29

He knew her name now. He’d followed her to the restaurant where she worked. She’d taken his breakfast order, so he’d seen her up close. Her name tag read Laura. No tattoos that he could see. Very little jewelry. Light makeup. Hair fashioned into a bun. She was perfect.

Of course, he had no idea how she’d lived her life before she was “washed in the blood.” He didn’t care. He was convinced she fulfilled the Master’s needs. Revulsion slithered through him anytime he thought about those self-righteous hypocrites who believed in some master other than the Master. What fools they all were.

He had to take a deep breath to push down the rage that almost choked him. He would have to wait on the last sacrifice. He couldn’t take her during the day. He only worked in the dark. He’d have to wait for nightfall.

Alex, Logan, Monty, and Mike all stayed at the table after Harrison left. Logan looked through the open doorway to the large room where even more people were working than yesterday. Harrison had told them an assistant U.S. attorney stood by, waiting for updates. A ViCAP analyst had come in to oversee other analysts working hard to find something—anything—that would help them find Adam Walker. Personnel from the FBI’s Crisis Management Unit and the Crisis Negotiations Unit also stood by to help.

Logan noticed several people around Dr. Greene. CDC staff, no doubt. They were still worried. No one could be sure how virulent the sample Adam Walker had was. If Martin Kirabo really had engineered this thing to be more deadly than Ebola, the consequences were unimaginable.

He was also more certain than ever that Walker hadn’t taken any chances. He was determined to carry out his assignment. He was an organized killer. That meant he’d probably planned this down to the smallest variable.

“So can we update our assessment?” Alex asked. She had a notebook in front of her, a pen poised to write.

“I don’t see that it changes much based on what’s happened,” Monty said.

“Maybe not,” Alex said. “If Adam Walker is responsible for Willow’s and Nettie’s deaths, he must have had help. Could one person have attacked Willow and Nettie and yet another killed Nettie in the hospital? Let’s work on that and see what we can come up with.”

“You’re talking about more than one person helping him?” Mike asked.

“We’ve seen that before,” Monty said. “Although not very often.”

“I think there’s at least one. I still don’t think Walker committed either murder in Wichita himself,” Alex said. “For one thing, he would have to have changed his MO, which rarely happens. Remember, these deaths are holy sacrifices to his god. They were carefully orchestrated even though his victims were random. He waited for the right opportunity. Knew exactly how he was going to kill them.”

She frowned. “It still bothers me that Willow’s killer used a weapon at hand rather than bringing one with him. That doesn’t sound planned. Wouldn’t someone from the Circle prepare better? I guess they could kill with the kind of anger we saw in Willow’s house. It’s possible they’re angry with me for taking her copy of The Book and bringing law enforcement down on their heads. Yet helping Walker would only bring more attention to them. They’re a very secretive society. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“So you’re both still convinced Walker didn’t kill Willow and Nettie,” Monty said.

“Yes. We also have to remember that Walker is driven by a book he believes mentions him,” Alex said. “It’s his identity. He is the Destroyer. Therefore, it makes sense to him that he has minions. People who will do his bidding. They might not know everything he’s planned. He may not have told them about the virus.”

“I wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for anyone who helps him once he’s completed his mission,” Logan said.

“What do you mean?” Mike asked.

“I believe Adam is incredibly narcissistic. The world is being shaped by him. He won’t hesitate to get rid of anyone he thinks is a threat to him.” Logan shrugged. “If he does have helpers, maybe he’s convinced them to take their own lives after they carry out the assignment he’s given them.”

Mike frowned. “Why would they do that?”

“If they believe their involvement might put the Destroyer at risk, they could kill themselves to protect him. He probably promised them some kind of wonderful afterlife. It’s been done before. Remember the Peoples Temple and Heaven’s Gate?”

“Christians believe in heaven and hell,” Alex said, “but The Book doesn’t teach that. Like with Heaven’s Gate, everyone goes to a planet where they spend eternity. Angels go to one planet, and the demons go to another one. I can’t remember the names of those planets, but at some point, the Master will end their war and bring them all together to rule the earth.”

Mike grunted. “That’s nuts.”

“No more nuts than what Christians believe. Look how many of them are out there.” Her gaze moved to Logan. “You believe this, right?”

“I believe in heaven and hell, but not that we will all end up on another planet or that demons and angels will rule the earth together. If you think I’m crazy, then so be it.” Logan felt a flash of irritation, but as soon as the feeling came, he pushed it back, remembering a Scripture that said the message of the cross is foolishness to people who don’t know God. It wasn’t their fault. Without God in their lives—changing them, teaching them truth—he realized he really did sound foolish to them.

“I’m sorry, Logan,” Alex said. “I didn’t mean it to come out quite like that.”

He smiled at her. “It’s okay. I’ve been challenged before. That’s where the nickname Preacher came from.”

“It’s said with respect . . . and a little fear,” Monty said. “Logan’s pretty good with his gun. He got top scores in firearms training at the FBI Academy.”

Logan laughed. “Yeah, but I’ve heard not as high as Alex. I wouldn’t make her angry.”

“Think I’ll be extra nice to both of you,” Mike said with a grin.

“Let’s get back to Walker,” Alex said. “With what we know, where is he?”

“I don’t think he’d be too far from his family,” Logan said. “According to the people he worked with, they were important to him.” Logan was a little confused by this guy. It was like they were dealing with two different people. The psychopath intent on destroying millions of human beings. Men, women, and children. And a loving husband and father with a wife and two kids.

“I still don’t get the family component,” Alex said as if reading his mind. “Doesn’t fit his profile. I know we’ve already mentioned this, but I can’t shake it.”

“Dennis Rader was married, right?” Mike asked.

