Chapter Five

“You let him back into your bed. That was your first mistake, Kara. Thinking you can escape me will be your last.”

Kara struggled to wake herself from the dream. She wanted him out of her head.

“No. You’re not real. You’re dead.”

She could hear his laughter, filled with hatred and insanity. He’d slipped further over the edge, becoming viler than before.

“You screwed me out of my next victim. Shame on you, Kara. You know how the game goes. But don’t worry. I have another in mind. She’s even better than that bitch in El Paso. Do you want to hear her pain?”

“No! No, this isn’t real!” Kara fought his hold. But she could feel the terror growing inside her. Her terror. His latest victim. He had her. Here in her dreams she became far too real.

She was beautiful. Kara could see her long, straight hair, so like Justine’s, flowing past her waist. It appeared black almost. Everything around her was dark. She struggled to see the girl’s face when someone shook her hard.

Davis! Davis was trying to bring her out of the dream.

“Wake up,” he said in a commanding voice that sounded so familiar. She tried but the girl’s fear pulled her back. She was in a dark, cold place. Kara tried to make out the girl’s surroundings but it was impossible.

“It’s too dark. I can’t see.”

“Wake up. It’s just a dream. It’s time to wake up now.”

“Just a minute longer, I can help her. I’m almost there.” But she wasn’t. The darkness became thicker. The image disappeared entirely. Bright light dispelled the blackness and she opened her eyes.

The comfort of her bedroom replaced the horror of the dark place. She sat up in bed and reached out to Davis, clinging to him, her body soaked with sweat. Tonight the dream felt more real than ever before. She was crying from experiencing the girl’s fear.

“It’s okay,” Davis repeated softly, stroking back her hair from her damp face. “It’s only a dream.”

God how she wished she could believe it but she knew the truth. This was only the beginning. He was forcing her back to DC. Back to unfinished business.

Kara pulled a little away from Davis so that she could look into his eyes. “It’s not a dream, Davis. It’s real. He’s real and very much alive. Frankie. The Death Angel is still alive.”

His shocked gaze held hers. He didn’t believe it fully just yet but he would in time.

“Dear God,” he whispered. Touching her cheek, he wiped away the tears that clung there. “I won’t let this happen to you again,” Davis repeated more forcefully.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop it. He’s even stronger than the first time.”

He shook his head. The last of his doubts disappearing.

They simply held each other. Kara and Davis had been the first to put the clues together in the past and had met with nothing but resistance and ridicule in the beginning. Would anyone believe them this time?

“We need to go to DC. We need to talk to the taskforce working the cases and see what they’ve come up with. I’ll have Jessica schedule our flight tomorrow. Today.” He added after glancing at his watch.

“Yes.” She couldn’t fight it any longer. This would be her fate. She’d known this moment would come since she ran away from it six years ago. In spite of the official Bureau line, Kara knew the Angel wasn’t dead. The way Frankie’s car went into the Potomac that night appeared too messy for the Angel. Too staged. Through the years, she’d felt him reaching out to her, pulling her back into the game.

Kara leaned into Davis’s chest. She no longer wanted to think about the case. Having him so close reminded her of all the times he’d touched her like this in the past.

“Kara?” He felt it as well. He hesitated for a second, struggling to do the right thing. But she didn’t want to do the right thing tonight. She wanted him. Wanted to make love to him until she could wipe away all the horror she’d witnessed through the young woman’s eyes tonight.

His lips touched hers. Familiar. Gentle. All she ever wanted. His touch held more than simple passion for them both. There was history between them. Anger. Love. All there.

“Not like this,” he whispered into her mouth. “I want you. God, I want you. But I don’t want the things you said to me earlier standing between us. I don’t want the job there either. And I certainly don’t want you coming to me because of him. When we make love, I want it just to be about you and me.”

He untangled her arms reluctantly, stood and walked to the door. There would never be just the two of them. It was an impossible dream.

“I’ll leave word for Jessica to make the arrangements. I don’t think sleep is going to be possible for me but you should try. I’m going to make some coffee and go over the case files. Maybe we’ve missed something.”

Long after Davis left her alone, Kara couldn’t move. And sleep—she couldn’t risk sleep. Not knowing Frankie wanted her to experience the girl’s pain.

Kara showered and dressed, then joined Davis in the kitchen. He acknowledged her presence by handing her yet another cup of coffee. She’d lost track of how much caffeine she’d consumed over the past few days.

“This is the last thing I need right now. More stimulation.” Bad choice of words on her part. She saw him smile but he didn’t press the matter.

“I’ve left a message for Jessica. She’s usually up early, so hopefully we can get out of here before lunch.”

