“SHIT, THE THREAT COULDN’T be more clear,” Lynch said tightly. “We’ve got what you wanted. He’s going to go after you.”
“But how?” Kendra asked. “I think he’s dangling the answer in front of me, just to show me how stupid I am compared to his superior, brilliant intellect.” She was mentally going over the text, line by line. “He’s obviously all about pain, Lynch. Facey said he was one sick puppy. Yet Liz Gelson’s torture wasn’t extreme. Probably just enough to show her how powerful he was.” She was working her way through it. “It had to be something else.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Lynch said quietly. “There are all kinds of pain in this world. He told you that. I’m beginning to think that our Derek has much more sophisticated tastes.”
“He said that he wouldn’t have chosen to kill you.” She said slowly, “He didn’t believe in that man-woman garbage.” She added tentatively, “Because the pain factor wouldn’t have been intense enough for him? He definitely sounds like he doesn’t believe that destroying a couple relationship was worth his time.” She had another thought. “Or because it would possibly have such a limited scope that he’d feel cheated? He did use the word limited.”
“Go on.” Lynch said. “It’s coming to you, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” But she thought that perhaps she was seeing a glimmer. “But he said that he’d just gotten started with that wedding party. It annoyed him that he was feeling hobbled by us. He was planning on creating much more chaos. How? He’d already killed the bride and presumably the maid of honor was to be next. Why did he choose them? Why did he think they were worth his attention? The bride was supposedly at the peak of her romantic happiness, but that obviously wouldn’t have had an effect on Derek. The maid of honor had been married for a couple years and was just an ordinary woman starting a new business.” She suddenly snapped her fingers as a thought came to her. “But they both had large families, large groups of friends and business acquaintances. The wedding party itself was very large. Five bridesmaids and groomsmen and then parents and…” She broke off. “We don’t how many people would be affected if they also died. To kill them all would affect a sizeable group of people. That could be what he wanted, to cause as much pain as possible to the victims’ circle as a whole. It might not have had anything to do with the victims’ husbands other than to furnish Derek an occasion and an opportunity. Derek would have considered them ‘garbage’ compared to the sheer mass of other people in their lives.” She looked up to meet Lynch’s eyes. “And you told me about those two groups of people Derek killed that were his pride and joy. The deaths in that soccer team and those medical students must have had a tremendous effect on their family, friends, and fans. Derek must have gotten a big thrill out of those kills.”
“And so went looking for an equally satisfying kill here,” Lynch said. “If he was planning on going down the list of all the people in the wedding party, it might have turned out to be a new first for him.”
She shivered. “I can see how he’d be irritated that I’d gotten in his way.”
“Irritated? That’s a mild word,” Lynch said roughly. “And we just added fuel to the fire. I think he’s now in punishment mode. We’ve got to catch him and do it quick.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying. But this is a start.”
“Screw it. We gave him an invitation and he just accepted. How long do you think it will be before he makes a move? He already said he was in the process.”
“Then it’s done, isn’t it?” She smiled with an effort. “We’ve just got to make certain that he doesn’t get any further with the process.”
“Yeah, but that’s not going to be simple to do if he’s as smart as Facey said. Unless you’ll just let us surround you with agents until we can catch Derek.”
“With Brock protecting him? How long would that take?” She shook her head. “We’re close. We’re getting closer all the time. We can do this.”
He muttered a curse and got to his feet. “Then I’m going up and telling Griffin you’re going to have twenty-four-hour surveillance from now on.”
“That might scare Derek off.”
“Tough. I don’t think so. He’ll probably think of it as a challenge. And I’m staying with you in the condo.”
She shrugged. “Do you think I’d argue? This is my life, Lynch.”
“Tell me about it.” He headed for the door. “And I’ll also check with Metcalf and see if he’s making progress on that text. I’ll bring your phone down here to Hi-Tech and we can go over it with a fine-tooth comb.” His lips twisted. “It might be a long night.”
She watched the door close behind him before she looked back down at the text message. His anger and tension were both understandable and upsetting, but no more than the words jumping out at her from that paper. Was there anything else she should have noticed?
