The chief stepped out of the room when one of his officers knocked on the door. Monty had calmed down, but his sadness was so strong Logan could almost feel it.
“Now what?” Monty asked. “Alex is right. This changes everything. We need to start over on the profile.”
“Monty, you need to go home,” Alex said gently. “You need time. Time to grieve. And you have to call your parents.”
Odd that Alex’s mind would go there. A woman without a family. Of course, maybe that’s why it occurred to her. She valued something she’d never had.
“I’ll call them later,” Monty said. “They barely paid any attention to my grandmother. The rest of my family is in China. I lost touch with them a long time ago.”
“Well, we’re here for you,” Kaely said. “We may not be your idea of family, but we all care about you.”
“She’s right,” Logan said. “Please, Monty. Go home. I insist. We’ll send someone with you, just until we’re sure what’s going on.”
“I will, but first I need to go to my grandmother’s. And they won’t let me in yet. Please don’t make me leave.” His eyes filled with tears, and he quickly wiped them away.
The door opened, and Gorman walked in. “Monty,” he said, “please come with me. We have a counselor on call who wants to talk to you. Make sure you’re okay.”
“I don’t want to leave—”
“Monty, go with him,” Logan said. “I mean it.”
It looked as if all the air suddenly left Monty’s body. When he stood, he almost collapsed. Gorman put his arm around him and led him out of the room. Logan got up and quietly closed the door behind them.
“We’ve got to do everything we can to help catch this guy,” he said. He wanted to sound professional since he was in charge of this team, but he was incensed. The first two deaths were bad enough, but this time the UNSUB had hurt his friend. That made it personal to him and his team.
“We’ll do our best,” Kaely said. “But this is something I’ve never seen before.”
“None of us have,” Logan said. “Where do we start? He’s willing to change his MO to suit his endgame.”
“At least we understand his motive,” Alex said. “He hates behavioral analysts. But why?” She sighed deeply, as if trying to calm herself, then frowned. “Let’s start over. I think we’re pretty sure now this is a male. We thought he might be older, but maybe we should add a few more years to him. This took a lot of planning. Younger men are usually more spontaneous and don’t have the patience to pull off something so detailed. Also, I believe he thought Monty would shoot himself before we had time to stop him. I think he wanted us to watch Monty die, a way to punish all three of us. Frankly, it’s diabolical.”
“He has a real need to be in control,” Kaely said. “He’s the puppet master who expects his puppets to act out his play perfectly. But Monty didn’t do that.”
“That’s right,” Alex said. She paused for a moment. Logan could tell she was thinking. “Okay, his move today was theatrical. Hateful. But I don’t think it was personal. I know it was personal to Monty, but what I’m trying to say is that he was angry with Davis and Bayne. Those deaths were personal. They were first because they were the most important. Both men were in their seventies. I think he knew them.”
“You’re right,” Kaely said. “I also noticed that the UNSUB was overweight and of medium height. His eyes looked dark, but he could have been wearing contacts. At least we have a partial physical description.”
“Good,” Logan said, writing down Kaely’s observations.
“So what else can we deduce about him?” Alex asked.
“Well, we thought he was someone who didn’t like to get his hands dirty,” Logan said slowly. “But he proved us wrong.”
“I still don’t think he likes killing close up,” Kaely said. “I believe he really thought Monty would shoot himself. And that we would stand by and allow it. I don’t think he’s a man who understands friendship or loyalty. Or even the love of a grandmother who would tell her grandson to let her die. He doesn’t comprehend love. Something else . . . My gut tells me that now that Davis and Bayne are gone, his most important goals accomplished, he’s even more focused on his plan. How to execute it. His anger has been satisfied. Now he just wants to prove that he’s smarter than us.”
Alex nodded slowly. “It’s going to be difficult to guess what his next move will be. We don’t know what his plan is, and we can’t trust him not to change his MO again. But whatever is coming, it’s already been set up.”
“Okay, so he wants to kill profilers,” Kaely said matter-of-factly. “Which means no one in the BAU or who’s retired from the BAU is safe.”
“Isn’t that jumping the gun a bit?” Logan asked.
The door swung open, and Gorman walked in with Monty. “Can we have the room?” he asked.
They all got up and headed for the door. Another man was standing behind Gorman. He was in plainclothes, but he had a detective badge from Fairfax County, Virginia. His expression was serious, and his manner was focused. He barely acknowledged the three of them. Logan was certain he knew what Gorman was getting ready to do. He wondered if he should stay. He and Monty were friends and had spent time together outside of work. He was closer to Logan than to anyone else in the BAU. But the look on Gorman’s face made it clear he wasn’t looking for an argument, so Logan followed the women out the door.
“Might as well go into the community room and get some coffee,” Kaely said. “Ours is cold.”
When they entered the break room, they found a couple of officers and two or three other staff members sitting at tables. After getting coffee, the three sat down at an empty table in the corner.
“I feel awful for Monty,” Alex said. “He’s such a good guy. I can’t believe this happened to him.”
“I didn’t see this coming,” Kaely said. “Pretty bad thing for a behavioral analyst to admit.”