“Davis, I don’t think we can wait for Jessica. He’s got his next victim.”

“Are you sure?” he asked slowly but knew the answer already.

“Yes. It was her I saw tonight. She’s terrified. I couldn’t make out where he’s holding her. She’s still alive, Davis. But not for long. I think Frankie’s keeping her alive for us. He’s waiting for us to return to DC before killing her.” Kara went to the living room and found the file of the fourth victim of the Angel.

“What are you looking for?” Davis followed her, looking over her shoulder.

“Jan Yates was killed on September twenty-third. That’s two days from now! We have two days to find this girl. During that time, she was tortured repeatedly. She could bleed out. Die from exposure. God only knows. There isn’t much time. We need to leave now.”

“I hope you’re wrong about this, Kara. Because you know our chances of finding this girl before he kills her are next to impossible. It took weeks to discover Jan Yates’s body. He killed her in an abandoned barn, remember.”

“I remember.” Kara could feel him reaching out to her, laughing at her weakness. So confident. Even more than before.

“Are you okay?” She shook her head trying to dispel the image.

“Yes.” But his victim was not. She shivered in the cold damp place where he held her and time was quickly running out.

“Why don’t you go pack, and I’ll keep trying to reach Jessica until we leave for the airport.”

It took Kara less than ten minutes. When she returned, Davis had all the folders tucked away in his briefcase.

“Still no answer,” he told her.

“Buster!” In all the rush, Kara had forgotten all about her faithful companion. “I can’t leave him here alone. I’ll call Paul and have him stop by to keep an eye on him.”

Kara had known for a while that Paul wanted more than just friendship from her. She’d been close to considering it until Davis’s return. But that wasn’t an option anymore. Her heart belonged to Davis whether she went back to him or not.

“Who’s Paul?” Davis asked as they drove along the deserted county road. The tension she felt inside him now had nothing to do with the case. He didn’t want to hear her answer.

“Paul Juarez. He’s a friend. He works at the bank in town. He helped me get the boutique financed.”

Davis’s hands tightened on the wheel. He didn’t say anything but he concentrated on the road ahead a little too intently. He wanted to ask more. He didn’t have that right.

The airport appeared deserted except for a smattering of business travelers. They dropped the rental car off and booked their flights to Dulles without any problem. The five a.m. flight was empty. Bored attendants couldn’t wait for it to get underway.

Kara sat by the window next to Davis, silently going over the Yates case in her mind.

“Jan’s body was found at an abandoned barn twenty miles outside DC, correct?”

“You want to talk about this now?” he asked with a hint of amusement. “You don’t want to try and get some sleep?”

“No. Sleep is the last thing I want.”

“He still reaches out to you through your dreams, doesn’t he? That’s how he’s kept you involved in this thing through the years. And kept track of you.”

“Yes.” In the past, she’d had visions of both the victims as well as the killer through the victims’ possessions. Clothing. Pictures. Personal items that contained pieces of them. She’d learned to shut out the visions until recently when they’d become far too strong to resist. For six years the Angel had been promising this moment. A few weeks earlier his presence became stronger as he tried reaching her beyond the dreams.

“Davis, I haven’t been completely honest. There’s something I need to tell you.”

For a moment he didn’t speak. She could feel the tension increase in him. “Okay,” he managed at last. She had his full attention. Something wasn’t right. It occurred to her that Davis had his own secrets.

“I kept the scarf.” It took a few seconds for him to realize what she meant. And then he closed his eyes in disbelief.

“You did what? Okay, never mind the fact that you took evidence from a case, Kara, but why would you want to keep a reminder from such a terrible part of the past?”

“I don’t know. I can’t explain it, Davis, and I know it sounds macabre but I just felt I needed to have it to with me to remember. So that I never forgot what happened.” With a single glance, she knew he didn’t understand. “I’m not explaining it very well, I know.”

“You’re not. I don’t understand why you’d want to have that thing anywhere near you. Does Ava know you have it?”

“Of course not!” He hadn’t liked that she’d kept the scarf. In Davis’s eyes, it probably seemed morbid. Maybe it was. “Can we forget about the scarf for now? Let’s concentrate on our latest victim. We still have time to save her life if we try.”

“All right,” he said at last, letting go of his anger with difficulty. “Jan Yates’s body was found in a barn in a remote area by accident when a hiker stumbled upon it. Which means his latest victim could be anywhere. Where do we even start?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t make out anything about her surroundings.”

“I’ve called Ryan. He’ll have all the local authorities start searching a twenty-mile radius around DC for every vacant barn or shed around,” he told her quietly. “Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky this time. Maybe he’ll slip up.”

