The Naked Eye

by Iris Johansen

  The audio feed to Stokes was clearly open. She could hear his jagged breathing and his body shifting on the table, and what sounded like the occasional rumbling of traffic outside. But Stokes had clearly given up on trying to speak.

  It wasn’t happening. He looked as if it was taking everything he had just to remain conscious.

  Damn you, Colby.

  She jerked out her earphones just in time to feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. She looked at the screen, and her heart skipped a beat. Yes!

  “We got it!” She yelled across the street to Griffin. “It’s 620 San Miguel Avenue.”

  He tensed and repeated the address. “Is that right?”

  She nodded. “Go get him.”

  Griffin smiled and whirled to his team. “We’re gone.”

  * * *

  SAM LEANED BACK IN THE leather desk chair, limp, and dripping with sweat.

  “You did it,” Beth said.

  He glanced at the video feed of Stokes on Kendra’s laptop. “I haven’t done it yet. He only has a few minutes left.”

  “They’re already in the neighborhood. They’ll make it.”

  Sam looked down at his phone, where Kendra had just confirmed her receipt of his text. She added, THE TEAM IS EN ROUTE. WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.

  “What now,” Beth asked.

  He shrugged. “We wait.”

  “To hell with that. We’ll meet her there.”

  He sat up straight. “Seriously?”

  “I couldn’t be more serious.” She turned toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  San Miguel Avenue

  San Diego

  KENDRA STOOD NEXT TO GRIFFIN AT the south end of San Miguel Avenue, just half a block from the house that Sam had located. It was a street of modest one-story homes, and the entire block was now swarming with uniformed officers and tactical teams.

  Kendra looked down at her tablet. “Shit. It’s Colby. He’s coming back to finish the job.” She looked frantically between her tablet and the house.

  Colby had glided into position behind the table, brandishing his knife. He smiled. “Time’s almost up. Tell me I’ve been more than fair, Kendra.”

  She looked frantically back up at the house. “What are they waiting for? Why don’t they go in?”

  “Any second now,” Griffin said.

  “We don’t have any seconds. Didn’t you hear him? Time’s almost up.”

  “I’ve got a SWAT team at the window in the back. We’ll be able to—”

  “No!” Kendra was suddenly ice-cold. “Oh, God.”

  Griffin’s eyes flew to her face. “What is it?”

  Kendra felt her heart pounding out of her chest. “Colby and Stokes aren’t in here.”

  “What are you talking about? You told me yourself—”

  “I don’t care what I told you. I know they’re not here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Stop and listen to the video feed. Before I could hear faint traffic noise in the background, and that would be okay. But now you can hear a beeping noise like a delivery truck backing up. There’s nothing like that sound anywhere around here.” She felt as if she was going to throw up. “Dear God, we’re in the wrong place.”

  The officers rammed the door open and swarmed the house.

  Colby smiled on the video feed. “Say good-bye to Detective Stokes … He really should have believed you, Kendra.”

  Griffin’s radio blared. “The residence is empty. I repeat, the residence is empty.”

  “Are you watching, Kendra?” Colby asked softly. “Have you figured it out yet?”

  And he sliced his blade across Stokes’s throat and stepped back to watch as the blood spurted over his face and chest.

  * * *

  “OH, MY GOD.” KENDRA STOOD in the doorway, gazing at the huge computer monitor on the wall of the room the agents had just entered. She slumped back against the wall. “No.”

  “Yes.” Griffin moved forward into the room, his hands balled into fists. “Shit. I thought we had him.”

  “Wrong.” She closed her eyes to escape the sight of that lifeless body on the screen. “We were all wrong. He wasn’t here. The Stokes feed was probably just a recording on this laptop.”

  “Kendra!”

  She opened her eyes to see Beth coming toward her. She instinctively straightened and tried to block Beth’s view of Stokes. “Don’t look, Beth. It’s too late. We’re too late. He dangled the bait, then destroyed it before we could take it.”

