by Spencer Kope
As she draws near, she notices a Ziploc bag attached to the door handle with a rubber band. It contains a piece of white paper that she assumes is an advertisement, community notice, or some other rubbish, so she pays little attention. Removing it, she punches an access code into the cipher lock and turns the handle. As she does, the Ziploc also turns, revealing a pencil-drawn image on the piece of paper inside.
Diane freezes.
Her hand betrays the slightest shake as she stares at the image, perhaps disbelieving her eyes. As the initial shock passes, she rips open the top of the bag and removes the folded piece of paper. On one side, crudely drawn, is the image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
Unfolding the letter, Diane’s face turns to ash as she reads the words within. Instead of entering Hangar 7 she retreats to her car, locks the doors, and starts the engine. Turning the car around so she can see any unexpected approaches, she sits like a sprinter in her starting block, ready to burst out at the first sign of trouble.
She dials 911 and requests an immediate response, then calls the FBI’s Seattle Field Office to request agent support and an Evidence Response Team (ERT).
* * *
The Leonardo case is the oldest cold case in the Special Tracking Unit’s files, predating the establishment of the team. The serial killer Leonardo was so named for his habit of posing his victims to look like the iconic Vitruvian Man. When Steps was sixteen, Leonardo abducted and killed one of Steps’s classmates, setting the two on a collision course that was eventually going to come to a head.
Diane knows enough about Leonardo to be afraid, enough to sigh with relief upon hearing the approaching sirens.
* * *
Deputies from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office clear the building and find no evidence of entry or attempted entry into the highly secure facility. When the forensic team arrives from Seattle, they dust the door and handle for prints and find none, but the effort isn’t a total waste. Written across the door, presumably by Leonardo’s finger, are the words I SEE YOU. Though invisible to the naked eye, they were meant to be found.
Diane nearly faints as the dusting powder reveals them.
Despite pressure from every level of brass between herself and the director, she refuses to call Jimmy and Steps. Leo-nardo has no way of knowing where they are, and Diane has no intention of interrupting their first real vacation in years.
They’ll be back in a week.
Maybe she’ll have answers by then.
For now, she’ll move into a hotel. Against her pointed objections, the director assigns a security detail to her, and another to Big Perch to watch over Steps’s younger brother, Jens, and Ellis, the eccentric groundskeeper.
Temporarily forgotten in this burst of activity, Leonardo’s letter lies faceup on Diane’s desk. Words glare up from the bleached paper, a repeated proclamation:
DEATH COMES FOR US ALL.
DEATH COMES FOR US ALL.
DEATH COMES FOR US ALL.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a great deal to my editor, Keith Kahla, and probably more to my agent, Kimberley Cameron. Between them, they breathed life into this book and made it real. I also want to thank my assistant editor, Alice Pfeifer, who keeps the publishing wheel rolling with patience and grace.
Finally, I want to tip my hat to the art department at Minotaur Books. A lot is riding on a book’s cover, and they’ve just delivered amazing art again and again. They have my deepest respect.
Also by Spencer Kope
Shadows of the Dead
Whispers of the Dead
Collecting the Dead
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SPENCER KOPE is the crime analyst for the sheriff’s office of Whatcom County, Washington, where he provides case support to detectives and deputies. Prior to that, he was an intelligence operations specialist with the Office of Naval Intelligence. He lives in Lynden, Washington. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Spencer Kope
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
ECHOES OF THE DEAD. Copyright © 2021 by Spencer Kope. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover art: men fishing © Lane V. Erickson / Shutterstock.com; running man © Rekha Garton / Arcangel
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Kope, Spencer, author.
Title: Echoes of the dead / Spencer Kope.
Description: First edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2021.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021015897 | ISBN 9781250179401 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250179449 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3561.O63 E28 2021 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021015897
eISBN 9781250179449
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021
