Nameless (Sinister Secrets Book 1)

by Candle Sutton

  As much as she wanted to be able to get a warrant and raid that place, rumors and speculation wouldn’t be strong enough. They couldn’t even bring Mays in for questioning for fear of tipping him off.

  If Mays had anything to do with creating this drug that had stolen her memories, she wanted a piece of him.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “We may have found something.”

  A man Kevyn had never seen before rushed into the office and dropped a small stack on Dak’s desk. His jittery enthusiasm reminded her of a hyper puppy and the grin on the man’s face exuded satisfaction.

  “These guys think they can hide from us, but we always find them.”

  Dak flipped through the items – she could see now that they were pictures – before looking up at the man. “What am I looking at?”

  “Stills from Nobles’ security footage.”

  Nobles. The word shot through Kevyn’s brain and brought her to her feet. Had they found the guy who’d attacked her?

  She came from around her desk and approached Dak. Dak introduced the man as an analyst.

  The analyst fixed large brown eyes on her. “We’re reasonably certain it’s the same man in all the stills. Which means he was watching you on several different occasions.”

  Dak slid the images to her before turning his attention to the man. “What makes you think this is the same guy?”

  “Height and build, plus mannerisms and the way he walks.” He pointed to the man’s feet. “Plus, same shoes.”

  Kevyn squinted at the picture. They could see that the shoes were the same? She could barely make out the man’s feet.

  They probably zoomed in and enhanced the image.

  “I’m surprised you were able to pick this guy out. I interacted with dozens of people on a daily basis.”

  The analyst shrugged. “Mostly women. There weren’t that many men. The problem is that there isn’t a good view of his face on any camera. He was careful to keep a hat over his face.”

  She flipped through the pictures, pausing on one. In it, a man stood a few feet from her, gesturing at a nightgown.

  It was the guy who’d asked for her size! “I remember this guy. You think it’s him?”

  The analyst adjusted his thin glasses. “Well, it’s probable that he’s the same guy as in the other photos. I can’t say that he’s the man you’re after.”

  It was a lead worth following. “Well, I remember him.”

  Dak stood. “We need to get a sketch pulled together. Between your description and the one provided by the chef, we might be able to identify this guy.”

  She sure hoped so. He needed to be stopped before he struck again.

  Seventeen

  Dak looked at the image.

  A well-shaped goatee enhanced a square jaw. Straight white teeth smiled from the computer-aided sketch. A baseball cap covered his head and topped a face with strong lines. Glasses with a thick dark frame took up a lot of the man’s face.

  Kevyn hadn’t remembered the man’s eye color, but the rest was good. Combined with the information from the chef, they had a pretty good idea of the man’s stats.

  Something about the guy seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

  Had he met the unsub? Questioned him at some point?

  Possible.

  He ran through the places he’d been, people he’d questioned. From Trane Imports to Mays’ Fish Packing Plant, to the people at Nobles… there were a lot of options. It also assumed it was someone he’d questioned and not simply seen in passing.

  And that the guy hadn’t been wearing some kind of disguise when Kevyn saw him.

  The goatee, glasses, and baseball cap made him wonder. This guy hadn’t gotten this far by being careless and those three items were usually some of the first – and easiest – ways for someone to hide their appearance.

  “Let’s get the team together. Maybe one of them knows this guy.”

  If not, he’d consider running it in the media. No way could a guy like this go completely unnoticed. Someone would recognize him. It was only a matter of time.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Traded one prison for another.

  Wendy’s words had run through her head all afternoon.

  Ebony carefully peeled the potatoes for the night’s dinner. Ugh! She wasn’t a prisoner, not at all!

  But she hadn’t been out alone since coming here.

  Jax had taken her out a few times, once to pick up the drugs he needed to bring a new brother or sister home, another time to take her clothes shopping, but he was always right there.

  It hadn’t bothered her before.

  She set a potato aside and pressed her lips together.

  It still didn’t bother her. She wouldn’t let it.

  She had a good deal here. If staying inside and not going places alone was the price to pay for that, so be it.

  Then again, she’d never asked him to go out. Would he allow it?

  Footsteps sounded outside the kitchen.

  She looked at the clock.

  He was early? Her stomach somersaulted. Jax was never early. Was something wrong?

  His frame filled the doorway.

  The smile on his face put her mind at ease. Nothing was wrong. He wouldn’t be smiling if something was wrong.

  He crossed the room and held her tight for a second before placing a hand on her stomach. “How are you?”

  A small laugh bubbled up. “We’re both fine. Although you’re not going to feel anything for a while, I don’t think.”

  “I know. I was hoping, maybe…” He sighed dramatically, letting his hand drop.

  After a brief survey of the dinner preparations, he nodded once. “I’ll get out of your way so you can keep working.”

  She should ask. Now. The worst he could do was say no, right?

  “I was thinking…” The words froze in her throat, preventing oxygen from filling her lungs.

  The smile Jax had given her slipped, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  Just ask! “I thought maybe I could go shopping. Pick up a few things for the baby.”

