THIRTY-ONE

On the way to pick up Kaely’s car, Noah listened as she called Ron at the CP and asked him to double check on Louis Bertrand. Noah knew she was worried about him.

“So you definitely think the poem refers to Louis?” he asked after she disconnected the call.

“It’s the only arson case I worked, and Louis is someone connected to me. It seems to fit.” She was silent for a moment and looked out the window. Suddenly she turned back to look at him. “Wait a minute. There was another case. In California. I’d almost forgotten.”

“What are you talking about?” Noah asked.

“I hadn’t been at Quantico long. There was a series of forest fires set in California, a few miles apart from each other. It began to look like they were being set on purpose. The FBI was contacted for help. A profile was developed about the arsonist. It was so accurate, they caught the guy a couple of weeks after the profile was given to authorities. I didn’t help with it, but I saw it happen.”

“I remember that,” Noah said. “Donald Reinhardt was responsible for that profile, right?”

Kaely nodded. “Yes, he was. His work was instrumental in catching the arsonist.” She was quiet for a moment. “Doesn’t fit our UNSUB though. It’s too broad. He can’t ensure fatalities. Besides, any forests around here are probably out of his comfort zone.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I didn’t work it, and the help the Bureau gave wasn’t widely known. Doesn’t fit our UNSUB’s MO.” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’m grasping at straws.”

“How do you feel about Donald’s profile for this case?” Noah asked. “Being so different from yours, I mean?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a heavy sigh. “I’m fairly confident about my profile. How could he think someone with such organization could be . . . disorganized? I don’t understand. He knows better.”

“I’m not sure he said the UNSUB was disorganized. Just that he was a loser. A loner. Someone who had time to come up with this plan. He thinks he’s smart, just like you do. I guess it’s just the lifestyle that varies.”

“Yeah, I’d say it varies.” She appeared to study him, making Noah feel a little nervous. “Do you agree with him?” she asked finally.

“No. Not really.” He met her gaze. “I can see it both ways, frankly. But I have to go with you. I’ve seen you work, and I have confidence in your abilities. Reinhardt has had some wins, but not like you.” He smiled at her. “His visit to Forest Park won’t help his cause much.”

“I’m glad he went to Forest Park,” she said quickly. “As I’ve said before, I’m not always right. Covering both places was the smart move.”

“Very magnanimous of you.”

“No, just being practical.”

Noah stifled a smile. Kaely’s relentless logic was as soothing as it could be frustrating. She seemed to be recovering from the shock of finding Alex at the school, but Noah felt confused. Was she actually in love with him? There was certainly something between them. Something strong. Maybe her rejection wasn’t based on how she felt toward him. Maybe it was just as she’d said—she didn’t want any romantic entanglements right now. He found himself fighting a twinge of jealousy, but it didn’t make any sense.

He wasn’t in love with Kaely Quinn. He had to admit that he had feelings for her, but it wasn’t real love. Not like he’d felt for Tracy. That love was so big, so strong, he didn’t have room for anyone else. He couldn’t see himself with another woman—ever. Surely what he and Tracy had only happened once in a lifetime.

He realized his attention had wandered, and he shifted back to the case. “So now we need to take a close look at the next attacks,” he said. “What about that next verse? After fire? Sounds like poison to me.”

“To me too,” Kaely said. “Four little elephants sat down for a meal. One took a bite and then said good night.”

“Have any ideas about this one?”

“I’ve gone over and over it,” she said. “I never worked a case with poison. I know it happens, but usually it’s not a serial case. Just a husband or wife trying to get rid of a spouse so they can collect insurance money.”

“The only serial poisoning I can think of was the Tylenol scare in the eighties. You probably weren’t even born then.”

“No, I wasn’t,” she said. “John Davis came to Quantico and talked about it. Fascinating. He also talked about how he and another guy started the Behavioral Analysis Unit back in the day. They used to call it the Behavioral Science Unit. The Unabomber was one of the first major cases they profiled.”

“I heard him too. He and his team coined the term serial killer. At first they called them ‘sequence killers.’”

Kaely suddenly grabbed Noah’s arm, causing the car to swerve.

“Hey,” he hollered. “What are you doing?”

“Noah, is that it? I mean, I didn’t work the Tylenol case, but I listened to John Davis. So I’m connected in a way. I wasn’t involved directly in the case, but the FBI was.”

