by M. J. Eason
For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
Davis sat alone in the living room with the files spread out before him. There were the new cases as well as the files of the Angel’s past victims. Without looking up, he knew Kara had joined him.
“We’ve missed something. I’ve missed something,” he amended as she handed him another cup of coffee. “I’ve been over this stuff a thousand times but I can’t see it.” His glance found her reluctant one. “You’ve been away from the case for a while. Maybe you can find what I’m missing.”
Kara sat down on the floor next to him but not too close. Davis figured he deserved that.
He handed her the oldest case files and studied her silently. The voices—she could hear them. It felt like old times. This was how they’d worked the original cases. Usually at Kara’s small Westminster apartment. They’d always ended up in each other’s arms, consumed by the passion they couldn’t control. No matter how much Kara wanted to deny that passion now, she still felt it. Just the way he did.
The Angel’s first victim was the only one he’d had any known connection with. Frankie’s mother worked for Amy Sinclair’s parents as their housekeeper. Amy had reportedly spurned his advances leading to what the Bureau profilers believed had been the final straw in the making of a serial killer.
Kara picked up the photo from the crime scene. They’d discovered Amy’s nude body in an abandoned warehouse twenty miles from her family home. Frankie hadn’t quite perfected his technique with Amy. He didn’t leave his legendary calling card of white lilacs or the biblical scripture. That came later. With Carrie Olson—victim number two.
Davis watched Kara’s familiar routine as she touched the photo of Amy. He saw it in her eyes before she shut them tight. She could feel the victim’s terror. Even now after all these years, it would be just as real and raw to her as it had been all those years ago. The photo slipped from her fingers. She reached for the pages of documentation instead.
Amy’s parents reported her missing after she didn’t return home from a date with her boyfriend. Most of the local police, who were good friends of the Sinclair family suspected the boyfriend right away, because of the family’s dislike of him. Unfortunately, all the time wasted in pursuing what turned out to be a dead end also cost them precious time. The locals dismissed obvious clues early on in the investigation, which might have yielded valuable leads. It took longer than it should to connect Amy’s death with the other Angel murders.
Davis got to his feet and refilled both their coffee cups without Kara being aware of his absence. She’d become lost in the dark shadows of the past.
He watched her pick up the second victim’s folder, careful not to touch Carrie’s photo. Carrie’s abduction and murder happened a short time later. The horror she suffered at the hands of Frankie Stephens would have been indescribable. He’d gone over the top with her.
“Are you okay?” Davis asked when he returned from refilling their coffee cups. Her eyes appeared slightly glazed when they met his. He could only describe this look as someone emerging from a trance. She took the mug he offered gratefully before shaking her head.
“It doesn’t get easier. Even after all these years. Even knowing we did everything we could for them. It’s still hard.”
“I know they’re hard to take. Don’t look at the photos, Kara. Just concentrate on the evidence.”
Davis shifted through the files and found the first new case. “Here, you start with Amy and I’ll start with Amanda, Frankie’s first new victim. The DC police found Amanda on the anniversary of Amy’s murder at a similar location. An abandoned warehouse.”
She looked at him strangely before asking, “Do you realize what you just said?”
He drew a blank. “What? About the DC police finding Amanda’s body in an abandoned warehouse?”
“No, you referred to the killer as Frankie. You believe this is Frankie’s work as well.”
“I don’t know. I guess maybe I do,” he admitted slowly. “God, Kara, where the hell has he been for six years?”
Kara didn’t answer. She turned her attention back to the file, scanning through the information she could almost recite word for word before closing it.
“Davis, I don’t know what else to look for here. Maybe you’d better read what you have. What’s the first victim’s name?”
“Amanda Shelly.” He saw her reaction and added, “Yes, I know. It’s like he’s duplicating them all over and yet he’s not. Amanda wasn’t from a wealthy family. She worked for a high-tech company in Richmond. She’d been working late, catching up on some paperwork the night he took her.”
“He took her from her office building? Was there video?”
Davis shook his head. “The machine had been broken for weeks. Probably by Frankie. He would have been watching her for some time. The cleaning crew reported her missing around five-thirty the next morning when they arrived at work. No one remembered seeing anything out of the ordinary happening during the weeks before. No reported problems as far as her parents knew. She had the perfect life. And now she’s dead.”
“Boyfriends?”
“Well, that’s where the similarities with Amy end. Amanda’s parents told us she’d decided to take some time off from dating to focus on her career.”
“Were they the same age?”
“No, Amy had just turned twenty-one. Amanda was thirty-eight. Different birthdays as well.”
“What about friends—acquaintances. Did they know any of the same people? I realize they ran in different social circles and they weren’t the same age but maybe there’s a connection somewhere in the people they knew.”
“I thought of that. We’ve checked them all. They didn’t know any of the same people or even hang out at the same places. There’s no connection there.” He couldn’t tell her that the only connection they’d found between any of the recent victims had been himself.
“What about Rachel?” Kara finally asked.
