commitment for now.
Dan suspected the underlying motive behind their position was Jess. She was the Bureau’s scapegoat in the whole Player/Spears debacle that was still playing out in the media. And, frankly, with both Jess and Manning at the table, the Bureau had fulfilled Dan’s request for support.
This was his mess and he had to clean it up.
A rap on the door interrupted his gut-check session.
His frustration at the intrusion quickly shifted to full-on dread at the idea that there might be a new development. He did not want to hear that Detective Wells’ body had been found.
Anxiety added a couple more knots to his gut.
“Burnett? You still in there?”
Jess.
Maybe not bad news. Just an unavoidable pep talk. Even after nearly two decades apart, she knew him too well.
Dan stretched his neck, drew in a deep breath and turned to the door at the same instant it opened.
Jess frowned. “Everyone’s waiting. What’re you doing?”
How could they have spent those two decades separated by geography and their distinctly different views on their volatile history and her radar still work this well?
Until he’d asked her to come to Birmingham and advise on a case, they had seen each other only once in that entire time. The thought of that one encounter bombarded him with searing flashes of memories. . . the frantic ripping off of clothes. . . the desperate sounds of mutual need. . . the feel of her warm, slick body moving beneath his. . . alive with his touch.
He cleared his head. “It’s the men’s room. Take a wild guess.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, but what are you doing now?”
“Waiting for you to move so we don’t keep everyone else waiting any longer.” She was the one blocking the door.
After a searching look, she finally backed up, then waited for him to exit before allowing the door to close.
Maybe that old intimate connection still worked for him, too, considering he could feel her watching him, assessing his every blink, as they strode along the corridor to the conference room.
She had something on her mind.
Stopping short of the door, he turned to her. “What?”
Jess crossed her arms over her chest. “As a wise friend once said to me, it’s okay to be afraid.”
It disgusted him that he was that transparent.
“Look,” she added on a weary sigh, “I’m terrified for her myself. But we have to pull it together.”
Any irritation he might have felt at her accusation fizzled in light of the fact that he was the friend who’d given her that sage advice just a few days ago. And she was right.
Now she’d used the word friend. Apparently she had decided it was okay for them to be friends. He wasn’t sure when she’d had time to arrive at that conclusion but he was damned glad she had. From the moment she rolled back into town just five days ago, they’d been embroiled in a life-and-death race with escalating stakes. Looked as if that wasn’t going to change any time soon. He needed her support. . . he needed her.
“Thank you, Chief Harris,” he acknowledged. “Point taken.”
“Chief Harris? That’s a little premature, don’t you think?” she countered. “You only made that offer this morning.”
“You accepted,” he reminded her.
“Sort of.” She waved her hands back and forth. “And that’s deputy chief, by the way. But we can talk about that later. This situation is complicated enough without making that announcement right now. We need everyone’s attention on the investigation, not on why or how I was selected for a newly created position in the department.” She started for the conference room again but hesitated. “Besides, depending on how this turns out, you may want to retract your offer.”
Before he could argue Jess joined the others around the conference table while he stared after her, stunned and frustrated that she still believed this situation was her fault.
The Player had apparently taken on the part of nemesis to Jess and he wanted to punish her. She had no control over his actions. As brave as she wanted to appear, Dan could see that she was, as she had admitted, terrified for Wells. . . terrified for her family and anyone else who stood between her and Spears.
The problem, in Dan’s opinion, was that none of that worry was spared for herself.
Making sure he stayed squarely between her and this maniac was the one thing he didn’t fear. If Spears or whoever he was wanted Jess, he would have to get through Dan to reach her. He half hoped the scumbag would be stupid enough to try.
With renewed purpose, Dan entered the conference room. The attention of those seated tracked his movements as he approached the head of the table.
“Mayor Pratt, Sheriff Griggs, Agent Manning,” he said, “I appreciate your being here to support our department. Let me bring you up to speed.”
As Jefferson County sheriff, Roy Griggs had more experience than anyone in the room. Dan was genuinely grateful to have him on this team.
One of their own was out there. . .
“Two witnesses have identified Eric Spears as the man who took Detective Lori Wells from her mother’s home at approximately seven-thirty this morning,” he started as all around the table grim faces absorbed the bad news. “We issued an APB and, if we’re lucky, someone will have seen him.”
Silence held the floor as all absorbed the gravity of the situation.
Dan cleared his throat. “No one in the neighborhood where Detective Wells’ mother resides saw or heard anything. We’ve had no further contact from Spears. The courier who delivered the package this morning that included her detective’s shield described the person who ordered and paid for the delivery as a Caucasian male, between sixty and sixty-five. His appearance was disheveled, ragged. You can find dozens matching that same description lined up at the homeless shelters and soup kitchens. We’re not expecting viable results from that lead.”