Other than that Derek was even more crazy and diabolic than she had thought. That he was going for the maximum amount of pain, spreading it like a giant fan among the loved ones of the victims and nothing was going to stop him.
No, until they stopped him, she corrected quickly.
They had to stop him.
* * *
LYNCH WAS RIGHT ABOUT it being a long night. They didn’t leave the FBI office until after midnight.
“Metcalf was pretty pissed off.” Lynch glanced at Kendra as she made the turn on the street of her condo. “He expected us to be able to pull an IP address out of the stratosphere and it wasn’t happening. We did everything we could, Kendra. The people who crafted that text for Derek were experts.”
“Brock Limited,” she said bitterly. “And they are experts, as we all know.” She shook her head. “And no one knows that better than Metcalf and Griffin. He’s not really blaming anyone, he’s just frustrated.”
“And wanted to make it up to you for helping Griffin lie to you. He’s feeling guilty.”
“He should feel guilty.” She glanced at him. “Are you saying he shouldn’t?”
“No, I’m just feeling so guilty myself that I guess I’m feeling sorry for the guy.”
“It will take a while before I get that far along. Maybe next year.”
“Ouch. That’s pretty harsh.”
“So was what they did to me.” She looked him in the eye. “Any argument?”
He shook his head. “No way. I’ve done my duty. I’ll toss them both under the bus if it will keep me in your good books.”
“Very wise.” She grinned as she started to approach the entrance to the condo garage. “It’s always better to be—”
“Don’t drive down to the garage,” Lynch said. “Pull over to the curb.”
“Why?” she asked, startled. Her gaze followed his to the front entrance as she pulled over. “What’s that policeman doing at the front door?” Then she grimaced. “You must have put a lot of pressure on Griffin to get him to assign my surveillance this quickly, Lynch. You said twenty-four hours but this is—”
“That cop is San Diego PD.” Lynch got out of the car and started to stride toward the vestibule. “Griffin would have assigned an agent. Stay here. I’ll be right back.” But his phone was ringing and he checked his ID. “Griffin.” He answered. He listened for a moment. “Holy shit. Yeah, she hasn’t gone in yet. I’ll take care of it.” He pressed the disconnect. “We have a problem.”
She went cold. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Forty minutes ago the janitor of your building discovered the body of a woman in the stairwell. She was dead. He called the police, and they just notified Griffin.”
“In the stairwell?” She tensed. “What was the woman’s description? Could it have been Barbara Campbell?”
“We don’t know yet. Griffin’s going to call me back to give me the rest of the details in a minute.”
“If it is her, Derek could have done it as a warning to me. He asked how I liked being the target. I have to know, Lynch.” She jumped out of the car. “Let’s get in there.”
“We will. Calm down.” He took her arm and was pulling her toward the entrance. “They don’t even have a complete crew here yet. There’s only that cop on duty and a few detectives and a medic in the stairwell.”
It took a few minutes of Lynch’s persuasion, but then they were allowed into the building. She heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights of the squad cars and coroners van pull up outside as Lynch punched the button of the elevator. “And I can’t calm down,” she said shakily as they got into the elevator. “Not if that woman turns out to be Barbara Campbell. And not if it’s my fault she’s dead. I’m scared to death that he killed her today because he was angry and wanted to warn me.”
“You’re only guessing. Stop it. Wait until we get the facts.” His phone rang again and she watched his face as he listened to Griffin. “Okay, I’ll tell her. I’ll call you back.” He held Kendra’s eyes as he punched the button to put the elevator in motion. “It’s Barbara Campbell. Preliminary examination by the detectives puts her time of death to be at least twelve hours ago. That means she was already dead when you were texting with Derek.” He paused. “He evidently already had his plan in place.”
She shuddered. “To put her corpse on my doorstep?”
He didn’t answer.
She suddenly inhaled sharply, her gaze flying to his face. “My doorstep, Lynch?” Then she saw the answer on his face. “No!”
“Not the stairwell where your condo is located,” he said gently. “One floor down.”
“Olivia?” she asked hoarsely. “Olivia’s condo?” She felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. “That can’t be the truth, dammit. Tell me that it’s not true, Lynch.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that, Kendra. And Griffin said that she was the only one who didn’t answer her door when the police were trying to question the tenants. The super unlocked her door and took a look around. She wasn’t there.”
