Alex and Kaely got up at six thirty and joined Monty and Logan for a quick breakfast in the food court, where the other four analysts from their unit—Robin Wallace, Bethany Hostetler, Todd Hunter, and Nathan Sampson—all greeted them. They’d been told everyone was to meet in one of the classrooms.
“Which room are we going to?” Alex asked them.
“We have no idea,” Robin said. “I guess we just head that way and hope we find the right one.”
They walked through the glass-enclosed hallway toward the classrooms. Every building around the dorms was connected by these glass hallways. Recruits referred to them as gerbil tubes. The hallways provided protection from the elements, though. They almost never had to step outside.
As they neared the classrooms, Alex was surprised to see Terry Burnett from BAU 3 headed their way. “We’re in here,” he said simply, pointing to a classroom on their right.
“What’s he doing here?” Alex whispered to Logan. “Where’s Jeff?”
They all sat down and waited. The door to the room opened, and Chief Gorman walked in. Ben Cooper and Julie Palmer were with him. Another officer followed. He didn’t look like a Montgomery County officer. Alex wondered why he was here. They all sat down on the front row without saying anything.
“Where’s Jeff?” Monty whispered.
Alex shrugged. “I was wondering the same thing.”
That voice in her head that liked to whisper things she didn’t want to hear was trying to get her attention, but she blocked it. Everything was all right.
“Something’s going on,” Logan said in a low voice.
When the side door opened and a man stepped into the room, Kaely’s quick intake of breath made it clear she’d noticed him too.
“Reinhardt,” she whispered. “He seems so much older.”
He looked the way Alex remembered him, though. Tall, with thick silver hair. He wore black-framed glasses and was neatly dressed. He’d always reminded her of a successful businessman rather than an FBI agent. However, his face was lined, and his gait was slower.
“Are you still convinced he’s not our UNSUB?” Alex whispered. “He fits the profile.”
Kaely was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know, but I still can’t see it. The code of ethics we agreed to when we joined the Bureau is sacred to him. His reasons for cutting me loose were based on his honest belief that I would make the FBI look bad.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re probably the best profiler the BAU has ever had.”
Kaely turned to look at her, a slight frown on her face. “Thanks, but I think we need to take things on a case-by-case basis. I haven’t hit the target every time. Nobody does.”
Alex shrugged. Kaely was just being modest. She’d helped to locate more UNSUBs than anyone else in the room. Alex caught Logan looking at her. She knew he was still concerned about her attempt to use Kaely’s profiling method. She couldn’t help but think about what he’d said about not losing herself by trying to act like someone else. Was she really losing her identity? Did she even have one? She pushed the troubled thoughts out of her mind. She needed to concentrate on the UNSUB. She wasn’t convinced their profile was completely accurate, and it left her feeling disconcerted.
Reinhardt sat down on the front row with Gorman and his detectives. Terry stood and walked to the front of the room.
The voice Alex was trying to quiet began to shout at her. Logan was right. Something was wrong. She wanted to get up and leave the room before Terry said a word. She didn’t care what anyone thought of her. But she felt glued to her seat. She couldn’t move. She heard Logan whisper something under his breath, but she couldn’t understand it.
“It’s my sad duty to tell you that last night . . .” Terry’s voice shook with obvious emotion. He took a deep breath and tried again. “Last night, Unit Chief Jefferson Cole was on his way to see his daughter Stephanie at her place of work, Miller’s Boat House near Georgetown. According to her, he was determined to get her somewhere safe until our UNSUB was arrested, but she’d been refusing to follow his advice. He was going there to insist that she leave with him. When he was a block away from Miller’s, instead of his car turning right toward the shop, it went off the nearest pier and into the Potomac.”
He took another breath as Alex held hers. “A couple of brave civilians tried to get to him, but the weight of the water against the car doors made it impossible to remove him from his vehicle. Professionals were called in immediately, but by the time they pulled Jeff out, it was too late. The EMTs could do nothing for him.”
Gasps rippled through the people seated in the room like small explosions. Alex could only stare at Terry. It couldn’t be true. Was this some kind of sick joke?
“We don’t think this was an accident or that Jeff suffered some kind of physical problem, although an autopsy will have to confirm that. We don’t have much more information at this time, and we don’t want to jump to conclusions. When the police have something solid, they’ll share it with us. The Georgetown force has been graciously working with us.”
Alex looked toward the police officer who’d come in with Gorman. He had to be from Georgetown.
“Chief Gorman is here to tell you what he knows. He’s willing to take questions, but as I said, there’s not much he can tell us yet.”