Still no comments or questions.
“Despite showing himself at the Wells home and leaving behind two uninjured witnesses, Spears paid someone, who could also potentially identify him, to set up the delivery. It would be impossible to hazard a guess at this stage as to why he would act in such a conflicting manner.”
“You’re assuming the unsub is Spears,” Manning commented with an indifference that infuriated Dan. “For the record you have no substantiated evidence here to that end and, as you know, Spears was cleared during the Bureau
’s investigation in Richmond.”
His condescending remarks broke the silence.
And Jess sprung out of her chair.
“Two witnesses made the identification, Agent Manning. I’d call that pretty substantial. For the record, it was my conclusion, in the Player investigation to which you’re referring, that Spears is the Player, whether we were able to prove that or not. He has contacted me five times in the last four days.” Her cheeks flushed with swiftly rising anger. “Detective Wells’ badge was sent to me in the same manner as the Player sends gifts to the families of his victims.”
“Agent Manning.” Dan stepped in before first blood was drawn. “At this time, we do have sufficient reason to believe Spears is our man. With the positive identification from a recent photo by two witnesses, we are inclined to proceed under that assumption.”
“This recent photo,” Manning countered, “was not an official photo and hardly admissible as evidence. A photo, I might add, that Agent Harris has on her cell phone.” He turned to Jess to stoke the fire he’d lit. “I find that convenient and somewhat unsettling. Why carry the photo of a person of interest from a previous case in your cell, Harris? This guy must have really gotten to you.”
Dan clenched his jaw. Agent Harris. Though Manning didn’t know Jess personally, obviously he’d heard enough to want to twist the dagger the Bureau had shoved in her back. Or maybe he had orders to treat her as a hostile in this investigation. Officially, she was still a special agent employed by the Bureau. In fact, she outranked the smart ass running his mouth.
Jess remained standing, braced for battle. “I do have a photo I took during my interview with Spears. I came to Birmingham to advise on a case immediately following my work on the Player investigation and there was no time to clean out my photo library. Do you have a problem with that, Agent Manning? It’s not like I yanked his photo from the Bureau’s database and wear it in a locket around my neck.”
Manning held up his hands. “I’m not the enemy, Harris. I’m here purely as a courtesy to BPD. My orders as to how to proceed come straight from –”
“I know where your orders come from,” Jess retaliated. “And I also know what the Bureau thinks about my handling of Spears and the case in Richmond. But whatever you and all of them think,” she sliced her hands through the air, “this is Spears. I know him better than anyone else and I know this is him.”
“Like you knew it was him before?”
That was enough. “What happened in Richmond is irrelevant as far as we’re concerned,” Dan clarified for the record. “This is our case and, as I’ve already stated, we intend to proceed under the assumption that Spears is our perpetrator based on witness identification.”
“It’s your mistake to make, chief,” Manning relented. “The Bureau feels your time and resources would be best utilized focused on a broader search. You requested we weigh in and we have.”
“Duly noted,” Dan rejoined. “Let’s move on.”
The agent settled back into his seat. Dan had known Todd Manning for about three years. Generally, he was amiable and cooperative. There were always battle lines drawn when joint task forces formed. This time, those sensitive areas were magnified. Because it was one of BPD’s own. Because of Jess.
Dan picked up where he’d left off, “We have teams methodically checking public storage facilities, abandoned warehouses and buildings, as well as homes that have been abandoned by owners and not currently monitored by realtors.”
“That’s like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Griggs submitted, his tone as doubtful as the expression he wore.
A rumble of agreement went around the table.
Dan couldn’t argue that. “Based on Agent Harris’ previous dealings with Spears, he likes plenty of privacy when he does his dirty work. He’s new to the area and our hope is that prior planning was not up to his usual cautious standards which may serve to our benefit.”
“He had maybe three days after his release in Virginia,” Jess spoke up, “before abducting Detective Wells. There is nothing in his background that indicates he has spent any time in the south, much less this area. I’m thinking he scrambled to put this game together, which is definitely to our benefit. He may have made mistakes he wouldn’t ordinarily make.”
“Once again,” Manning cut in, “you’re assuming this is Spears and that you actually know his MO, if he even has one. I feel compelled to underscore our position that narrowing your search parameters this way is a mistake.”
How many times were they going to go over this? When Dan would have said exactly that, Jess dug in her heels.
