The Hunted Girls

by Jenna Kernan

  Clearing the field for you.

  I hope my display is not wasted and wonder at why you didn’t recognize my little birds. I hope you similarly don’t disappoint.

  I look forward to your thoughts on my manifesto coming soon.

  The Huntsman

  When he glanced up, his expression gave away nothing.

  “Before you ask,” said Nadine. “Marion County Sheriff and Skogen’s guys are searching Lake Bryant for Linda Tolan’s remains. It’s one thousand acres, so…”

  It might be a while.

  “Listen, Nadine, he’s targeting you. Skogen assigned Axel to coordinate your protection.”

  Special Agent Axel Vea was a big, light-skinned black man with hair shaved to nothing, who, Clint had told her, was a former army ranger.

  “Good choice.”

  “I know you like your privacy, but from here until we catch this guy, you’re going to have company. Constant company. Axel has more agents coming in specifically for protection detail. And we will be moving again.”

  Nadine could not contain the groan.

  “It’s a necessity. April Rupp’s disappearance demonstrates that he knows where you are staying. Because of that, Coleman is canvassing the neighborhood, speaking to neighbors who may have seen April Rupp. She sent me a text that the television news crews are set up on the street before the town house.”

  Nadine pressed a hand to her forehead as the weariness pushed down upon her shoulders.

  “What about our stuff?”

  “The FBI is moving everything to a safe house. Undisclosed location. Protective detail when travel is necessary. We’re going to be working out of that house for a while. You won’t be coming here, either. Videoconferencing and the agents coming to you when necessary.”

  House arrest, she thought.

  “What about Juliette and Tina?”

  “They’ll have an individual agent assigned to their protection. Juliette will attend autopsies virtually and no running for a while. Tina will set up your new office in the safe house.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ve refused protective detail.”

  By 8 p.m. Nadine was situated in an innocuous home in a gated community. The structure was a single level, U-shaped, with a split-bedroom plan, so the master suite was isolated from the other bedrooms by the common area. The exterior sported Bermuda shades that added privacy. Nadine thought the caged inground pool might be some consolation for the Bureau canceling Tina and Juliette’s morning runs.

  She had commandeered the master suite, as it had a sitting room, which she planned to use as her office. The actual office would be shared by the team. The furnishings were new, a nautical collection in cream and navy with accents of coral and yellow. High ceilings, cream-colored tile and marble countertops gave Nadine a peek at how the other half lives.

  Juliette had phoned to deliver the bad news. The dental records of Bianca Santander were a match for their Jane Doe.

  They now had five victims.

  Tina, and her new protective detail of one very capable-looking female agent, had shuttled the contents of the office to this residence and completed the setup as Nadine grabbed several hours of uninterrupted think time with her laptop in her new sitting area.

  It was helping. She saw no personal connection between herself and Nikki Darnell or Rita Karnowski. But had a brief contact with Santander, Tolan and Rupp. Linda Tolan was interesting because their killer had used a lure after she had made contact with Nadine, which meant he must have known what Tolan was doing in Ocala. The reason for the travels to the forest for Tolan, Karnowski and Darnell had become obvious when the notifications on their phones were unlocked.

  All three of these victims had received similar alerts from the same app.

  Darnell had been lured to a remote parking area by the possibility of seeing a magnolia warbler, which Nadine now knew was a small songbird with yellow-and-black markings.

  Karnowski was interesting. She did not have a bird-watching app. But Agent Wynns had found an alert on the phone of Hugo Betters, Karnowski’s boyfriend. He had confirmed that this alert caused Rita to demand they take their fateful hike. Rita’s commune with nature included sitting with his binoculars in the area where a painted bunting had been reported. How had the killer known Betters had this app unless he had targeted them earlier?

  Nadine believed that Karnowski had been lured by the Huntsman. Betters reported that there were many other kayaks on the river that day. Was one of them their killer? Had he followed them to the nature trail?