“No. There’s no indication that Rachel knew any of the original Angel’s victims or the latest victims for that matter.”
“None of this makes any sense.” She put the folder down and rubbed her eyes.
“I know…why don’t we try looking at this from a different angle? Suppose for a minute Ava actually did see into the mind of the killer—for whatever reason,” he added when he saw her reaction. She knew the only reason the Angel would choose Ava would be because of her connection to Kara. “And he planned on targeting Justine Yamez for his next victim.” Kara read his thoughts. She grabbed the file on the Angel’s fourth victim. Jan Yates.
“It fits. Oh. My. God!” she whispered and he glanced at the name of the next Angel victim.
Davis dropped the folder he held and reached for her. For once, she went into his arms without hesitating. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Davis, the next victim was Alicia Mathis. AM—Ava Martin! Davis, he’s coming after Ava next!” He would have given just about anything to deny this truth but she needed to know. Just as she needed to know she would be Frankie’s sixth target.
****
“KB. Kim Billings.” Kara said almost to herself and then moved out of Davis’s embrace. “Davis, we had no reason to consider the names before now. KB. Kara Bryant. We’ve always assumed I was to be the Angel’s next victim but maybe that wasn’t what he intended at all. What if his intention wasn’t to kill me back then? Maybe this was what he had planned all along. Maybe he’s just been waiting for this moment. Maybe this was just part of the game.”
Davis studied her expression for a moment. “Kara—”
“Think about it, Davis. It makes sense. The Angel never made a single mistake until me.”
“This could all be coincidence. We don’t know for sure this is the same person. It could be just some new creep copying the Angel’s MO. Until we do know this is Frankie, let’s not panic. We have Justine and Maggie. Ava’s safe and so are you. I won’t let anythin
g happen to you.”
“You don’t believe that anymore than I do. This is the same killer. This is Frankie. We screwed up the last time.” Something didn’t add up. He wasn’t telling her everything. Kara wanted to ask what he was hiding but he was too close for her exhausted mind to think clearly.
She looked away as his fingers cupped her face. In a moment, he would kiss her. She couldn’t let him touch her and shatter her fragile control. She tried to get to her feet but Davis stopped her.
“No. Davis, don’t.”
“You know you feel it, too.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t feel anything,”
“I can always tell when you’re lying. I knew it the moment I saw you. It’s not over for us, no matter how much you’d like it to be.”
She took a deep breath and looked away. “Maybe not but it is finished for me. I can’t do this. Not again. I almost didn’t survive the last time.”
“Kara, I’ll be there with you. I won’t let him hurt you.”
She forced a bitter smile. The Job. Of course, Davis’s only concern would be the job.
“I’m not talking about Frankie. That was horrible enough—terrifying in fact—but it wasn’t the worst part of it. Watching you choose the job over me as I’d seen you do so many times in the past—that was the worst part. Do you have any idea how hard that became for me to accept?”
“That certainly wasn’t the way I felt in my heart. But I hate that I made you feel that way. I love you, Kara. I’ve loved you from the beginning.”
Six years ago, she would have been thrilled to hear him say those things. Now, all she felt was angry and resentful. She’d waited by the phone for months—years even—for him to come after her. But he never came.
“Stop it, Davis.” She tried to release her hand from his hold but he brought it slowly to his lips, kissing her palm. Kara struggled to keep from reacting to his touch. “You don’t love me. You love the job. It’s always been about the job. You thought I helped you solve the most exciting case of your career. Now it’s happening once more. That’s the only reason you’re here now. You need my help.”
“Kara, how can you say that after all we had together?”
“Had? What we had was great sex. The thrill of the hunt made it seem more intense. But that’s all that existed between us.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Really? Then why are you here now? Why, after six long years, do you show up on my doorstep the moment the Angel appears?”
“I came the moment I discovered I had a child.”
“You came because you need my help again!”
“I won’t deny that! I need your help but that doesn’t change how I feel about you! I love you, Kara. You’re all that’s kept me going. Thinking about you. About the possibility of being with you.”
“Very touching but I’ve heard enough. I’ll help you with the case because I want this monster put away before he can hurt my daughter. But let’s be honest with each other for once. This is work. Nothing more.”
She pulled her hand away and got to her feet.
“That’s not true. Wait!” He called after her but she didn’t listen. She had to get away before he spotted her tears.
Kara closed the door to her room and leaned against it. She still felt his touch on her hand. She pressed her palm into her lips to stop the sobs.
Don’t cry. Just let it go.
She stood perfectly still chanting those words over in her head when she felt the calming presence of her daughter. Ava sensed her mother’s pain and reached out to comfort her through the miles of miles of space separating them.
Kara remembered all the other times in the past when her daughter had done this. No matter how much she might deny its existence to Davis and Maggie and the world, and no matter how many different explanations she used to try and make herself feel better, she knew Ava had inherited the gift as well.
And so, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Ava knew Davis was her father. After all, Kara had told her as much in her thoughts of him in the past.
