To Catch a Killer

by Kimberly Van Meter

  She looked to Zane, who appeared visibly discomfited. “That okay with you?”

  He shrugged. “I guess, but I don’t understand why we have to talk to the press at all. It’s an open investigation…the press could muck it up.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, well, Colfax is a media whore. We all know this. It’s the kinder, gentler bureau these days and it’s all about the new image, right? Don’t waste energy fighting it. When’s the conference?”

  “Three o’clock at the police station,” Dillon answered, and Kara checked her watch.

  “That gives us an hour to prepare a statement and prep you for the questions you can’t answer. Also, I want surveillance in the room just in case this psycho decides he wants a front-row seat. I’m sure his ego would appreciate the attention.”

  “Sort of like when killers attend their victim’s funerals,” Tana threw in with a disgusted curl of her lip, but then she snapped into work mode efficiently. “You want all exits monitored?”

  “You know it.” Kara said, and looked to Zane. “C’mon, Hollywood star. Let’s get you ready for your big debut.”

  “Shut up,” he growled, and she laughed. “Dillon’s the one the women swoon over. He should be the one doing this.”

  “Yeah, well, Dillon put you in the hot seat so quit complaining and let’s get to work. You’ve got a lot to learn in an hour.”

  Kara glanced Matthew’s way almost involuntarily before leaving the room, but was relieved when she saw that he was talking with Tana about the security of the police station. His solid frame looked overpowering next to Tana, even though she wasn’t exactly short. She was beginning to feel a need for his presence even though she had the urge to run the other way. Hurrying from the room, Kara slammed the door behind her.

  Matthew felt rather than saw Kara leave the room. He was speaking with Tana when Kara left with the reluctant agent. His chest, tight from the breath he was holding on to, loosened as he relaxed. He hadn’t meant to tense up but the moment she entered the room, hair damp and nose pink at the tip, it was like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked into a vacuum.

  He purposefully avoided looking at her but the effort was difficult. She’d been running, he surmised from the state of her clothes, yet another little tidbit about the new Kara that he didn’t know. When they were teens Kara had hated running on the beach. It was something Neal had talked her into when he was going through his fitness phase that hadn’t ended before he died. Matthew wondered why she continued when Neal was no longer around to cajole her into hitting the beach.

  Of course, Kara hadn’t needed to lose weight then, just as she didn’t need to lose any now. He’d felt the skin sliding over the bones of her rib cage as he’d explored her body. Considering that she had very little body fat on her lean figure, he wondered why she punished herself with exercise.

  “I heard you and Kara grew up together,” Tana said, watching him with that steady, intense stare that probably unnerved people if they were feeling the least bit guilty about anything in their lives. When Matthew answered with a short nod, the blonde sighed. “Must’ve been nice growing up here by the water and the redwoods.”

  “Parts of it were great,” he agreed. “Other parts…not so much.”

  “Like what?”

  “The isolation. The Lost Coast area isn’t what you’d call heavily populated, as you’ve already seen. People get a little peculiar when they don’t get much interaction with the outside.”

  For a moment she seemed wistful as she said, “I don’t know. I like the quiet. You could sit on the beach for hours and no one would bother you. It’s nice.” But then she seemed to realize she’d shared too much of herself and returned to professional mode with barely a blink. “Do you have working surveillance cameras in your conference room?”

  “Well, first, I wouldn’t call it a conference room, per se, but rather an oversized break room. And no, the only camera we have is in the holding cell and even that is iffy. Sometimes you have to give it a whack to convince it to get to work. I suppose your man over there has some extra ones we could set up,” he said, gesturing to D’Marcus.

  She nodded. “D’Marcus always comes prepared. He assumes that wherever we go, they never have the right equipment. The man would be naked without his electronics.”

  D’Marcus, hearing his name, swiveled in their direction, saying, “That’s right. If I hadn’t brought my treasure chest of goodies we’d be stuck using dial-up.” He shuddered at the thought. “Instead, we’ve got state-of-the-art satellite Internet speeds courtesy of the United States government. Gotta love Uncle Sam for the toys we get access to.”

  In this instance, Matthew silently agreed, but under normal circumstances, he didn’t have much need for that high-tech stuff. He’d rather spend his free time on the water rather than plugged into anything electronic. He wondered if his daughter was more like him and enjoyed the simpler pleasures in life or if she was a city girl through and through. He fervently hoped he’d get the chance to find out.

  Zane took to the small podium, if you could call it that. Scratched and worn, it looked as if it had been pulled from a storage closet. Zane gazed at the impossible number of journalists, both of print and television variety, without a hint of nervousness on his smooth face.

  Kara gave him credit. The first time she’d hit the podium she’d wanted to throw up.

  She scanned the room, making eye contact with Tana, then D’Marcus, reluctantly alighting on Matthew last. His face was tight, his shoulders tense, and like her, he was watching the room.

  “I’m Special Agent Harris with the Federal Bureau of Investigations,” Zane started, his voice firm and sure, giving the message that he was in charge and not the other way around. “At 0645 hours the body of nine-year-old Hannah Linney was discovered in a heavily forested area known as Wolf’s Tooth. Hannah went missing almost a week ago from San Francisco. We are doing everything we can at the bureau to see that Hannah’s killer is brought to justice. I’ll now take questions.”