As much as Kara wanted to believe him, she didn’t. Deep down inside, the fear that started weeks earlier had begun to spiral out of control once more. Even now, she could hear his laughter in her head. Familiar. The same as before.

She didn’t understand how but somehow she knew they were running out of time. Two days and his latest victim would be gone. Then Kara believed he would try to come after Ava. It all fit.

But something told her, he wouldn’t be satisfied with any other victim but her.

****

By the time their flight landed at Dulles, the morning commuter traffic had hit bumper-to-bumper going into the city.

Kara called to check on Ava while the taxi made its way along the congested roadways.

“What’s wrong?” Davis knew right away from the uneasiness in Kara’s voice that their daughter had seen another vision.

“Nothing. She’s just upset.”

He leaned closer to Kara and heard Ava’s tearful reply, “Mommie, he’s going to hurt you.”

Davis took the phone from Kara’s hand.

“Ava, it’s me.” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word “father” just yet. “Honey, your mom is fine. She’s here with me and I’m going to protect her.”

“No, Davis—leave her out of this.”

Davis dodged Kara’s attempts at taking the phone away easily enough.

“It’s okay, Ava. I’m not going to let anything happen to your mom.” Ava said something that Davis didn’t quite catch but it almost sounded like “Thank you, Daddy”. Emotions that he’d never expected to feel before overwhelmed him. Without even knowing his daughter, he knew he loved her.

“Thank you for trusting me, Ava. I promise I won’t let her out of my sight for a minute. And when this is over you and I have some catching up to do.”

The taxi slowed to a stop in front of VCIRCD headquarters. Ryan Anderson met them on the steps.

“I asked Ryan to start re-interviewing all the people connected to the first Angel case. The victims’ friends and family. Anyone connected to the crime. You never know—someone might remember something new after all this time,” Davis explained as they got out of the taxi.

“I expected the two of you some time ago.” Ryan’s glance slid Kara’s way. His resentment of Kara went deeper than the usual scoffing at her talent. He’d been the one to pick up the pieces of what was left of Davis after she left DC that final time.

“Just like old times, isn’t it?” Ryan made an attempt at a peace offering by extending her his hand.

Reluctantly, Kara accepted it. “It is. I never thought we’d be doing this again.”

“Me neither,” Ryan told her with a smile.

“Anything new on the search for Frankie?” Davis hoped Ryan had better luck at unearthing clues than he and Kara so far. When he saw Kara’s surprise he added, “Ryan and I are both in agreement with you. Frankie Stephens has to be alive. It’s likely he’s been waiting for this moment to resurface. What we need to know is what brought him out now. Something had to trigger the new killings, because I can’t believe this was just part of his game.”

“So far nothing new has turned up I’m going back through every single piece of information we collected the first time. Something will turn up. We just need more time.”

“Time is the one thing we don’t have. Have you talked to Frankie’s friends and family?”

“Well, that’s the thing. He really didn’t have any friends other than Victoria Blake and both she and his uncle refused to speak with me flat-out. I’m hoping you can talk to them. They seemed to have a connection with you.”

The minute they stepped off the elevator something foreboding hit him. He tried to dismiss the feeling but it continued to grow stronger as they neared his office.

“Where’s Jessica?” Davis asked the secretary sharing Jessica’s cubicle. She didn’t appear thrilled to be handling Jessica’s workload as well as her own. The young woman handed Davis a stack of messages and added, “I don’t know Agent Martin. She didn’t come in today and she never bothered to call and let me know she wouldn’t be in.”

“Call her at home and find out what’s going on. She wasn’t feeling well before I left. Maybe she’s still sick.”

The assistant looked even less pleased with her new orders. “Agent Martin, the director asked to speak with you the second you arrived.”

Davis looked to Ryan who confirmed the truth. “I had to tell him. You were gone and this case was heating up. I stalled as long as I could.”

“I know you did your best, Ryan. Can it wait?” Davis asked but the woman merely shook her head.

He turned to Kara. “I won’t be too long. My office is right in there. Ryan can get you set up.”

****

Davis walked away, leaving Kara alone with Ryan and the disgruntled assistant who turned aside before someone asked her to do anything further.

Kara followed Ryan inside Davis’s office.

“I’ll be fine here, Ryan. You don’t have to baby-sit. I know you’re busy.”

He stood in the doorway debating the right thing to do. Ryan was really trying to make amends.

“Are you sure?”

She smiled at the sincerity in his expression. “Yes, I’m sure. Go. Do your thing. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Maybe I’ll just go check to see if Jessica’s turned up yet,” he said at last. “It’s not like her to be AWOL but Davis is the only one who seems to have talked to her recently.”

