Noah raced up the street, pulling over when he saw Alex’s vehicle in front of the empty warehouse on 17th. Alex stood in the rain, next to his car. When he saw Noah, he ran over and made a circle with his hand, encouraging Noah to lower his window.
“I don’t know where they are,” Alex said as soon as the glass separating them slid down. “I had them until a few blocks back, but a semi truck slid on the highway and blocked me for several minutes. When I got around him, I couldn’t see her anymore. I drove here as fast as I could. I found her car, but she’s gone. I’m really worried.”
For the first time, Noah noticed Kaely’s car pulled up next to the building. “You have no idea where she might be?” Noah asked.
“None. I looked for a while, but I didn’t want to miss you, so I came back here.”
Noah picked up the phone in his car and selected a number. “I need you to find Kaely’s phone,” he said. “Quickly. I think her life is in danger.” After a few seconds, Noah hung up. “Hopefully, she still has her cell phone and we can—”
A sound cut through the rain and the mist. Alex cursed loudly and jogged away from the car. He came back with a phone clutched in his hand. Kaely’s. He opened Noah’s passenger door and slid into his car.
“What are you doing?” Noah asked as Alex’s fingers worked the phone.
“Checking her last text. She told me she was expecting one.” He stopped. “Yeah, here it is.” He sighed loudly. “That creep told her he was me. She figured that’s what he’d do. He knew deep down inside she trusted me, that if I asked her to meet me, she would.”
“You’re sure our UNSUB is Richard Barton? He had an alibi for the first murder. We never looked at him that seriously, but we checked anyway, just to make sure we covered all our bases. Besides, I thought he was her longtime friend. She said he was one of the only people she completely trusted.”
The look on Alex’s face was grim. “I’m sure he made it look as if he had an alibi, but obviously it was a lie.” He sighed. “I can’t imagine what this will do to her.”
“Before we worry about her emotional state of mind, we need to save her life.” Noah frowned at him. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“Kaely made me promise. She didn’t want to bring the Bureau in until she was sure she was right. She always planned for me to call you. She wasn’t going to take on Richard alone.”
“Yet she is. Great.”
Alex looked over at him. “I warned you about this. I told you she could put herself in danger—ignore protocol. I was so grateful she called me I didn’t think it through. Not that she gave me much time. But you’re right. I should have told you everything from the beginning.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
Noah took out his own phone and dialed a number. When the person on the other end answered, he said, “I need you to hack into Kaely Quinn’s phone. Find the source of the last text she received. Whoever sent it said he was Alex Cartwright, but he wasn’t. We’ve got to find the location of his phone. Kaely’s life depends on it.” He waited to get a response before saying, “Hurry. Do it as fast as you can. Text me when you have something.” He hung up but held the phone in his hand as if somehow that might make it ring sooner. “There’s nothing we can do but wait. Backup should be here soon. I called for it as soon as you contacted me.”
“I hope we have something to tell them.” Alex was quiet for a moment. “Hey,” he said suddenly, “we need to have someone check Richard’s records. Look for property with his name on it.”
“You’re right.” Noah dialed another number. “Ron, have some of our people check property records in the name of Dr. Richard Barton. Now. Highest priority.”
“Who is Richard Barton?” Ron asked.
“Our UNSUB. He’s got Kaely somewhere. I doubt she’s at his main residence. Have it checked, but I’m more interested in a second property, someplace he’s tried to keep private.”
“Okay. On it. I’ll get back to you as soon as we find something. You need to bring me up to speed when you can. I’ll call Solomon and tell him what I know—but it’s not much right now.”
“Sorry. I’ll get back to you with more information the first chance I get. Thanks.”
Noah and Alex sat silently in the rain. Noah was certain they were both trying to come up with any idea that could help them find Kaely before it was too late.
“So, how did Richard commit the first murder if he was in Des Moines?” Noah asked. “That’s what we turned up anyway.”
“How did he get there?” Alex asked.
“If I remember, he flew. And flew back. Neighbors said he was home.”
“How would they know he was home the entire time?”
Noah thought for a moment. “They said they saw a blue car in the driveway.”
Alex grunted. “Richard has an old green Ford Explorer. If he flew, that had to be a rental car. He could easily drive back to St. Louis in the middle of the night, commit the first murder, and drive back before morning. The neighbors wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I should have thought of that. Why didn’t I look closer?”
