by Desiree Holt
I’m all right, Cole.
She punched in his cell number, listening as the phone rang four times and then kicked over to voice mail.
“I know you’re busy with the FBI guy,” she said, “but I learned some things this morning you really need to know. Please call me when you get a chance. I’ll be…at your place. Working.” She made a couple of quick stops before letting herself into his house with the key he’d given her. After changing into shorts and a T-shirt, she fixed a plate with the food she’d just bought at Don’s Deli. Settling herself at the kitchen table, she booted up her laptop and went to work.
She tried to keep from checking her watch every ten minutes, hoping Cole would be able to return her call soon. She really wanted to tell him more about the clowns.
****
Scott and Nita wore identical looks when Cole walked into the conference room. Sick. Angry. Even murderous.
“Quantico’s already up and running with the files we faxed.” Scott sorted his notes into piles on the conference room table. “I asked—begged—them to get the BAU on a complete profile right away. Like yesterday. This monster’s got to be stopped. Now.”
“Don’t I know it,” Cole muttered.
“I also called my office in San Antonio,” the agent added. “Sent them the same files and asked them to do a search for cases similar to the old ones here.”
“What do you think?” Cole asked, dropping into a chair next to him.
“I think Dana Moretti has a valid point.” He looked across the table. “Nita?”
“Cole, I’ve gone through every one of the old autopsy reports, line by line. Too bad there are no photos, but I’m betting old Jed wanted to spare the parents and the community from what’s in these things,” She motioned to the stack of folders.
“I don’t like pointing fingers, but there was a bad bit of police work at the time.” Scott looked grim. “Give Cole the short version, Nita.”
She cleared her throat and squared the stack of papers in front of her. “There are too many similarities between those cases and the two new ones for it not to be the same guy. Either that or it’s an amazing copycat and Mr. FBI and I aren’t buying it.”
“Very little of the information about these cases was ever released to the public,” Scott reminded him. “The only one who should know the details, the only one capable of duplicating them would be the guy responsible for the first crimes.”
Cole rubbed his jaw, a sick feeling lodging in his stomach. “But where has he been all this time?”
“That’s the jackpot question. I called Clark and filled him in. He’s going to have someone run it through the databases and see what comes up. He promised to call me back this afternoon.”
“Good. And thanks.”
Scott glanced down at the files in front of him then back up at Cole. “I hate to say this, but if this is the same guy from twenty-five years ago, the whole complexion of this case just changed. You know we’ll probably be taking a larger presence.”
“You won’t get any argument from me,” Cole said. “I still believe Dana is his ultimate target.” He told them about the damage to Dana’s house the day before. “If he’s working up to her, all the more reason I want this bastard caught yesterday.”
Scott narrowed his eyes. “Is there something more here I should know?”
Cole shrugged. “Not a topic for discussion. Whatever, it won’t interfere with my focus on the case. Go ahead with what you were saying.”
Scott began ticking things off on his fingers. “With each of his victims he’s escalating the age. Leanne was sixteen, Shannon was older. Not much, but older. The next one’s going to be older still. Again he’s establishing a pattern.”
“Jesus.” Cole scrubbed his hands over his face. “How do I possibly protect every teenager in the county?”
“You can’t. And even if the FBI sent every man on the roster here, they couldn’t do it, either. The best you can do is get the message out to every young girl not to get in a vehicle or go near anyone except her parents. No matter how well she knows the man. And with the escalation in age, you might need to expand the parameters.”
“I’ll have to figure out how best to do that without scaring the shit out of everyone and causing a riot.” He pulled out his ever-present small notebook and began jotting things down. “I can certainly call the schools. They’re back in session today and the principals can send notices to all the teachers.”
“John Garrett could make up flyers to post around town,” Nita suggested.
Cole nodded. “And the post office can deliver them with the mail, too.”
“Will they do that?” Scott asked. “The post office, I mean.”
Cole was about to answer him when there was a knock on the door. Grace walked in without waiting for him to say anything. Her face was so white he thought she might be sick, and she collapsed into the nearest chair.
“Grace? What is it? Are you okay?”
She had to swallow twice before she could get any words out. “Stacy Corona just called in. Gaby Marquez is missing.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Nita breathed.
Cole went to the door and yelled loud enough to be heard on the other side of the county. “Gaylen. Haul ass in here. And bring some water for Grace.”
He sat back down and took Grace’s hand. Nita had moved up to the chair next to her.
“Grace, listen to me.” He kept his voice low and even. “This could be a false alarm. She’s a lot older than the others. This could be something different altogether.”
She shook her head. Gaylen had appeared with a glass of water and handed it to her. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost spilled it.
“Gaby called me last night. She was scared to death. I tried to tell her she didn’t have anything to worry about.” Grace paused, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making an obvious effort to keep herself together. “She’s so much older than Leanne and Shannon that I didn’t even think of her as a target. But she looks a lot younger.” She raised her eyes to Cole’s. “Do you think he’s killing them based on age? Shannon was older than Leanne, and Gaby a lot older than Shannon.”