After waiting for more than an hour for Davis to return, Kara went in search of coffee just as he stormed down the corridor. When he spotted her, he stopped and tried to regain his composure.

“What’s wrong? What did he say to you?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” He let out a heavy sigh that spoke volumes. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going for coffee. Do you want some?”

He glanced at Jessica’s empty desk, then at the other assistant who ignored him entirely before nodding.

“Sure. Jessica has me spoiled. She normally keeps the coffee coming when I’m in the office. I’ll show you where it’s kept.”

As they walked past his assistant’s cubicle, Kara spotted a picture sitting on the desk of a young woman holding a puppy. She had long, dark hair and smiling green eyes.

Jessica. Jessica. Kara’s full attention went to the picture. The young woman appeared beautiful and so full of life. She picked up the photo and instantly another, far darker impression of Jessica filled her senses. Kara could feel her pain. All alone, Jessica couldn’t move more than a few inches. Her captor had her hands tied. Her legs were broken. Her body mutilated.

“Oh God.” The picture slipped from her fingers. Kara wasn’t aware of saying anything but the instant Davis turned and spotted her expression he knew something terrible was wrong.

He saw the picture of Jessica lying at her feet. “Oh no—no, not Jessica.”

Without realizing it, Kara searched Jessica’s desk. She found what she was looking for right away. A gold nameplate with black lettering announced Jessica’s full name. Jessica Youngtree. JY. Jan Yates. Justine Yamez. Jessica Youngtree.

“No,” She barely recognized Davis’s voice. “She’s just sick. Jessica thought she might be coming down with a bug or something,” he said in little more than a whisper, while Kara shook her head no.

“I’m sorry, Davis.” He started for the elevator, forcing her to scramble to catch up with him.

“She’s not there, Davis.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Agent Martin, the director is holding for you,” the assistant announced. She sounded annoyed.

Davis didn’t bother answering her. He hit the elevator button a couple of times and waited only a moment before heading for the stairwell with Kara following close behind.

When they’d reached the ground level, he turned to her. “Go back inside. I don’t want you part of this.”

She ignored his attempts at protecting her. “I am part of it, Davis and you know it. I’ve been part of it from the beginning. I’m coming with you.”

He hesitated a second longer and then unlocked the passenger door to his car. “Here, take my backup weapon, okay?” Davis reached under the driver’s seat and pulled out a Glock, never questioning her skills. He knew she was an expert shooter. He’d taught her himself.

As they worked their way through the congested federal traffic, Davis continually tried reaching Jessica by phone. Then he called Ryan and told him to step up the search for the latest victim.

“We think Frankie’s taken Jessica. Get the word out as quickly as possible but make sure her parents don’t hear about this just yet.”

“Do you know Jessica’s parents?” Kara asked once they left the busy Capitol area, and headed toward a residential neighborhood.

“Yes, they’re friends of mine. Jessica’s father was an assistant district attorney at the time of the original Angel murders. He would have handled the case had it gone to trial.”

Once Davis parked the car in front of a small house on a quiet street, Kara began to see a pattern emerge that was frightening. First Rachel, now Jessica. Possibly Ava. Herself. Davis knew most of the victims. Had he known the first two as well?

“This is it,” he said while looking at her curiously. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Now was not the time. They needed to find Jessica first before it was too late.

She waited while Davis retrieved the key from the fake hanging plant on the porch and unlocked the door. As Kara stepped inside the house, one thing became immediately clear. Jessica knew her assailant. Nothing appeared out of place. She’d let this person into her life.

“Did she have a boyfriend? Anyone special in her life.”

“No. She dated someone pretty steady for a while but they broke up…Wait, before I left for El Paso, she mentioned someone she’d been seeing for a few weeks. Someone she said she met in one of her Criminal Justice classes at UV. I got the impression he wasn’t a student, maybe her professor. She called him Alec. But then…”

“Then what?” Davis suddenly looked uncomfortable. Kara wondered about his relationship with the girl.

“Jessica told me she wasn’t ready for anything too serious. She just wanted to have a little fun.”

Kara nodded, then began to walk through each room of the tiny house. Nothing appeared out of place.

“What are you thinking, Kara?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She knew her attacker. This wasn’t random like the others. Jessica knew who took her.”

He looked uncomfortable. “What is it, Davis? What aren’t you telling me?”

He followed her into the tidy kitchen. “It is like the others,” he insisted quietly. The look in his eyes frightened her.

Kara forced the question out. “What do you mean?”

“There’s evidence that Rachel may have known her assailant as well.” After a moment, he added, “There’s more. You remember in El Paso you asked me about the connection between the victims. You thought that maybe they knew the same people. Well, you were right. They did. They all knew me. I’m the connection between the victims.”