  Her heart pounded so hard she was sure it must be obvious through the thin silk blouse she wore.

  Jax stared at her for a few long seconds that felt like hours.

  She should apologize. It had been a bad idea.

  Traded one prison…

  “I’ll take you shopping soon.” Jax’s smile seemed frozen. “We have lots of time to get what we need.”

  That was a no, as firm as she’d ever heard it.

  She smiled and nodded. “Of course. I was just excited.”

  “As you should be. This is a big deal.” He exhaled slowly. “I’ll let you get back to it then.”

  She resumed peeling, but her mind fixed on Wendy’s words.

  Trapped. Not free.

  When she’d run away at fifteen, she’d thought she was free and it had landed her in hell. Maybe freedom was nothing more than a pretty idea people came up with to make them feel better.

  She had a good thing with Jax. So what if she couldn’t go out and do things? She didn’t know what she’d do anyway.

  Besides, being kept safely tucked away wasn’t so bad.

  It was far better than the alternative.

  She knew that truth firsthand.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “‘Bout time you got here.” Caiden Lakes’ voice held only mock outrage.

  Dak dropped into the seat beside his younger brother, who still wore his SWAT uniform. “I can’t stay long, though.”

  But he couldn’t miss tonight. He and his brothers had started the weekly dinner years ago, long before Blaze got married, and they rarely missed. Of course, when Blaze had married Leslie, they’d switched their dinner to Tuesday night, the one night Leslie taught evening classes at the University where she worked part-time.

  Blaze, with his tan chinos and button-down shirt, had obviously come straight from work, too. “What’s so important you have t
o run out on us?”

  “You got a hot date?” Caiden slapped his arm.

  Typical of both of them. Blaze, being the oldest, was always more serious, while Caiden, being younger, always gave him a hard time. “Work.”

  Like it would really be anything else.

  The waiter came and took their order. As soon as he left, Caiden leaned his elbows on the table. “Big case?”

  “Better be. It kept you out of church on Sunday.” Blaze shook his head slowly, fighting a smile. “It’s a slippery slope, brother.”

  Dak chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. For what it’s worth, I was keeping tabs on one of my agents.”

  Caiden’s eyebrows lowered. “You think he’s dirty?”

  Dak shook his head. “Attacked. I was afraid the unsub would come back to finish the job, so I parked myself beside a hospital bed. I think my neck is still kinked from that one.”

  “I guess that’s a pretty good excuse.” Blaze gave a melodramatic sigh. “You’re off the hook. This time.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  The waiter dropped off their drinks.

  “So. Thursday’s supposed to be sunny and dry. Good basketball weather.” Caiden leaned in, challenge written across his face. “I’m bringing a buddy from SWAT. He’s six-five. And I’m calling dibs right now.”

  “Then I say you get Sid so we’re not stuck with him. I still can’t believe he missed that shot last year. He was right in front of the basket.” Blaze glanced over at Dak. “Sid’s coming again this year, right?”

  “You kidding? He mentions Mom’s pies every time the topic of dessert comes up. He’ll be there.” Sid had joined their family for Thanksgiving dinner for the last few years. “I’m also bringing Kevyn, my new agent.”

  “If he’s any good, I’ll take him on my team.” Blaze chuckled. “Can’t be any worse than Sid, anyway.”

  Dak opened his mouth to tell his brothers that Kevyn was about as far from being a man as you could get, but stopped.

  This could be fun.

  And good paybacks for the many, many times they’d pulled one over on him.

  “Well, Kevyn’s pretty new to the team so we haven’t discussed athletics.” Time to change the subject before he slipped and used the wrong pronoun. “Think you can get Leslie to play this year?”

  Blaze shook his head. “Unlikely. She’ll probably hang with Mom inside.”

  Like she had every year since she’d first entered Blaze’s life.

  The food arrived then and Caiden prayed a quick blessing before they all dug in. Dak glanced at his watch. He had forty-five minutes before he needed to leave to meet Kevyn at the fish packing plant.

  Hopefully tonight’s data would give them the break they needed.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  A Jeep pulled into the lot. Dak’s, unless she was mistaken.

  A cool mist dampened Kevyn’s cheeks as she stepped out of her car.

  She glanced around, but saw no sign of movement. Just lots of parked vehicles.

  The disparity in the vehicles was striking. About half of the cars were new or close to it. She saw several higher-end models. The other half were older, some with rust spots, most with dents of some sort. There wasn’t much middle ground.

  Dak parked beside her car and rolled down the window. “Why don’t you hop in?”

  She settled in the passenger seat and turned to him. “I got here at seven-thirty like you asked. A crew was leaving. About fifteen minutes later, the next crew started rolling in. I counted seventeen guys total.”

  Dak nodded. “We counted eighteen when we were here last night.”

  “The interesting thing is that there were about twenty cars in the lot when I got here and they’re all still here. Didn’t Wilkerson say that everyone was expected to be gone before the shift change?”

  She knew very well that was what Wilkerson had told them, but Dak’s nod confirmed it anyway.

  “Really. Those cars – are they all parked in the same area?”