“I’m okay, baby. Don’t worry. You just take care of Grandma for me, okay. I’ll see you soon.” Kara whispered into the silent room and felt Ava’s presence like a warm hug as she undressed and climbed into bed.
Her pillow smelled of Davis. He’d slept here last night. She held it close and breathed in the masculine scent of him. With thoughts of her daughter and the scent of the man she loved close by, Kara finally slept.
Chapter Five
“You let him back into your bed. That was your first mistake, Kara. Thinking you can escape me will be your last.”
Kara struggled to wake herself from the dream. She wanted him out of her head.
“No. You’re not real. You’re dead.”
She could hear his laughter, filled with hatred and insanity. He’d slipped further over the edge, becoming viler than before.
“You screwed me out of my next victim. Shame on you, Kara. You know how the game goes. But don’t worry. I have another in mind. She’s even better than that bitch in El Paso. Do you want to hear her pain?”
“No! No, this isn’t real!” Kara fought his hold. But she could feel the terror growing inside her. Her terror. His latest victim. He had her. Here in her dreams she became far too real.
She was beautiful. Kara could see her long, straight hair, so like Justine’s, flowing past her waist. It appeared black almost. Everything around her was dark. She struggled to see the girl’s face when someone shook her hard.
Davis! Davis was trying to bring her out of the dream.
“Wake up,” he said in a commanding voice that sounded so familiar. She tried but the girl’s fear pulled her back. She was in a dark, cold place. Kara tried to make out the girl’s surroundings but it was impossible.
“It’s too dark. I can’t see.”
“Wake up. It’s just a dream. It’s time to wake up now.”
“Just a minute longer, I can help her. I’m almost there.” But she wasn’t. The darkness became thicker. The image disappeared entirely. Bright light dispelled the blackness and she opened her eyes.
The comfort of her bedroom replaced the horror of the dark place. She sat up in bed and reached out to Davis, clinging to him, her body soaked with sweat. Tonight the dream felt more real than ever before. She was crying from experiencing the girl’s fear.
“It’s okay,” Davis repeated softly, stroking back her hair from her damp face. “It’s only a dream.”
God how she wished she could believe it but she knew the truth. This was only the beginning. He was forcing her back to DC. Back to unfinished business.
Kara pulled a little away from Davis so that she could look into his eyes. “It’s not a dream, Davis. It’s real. He’s real and very much alive. Frankie. The Death Angel is still alive.”
His shocked gaze held hers. He didn’t believe it fully just yet but he would in time.
“Dear God,” he whispered. Touching her cheek, he wiped away the tears that clung there. “I won’t let this happen to you again,” Davis repeated more forcefully.
“There’s nothing you can do to stop it. He’s even stronger than the first time.”
He shook his head. The last of his doubts disappearing.
They simply held each other. Kara and Davis had been the first to put the clues together in the past and had met with nothing but resistance and ridicule in the beginning. Would anyone believe them this time?
“We need to go to DC. We need to talk to the taskforce working the cases and see what they’ve come up with. I’ll have Jessica schedule our flight tomorrow. Today.” He added after glancing at his watch.
“Yes.” She couldn’t fight it any longer. This would be her fate. She’d known this moment would come since she ran away from it six years ago. In spite of the official Bureau line, Kara knew the Angel wasn’t dead. The way Frankie’s car went into the Potomac that night appeared too messy for the Angel. Too staged. Through the
years, she’d felt him reaching out to her, pulling her back into the game.
Kara leaned into Davis’s chest. She no longer wanted to think about the case. Having him so close reminded her of all the times he’d touched her like this in the past.
“Kara?” He felt it as well. He hesitated for a second, struggling to do the right thing. But she didn’t want to do the right thing tonight. She wanted him. Wanted to make love to him until she could wipe away all the horror she’d witnessed through the young woman’s eyes tonight.
His lips touched hers. Familiar. Gentle. All she ever wanted. His touch held more than simple passion for them both. There was history between them. Anger. Love. All there.
“Not like this,” he whispered into her mouth. “I want you. God, I want you. But I don’t want the things you said to me earlier standing between us. I don’t want the job there either. And I certainly don’t want you coming to me because of him. When we make love, I want it just to be about you and me.”
He untangled her arms reluctantly, stood and walked to the door. There would never be just the two of them. It was an impossible dream.
“I’ll leave word for Jessica to make the arrangements. I don’t think sleep is going to be possible for me but you should try. I’m going to make some coffee and go over the case files. Maybe we’ve missed something.”
Long after Davis left her alone, Kara couldn’t move. And sleep—she couldn’t risk sleep. Not knowing Frankie wanted her to experience the girl’s pain.
Kara showered and dressed, then joined Davis in the kitchen. He acknowledged her presence by handing her yet another cup of coffee. She’d lost track of how much caffeine she’d consumed over the past few days.
“This is the last thing I need right now. More stimulation.” Bad choice of words on her part. She saw him smile but he didn’t press the matter.
“I’ve left a message for Jessica. She’s usually up early, so hopefully we can get out of here before lunch.”