An unpleasant thought tried to work its way through Cole’s brain, but he couldn’t quite make it come to life. “What else, Grace?”
“She was scared. She wanted to leave town until this maniac is caught, but Stacy talked her into spending the night with them. I said she could move in with me for a while, but I thought she was seeing bogeymen in the closet.” She set the glass on the table and dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, God. What have I done?”
“Grace?” Cole prodded. “How did Stacy know she’s missing?”
“Gaby’s boss, Manny Sandoval, called her. He didn’t get to the office until almost noon. Gaby’s car was in the parking lot, but she wasn’t in her office. The dizzy receptionist said she hadn’t seen her and didn’t know anything about her car. Manny called Stacy and she called here. Oh, Cole. I just know he’s got her.”
Cole looked at Nita. “Can you take care of her?”
“Of course. Do what you have to.”
Cole introduced his chief deputy to Scott. “Gaylen’s been here longer than anyone,” he said. “Including me.”
“Where do we start?” Gaylen asked.
“First, I need to call my boss,” Scott said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “Tell him what’s happened and see what he can do to speed things up at Quantico.”
Cole clenched his jaw, using every bit of self-discipline to keep himself under control. “Gaylen, how many deputies can we get here right now?”
The answer was immediate. “Fifteen. Not counting you and me.”
“And me,” Scott put in. “As soon as I make my call. Give me a map and I can go anywhere. And I’m sure Clark will send in more troops.”
“Okay.” Cole looked back at Gaylen. “Get everyone on the horn right now. Start searching the area around Gaby’s house. This guy has left
the bodies in convenient places, so we need to cover the area sector by sector.”
“I’ll get it done.” Gaylen had already picked up the dispatch microphone to send out a message to everyone on the road.
Scott looked up at Cole. “You’d better call Dana Moretti and let her know what’s happened. There’s a possibility this guy is escalating. If there’s any chance she’s next on his list, she needs to be warned.”
“Right, right. Okay. Give me a few minutes and we’ll get started.”
Cole closed the door to his office and sat down behind his desk, taking a moment to pull himself together before pulling out his cell phone. He’d set it on vibrate when he returned to the office so he wouldn’t be interrupted, but now he saw Dana had tried calling him. He listened to the message then pressed the button to return the call.
“Oh, good. You got my message.” Her voice was breathless, touched with suppressed excitement.
“Yeah. Just now. Sorry, darlin’. I turned it off while I was in with Scott and Nita and just now turned it back on. Listen, Dana—”
“I wanted to tell you about the meeting Ivy set up for me. Cole, I have some information that I think is very important.”
“Can you hold on with that for a minute?” He forced a calm into his voice he didn’t feel. “Right now you need to know there’s been another abduction. Gaby Marquez. Twenty-six years old.”
“What? But that’s way beyond his age preference.”
“Yeah, except for one thing. Scott Clayton agrees that your appearance here opening the old cases might have been the trigger. If so, you could very well be his ultimate target and he’s working his way up to you in steps.”
“Oh, God.” Silence hummed across the connection for seconds.
“I’m worried about you. You’re at my place, right?”
“Yes. I said I’d come back here.”
“I want you to stay there until this madman is caught. If you need anything from your house, I’ll get it for you.”
“Okay.”
There was a long pause and he wondered if she’d just hung up. When she spoke again, her voice sounded small and shaky. “I have something to tell you, Cole. And not just what came out of this morning’s meeting. I…know how busy you are, but I don’t want to tell you this over the phone.”
His heart thudded. Was she finally going to tell him her secret? “Can it wait, darlin’? We’ve got every available resource including me on this search for Gaby.”
“Please, Cole? I know how urgent Gaby’s situation is, but this, um, may help you.”
If he knew anything, it was that with her background, she wouldn’t ask this of him, in this situation, unless it was really urgent.
He raked his fingers through his hair. Gaylen would just have to take over for a bit. “Okay. I’ll leave right now. And Dana?”
“Yes?”
“Do not let anyone in but me.”
“But Cole, this is your place. No one’s going to come after me here.”
“Humor me, okay? I’ll call you as soon as I turn into the driveway.”
“Okay. Hurry.”
Chapter Thirty
He could tell his victim had been fighting to get free while he was gone. Her wrists were raw and bloody where she’d been pulling against the ropes. Tears streaked her face. He leaned down and licked them off. He loved their tears. They were better than the sweetest candy.
She tried to pull her face away, but he clamped his hand around her jaw.
“Don’t do that, or I’ll have to punish you. Yes, I know you’re a good girl. That’s your appeal. That’s why I chose you. And why I’m going to enjoy it so much.”
And then he began the song in a high-pitched voice.
“There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead…”
Behind the tape, she screamed into the silence.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Nita called Grace’s husband to tell him she’d be bringing his wife home,” Gaylen said as Cole made his way to the front door. “She explained the situation to him.”