  “Dead?” Beth whispered. She went into Kendra’s arms and held her close. “I’m so sorry. I know how you must feel. But none of it was your fault.”

  “It’s my fault for just being alive. Ask Colby.” She had been trying to protect Beth, and here was Beth, comforting her. “We were wrong on so many counts. We both thought it might be Sam who was the target. But it was Stokes all the time. And Colby led us up this blind alley.” She saw Detective Ketchum standing before that screen and looking up at his dead partner. His face was pale, and he looked sick.

  She wondered if she looked the same way. Probably. She felt ghastly.

  “It’s my fault.” Sam had come to stand beside her, his gaze on Stokes. “I don’t know why. I swear I did everything right, Kendra. But I should have known it was a red herring. It’s got to be my fault.”

  “We don’t know that,” she said gently. “You did everything you could.”

  “It wasn’t enough.”

  “We’ll have to go into it later.” She pushed him out the door and away from that monitor. “Come on, let’s get out of this place. We’re no good here. Griffin will come and tell us what’s happening with that screen in there.”

  “Yeah, by all means, let’s avoid facing our mistakes,” Sam said bitterly. “But it’s hard not to stare Stokes in the eye about this one.”

  “Be quiet, Sam,” Beth said curtly. “You heard Kendra, we can’t know. I saw how hard you worked, how certain you were. I bet that you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I hope you don’t lose that bet,” Sam said. “It’s terrible. I’ve never seen a man who might have died because of me. He was just lying there, helpless. So helpless. He wasn’t allowed to struggle or fight. There’s no dignity.”

  “Colby likes it like that,” Kendra said shakily. “Destroys the body, destroys dignity, tries to destroy the soul.” They had reached the car, and she leaned against it. “So now you know what you’ve been fighting.”

  “I knew before. I just hadn’t seen it face-to-face.”

  “I was looking for you, Kendra.” Griffin was coming toward them. “I need to know how this happened. How you could let it happen.” He frowned. “You look a little peaked. You okay?”

  “Just fine, Griffin.” She said, “Why not? It’s not as if I have any sensitivity or compassion. It’s not as if that man wasn’t killed just because Colby thought I had some connection with him. Yes, I’m peaked. Yes, I’m sick.” She took a deep breath. “Now tell me what was going on in there.”

  “You saw it all. It was just the monitor and a small laptop computer behind it. We won’t know for sure, but it appears that the room has been wiped clean.”

  “And we don’t even know where Stokes was killed. We probably won’t know until we stumble across the body. Or perhaps if Colby deigns to send a message to tell us. Everything at Colby’s pleasure.”

  “That appears to be the way it’s going to go.”

  “No, it’s not,” she said through set teeth. “We’re not going to wait for him to manipulate us. I can’t take it any longer. We have to go after him.”

  “And how do you intend to do that? Please, by all means, tell me,” he said sarcastically. “Because I thought this was what was going on. I believe there’s a roomful of officers in that room who think it is.”

  “We’ve got to do more. I’ve got to do more.”

  “Come on,” Beth took her arm. “Let’s go home, Kendra. There’s nothing you can do right now. We’ll think about
it and find some way to—” She broke off and turned to Griffin. “And you’re not being either helpful or kind. I know you’re frustrated and upset, but do you think she isn’t? Stay away from her until you can behave like a decent human being or serve Colby up to her the way he did that detective in there.”

  Griffin’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon.”

  “Beg Kendra’s pardon. It’s what you should do. She’s been in this alone and having to beg and plead for help from you.” She opened the passenger door and pushed Kendra into the car. “I thought maybe you might be something besides a swellheaded bureaucrat, but now I’m thinking I’m dead wrong. Get in the car, Sam. Let’s go.”

  Griffin was staring at her, frowning. Then as Beth jumped into the driver’s seat and started the car, he slowly shook his head. “And I thought you were such a quiet, gentle little thing.”

  “I’m not a thing. I’m a woman who can be what she wants to be. Just another one of your mistakes, Griffin.”