  “No. They’re interspersed. I thought about trying to get the license plate numbers, but didn’t want to risk attracting attention. One thing they did all have in common was that they were all newer cars, in a mid to high price range.” She pulled out a piece of paper, cringing at the poorly drawn diagram of the parking lot. “Don’t judge my artistic ability, but this should help us identify which vehicles were here before.”

  “Sweet. It’s possible the cars belong to some other business around here, but I’m not buying it.”

  Neither was she. These were the only two businesses in the immediate vicinity and Trane Imports and Exports had closed hours ago. Plus, a towing company’s signs graced almost every light post in the parking lot, promising that unauthorized vehicles would be towed. She couldn’t see twenty people risking a tow, especially late at night.

  Silence lingered as Dak studied the drawing, his attention flicking between the paper and the lot in front of them. “This’ll help out a lot, actually.”

  “You ready?”

  He grabbed a flashlight. “Let’s do it.”

  They went from car to car, Dak shining the flashlight on the license plates while she took pictures of the make, model, and plate number.

  A light wind bit her exposed hands and face.

  Getting a warrant to learn who was on the night shift would have been easier. And warmer.

  But it would have tipped off Mays, his night shift manager, and everyone else involved. They couldn’t take the risk.

  So they were out here in the cold, dark night, preparing to use vehicle registration to identify the night crew. Hopefully they’d find someone who would be willing to talk in exchange for leniency.

  “What should I bring on Thursday?” She spoke softly, even though there was no one around to hear.

  A strange smirk crossed Dak’s face. “You don’t need to bring anything. There’s always lots of food.”

  She snapped another picture. Showing up without bringing something didn’t feel right.

  Maybe she could treat them to an Aussie specialty. “I’ll bring Anzac Biscuits.”

  They moved to the next vehicle, an older truck with more dents and scratches than she cared to count.

  “I’ve never heard of that.” Dak shined the light on the next plate so she could snap a picture.

  “I’m not surprised. It’s a sweet treat from back home. Mum made the best Anzac Biscuits.” Heaviness settled in her chest at the thought of Mum in the kitchen baking, something she hadn’t done too often.

  It had been five years. Would the grief ever end?

  A moment of silence passed. “You must miss her.”

  A vise squeezed her heart. “Every day.”

  They finished gathering the license plate numbers in silence, then hurried back to their vehicles.

  “I’ll be in early to download all the images.” Kevyn inserted the key into her door handle while Dak hit a button on his key fob.

  The perks of having a newer car.

  Dak nodded. “I’m going to pull in every analyst I can get. We need to get through this data as fast as possible.”

  The words, so understated, carried a weight they both understood all too well.

  With the rate of escalation their unsub had displayed, they were already overdue for another abduction.

  Or another body.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Jax listened to Ebony’s soft breathing.

  The sound was soothing. Peaceful.

  Yet his mind was far from at peace.

  Never had Ebony requested to go out. He’d taken her with him a time or two, but she’d never asked.

  Where had her request come from?

  He didn’t buy that she was eager to pick up things for the baby. No, the question had felt more like a test.

  Was she growing dissatisfied with her life here? With him and all he had given her?

  He glanced over at her, her form barely discernable in the darkened bedroom. Her white blonde hair splayed across
the pillow and framed the pale face angled toward him.

  He studied her face, as if her closed eyes and slightly parted lips might tell him the deepest thoughts inside her head.

  Could she be plotting against him?

  Fire coursed through him and his pulse exploded in his ears.

  Was she planning to leave him?

  No. Not Ebony. She was loyal. Completely loyal.

  Wasn’t she?

  He fingered the baby-fine hair on the pillow beside him.

  He’d watch her. Closely. If she planned to abandon or betray him, he’d see the signs.

  And he’d end her. Baby or no baby.

  No one left him. Not without deadly consequences.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  The sun wasn’t even up as Kevyn pulled into the FBI’s secure parking garage a little before seven a.m.

  The shorter daylight hours were the one thing she disliked most about winter.

  Dak’s Jeep was already in the garage as she parked.

  Jeez. What’d he do, sleep here?

  It wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe she would have slept better had she pulled up a couch.

  In spite of her newly installed door locks and deadbolts, window locks, and security system, she’d spent what felt like half the night awake. Every creak of the old house settling, every gust of wind, every imagined noise had her envisioning a dark shape coming after her.

  Once they caught the unsub, surely the paranoia would lessen.

  She hoped.

  She got out of her car, juggling the thermos of coffee she’d prepared before leaving the house, and locked the car door. The ride in the elevator was solitary, as was the walk down the hall toward the office she and Dak shared.

  So far, looked like they were the only ones here.

  That was fine. It’d take a little time to compile the data anyway.

  “Good morning.” Dak looked away from his computer screen as she entered.

  “G’day.” She deposited her things on her desk and held up the thermos. “I promised you a cup of flat white. You game to try it? I even brought a spare mug.”

  She pulled two mugs out of her shoulder bag and held them up.

  He already had a reusable cup with a coffeeshop’s logo sitting on his desk, but an early morning like this demanded more than a single cup.