“Are you going to discount the fact that almost every aspect of Wells’ disappearance matches the MO used by the Player, witnesses aside, when he abducted his victims?” she demanded. “The same ones he tortured and ultimately murdered?”
“Almost being the key word,” Manning fired back. “Could be a copycat using the Player’s MO. Since your investigation in Richmond could not tie Spears to the Player, I can’t see what you hope to gain by pursuing only that avenue.”
What the hell bug crawled up this guy’s ass? Dan gritted his teeth to prevent telling him to shut up or get out. Besides, the mayor was here and he had no choice but to be on his best behavior. On some level he got that there was merit to the Bureau’s position, but the connection to the Player – to Spears – was what they had. Waiting around for some other scenario to surface would be an even bigger mistake than going with the wrong one.
“I, for one,” Griggs spoke up, “have confidence Agent Harris knows what she’s talking about. Five young women who survived as much as three weeks being held hostage would agree with me.” He turned to Jess. “Agent Harris, I’ve just sent a message to my second in command and asked him to organize as many teams as possible to hit those same type locations in the county. I’m sure BPD has its hands full with covering Birmingham and the various surrounding communities. We’ll call in our auxiliary deputies. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it.”
Jess nodded, the emotions tearing at her composure shadowing her face. “Thank you, sheriff.”
“We’re about to go public,” Deputy Chief Harold Black from the Crimes Against Persons Division spoke up, “with a 25K reward for anyone with information leading us to Detective Wells’ location and/or the person responsible for her abduction. We expect that reward to increase substantially over the next twenty-four hours. This initial reward is coming from the North Alabama Police Officers Association. They are, as we speak, rallying their members to help with the search.”
“That kind of help is what we need.” Dan was damned glad to have all the boots on the ground he could get.
The men and women of the NAPOA, all retired police officers, with the proper training, could contribute greatly to the search. Gina Coleman, his top contact with the local media, was directing the news releases – including a blitz featuring a rendered drawing created from Spears’ photo since the Bureau warned that using the actual photo opened all involved in the investigation to a law suit. That was a point Dan couldn’t ignore.
Gina wanted a sound bite from Dan later today if he could make the time.
“We have flyers going up all over the city,” Deputy Chief Hogan of Patrol Division added.
With the ball rolling and Manning settled down, Dan prepared to take his seat.
“Chief Burnett, I apologize for interrupting.” Tara Morgan, his receptionist, hovered at the door.
Dread swelled with the threat of a second tidal wave of trouble. Dan excused himself. Once in the corridor, Tara stepped to the side of the conference room door, signifying she preferred not to be overheard by the others.
Couldn’t be good news.
“There are two gentlemen from the Federal Bureau of Investigation here, sir. I explained that you were in a briefing.” She twisted her fingers together. Nervous or flustered. “But they want to see you. Privately. Now.”
Dan glanced at those seated around the table.
Why would Manning fail to mention that others were coming?
“Show them to my office,” he said to Tara. “I’ll be right there.”
Dan ignored the tension tugging at the muscles along the length of his spine and returned to the briefing. “Sergeant Harper, I’d like you to carry on here.”
Harper was shaken but he knew more about Wells’ personal life than anyone else. He was as familiar with the Player case and Eric Spears as Dan. And he would keep the others from closing out Jess. Despite the tension throttling through him, he almost laughed at the idea of Jess allowing anyone to close her out. She would tell Dan exactly that if he dared to say any such thing out loud. Still, someone had to referee.
“Agent Manning, if you would, I’d like you to accompany me to my office.”
Dan didn’t wait for the agent and he didn’t make eye contact with Jess. Whatever this was about, he figured it involved her. Until he had a handle on what was about to go down, it was best she stayed right where she was.
When they were out of hearing range of the conference room door, Dan glanced at the other man. “You didn’t think it necessary to mention your colleagues were coming a little late to the party?”
Manning stalled, a frown making grooves in his face. “I wasn’t aware anyone else from the Bureau would be coming.”
If the guy was lying, he pulled it off without a flinch. “Let’s see what this is about.”
Manning followed Dan to his office.
The two gentlemen seated in front of his desk rose and turned to greet him.
“Chief Burnett,” the older of the two said as he stepped forward, “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Ralph Gant, unit chief, Behavioral Analysis Unit 2.”
Jess’s boss from Quantico. He looked exactly like the arrogant prick Dan had pictured based on the way he’d treated Jess. Dan disliked him on sight.
He accepted the hand Gant offered. He’d anticipated the local Bureau’s involvement at a higher level when they dropped the blinders and admitted Jess was correct. What he hadn’t anticipated was Gant’s appearance and the lack of a heads-up before that happened.