  He jerked a nod to the first reporter, a woman with a severe haircut and an unsmiling face. She was a bulldog in a linen jacket and Kara recognized her instantly: Gertty Ecker.

  “Is it true the Linney child is a victim of the Babysitter?” Her sharp German-accented voice grated on Kara’s nerves and she clenched her teeth. Do not answer that question, she mentally instructed Zane.

  “We’re not prepared to answer that question at this time. Next question.”

  Nicely done. But Gertty wasn’t finished. As Zane directed his attention to another reporter, Gertty interrupted.

  “Isn’t it true the victim’s body had similar ligature marks as the previous victims—” she did a quick check of her notebook “—Jason Garvin and Drake Nobles?”

  Kara swallowed hard. Just hearing the names of the other children made Kara want to lose her breakfast all over the dingy tiled floor. In her imagination she heard Briana’s name inserted among the victims and her legs threatened to buckle. Forcing down the bile burning her throat, she narrowed her gaze at Zane and gave a small shake of her head. Do not answer that question. Move on.

  Zane answered without losing his composure. “I cannot comment on the nature of the victim’s wounds at this time. Next question.”

  Suddenly, Matthew was at her side, a silent but solid presence that made her want to bury her face in his shoulder even though she didn’t move a muscle or indicate that she even noticed he’d taken his place beside her.

  “Seems to be holding his own,” he whispered into her ear. She withheld the shiver but managed to nod. “Are all your people trained in media relations?”

  “No.”

  He digested that information, then said, “Guess you’re a good teacher then.”

  “Zane is a fast learner.”

  Matthew fell silent and they both continued to scan the room. No one stood out in Kara’s estimation, but it had been a long shot that the killer would show himself in such tight quarters.
The exits weren’t easily accessed and there weren’t many options for him to slip in unnoticed.

  But the desperate and scared parent in her had hoped that the asshole would slink in like the vermin he was. That way, Kara could take him down—hopefully with force. Her fingers actually tingled at the thought of pulling her Glock and plugging the sicko with a full clip.

  God, this was why they didn’t let the families of victims get too close to the investigation. Emotion screwed everything up. Made people get careless and stupid. Kara rolled her neck on her shoulders and cracked the bones with a satisfying but slightly painful pop and a few people standing in front of her turned and stared.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, and excused herself.

  Matthew followed Kara into the hallway. She shuddered and her shoulders bowed under the weight of the situation. She seemed the complete opposite of the woman who had practically thrown him out of her room only hours earlier. The smart thing would be to turn around and leave her to deal with her pain privately, but it was Kara and he simply couldn’t, even as much as he wished he could.

  “You okay?”

  She straightened and wiped at her eyes. “Fine. I just needed some air.”

  “The room is small,” he acknowledged. “All those bodies makes it stuffy inside. We’re not used to having that many visitors.”

  “Yeah, I noticed. The number of people in that room could equal the entire population during the off season,” she quipped, though her voice was thin and flat, not at all like her usual tone. She looked away but not before Matthew caught the shine in her eyes.

  “Kara…”

  She waved him away, her voice choking. “Matthew, please…I need a minute.”

  “What you need is to stop pretending that no one around you means anything,” he muttered even as he pulled her into his arms. He cursed himself for being seven times the amount of stupid but as she sagged against him, he caressed her hair and said in a harsh whisper, “We’re going to find her.”

  Her knees buckled and he held her tighter. A low moan escaped, full of anguish and heartache only a mother could know, and Matthew felt it in his own heart as surely as if he’d been around Briana from the moment she was born. She looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed and raw, and for the first time, he saw the person she’d once been before circumstances and time had hardened her into someone else. “What if she’s in pain? He hurts them, Matthew. Oh, God…they’re just babies and he hurts them and snuffs out their little lives as if they mean nothing because to him they don’t…but to us…the parents…they’re our reason for living. If we don’t catch him in time…” She drew a choking breath and shook her head, unable to finish her sentence.

  “Shh,” he soothed, holding her fiercely. He wanted to break something. He wanted to put his fingers around the throat of the person responsible for these heinous crimes and squeeze so tightly their head popped off. But even if he didn’t say it, they both knew time was running short. The Babysitter kept the victims for only a few days. The clock was ticking and they were no closer now than they were when they found Hannah Linney. Desperate to do something other than fret and panic, he set Kara away from him and forced her gaze when she seemed ready to collapse. “Listen,” he said, “here’s what we’re going to do. Tonight we’re going to order in and we’re going to go over every case file and piece of evidence and we’ll keep going over it until something fresh jumps out at us. Got it?”

  Something in Kara switched into a different gear and after a long moment, she slowly nodded. He knew she needed to keep her mind occupied, otherwise she’d go nuts. They were alike in that aspect, which was probably why they were both insomniacs.

  Kara wiped at her nose and huffed a short breath. “Tally’s still make those God-awful fish and chips?” she asked.

  He nodded. “They’re a staple around here.”