Of course she wasn’t, Kendra thought numbly. Deliver a dead body. Take a living person. That was Derek’s MO. Why had she thought his action would be aimed at her just because he’d told her she was the target? Maybe because she hadn’t been able to bear that Olivia or anyone else she loved would be.
“I want to go see for myself.” The elevator door opened and she pushed her way through the crowd that was gathered around the stairwell. Why hadn’t she realized the button Lynch had pressed was not for her floor? Because he hadn’t wanted her to know before he could ease her into it, she realized.
“Of course, you do.” Lynch followed her down the corridor to Olivia’s condo. “Should I get the super?”
“I have a key to her condo.” Her hand was shaking as she unlocked the door. “But if the super didn’t have one of Olivia’s keys the alarm should have gone off.” Her voice was feverish. “She has very good security. It will only give me two minutes to disarm after I go inside.” She pushed open the door.
The keypad was dark. It had been disarmed.
“Dammit.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She could feel the panic rising. “Really good security. I saw to it myself a couple years ago, remember? I wanted to make certain she’d be safe because she was blind and alone. But Brock would have been able to do it, wouldn’t they? They’d have been able to give that son of a bitch, Derek, anything he wanted. Just like that text message.”
“Good chance,” he said. “Kendra…” He took an impulsive step toward her.
“No!” She backed away from him. “Don’t touch me. I can’t have anyone touch me or I’ll—” She stopped. “I’m okay, Lynch. Can’t you see? I’m okay.”
He nodded, his gaze intent on her face. “Yes, I can see that, Kendra,” he said quietly. He shifted his glance to the alarm. “I’ll have the security system checked out and see if we can get any idea about who disabled it.”
“You do that.” She nodded vigorously. “Have someone go over the entire condo and see what they can find. I need to know where they took her.” She swallowed. “I have to know, Lynch. Before she ends up like that poor woman in the stairwell.” She crossed her arms across her chest to keep them from shaking. “That can’t happen. Do you hear me? We have to find her and bring her home.”
“I hear you,” he said gently. “I’ll see to it. And I’ll call Griffin and tell him to get his entire crew out here, too. We’re going to do everything we can, Kendra.” He paused. “I need to go talk to the detectives in the stairwell about what they might know. Do you want me to take you up to your condo?”
“No, why should I want you to do that? I have to stay here and make sure that none of us misses anything. And I want to search myself.”
“Right.” He gave her one more glance and then went out into the hall, and she heard him talking on his phone. He was worried about her, she knew. She was aware that she wasn’t behaving normally, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t think of anything but Olivia and how to keep that murderer from hurting her. She felt so helpless …
But she couldn’t stand here and do nothing. She had to search for some kind of clue as she’d told Lynch she’d do. Perhaps Olivia had managed to leave her a message. Olivia was so clever, and she’d know that Kendra would be looking for her.
Start in the bathroom …
No messages in any room in the condo, she realized desperately twenty minutes later. After searching every inch, she had found nothing. Olivia’s condo was its usual clean, organized space. It was as if she’d just walked out the front door.
But if she’d walked out that door, it had been because she was forced. And Olivia would have fought. She’d never give in without a battle. All her life she’d been—
She heard a beep across the room.
She recognized that sound. It was the signal for an incoming fax from the machine on the desk across the room.
She froze, staring at the red light and then listening as the machine started to chatter.
A fax at almost one in the morning?
She slowly crossed the room and stared down at the machine.
Hello, Kendra,
I can’t tell you how delighted I am at this moment. I can almost feel your pain. This is the first lesson I’m teaching you. Now pay attention, this is very important to you …
* * *
“KENDRA?”
Kendra forced herself to look up from the fax she’d been staring numbly at for the last fifteen minutes.