  She stepped on the accelerator, and the next moment, she was halfway down the street.

  Kendra’s lips curved in a ghost of a smile. “He won’t make that mistake again. I didn’t need you to defend me, but I thank you anyway, Beth.”

  “It felt like you needed me. Besides, no one should have to take that kind of abuse when they’re in pain. I felt like giving him a karate kick.”

  “I believe you translated that in verbal terms.” She looked back at Sam. “Are you okay? You’re very quiet.”

  “I was just enjoying Beth. I think it’s always going to be entertaining to see her effect on the unsuspecting. I needed that right now.” He met Kendra’s eyes. “You needed it, too. I know you think we failed, and a man died because of it, but I don’t believe that’s true. I’ve been going over it in my mind, and I don’t think I made a mistake. I just have to get back to my lab and find out what happened.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.” She was trying to think, trying to get over the numbing horror, trying to find hope again. “You’re right, we have to take this all apart and see what happened, see how he managed to do this sleight of hand.” What a whimsical term for that hideous, deadly act, she thought. “He enjoyed that hour when he was holding us all hostage. I could see it in his expression. That means he won’t want it to be over. Colby will be searching for a way to top himself.”

  “And he’ll be in contact again,” Sam said. “I’ll have another shot at him.”

  “Maybe,” Kendra said. “Who the hell knows how he’ll make contact?”

  “He likes computers, they’ve been successful for him, and he thinks that he’s beaten us with them,” Sam said. “I’d bet that he’ll use them again.” He turned to Beth. “Find me that computer tech he has on a leash, I have to know how he’s going to do it.”

  “I’m trying. I’m making progress but I haven’t had a chance to—” Beth nodded. “I’ll get him for you. Kendra, I’ll send you a couple names I thought were promising, and you can do a search. I’ll do the other three. Okay?”

  “Okay.” They’d arrived at her condo, and she opened the passenger door. “I’ll get right on it. You’re staying with Sam, Beth?”

  “Yes, he might need me.” She looked at the door of the condo. “It might not be a bad idea for you to change your mind and come back to Lynch’s house with us.”

  “Why?” She got out of the car. “Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned. Colby doesn’t want to end it yet. I told you, he enjoyed that kill. That means I’m relatively safe wherever I am.”

  “Relatively?”

  Kendra shook her head. “It’s a word I’ve lived with since I knew Colby hadn’t died in that prison. Yes, he could change his mind in a heartbeat, but we have to play his game.” She headed for the front entrance. “Go back to Lynch’s and get to work. Send me those computer-expert prospects to work on, and I’ll dive in right away. Work may be the only way we’ll be able to block the memory of Stokes’s face on that monitor.”

  * * *

  “I SEE THAT YOU THINK Joseph Northrup might be our man,” Kendra told Beth on the phone the next day after going through her hacker prospects. “I agree. Computer degree at MIT. Something of a boy genius and graduated from the university when he was only nineteen. Offered a number of positions at think tanks around the country but evidently he thought he was meant for better things.”

  “Right,” Beth said. “That’s why he’s at the top of my list. He was arrested for hacking into the stock exchange and manipulating funds. He was paroled after two years and was still considered a hot commodity in the job market. He’s held a few jobs in the last six years but dropped out of sight a year ago. Sounds like a firm possibility. How can we find out where he is?”

  “I’ll check with SDPD and see if they can do it. I imagine they’ll be eager to help. They’ve lost one of their own, and they’ll be going after his killer at full force. Our main problem will be to keep them from arresting Northrup before Colby knows we’re after him.”

  “And eliminating a witness who may know where he is.”

  “He wouldn’t allow Northrup to live one day beyond his usefulness. I’ll get on it.” Kendra hung up, then hesitated before she called the police.

  She was reluctant to involve them because of those highly charged feelings she’d mentioned. Northrup might be their only lead to find Colby, and she was frantic not to blow it. But they had to find him fast, and she didn’t have the contacts to—

  Her phone rang, and she glanced at the ID.

  Griffin.