Alex shook his head again. “Kaely was so convinced it couldn’t be him, you reacted to her instead of investigating the way you should have. It’s easy to accept everything she says because she’s so smart. So intuitive.”
“So broken.”
Alex took a quick deep breath before saying, “Yes. Very broken.”
“She believes God is healing her. Making her stronger.”
Alex turned to look at him. “And you don’t believe that?”
“No, not really.” He met Alex’s gaze. “Do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Noah felt a rush of irritation. “Has it occurred to you that encouraging that kind of . . . faith could cause her even more hurt? More disappointment?”
“You mean because you think God failed you?”
Noah’s irritation turned to anger. “You have no right to say that to me. You don’t know me at all.”
Alex sighed and stared out the window at the rain. “I was just like you when I first met Kaely. After knowing her a while, I changed. I believe a lot of things now that I never used to.”
Noah shook his head and started to spit out an angry remark about not being as gullible as Alex. Instead, he said, “I find myself wanting to protect her, but I know I can’t. She’d get angry. Push me away.”
“I know. I felt the same way. As time went on, my feelings got deeper. Stronger. I made the mistake of telling her.”
“Alex, why did you take a leave of absence? Was it because of Kaely? Your feelings for her?”
Alex chuckled. “No. It had nothing to do with that. But if you don’t mind, I’ll keep that to myself. For now anyway. I’ll just say that I finally realized I was made to do something else.”
“Okay,” Noah said slowly. “So, why did you leave the hospital?”
“Because I knew Kaely might need me, and I had to be available. I couldn’t legitimately work the case, but neither could I just stand by and watch her die.”
“Do you know that some of us thought you were the UNSUB?”
“I wondered if that would occur to you, but I couldn’t let that stop me.”
Noah started to ask him to explain why he hadn’t been strangled on the swing, but before he could get the words out, his phone rang. He answered and tilted the phone toward Alex so he could hear too.
“Sorry, Noah,” Ron said. “We can’t find anything under the name Richard Barton. There are some Bartons, but none of them are named Richard.”
“What about a spouse? Someone named . . .” He tried to remember Richard’s wife’s name. Had Kaely mentioned it?
“Bella,” Alex said. “Ask about Bella.”
“Is there a Bella?” Noah asked.
“Yeah, there is,” Ron said, an edge of excitement in his voice. He rattled off an address. “Can you text that to me?” Noah asked.
“Sending it now.”
A few seconds later, Noah’s phone beeped, and he said, “We’ve got it. Thanks.”
Noah glanced at his rearview mirror. He could see the blue flashing lights from a few blocks away. Then suddenly the lights stopped. Backup had arrived. They were running silently and without lights so as not to alert their UNSUB. As the unmarked police cars pulled in behind them, Noah got out and made his way to the main car. The window lowered, and he could see Jeff and Peter, along with several other officers.
“We brought SWAT,” Jeff said. “Where are we going?”
Noah gave him the address. “Follow us. No lights or sirens. I don’t want to spook him. I’d like to get Kaely out of there alive.”
“It’s your call,” Jeff said, “but we’d better get there fast.”
Noah nodded and ran back to his car. “You wanna come with me?” he asked Alex.
“Yeah, if it’s okay.”
“Well, let’s see. You’re completely unauthorized to even ride in a Bureau vehicle or take part in an official case. And I assume you’re armed and don’t have a Missouri concealed carry permit?” Noah took a deep breath. “Sure. Why not?”
“I actually do have a permit for my gun. But even if I didn’t . . .”
“I know. You’d ignore anything I told you and go anyway.”
Alex nodded. “I love her, Noah. I have no intention of sitting this out.”
Noah held up a hand, signaling Alex to stop talking. “Don’t say anything else. We’re both already in too deep.”
As Noah put his car in gear, his phone rang and he answered it. “Good,” he said after a few seconds. “Where is it?” He nodded as he listened. “That confirms what we already know. Thanks.” He hung up the phone. “They tracked Richard’s phone to the same address we got from Ron. We’re on the right track.”
“Let’s get Kaely and put an end to this monster,” Noah said.
“Amen, brother.”