Noah returned to the conference room, holding a bottle of water and a can of pop. He handed Kaely the water. When he closed the door, she gestured toward the chair he’d sat in earlier. He was still unsettled by the weird poem and the murder in the park, but Kaely seemed completely calm and collected.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess your three questions will have to wait.”
Noah frowned at her. “Hold it. I may need to ask other questions . . . you know, about the case. You can’t suddenly tell me I’ve used up all my questions.”
“Okay. How about you call them your special questions? I won’t hold anything else you ask against you.”
“Agreed.”
Kaely stared at him with raised eyebrows. “So, you’ve decided to hang in there? Keep me as your co-case agent?”
“I’d answer you, but you probably already know what I’m thinking, right? What would be the point?”
She nodded. “You’re right.”
“Is there some way you could stop trying to read my mind? It’s annoying.”
Kaely looked past him for a moment. “Fair request,” she said finally. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.” When she swung her gaze back his way, she actually gave him a subtle smile. “Solomon says the same thing. It’s so automatic I don’t realize I’m doing it.”
“I’ll take that deal. Thanks.” Relieved, he sat down. “So now what?”
“We start building a profile.”
“From the murder?”
“Yeah, although since he’s imitating someone else, it will be a little challenging. Let’s start with the letter.” She handed him their copy of the poem. “Tell me about our UNSUB.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m not you, Kaely. I mean, we’re all trained in behavioral analysis, but it’s never been my forte. I don’t think I can do what you ask.”
“Actually, you’re wrong.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay. Tell me about . . . me.”
Noah instantly felt uncomfortable. “I can’t . . . I mean, we just met. There’s no way . . .”
“Nonsense.” She spit the word out like a bullet looking for a target. “You have instincts. We all do. Tell me what you see in me. No holds barred.” She fixed her gaze on him, her dark eyes unreadable. “If we’re going to be working closely together, you need to know who I am. It’s how we build trust.”
Noah squirmed in his chair. “Now wait a minute. I still have a personal life outside of this place. I don’t intend to give you access to everything about me.”
Kaely looked down at her notebook and drew a strange squiggle. Then she shot him a look of caution. “Anything you hide from me is potentially dangerous. I have to know how you will react in any given situation. Especially one like this. This UNSUB is coming for me—and you’ll be close, Agent Hunter. Too close. If you do something I haven’t anticipated, it could end badly for both of us. Your life is in danger too, you know. I can’t force you to open up completely, but I urge you to think about what I’m saying before one of us ends up dead.”
“Okay, I’ll consider it.”
“Good. Now profile me. Don’t think about it. Just say the first thing that comes to your mind and don’t sugarcoat it.”
Noah collected himself, squaring his shoulders. This was crazy, but if she really wanted to hear what he thought, he’d tell her. “Okay. Your life was shaped by what your father did. You’re trying to make up for his evil. Your whole existence revolves around that. You live, eat, and sleep your job.” An image of that look he saw in her eyes when he first entered the conference room flashed in his mind. “But there is someone vulnerable inside you. You keep it hidden because you’re afraid of it.” The words that came out of his mouth surprised him. Kaely Quinn, afraid? He saw her jaw clench momentarily. He’d hit a nerve. “You are afraid, Kaely. But not of serial killers. Of other people. And yourself. You don’t have any real friends. You don’t trust your own emotions.” Although her expression didn’t change, he felt a sudden connection with the woman who now met his gaze without hesitation.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“You’re incredible at what you do, and you’ve given up a lot to become as good as you are. It’s impressive.”
“Very good,” she said briskly. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “You’re right, Noah. About all of it. Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Friends. I have a couple.”
“I’m glad.”
“Yeah, me too. I can’t live inside my head all the time. No one can. I may be all those things you said, but I’m human too.”
“Good. Perfection is highly overrated.” He studied her for a moment. “What about your family, Kaely? Do you ever see them?”
It was as if a shadow crossed her features. Noah not only saw it, he felt it.
“My mother lives in Nebraska. She remarried, and we don’t talk much. She’s avoiding me. She didn’t want me to join the Bureau. She thinks I’m drawn to law enforcement because I feel it’s my duty to pay for what my father did.” She looked away. “I also think I remind her of him.”
Noah found that hard to believe. He’d seen pictures of Ed Oliphant, and he was not a good-looking man. Kaely was beautiful. She looked nothing like him. He wondered what it was her mother saw when she looked at her daughter.
“And my younger brother . . .” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t know where he is. We lost touch years ago. I . . . I don’t think he wants anything to do with me either. He needed a new life.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but Noah could hear the hurt in her voice. “He’s angry. When he got older, he convinced himself that my mother and I knew something was wrong with my father but we didn’t try to stop him. A lot of people believe that, but it isn’t true.”
“It is a little hard to accept that he never did anything to cause suspicion.”
She didn’t seem offended by his comment. “I realize that. In fact, I wonder about my mother. How could she have been so clueless? I was just a kid. I mean, your father’s . . . your father, you know? The idea that he might be a serial killer never really enters your mind.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah. As kids we revere our parents. Until we get to be teenagers, and then we decide they don’t know anything.”
“I never made it that far. I go over it and over it in my mind. What did I miss? I keep trying to uncover that clue, you know? The comment that might have shown me who he really was. I just can’t find it.” She hesitated for a moment. “Except . . .”
“Except what?” Noah asked when she paused.
“Nothing, never mind,” she said dismissively. “It’s just a weird nightmare I have sometimes, but my father isn’t in it. I’m not sure what it means.”
“One other question. Not a special one, but I think it applies to our conversation.”
“And that is?”
“Why did Alex Cartwright leave?”
“That’s almost a special question.”
“No. No, it’s not. I’m stepping into a partnership with you. I want to know the truth. Why did he transfer?”
She stared down at the notebook in front of her. “Because he got too close. He began to care more about the woman than he did the agent. Don’t do that and we’ll be fine.”
“Caring about people is natural, Kaely. What you’re asking . . .”
“You don’t understand. You can care. That’s fine. But my professional side must come first. Not my personal side.” Her eyes sought his. “Solomon told me something about you that made both of us decide you and I would be a good fit for this assignment. I mean, besides the fact that you’re a great agent, someone who can do this job.” She hesitated, then said, “He told me about your wife.”
If Kaely Quinn had thrown a knife at his chest, it wouldn’t have affected him as deeply as the words she spoke. He stood up, barely even realizing he was on his feet. “That doesn’t enter into this. If it does, I want out. Now.”
“Sit down, Noah,” she said soothingly. “Let me explain.”
“I’ll stand, thanks.” He turned a bit. “You notice my feet really are pointed toward the door now?”
Kaely clasped her hands together and sighed. “It’s important because we know you’re not looking for a girlfriend—which is something I’ll never be. And that’s it. You have my word.”
Although he still didn’t like Solomon and Kaely discussing Tracy, as he felt his resentment lessen a little, he realized what she said actually made some sense. He slowly sat down again. “I won’t fall in love with you, and you’ll leave my wife out of our relationship. Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay. Now let’s get to work.”