  “Great. Let’s get enough for the team. If the work doesn’t keep us awake the indigestion surely will.”

  He chuckled, fighting the urge to pull her back into his arms so he could press a quick, searing kiss on her lips, and the effort made the sound a little forced. She must have zeroed in on his brain waves, for the moment heated between them. Whether she realized it or not, the tip of her tongue darted out to slide across the soft, plump fullness of her lips and he sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. She took a slow step away from him, which was in direct opposition to the signals her body language was throwing, but he didn’t hold it against her. He knew how she felt. It was an odd thing to want the very person you should steer clear from for very good and solid reasons.

  “Matthew…”

  “Don’t.”

  “You don’t understand,” she started but he cut her off.

  “No, you’re wrong. I do understand. Too well. Trust me. Don’t worry, we’re on the same page. It’s just…” Old habits die hard. “I don’t know, difficult to walk away when I know what you’re going through. No one should be alone during something like this. We’re Briana’s parents. She needs us to work together, not against each other.”

  “You’re right.” She nodded but the motion was stiff, communicating quite clearly how she was not ready to think of him as Briana’s father just yet. He tried to be understanding but his nerves were frayed, too.

  “I’ll get the food,” he offered, but his voice held an edge he couldn’t disguise.

  “You’re mad at me,” she said flatly.

  He was going to let it go, just walk away and cool off, but he couldn’t. “Yeah. I’m mad. She’s my daughter, too. You need to get used to that fact right quick because I’m not going to walk away from her. Not now, not ever.”

  A shadow of guilt flickered across her lovely face and it almost silenced him but then it was gone in an instant. “I’ve had nine years to get used to that fact, Matthew,” she said.

  “No. You’ve spent the past nine years trying to erase me from your memory, but I imagine that wasn’t so easy to do with Briana looking just like me. What did you tell her about me? About her father? Didn’t she ever ask where I was?”

  “I told her that you weren’t ready to be a father,” she admitted, looking away. “Eventually, she stopped asking.”

  He swore, hating the idea that his daughter thought he hadn’t wanted her. Bitterness flooded his mouth. “That’s cruel. You never gave me a chance.”

  “I know.”

  “Am I so awful that you couldn’t stand the thought of anything having to do with me?”

  “No,” she whispered. If it weren’t for the stark expression on her face, he would’ve called her a liar for her actions spoke louder. But as it was it looked as if he’d just filleted her heart and left it bloody and bare for the buzzards to pick at. “Matthew, I can’t talk about this right now. Please let it go…for now.”

  It was a plea. And Matthew knew Kara didn’t ask or beg. He choked down the angry retort that was coming and gave in to her request with a jerk of his head. He didn’t trust the words that might come out of his mouth at the moment. Instead, he walked away.

  Chapter 13

  Kara stared at the paperwork in her hand. “Someone, if not Bernie then someone he knows, was tromping around Wilkin’s Mine. The samples match,” she said, handing the paper to Matthew.

  The report came over the fax just as the team was choking down the last of Tally’s fish and chips. Matthew pursed his mouth before tightening it to a fine line. “Damn it,” he swore.

  “You like him, don’t you.” Kara found it hard to fathom why anyone would like that old coot but it was apparent in the way Matthew was staring at the paper, his expression disappointed, that he held the man with a certain amount of regard.

  “He’s not a bad guy, Kara.”

  She stiffened. “He might be the one holding our daughter hostage.”

  “I’d be willing to bet my left lung, he’s not,” Matthew countered. Kara heard D’Marcus cough conspicuously but it was Dillon who stepped in.

  “The
re is that thing where we assume everyone is innocent until found otherwise and all that nonsense, but the evidence does beg for another go at the guy.”

  “He’s a crazy old bugger but he’s not a killer,” Matthew said.

  “And just how many killers have you had tea with lately?” Kara asked, pinning him with a short glare. When he merely narrowed his stare, she continued with a sigh. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but this isn’t your forte. I’d be willing to take your judgment at face value if we were tracking down a pot grower but in this situation you have little to no experience. Sorry.” She turned to Zane. “We’ll need backup. This guy isn’t what you’d call social.”

  Matthew blew a short breath. “I’ll go with you. I might be able to get him to come in without having to manhandle him.”

  Kara gave her assent but wondered why Matthew was so protective of the man. She wanted to ask but she wouldn’t do it in front of everyone. She sensed Matthew preferred to keep that information private. Otherwise he would’ve just come out and stated why he felt a soft spot for him.

  Shaking herself loose from the curious musings, she refocused quickly and asked Tana, “Any luck with the universities? Anything come up out of the ordinary?”

  Tana’s look of frustration didn’t bode well. “Not really, but I don’t know what the hell to look for. It’s worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

  “Keep trying. I don’t know how to explain it but I have this feeling that there’s something there,” Kara said, rubbing at the pressure behind her eyeballs, which had begun to pound. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a prescription bottle and cracked the top. Seconds later, she had tossed back a few of the pills and washed them down with lukewarm water.

  “What’s that for?” Matthew asked. It was a few seconds before it registered what he was asking until he gestured at the bottle she was stuffing back in her purse. “The pills.”

  “I get headaches.”