Lynch was standing in the doorway, gazing worriedly at her. “Okay? Griffin and Metcalf have just arrived and they’re talking to the detectives and ME. I want to bring the forensics team in here to—”
“Bring them in,” she interrupted him. “I don’t think Derek would mind them going over the place. I’m sure he’d be happy that they’d appreciate what a good job he’d done in staging this. He’d regard it as another teaching experience.” She got to her feet. “It appears that I might be going to get a good many of those.” She took the fax out of the machine and headed for the door. “But I don’t want Griffin to see this first lesson Derek sent me. Because I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.”
“Derek?” His gaze was on the sheet in her hand. “He sent you a fax? Why didn’t you call me?”
“You might say I was in shock.” That was an understatement. “And I wasn’t certain that I’d want you to see it either.”
“What?”
“Don’t be insulted. I decided I had to tell you. I trust you and I couldn’t be alone in this.” She looked back at him from the door. “I’m going up to my condo. Do what you have to do with Griffin and Metcalf, but don’t bring them to me. Not if you want to read what Derek sent me.” She went out the door and straight to the elevator.
A few minutes later she was unlocking the door of her condo and going inside. She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes. She had to be stronger than this. There had to be something she could do, but right now she could only fight off the nausea and the fear.
Move. Think.
She went to the bathroom and got a glass of water and drained it. It didn’t help.
But Lynch was using his key to unlock the door and she immediately felt a rush of adrenaline when he walked into the condo. “You were quick.”
“What did you expect? Let me see that fax.”
She handed him the fax and stood beside him as he read it. “You’ll see that he’s in great form. He wasn’t lying about his pain-power philosophy. She quoted softly, “Hello Kendra, I can’t tell you how delighted I am at this moment. I can almost feel your pain. This is the first lesson I’m teaching you…” She shook her head. “But after that I kind of lost it when he went into details.”
But the words were right there before her again and she steeled herself not to flinch from them.
I generally don’t set myself against a single individual. Their pain tends to bore me now that I’ve experienced what I can feel from more complex and massive waves of emotion. But I’ve decided you’re an exception that I can’t ignore. I wish to feel your pain and I realized when I looked up your dossier that it would be simple enough to do. Your dear friend Olivia is the key. Make her suffer and you will suffer, too. So much that you’ll run to her side and try to stop her pain. Then I will have both of you. Isn’t that clever?
But the question was what would you consider a terrible enough torment to drive you to risk your own life? Not any of the ordinary means. Then it came to me. She’s blind, Kendra. Just as you were. Now what other senses could I take away from her that would drive her almost insane? Just temporarily of course … until I choose differently.
I can practically see you leaping for the door to come to her aid. It’s very amusing. But I’m not going to let you do that yet. I want the pleasure of having both of you go through that hell for a long time. Maybe I’ll permit you to come together sometime tomorrow or the next day or the day after. You’ll never know when. All you’ll know is how she’s suffering while I make you wait. If you bring the FBI or Lynch into this then it will not happen at all. If you’re obedient, you’ll receive a text and be told to go to a location of my choice. Then you’ll be brought to me … and Olivia. I can’t wait to bring the two of you together …
Lynch dropped the fax on the floor. “That son of a bitch.”
“Yes.” She looked down at the sheet of paper on the floor. “And he meant every word. He’s already making her suffer, Lynch.” Her lips tightened. “And he won’t let me stop it. He just wants me to think about it and imagine how much it’s hurting her.” She moistened her lips. “And he has to be a devil to realize what that would do to Olivia. When you’re blind, you’re totally in the dark, but if you can hear, it saves you. If you can speak, it helps you. Touch can make you feel as if you’re not isolated. If he’s taking all that from her, it could make her panic … and go a little crazy. Heaven knows what else he’s doing to her.” She swallowed. “I want to kill him, Lynch.”
“I know. Stand in line.” He went to the bar and poured himself a whiskey and a glass of wine for her. “We’ll get there. We’ve just got to find out how to get around the roadblocks. You’re not going to bring in Griffin or the FBI?”
“I don’t trust him. If he thought he could get Derek, he’d probably consider Olivia collateral damage.” She took the glass of wine from him. “Besides, Brock might be keeping tabs on what’s happening at Olivia’s and with the investigation. They seem to be everywhere.”