  She called Skogen to set up another interview with Rita’s boyfriend via Zoom.

  Bianca Santander’s disappearance was especially troubling because she had been taken and killed well before Nadine’s involvement with this case had appeared in the news. Though her remains were the most recently recovered, she had died before Linda Tolan. That meant that the Huntsman learned of her arrival on Nadine’s first day here. But how?

  Watching the FBI field office? Staking out the hotels in town? By chance? She didn’t know. She did know that Bianca’s cell phone was not able to use apps and she had no interest in bird-watching. She had been taken outside the hotel after her shift ended and before her brother could pick her up.

  Linda Tolan had told the FBI that she had been seeking a summer tanager as part of an assignment for wildlife photography.

  Nadine checked the list of notifications and there it was, the summer tanager alert on the morning she was abducted.

  The question was, did the Huntsman follow Tolan from the hotel because of the altercation with Nadine, send out a notification for this scarlet songbird seeking a random target, making her capture a coincidence, or had he somehow known this was the bait that would bring Linda to him?

  Nadine tended toward believing that final possibility.

  The last known victim, April Rupp, did not use the bird app or receive notifications that brought her into the forest. In fact, she did not own a smartphone. This woman was targeted, like Santander, for her relationship to Nadine, hunted and abducted. The leak of her identity in the papers corresponded with their move from the hotel and the capture of Rupp.

  She reminded herself to ask Jack how he was doing in identifying their leak.

  Nadine now had a direction and emerging portrait of a killer seeking notoriety, baiting the authorities and relishing his game. But was she any closer to identifying him?

  The gentle tapping on her closed bedroom door drew Nadine back to her surroundings.

  “Come in,” she said.

  “Jeez! This place is huge. Where are you?”

  She recognized Juliette’s voice, coming from the bedroom area.

  “Walk past the bed and through the archway.”

  Juliette wandered into the sitting area, glancing about before taking a seat on the navy-tone couch facing the coral stone fireplace.

  “It’s like a Tommy Bahama store threw up in here.”

  “Yeah, but I need a desk, chair and Ethernet connection,” said Nadine.

  “I heard Tina working on that. You’ll have a desk tomorrow.”

  “Amazing. How are the critters?”

  “Demko took Molly with him. I’m not sure where he is, but she’s the first one to try out the pool. Tina’s cat is still hiding but under a different bed, now. I swear I’ve seen that thing maybe twice.”

  “And Jack-Jack?” asked Nadine, inquiring about Juliette’s perpetual two-year-old feathered dependent.

  “He’s in the kitchen with some mango slices. Tina’s watching him.”

  Nadine shifted and her stomach muscles tightened, preparing for the real reason for her friend’s visit.

  “What’s up?” Nadine asked.

  “Well, you heard about the dental records.”

  Nadine nodded.

  “Beyond that, the lab made a DNA match for your hair and the headband they recovered in Tolan’s car. That means you had a face-to-face with our guy.”

  Di
squieting did not begin to cover the electric bolt of anxiety prickling through her. It was one thing to suspect and another to know.

  “I figured. Wish I could remember what he looked like.”

  “No luck with the sketch artist?”

  “I hardly noticed him. Actually tried not to look at him out of embarrassment from waking him.”

  Juliette heaved a sigh. It was an opportunity lost. Nadine vowed to be vigilant, note her surroundings, and all the men she spotted from here on out.

  She suddenly recalled the man walking the small dog that day she had been outside with Mrs. Rupp. Could that have been the same man as at the hotel?

  Nadine thought it possible and jotted a note to discuss it with Demko.

  “What else?” she asked, returning her attention to Juliette.

  “They found Tolan’s remains in Lake Bryant. Kline made a positive ID. Autopsy tomorrow, but on visual inspection, it looks like the others.”

  Nadine heaved a sigh. “This might be my fault.”

  “It’s not. It’s our perp’s fault. Don’t forget it.”