The chief got up and took Terry’s place as he sat down. Alex was certain the agent was suffering. Terry and Jeff had been friends.
“As Chief Burnett shared, we have very little information right now,” Gorman said. “The Georgetown police are doing a great job and will update us as soon as they can. I do want to say how sorry I am this happened. I know Agent Cole was greatly respected by his colleagues.”
“Chief, was a page from Davis’s book left behind?” Logan asked. “Like with the other cases?”
“If so, we haven’t found it yet. If it was in the car, I doubt it would have survived in the water.”
“Did he have a phone with him?” Kaely asked.
“We did find one in the car.” He cleared his throat. “It was inside an evidence bag. It appears Agent Cole had the presence of mind to protect it before the car sank. That tells us he knew what he was doing. We just don’t know what caused him to drive into the river. Detective Palmer interviewed Agent Cole’s daughter, but she was too distraught by the news to really talk to us. Her mother is on the way here. We’ll talk to Stephanie more before she leaves town to be with her family.”
Knowing Jeff was aware he was going to die and yet was thinking he needed to preserve evidence was too much for Alex. As she fought back tears, she managed to choke out, “If a copy of a page from John Davis’s book was in Jeff’s possession, he would have added it to the evidence bag. I think it will show up in the mail.”
“I agree,” Kaely said.
“Wasn’t Jeff advised not to use an unsecured phone?” Monty asked. Alex could see he was visibly shaken. He’d worked with Jeff for several years now. Everyone who’d ever been in Jeff’s unit admired him. He was great at his job. He had the ability to chastise his people if they needed it, but he also praised them when they deserved it, making them feel as if they were part of something special. Anyone who’d worked with him was hurting.
“We don’t know yet,” Gorman said. “When we asked for Stephanie’s phone, she told us it had gone missing that morning. We searched her workplace but couldn’t find it. She did manage to say something about her father insisting she contact him only by text, but until we look at Cole’s phone, we won’t know what caused him to drive off that pier.”
“The UNSUB was there,” Alex said. “He took Stephanie’s phone. That was the only way he could pull off this plan. He didn’t have any other way to get to Jeff. It’s just like the other cases.” She frowned at Gorman. “Were there security cameras? Could we have gotten him on video?”
“Yes. A bait-and-tackle business sits right next to the pier where Jeff’s car went into the water. We’re getting the tapes now.” He paused for a moment. “I have a hard time understanding this. Agent Cole wasn’t that far from the boat shop where his daughter worked. And he was armed. If he received one of these calls, why didn’t he just drive to the shop? He could have protected his daughter without committing suicide.”
“He no doubt had only seconds to decide what to do,” Alex said. “A block away was too far. And maybe he wasn’t sure his daughter was even there. It was too risky. He wouldn’t take a chance with her life. No parent would. He wouldn’t have done what he did unless he was convinced he had no other option.” Her voice broke. “We need everything you can give us, Chief. Please bring us any new information as soon as you get it. Every time this UNSUB makes a move, he gives us more to go on. We’ve got to stop this guy. Now.”
Terry got up and joined the chief. “We’ve lost one of our own,” he said. “We’ll keep you updated on our investigation. We know Jeff meant a lot to you. He was our friend too. Logan Hart will be acting unit chief until we have a permanent replacement.” He nodded toward Logan. “I’ll need to meet with you. Please stay behind.” He swung his gaze over the people sitting in front of him. “The rest of you are dismissed.”
As others left, Alex stayed seated with Kaely, Monty, and Logan, aware that Reinhardt was still there too. What should they do now?
“Let’s go back to our room,” Kaely said to her. “I want to talk about this guy. See if we can add anything else to the profile.”
“I’ll talk to Terry and join you all later,” Logan said.
“Just come to our room when you’re done,” Alex said. “And could you ask Terry if there’s someplace else we can work? Our rooms are too small. We need a dry-erase board. And a large corkboard.”
“This place is crazy with them,” Logan said. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Just tell Terry we want to refine our profile. See if we can give them any more information that will help find the UNSUB,” Monty said.
“All right.” Logan got up and went to the front of the room to talk to Terry. As Alex and Kaely stood to leave, Donald Reinhardt turned around and looked their way. His expression changed when he saw Kaely. His mouth thinned, and his eyes narrowed. The hostility in his face was chilling.
As she left with Monty and Kaely, Alex couldn’t help but wonder about Reinhardt. Kaely thought he couldn’t be their UNSUB, but at that moment, Alex wasn’t so sure.