“We might need Griffin at some point.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “Only as an emergency backup if necessary. However, the first thing we need is to double the surveillance on you. I agree with everything you’ve said. But since I’m also on Derek’s verboten list, I suppose I also can’t be seen near you by Brock.” He grimaced. “I thought I was done with being incognito when I showed up at their home office today. I’ll make a show of leaving here tonight and going to my house. But I’ll call as soon as I get home and we’ll get on with it.”
“On with what? I’m feeling very blank at the moment.”
“You’re not blank.” He dropped down on the couch and pulled her down beside him. “I was worried about you when we first found out about Olivia, but that was only shock. You’re thinking, you’re analyzing, you’re being Kendra.” He sipped his whiskey. “Kendra going through a hell of a lot of pain.”
“Don’t say that.” She lifted her glass to her lips. “It’s what he wanted. I don’t want to give Derek anything he wants.”
“Then we won’t.” He paused. “I was afraid that you were going to insist on going to Derek when he snapped his fingers. He seems to think you’d do it. He must have done some in-depth research on your and Olivia’s relationship.”
“Would I be tempted? Of course I would. But I know what would happen. He’d kill her, kill me, and get a real thrill on doing it in the most painful way possible.” Her hand tightened on the stem of her glass. “And he’d win and then go on to the next victim. I can’t let that happen. The only way to save Olivia is to find that monster and destroy him like a rabid animal.”
“Oh, I like the way you’re thinking. And Derek doesn’t know you at all.” He smiled. “You might have tossed Griffin out in the cold when Derek told you to do it. But you thumbed your nose at him when you decided to keep me around to help.”
“Of course I did. That was the intelligent thing to do. You’re brilliant at this kind of game. And I can always trust you. Why wouldn’t I want you?”
“No reason at all,” he said. “I was just complimenting your rationality. Because I’ll always be the person you should call when you need someone.” He finished his whiskey and put the glass on the coffee table. “Now drink your wine and try to relax. There’s nothing we can do now but try to think and go over possible options.”
“We should do something.”
“And we will, but I’ve always found that putting pressure on yourself never gets you to the finish line. Just let it go and let it come to you. I’ll go down and talk to Griffin and get him to do all the probing we want him to do and then I’ll take my very obvious leave.”
She finished her wine. She didn’t want him to leave, but he was making sense. And she must not cling, she was already asking too much of him. “It might be better if we only knew his damn pattern. Suber said that he was almost controlled by it.”
“Which means he’s as much caught in what he’s done as we are. He’s set it up and now he has to complete it. He’s not going to run.” Lynch said slowly, “We just have to figure out how to trap the son of a bitch.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” She suddenly clutched the front of his shirt. “You’re the one they hire to cause entire countries to go down the tube. You must be able to think of a way to get Olivia away from him.” She knew she was being unfair. Her hands dropped away from him. “I’m sorry. I know it’s my responsibility. Forget I said that. I’m just scared.”
“I won’t forget it. Because it will remind me to do everything I can to bring her home.” He drew her close. “Hey, you said you trusted me. I promise I’ll find a way.” He cradled her face in his two hands. “Just give me a little time. Nothing has been more important to me.” He brushed his lips on the tip of her nose. “Except that you get a little sleep. What I don’t promise is that it won’t be rough for all of us.”
“Sleep? All I can think about is Olivia.”
“Then think about her.” He pulled her over to cuddle against him. “But think good thoughts. Think about getting her away from that asshole. Think about all the good times and what you are together. You’ve been friends since you were children. I’ve seen bits and pieces but there’s so much more, isn’t there?”
So much more …
It was like a kaleidoscope flashing before her. The two of them sitting together on the cliffs above Woodward Academy, hearing the waves crash on the rocks below. Olivia, teasing her because she wouldn’t take enough chances. Olivia, holding her hand and telling her how happy she was that Kendra could see even when they both knew that Olivia might never regain her own vision. Olivia, panic-stricken at the hospital, running down the corridor beside Kendra’s gurney.