  The room grew so quiet Nadine could hear the hum of the fan’s motor.

  “Anything else?”

  Juliette’s hesitation did nothing to calm her nerves. Her friend sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped before her, studying the ground. When she met Nadine’s eyes, her expression was grim and her mouth pressed tight.

  “We also got a hit on the DNA on one of the bodies recovered from the River Forest area.”

  Nadine’s momentary confusion was erased when she switched gears from their current case to the cold case. Juliette was referring to the human remains that her brother had helped authorities discover. Two bodies, one male and one female.

  Whatever Juliette was about to tell her, Nadine knew it was bad. Did that mean they had not found her father or that they had?

  “We got a hit from the DNA database. The results show a familial match to your brother, Arlo. Parent–child.”

  Nadine nodded. “So you found our father.”

  “It’s Dennis Howler. Yes. In addition to the DNA match, we have medical records indicating a fractured wrist and collarbone. Also a match. The female skeletal remains belong to Infinity Yanez. Identification through dental records.”

  Nadine let the news sink in that her absent father had not abandoned them as she’d long believed. He had been torn from their family.

  Her hopes of having a nice, normal father collapsed.

  The next realization struck like a slap. She and Demko now had something else in common. Both their mothers had murdered their dads.

  “Another lie,” she murmured.

  “What?” asked Juliette.

  “My mother. All this time, even knowing what I do, I believed her when she told me he ran out on us.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up. And I’m sorry, Nadine. Truly sorry for your loss.”

  All her stupid tiny hopes that someday he might come back for her were snuffed out. Arleen had killed any chance of that, along with Dennis.

  “I have to tell my aunt Donna.”

  “I can send an agent or the ME from her district.”

  “No. I’ll tell her.” Nadine used both hands to wipe away the unwanted tears. “Are they looking at my mother for the murders?”

  Juliette nodded.

  “Thank you for telling me,” said Nadine.

  Juliette’s look was filled with anxiety. She cleared her throat and swallowed. Nadine lifted a brow, waiting for the other shoe to fall, and pushed herself deep into the padded backrest.

  “There’s one more thing. We ran your DNA from the swab you provided against Dennis Howler.” Juliette leaned forward and placed a hand on hers. “Nadine, you’re not a match.”

  “What? How is that possible?”

  “Because Arlo is only your half brother.”

  The buzzing was back in her mind, the kicked hornet’s nest making it difficult for her to think. Her lips went numb and her fingertips tingled.

  “If Dennis Howler isn’t my father, then who is?”

  Twenty

  TUESDAY

  Nadine sat at the kitchen’s marble island. Since learning that Dennis Howler had left Arleen around the time she’d given birth to a daughter—Nadine herself—she had puzzled at the timing.

  Now she had more reason to believe her birth was the trigger. Nadine pictured the scene. Howler knowing he had been in the service when his wife, Arleen, had gotten pregnant. Nadine needed to check his military records to verify her suspicion that Howler would have known he could not be the father of the child his wife carried.

  She wondered what her chances were of getting a straight answer from her mother on the identity of her real father.

  Did Arleen even know?

  As she pondered that conundrum, all last night, Nadine had called her aunt Donna. She’d seemed to take the news in her stride, telling her that she’d come to acceptance that her brother was gone long ago. Her aunt would see about collecting Dennis Howler’s remains and make arrangements.

  Nadine hadn’t told her aunt that Dennis Howler wasn’t her father, not out of fear of what Aunt Donna would say but because she wanted to have that conversation face-to-face. She knew her aunt loved her, but would that change when she learned that Nadine was not her brother’s child? The uncertainty gnawed with sharp teeth against the backbone of her aunt’s support and unconditional love.

  And with that truth now sinking in, Nadine again wondered if her real dad might be out there, missing her, as she missed him.

  “What’s going on in there?” Demko asked.