  “I’m downstairs,” he said when she picked up. “I want to talk. Buzz me in.”

  “By all means.” She buzzed him into the building and was at the door when he arrived at the condo. “What is it, Griffin?”

  “I want to apologize.” He was scowling as he walked into the foyer. “I didn’t take in consideration the fact that you were almost in shock. I was a little rude.”

  “Yes, you were. But that seldom provokes an apology from you unless it’s someone you need something from.”

  “Accept it graciously. It’s all you’ll get from me. I’ve been going through hell. The media is roasting me alive for not realizing that Colby was still alive. By the way, you’re their heroine.”

  “Today. Tomorrow it may change again,” she said. “Is that why you’re here, so that you give a press release that you apologized to me?”

  “I’ve already told them that I thought there was a possibility you might be right. After all, I was working on those trophy IDs with you.”

  “One toe testing the water. You weren’t admitting the possibility until there was cast-iron proof.”

  “Well, now we have it.” He waved his hand dismissingly. “Water under the bridge.”

  “Not necessarily. Is that all that you came to say?”

  “No. I wanted to tell you that after we went bust at that house on San Miguel yesterday, I called Quantico. I got one of our top cyberdivision guys in Quantico, Tom Sims, to call Sam Zackoff and team up to figure what really happened yesterday. They worked all night but just came up with the answer only minutes before I got here. Turns out while we were busting our asses to save Stokes, he was already dead. Before we even knew Colby had taken him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Griffin nodded. “At one point, the screen cut to black for a few moments. When the picture came back, we were seeing a recording, most likely hours old. It was streaming from a hard drive in that house. There was no way Zackoff, or anybody, could have known. The online trail ended right there.”

  “We never had a chance.” All that heartache and hope and agony had been for nothing. “He was playing with us.” She was shaking just thinking about it. She turned away. “Okay, you’ve done your duty. You can leave now.”

  “Not until I tell you that we have to work together. Look, I’ve already called Quantico and given Zackoff our prize computer expert to help him. Doesn’t that prove I’m going all out? I have to get Colby rig
ht away because the media won’t be off my ass until I do.”

  “Not because there might be more murders until he’s caught?”

  “Of course that’s true. But you wouldn’t believe it if I gave you any but the most selfish of motives. I have many reasons why I have to move fast on this.” He smiled faintly. “So do you. It’s time we launched a major campaign in that direction.”

  “I already have, Griffin.”

  “Stop being hardheaded. We both know you need me. Work with me.”

  “So the media can see us arm in arm going after the bad guy.”

  “Partly.” He paused. “I need you, Kendra. Remember the night you came to me and told me that? Now the tables are turned.” He added, “We’ve found Stokes’s body.”

  She stiffened. “Where? When?”

  “Two hours ago. On the rooftop of a sleazebag hotel on the south side of the city. A police helicopter spotted it. Colby probably deposited the body there while we were watching his horror show. Forensics is going over both the corpse and the area with a fine-tooth comb, but I want you there.”

  “It may not do any good. Colby had plenty of time to clean up the scene.”

  “But you still want to go.”

  “Of course I do.” She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. “You knew that you’d have me with that bait.”

  “Yes.” He opened the door for her. “But you should still appreciate the heartfelt apology that went along with it. It was eloquent and even a bit sincere. I don’t hand those out every day…”

  * * *

  GRIFFIN AND KENDRA CLIMBED THE short flight of steps to the door to the rooftop of the depressing, eight-story hotel. On the few occasions that Kendra had even noticed it, she’d assumed that the establishment had been abandoned years before. Who would stay here?

  “This place mostly caters to druggies and prostitutes,” Griffin said, as if reading her mind. “It was probably easy for Colby to move around in here without anyone’s noticing or caring. Still don’t know how he got a corpse on the roof.”

  Kendra pointed to a laundry cart in the hallway beside the elevator. “I’d start there. See if there’s a loading dock behind the building. He could have parked there, put the corpse in the cart, and taken it up the elevator.”