“Too many to even count,” she said huskily. “But do you know what I’m remembering right now? When I was first getting to know Olivia at school, she was so different from me. Braver, funnier … But she was so generous, Lynch. I’d been born blind, but she had lost her sight in an accident. You’d think she’d be bitter, but she wasn’t. She hated that I didn’t have the memories that she had of the world around me. She’d spend hours trying to describe what was out there, what I should be able to see. She’d take my hand and have me feel textures and then try to compare it to what I should be seeing. She got so frustrated…” She smiled. “But then for a few months after my operation, she’d come and visit me and have me tell her exactly what I was seeing. She’d laugh and say, “See? I told you so. Am I good or what?”
“She was very, very good.” Lynch was stroking the hair at her temple. “And that’s why we’re going to take her back. No question.” He kissed her forehead and then sat up and got off the couch. “Just lie there and think good thoughts. I’ll call you when I get to my place and we’ll try to firm up a plan.” He was heading for the door. “I mean it, Kendra. We’re not going to let anything happen to her.” His lips turned up in the faintest smile. “How could it? Are we good or what?”
The door closed softly behind him.
She lay there for a moment, letting his soothing words and the memories of Olivia stay and comfort her.
Then she sat up and swung her legs to the floor.
Think good thoughts? The only good thoughts she could have would be how to gut that son of a bitch, Derek. She didn’t have the slightest doubt that Lynch’s mind and efforts even now were busy trying to put all the pieces together. But he should have known better than to think she could do anything else.
He probably did. He might just be trying to give her that brief healing moment to make her strong enough to go on.
But that moment was over.
She got her computer and started typing.
Start at the beginning. It was time to make notes of every single thing she knew or had heard about Derek. Every little fact, every hint of feelings or instincts she’d had about him.
Accept everything.
Ignore nothing.
We’re going nail you, bastard.
10:40 A.M.
“Are you still working?” Lynch asked when she picked up the phone.
“Barely.” Kendra rubbed her eyes and straightened on the couch. “Right now it’s all a blur to me.”
“That’s the time that you should get a nap. I should have known that I shouldn’t leave you. You’ve been at it all night.”
“No, that’s the time I should follow your advice and just let all the information I’ve stuffed into my brain come together. There’s no way I could exert any pressure on myself in my present condition.” She took a drink of her cold coffee. “I’ll just go back to the beginning again and let it flow. Did Griffin find out anything?”
“Only that there were no fingerprints found in Olivia’s apartment and probably not a trace of DNA. Strictly a professional job.”
“But we already knew that it was Brock.”
“Yes, it all goes back to Brock. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Vivianne Kerstine’s crew. I was going to head over to your place, but I’ll be there a little later. I’m at the FBI checking to see if we missed a scrap of evidence in the stuff we took from their offices.”
“Then do what you have to do. But it’s not going to do any good if someone doesn’t stop Derek from killing Olivia.” She added wearily, “We’ve got to find him. Let me get back to work, Lynch.”
“Right. Like you said, go back to the beginning. I’ll call you later.” He cut the connection.
The beginning …
She put on the wedding video that she’d already played innumerable times. She practically had the damn thing memorized. Okay. Relax. Don’t go after it. Let it come to her.
The speeches. The laughter. The music.
Now that bit of whispered dialogue that Olivia had called to Kendra’s attention that night in her apartment.
No pressure. She closed her eyes. Let it come to her.
The harsh, urgency of the first whisper. “We should get the hell out of here.”
Then that silky, amused reply. “Why? When it’s all here.”
What was all here?
And the tones were so different …
She put it on repeat and kept her eyes closed. She let every nuance flow over her.
You’re the one who first noticed it, Olivia. Help me.
No, she had to help herself. As she’d told Olivia, she’d trained her hearing to crystal clarity after her operation. That skill must still be there to call upon. Concentrate. Shut everything else out. Catch the rhythms and tempos.
What were they talking about? That whisper was so soft it was almost unidentifiable, but the more she played the tape the more she thought she caught … something.
Something familiar.
What?
Which thread of speech?
Lynch had said don’t force it. Let it come to her …
Why? When it’s all—
And then it did come to her!
“Oh my God!”
She sat up straight, her eyes flying open.
She reached for her phone and punched in Lynch’s number. “Stay at the FBI Office,” she said. “I’m getting dressed and I’ll be right there.” She pressed the disconnect and flew across the room toward her bedroom.