  He was leaning against the counter with a full mug of coffee. How long had he been here?

  Nadine glanced about, reengaging with her surroundings.

  “What?”

  “You’re scowling.”

  She dropped her gaze to her lap and the cuticle she had dragged loose of all but the last attachment. She yanked it away. The sting of raw flesh was somehow soothing.

  “Did you speak to Juliette?” Nadine asked.

  “About?”

  She told him everything, starting with the familial DNA match of the male remains to Arlo and the negative finding for her, about her theories and hopes and fears.

  “And you’ve held this in all day?” he asked.

  “It’s embarrassing.”

  “Also disconcerting. The ground keeps shifting under your feet, Dee.”

  “Do you think my mother would tell me the truth, if I asked her?”

  He made a face, wincing. “From what you’ve said, she’s seriously upset with you.”

  “That’s an understatement. I cut off her money and all communication. Arlo said she’s raging. He also said the Copycat Killer contacted him somehow to ask about me.”

  “Why am I just hearing this?”

  “Because the Copycat Killer is in jail and can’t get to me. But…”

  “What?”

  “Arlo told me to watch my back.”

  Demko took her hand and lifted it, brushing her knuckles with a kiss. “That’s my job.”

  They shared a smile, but the melancholy lingered.

  “Maybe Arlo would be a better source.”

  “He was only five when my dad split.” Nadine rubbed her forehead. “I mean, when Dennis Howler was murdered. I’m still getting used to that.” She dragged her hand over her mouth before continuing.

  “He was old enough to remember if there was someone steady around.”

  “Could have been a one-nighter.”

  “I suppose.”

  The conversation lulled until she picked it up again.

  “So my father’s skull, it was crushed. And according to Arleen, she hit the guy who owed her money. Now I discover that guy was my dad. I mean the man I thought was my dad. This is so confusing. I’d like to drive up to the correctional facility tomorrow. Maybe see Arlo afterward.”

  “You don’t go anywhere without your security
detail.”

  She groaned. “I already forgot.”

  “Speaking of forgetting: Special Agent Wynns told me that they’ve taken down that birding app. No more notifications to lure potential victims in his territory. Let’s see how our unsub feels about that.”

  “He’s moved on. Not using that bait any longer, but I’m sure he’ll let me know. I’m anxious to see what the forensic document expert has to say about our greeting card and note.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  She told him about the guy she’d seen the day Mrs. Rupp had appeared on their doorstep shouting.

  “You get a good look?”

  “Not really. Better of the dog. It was a Jack Russell terrier.”

  “I’ll see if any of the neighbors have one or saw him.”

  Nadine pressed her thumb to the raw skin at the base of her index fingernail bed to stanch the blood welling at her cuticle.

  He drained the remains of his mug.

  “Do you think I’m the reason he left?”

  “Nadine, don’t do that.”

  She lowered her head.

  “We have no missing persons. So take a half day and go up there.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yes. Go ask Arleen about your real dad. But remember, whatever she says may be a lie.”

  WEDNESDAY

  Nadine drove with her FBI security agent to Lowell Correctional. The agent accompanied her through the indignities of the intake process for visitors, which was identical to Lawtey’s and included metal detectors and a pat down. Once in the visitor area, the agent peeled away, keeping her eyes on Nadine and in proximity, without drawing notice. They’d even arranged an inmate for the agent to sit with in a mock visit.

  Nadine waited by the prearranged table for Arleen to appear. This time she’d brought only twenty dollars in small bills because she’d be damned if her mother would get one dime from her that she didn’t use in the vending machines during their visit. Nadine had dressed with intention to most resemble the attire her mother once wore, so she entered the gathering spot in jeans, boots and a loose T-shirt, covered with a plaid cotton shirt, unbuttoned, with the sleeves torn off. Her hair was down and she wore no makeup. Looking at herself in the mirror before departure, she was unsettled by the resemblance to her mother’s younger self.