Alex took a sip of her coffee and then set the cup down. “I didn’t either. I was certain this had to do with someone who felt wronged. Who was going after the people he thought caused him some kind of injustice. But Monty never worked with Davis or Bayne. Except for their profession, there’s nothing else tying them together. Still, I don’t believe the UNSUB is just picking random analysts. He has a reason for each target, but we have no idea who’s on his list.”
Kaely stared at her for a moment before saying, “Maybe you’re right about injustice. But different from what we originally thought.”
“What do you mean?” Logan asked.
“What if he wanted to be accepted into the BAU but was rejected? If he’s someone who wants to prove he shouldn’t have been turned away?”
Logan considered what she said. It made some sense. “I guess so.”
“Or maybe he was rejected because he didn’t have the kind of experience necessary to make it in,” Kaely said. “Perhaps his perception of himself is so inflated that he thinks he should be accepted without the proper credentials. Psychopaths and sociopaths think the world revolves around them. Maybe he blames the fathers of behavioral analysis for his failure. Could he see them as people who were chosen when he wasn’t?”
“That’s interesting,” Alex said. “His high opinion of himself certainly wouldn’t carry him through the FBI’s training program. Takes some real humility and guts to get through to the end.”
“So investigators need to look for men who were rejected for the BAU or the FBI?” Logan asked. “That might be a pretty long list.”
Kaely nodded. “Yeah, it is, but all we can do is work the profile and then let the police search for the UNSUB. We just need to come up with a profile that won’t leave them with too many possibilities.”
“I understand what you’re saying,” Alex said slowly.
“But?” Logan said. He could tell she had a problem with the idea.
“What about agents who were kicked out of the BAU?”
“That’s a much shorter list,” he said.
“We can suggest that, but not without bringing up the other possibility.” Alex sighed. “This could be tough.”
“We can only do our best,” Logan said. “Once we release our profile, we have to let it go, even when the case has touched someone we care about.”
The staff sitting at the other tables began to whisper and look at something behind them. Logan turned his head to see D. J. Harper standing at the door, looking a little lost. Logan got up and went over to him.
He stuck out his hand. “Mr. Harper? I’m SSA Logan Hart. We’re with the BAU, and we’re working your friend’s case.”
Harper shook his hand. “I’m here to talk to Chief Gorman, but I was told he’s busy.”
Logan gestured toward their table. “I don’t think you’ll have long to wait. Please sit with us. Can I get you a cup of coffee or maybe a soda?”
“Coffee sounds great, thanks.” Harper walked to the table and sat down next to Alex.
Logan poured a cup of coffee, then brought it to him. “I’m sorry. I should have asked if you need sugar or creamer.”
“Nope. Black and strong, otherwise what’s the point?” he said with a smile.
Harper was tall with a high forehead and blond hair mixed with gray. He had bushy eyebrows and bright eyes that conveyed intelligence.
Logan started to introduce Alex and Kaely, but Harper held up his hand, signaling him to stop.
“The lady with the long dark hair is Alex Donovan,” he said. “My sources tell me you took down a very dangerous man. Someone who wanted to kill thousands of people.” He shook hands with Alex.
“Well, actually, not that many people were at risk,” she said with a smile.
“But you didn’t know that. Well done.”
“Thank you.”
“And this young lady is Kaely Quinn. A legend. In fact, if you want to know the truth, I fashioned my protagonist Anastasia Bouderoux after you.”
He held out his hand, and Kaely took it. “I guessed that,” she said. “Especially since Annie’s father was a serial killer.”
“I hope I did you justice.”
“I only wish I was as smart as Annie,” Kaely said with a smile.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that.” Harper took a sip of coffee. When he put his cup down, he said, “I’m here to talk to the chief about Saturday night. He’s hoping I saw something that might help find the person who killed John. I’ve been briefed about the way he died.” He shook his head. “He also told me about Evan Bayne. It’s hard to believe they’re both gone.”
“Yes, it is,” Logan said. “And as far as Saturday night, it’s possible you didn’t see the UNSUB. He might not have even been on the property.”
“I heard about the drone,” Harper said. “The longest range consumer drone operates under a mile away. They’re not allowed to go higher than five hundred feet due to FAA guidelines. And most fly only about ten minutes. I think your UNSUB was pretty close. He couldn’t risk pushing the drone past its limits. Besides, there’s no way he could have gotten the results he needed if he was too far away.”
“What do you mean?” Logan asked.
“Since he had no more than ten minutes to interact with John, he must have been watching John’s window to see when his lights went out. Then he sent the drone up and made his phone call.” He smiled. “Had to research drones for a novel. I know more about them than anyone should.”
Logan frowned. “But how did he know the drapes would be open?”
“It was no secret that John hated the dark and was slightly claustrophobic. He always opened the drapes at night. He actually mentioned that in Dark Minds. A result from years of seeing what men do in the darkness. Whoever was out there with that drone knew that.” He sighed before picking up his cup.
“I remember that,” Alex said. “I should have thought of it.”
“So you’re telling us the UNSUB was right outside Mr. Davis’s hotel room,” Kaely said. “That means someone may have seen him.”
“John’s room was on the side of the building that faced a copse of trees. I think that’s where the killer hid. But you’re right. Someone probably saw him. They just don’t know they saw something important.”
“The chief didn’t mention any outdoor security cameras,” Logan said.
Harper shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. But I do know the police need to find this guy pronto. I have a bad feeling this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”