Noah glanced at Kaely. Her face was white, her eyes wide with terror. “Is he planning to randomly poison people? That would make it almost impossible for us to anticipate his next move.”

“Surely not.”

“But it’s possible.” She turned away for a moment. “While I check on Alex, you let everyone at the CP know our concerns, okay?”

“All right, if that’s what you want. But shouldn’t we concentrate on the next threat instead of jumping ahead?”

“If he decides to copy the Tylenol poisonings, we need to get ahead of it. Now. We’ve done everything we can about the threat of fire. Louis is secure.”

Kaely was quiet during the rest of the ride. Noah was worried about her. Whoever the UNSUB was, he wasn’t just waging war on innocent victims. He was doing everything he could to destroy Kaely. Noah was determined to make certain he didn’t succeed. He had no intention of letting some psychopath kill Kaely Quinn.

After Noah let her out at the CP, Kaely got her car and drove to the hospital. After parking, she went inside, found the front desk, and asked for Alex’s room number. The woman she spoke to informed her that he had just left the ER and was being transferred to a private room. She told her to have a seat and she’d notify her when she could visit him. About thirty minutes later, Kaely had a room number. She rode the elevator upstairs, praying he was okay. The last time she’d seen him, he’d looked terrible. She couldn’t get the image of his pale face out of her mind. If Noah hadn’t told her he’d found a pulse, she would have assumed they were too late.

When she got out of the elevator, she went to the nurses’ station. One of the nurses came up to see what she wanted.

“I’m here to see Alex Cartwright,” she said, showing the nurse her credentials. “But I also wanted to talk to his doctor.”

“The doctor is with him now,” she said. “If you’ll wait just a minute . . .”

A dark-haired woman in a white coat walked up to the station. The nurse, whose name tag read Cindy, nodded at her.

“Dr. Silver, this woman is here about Mr. Cartwright. She wants to find out his status.”

The doctor turned toward Kaely. “I’m sorry, but I can’t release any information about Mr. Cartwright unless you’re family.”

Kaely reached into her pocket and pulled out her creds again. “Not blood, doctor,” she said. “But family nevertheless. He’s my partner.”

The doctor smiled. “Why don’t you come over here with me?” She gestured toward a waiting room just off the corridor. Kaely followed her into the small room. When the doctor sat down, Kaely took the chair next to her.

“Agent Cartwright will be fine. He sustained a blow to the head, but it’s not serious. His neck has bruising and a few cuts, but there wasn’t any permanent damage to the throat. If he hadn’t been rescued when he was, we’d be having a very different discussion. As it is, I’m keeping him the rest of today and overnight. I want to make sure there aren’t any lasting effects from a lack of oxygen.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Kaely said. Relief flowed through her like a flood. “Can I see him?”

“Sure, but don’t stay too long, please. He needs rest. And no stress. If he gets excited . . .”

“I won’t upset him, I promise.”

“One of your people is with him now. He’s collecting his clothes, taking DNA samples and hair samples.”

“An agent from our Evidence Response Team. Standard procedure.”

“Yes, I believe that’s who he said he was. He should be through any minute now.” She frowned at Kaely. “If you’re the person who will pick him up in the morning, just call first and we’ll let you know what time he’ll be released. He needs to take it easy at home for a couple of days, but I get the feeling from Mr. Cartwright that he has no intention of taking that advice. Maybe you could convince him?”

Kaely wanted to assure the doctor, but she knew Alex well enough to know the last thing he’d want to do was lie around. There wasn’t anything anyone could do about it when he made up his mind.

“I take it from your silence you have little hope he’ll follow my instructions?”

“I can’t say that for certain, Doctor, but Alex doesn’t do well with inactivity. I’ll do my best to make sure he’s careful. You have my word.”

The doctor smiled again. “This isn’t the first time I’ve worked with law enforcement. Beyond a doubt, you’re my most stubborn patients. I guess I’ll have to accept your rather feeble assurance since that’s probably the best I’m going to get.”

The doctor held out her hand, and Kaely shook it. After the doctor got up and walked away, Kaely headed for Alex’s room. She fully intended to keep her promise and do everything she could to keep Alex calm, but as the doctor suspected, she wasn’t certain it was possible. Right now, she was just grateful he was alive. The killer had made a big mistake. Alex was a trained FBI agent. He could have noticed something that would help them catch this killer. Maybe the UNSUB’s trail of death would come to an end today.