“Tell her thanks.”
“I also made more copies of the maps we used the other day when we searched for Shannon,” he went on. “Same sectors and all, and handed them out to the deputies. But we’re starting close to her home.”
Scott was sitting at one of the desks in the bullpen, cell phone to his ear. “That was Clark,” he said when he disconnected the call. “He’s sending more manpower.”
“I appreciate it. Can you guys hold the fort for a few? I have a quick errand to run, but I won’t be gone long.”
“It must be urgent to pull you away now,” Scott commented.
“It is,” he growled. “Trust me.”
He floored it on the way to his place, and in the driveway, he called Dana from his cell. “It’s me. Look out the window. Then you can open the door.”
She was standing just inside, holding her hands together, but she couldn’t hide the trembling. He pulled her into his arms and she folded into them, letting him wrap himself around her. Tremors racked her entire body. She was coming unglued, falling apart before his eyes, and he ached so badly for her. If only he could take all the pain for her himself.
After a while, he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch. “I think a shot of whiskey is called for again.”
When he brought it back to the living room, he set it on the side table, picked Dana up, and sat down with her in his lap. Then he held the glass to her lips.
“Drink. Not too fast, but get it all down.”
“A-are you trying to get me drunk?” She tried to force a grin.
“Darlin’, when I’m trying to get you drunk, you’ll know about it. Now start sipping.”
It took a while, but she finally got most of it down. By the time she finished, she’d stopped shaking and he settled her on his lap again, one hand stroking her arm.
At last, she straightened up and looked at him. “I should have told you this before now.” She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “If I hadn’t waited this long, maybe you wouldn’t be out looking for Gaby Marquez. And maybe Leanne and Shannon wouldn’t be in the morgue.”
“No excuses, darlin’. I’m sure you had a good reason for holding back.”
“Only my own screwed up mind.” She let out a breath. “I’ve buried this deep inside me for so long, but it’s past time for me to do this. The monster’s loose again. And you need everything you can get to catch him.”
“Dana?” He tilted her face up to his and kissed her softly, gently. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. Understand that.”
She dropped her gaze to her lap. “I can’t look at you when I tell you this. Can you just…hold me?”
“For as long as you want. Forever.” He tightened his arms around her.
“You might not feel that way when you hear what I have to say. Please, please, please try not to hate me for not telling you before.”
“I couldn’t possibly hate you for anything.” He kissed the top of her head, his hand still stroking her arm.
She was still shaking, and he had no idea how to calm her except to cradle her against him and stroke her body, hoping his touch reassured her. His fingers sifted idly through the corn silk of her hair before his hand lowered again, following the line of her rich curves, so unexpected on such a slender body.
She took a deep breath. “The first thing I have to tell you is my real name isn’t Dana Moretti. It’s Carrie Nolan. I’m sure you recognize it.”
Cole did his best to hide the shock he felt, but he saw the realization in Dana’s eyes that he knew all too well who Carrie was. Their hazel was now more green, the thick lashes unable to hide the pain that still lived inside her. He’d suspected the truth, but hearing it out loud was another matter. He knew it was important to maintain a reassuring presence for her, but it took every bit of his self-control to do it.
The
story she launched into chilled him to the bone. It took a long time, because once she started, every detail she’d kept tucked away in her secret places came spilling out. As she described what happened in the barn, Cole was afraid he might be sick. He was shocked to his very soul, agonizing for Dana at the nightmare she’d endured. For the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to actually want to murder someone.
But he forced himself to push his emotions aside. This wasn’t about him. This was about Dana. So he let her talk, and he held her and rocked her and soothed her until, at last, she got it all out. Every detail. Every impression of the man. Things she’d probably buried all this time.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “No wonder you’ve been afraid of men. And sex.”
“I’ve never been able to really talk about it in detail with anyone.” She had a slight catch in her voice, and silent tears ran down her cheeks. “Not even the multitude of therapists I’ve seen since it happened. It’s like there were certain things I was too ashamed for anyone to know about me.”
“Ashamed?” His square jaw tensed. A muscle ticked in his cheek. “Why the hell would you be ashamed? You did nothing wrong.”
In a small voice, she said, “I didn’t save my sister.”
Silently, Cole cursed the pedophile, calling him every vile name he could think of. Swearing at the damage he’d done to an innocent child. Many innocent children.
“It wasn’t your fault, Dana. You have to believe that. For myself, I’m damn glad you survived so you could come into my life.” He kissed the top of her head. “Very glad.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I’ve had the strangest feeling since the first day I got here. Cole, I think he’s here and he’s seen me. Recognized me. It’s been like he’s watching me, waiting for something. As if he was finally going to finish me off after all these years. That’s why that thing at my house freaked me out so much.”
“I’m pretty damn sure this bastard never thought Carrie Nolan would ever come back here. Seeing you must have scared him shitless.” He brushed her hair back from her face. “He’s wondering when you’ll look at him and make the connection.”