“Yes,” Monty said. “But that was unusual. He was adept at hiding his life from his family. They had no idea what he was doing. For the most part, serial killers are loners. That makes it easier to act out their proclivities.”

“By all accounts, Rader had some kind of feeling for his family,” Logan said, “although it wouldn’t be the kind of love we understand since psychopaths are incapable of real love. His differences are what made him so interesting. He was able to live a divided life. Not easy. But it seems Walker is able to do that too.”

“I think his helper—assuming he has one and only one—also believes in The Book,” Alex said. “He’s probably a member of the Circle.”

“You said he. How do you know it’s not a woman?” Mike’s cheeks reddened after his question. “I’m sorry. I need to shut up. You guys are the experts on human behavior. I don’t know anything. I should stop interrupting.”

Alex laughed lightly. “Don’t stop. It actually helps us see Walker more clearly. We need to be able to defend our ideas. If we can’t, it may be a sign we’re on the wrong track.”

“Are you sure?”

Alex nodded. “Let me try to answer your question. Could it be a woman? Sure. Profiling is often based on statistics. Not very exciting but true. Most killers are men, especially the perpetrators of the kind of attack Willow and Nettie endured. It was violent. The crime scene made it clear that the women fought for their lives but were overpowered. Their attacker was physically powerful. Even though the women were older, adrenaline would have made them stronger. Even so, they were both subdued.”

“So it was probably a man,” Mike said. “I get it.”

Alex nodded. “Back to Walker, he probably intends to get his family to safety, out of the area where the virus is originally released.” Alex took a quick sip of coffee before continuing. “He has a family because he wants them. In other words, God help them if they become an inconvenience or stop fulfilling his vision of what a family should be.” She paused for a moment. “Like Logan said, a psychopath doesn’t know what real love is. His family may be there only to feed his ego and give him what he believes he deserves.”

“That’s . . . chilling,” Mike said.

“Yes, it really is,” Logan agreed. “But psychopaths are a special breed. Everything and everyone around them is there for their pleasure. They kill because it brings them satisfaction.”

“This guy is like Rader,” Alex said. “But still different. Rader wasn’t killing because of some great destiny.”

Monty nodded. “In fact, he was a deacon in his church. Sitting in services week after week, listening to what’s right, what’s wrong . . . It still didn’t stop him.”

“He believed he killed because of something called Factor X,” Alex said, “an evil force that unleashed a character inside of him he called the Minotaur.”

“Like the Train Man?” Mike asked.

Logan pointed at him. “Yes. A character controlled by something else . . . whether it’s Factor X or instructions in a book. The Minotaur carries out the desires of Factor X, and the Train Man obeys what he reads in The Book.”

“One last question,” Mike said. “It still seems like you guys are working a profile, even though you say a profile is used only when you don’t know who your subject is. Why is that again?”

Alex smiled at him. “That’s true, but if using profiling techniques helps us understand more about Walker, we might be able to figure out his next move. For example, we think he’s looking for a Christian woman to be his final victim. That fits the description of the virgin to be sacrificed in The Book. It’s not impossible that he’s had someone picked out all along, but it’s improbable. For one thing, he doesn’t have close relationships. Second, how would he know for certain that a woman is a virgin? The final reason we’re leaning toward that scenario is because he hates other religions. He believes his god is the only true god, so he wouldn’t hesitate to kill a woman who believes otherwise.”

She shrugged. “It’s an educated guess, but it makes sense.”

Logan had another explanation, but it wasn’t one he’d share with this group. The voice in Walker’s head was the same as the Minotaur’s—Satan’s. That’s why Walker hated Christians so much, and that’s why Logan was almost sure they were right about the next victim being a Christian.

“KCPD is contacting churches in the Kansas City area,” Alex continued. “Warning them. But just like all the trains that travel through Missouri can’t be watched constantly, the PD can’t protect everyone who attends church.”

“Let’s pray this doesn’t go public,” Monty said with a sigh.

Mike stared at him. “Because it would cause a panic and impede the investigation. I get it. I’ve seen this before. Right now finding that virus is the most important thing.”

Harrison walked up to the table, a woman with him. “This is Special Agent Alvarez,” he said. “She thinks she’s found the origins of The Book.”

Alex smiled at her. “You mean it wasn’t brought to earth by divine aliens?”

Alvarez returned her smile. “Unfortunately, no. That would have made for a much more interesting story.” She placed some papers on the table in front of them. “I made you copies of everything I found. I searched for some of the phrases from The Book and found every single one was ascribed to a Horace Austin Jennings.”

“Does he admit to writing The Book?” Alex asked.

“Not to my knowledge, but according to people who knew him, he talked a lot about a divine calling. A man named Arthur Adair wrote about him in 1890. Adair was an evangelist, and he was rebuking Jennings. It seems Jennings believed that angels and demons had been sent to earth by beings in the skies. According to him, one day the demons and angels will be at war, and one third of the earth will be annihilated.”

She took a breath. “Then I found records of a woman who claimed to be Jennings’s niece. She said when he died he left behind a book she planned to copy so others could share in his divine vision. I believe someone got hold of this book and printed several copies. My guess is they were passed down in families. I couldn’t find any newer information.” She turned to look at Alex. “I understand your aunt said it was forbidden to talk about The Book to anyone outside of the Circle?”

“Yes, that’s what she said.”

Alvarez shrugged. “That might explain why I couldn’t find any newer references.” She placed her hands on the table and leaned in. “I wish I could have found more information. I know we’re doing all we can, but it still feels like we’re walking on eggshells, just waiting for the sixth victim to be killed. She might be alive right now, enjoying her life, unaware she’s the target of a monster.”

Alvarez turned and walked away, but her words echoed through Logan’s mind. They needed a breakthrough soon. The woman Alvarez mentioned was living on borrowed time.