“Oh my God,” Kara whispered into the shocked silence that followed his confession. She saw Davis’s mouth twist into a bitter grin.

“Yeah, I thought that would be your reaction. I went to university with one and I dated the other. I was married to Rachel and then you know I stopped in at your shop and talked to Justine, so I guess in a way I knew her as well. So, there’s your connection. Are you satisfied?”

“Davis, why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Why? Why do you think? It would have changed your mind about the case and about me, that’s why.”

“Probably—I don’t know.” Kara turned away. It took everything inside her to let the obvious questions go for the moment. She was here for Ava and the other victims. Nothing more.

“But the first Angel killings were all picked at random, except for Amy. This is clearly different.”

Davis looked relieved that she wasn’t walking away just yet.

“Or maybe it’s not. Maybe he’s just perfecting his MO.”

Davis retrieved his cell phone and called Ryan. “The place is clean. She’s gone. It appears she knew her attacker. What?”

Something in Davis’s voice drew Kara’s attention back to him. He sounded frustrated. Once he hung up the phone and turned to her, his expression scaring her.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Let’s get out of here, okay. I can’t think straight in here.” He held the door open and waited for her before relocking it and placing the key back inside the plant.

They drove in silence for a time. But Kara couldn’t let Davis’s connection to all the victims go. If he’d lied about knowing all the victims, what else hadn’t he told her about the case?

He brought the car to a stop in front of a sprawling red brick home in the affluent Georgetown neighborhood.

Davis got out of the car and waited for her to do the same. Kara realized that her things were still at the Bureau.

And no one knew where she was.

“Don’t worry, Kara. I would never hurt you.” She forced aside her fear at those words.

“Where are we?”

“Home. We’re home. This is my home.”

“Why are we stopping here?” she asked but Davis ignored the question. Unlocking the door, he waited for her. Reluctantly, Kara stepped inside the two-story house, not sure what to expect.

Davis and Rachel had lived in an older colonial near Glover Park when Kara first met him. He told her later that he spent most of his time at an apartment he rented near work.

Davis closed the door behind her but made no move to step away.

“You didn’t answer my question.” She tried to keep her voice steady. She couldn’t let him see she’d become frightened of him.

“No, I didn’t,” he said with a heavy sigh before stepping past her into the living room. “I expected more from you, Kara. I never expected you to turn on me.”

She followed him slowly, waiting for him to say more. When he didn’t she asked, “So why are we here, Davis? We should be out working the case.” When he ignored her entirely she added, “Davis, we’re running out of time!”

“Ryan’s got it covered for now. He promised to let me know the moment he hears anything. Look, I just need to think for a minute, okay. Clear my head. Explain what’s happening to you in private,” he added quietly.

Kara stood before him trying to control her anger and frustration. None of this made any sense. Davis had been determined to find Jessica just a short time earlier.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked at last.

He walked over to the bar and poured a drink, downing it in a single gulp. “My director—you remember Ed Zamora, right—well he wants me to distance myself from the case for a while. ‘Let Ryan take the lead’, he said. At least in the public’s eye,” he told her quietly. When his eyes met hers, the fear left her. This was Davis. This was the man she loved. But Davis was hurting.

Kara remembered Ed only too well. She and Ed had butted heads from day one. “Why? I mean didn’t you tell Ed about your connection to the victims in the beginning?” Then she realized. “Is it because of me?”

He smiled once more mockingly, then poured another drink. “You were just the final straw. No, they want me away from the case for the same reason you’re starting to suspect me. Because I might have personal knowledge of the killer.”

“Because of your relationship with the victims?”

Davis took another sip of the whiskey before answering. “The first victim, Amanda, well I hate to admit it but I forgot about her. We hadn’t kept in touch. And Camille, it happened years ago, before Rachel and I got together and it was one night. We’d both had too much to drink. It meant nothing. So much so that I forgot about her until someone pointed it out to me.”

“Oh, Davis.”

“I know how this is beginning to look but for God’s sake I need you of all people to believe in me. Please.”

“I do,” she told him and meant it. Kara moved to his side and took the glass from his hand. His fingers shook. “I do believe in you but there’s something going on here that you can’t deny. Somehow the Angel has decided to make this personal for you. Do you have any idea why? I mean you and I haven’t spoken in years. It can’t all be because of me.”

He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I thought of that after Rachel’s death. I’ve gone over all of my cases with a fine-tooth comb but there’s nothing.”

The pain in his eyes was hard to face. Slowly, Kara took him in her arms and held him close. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this together. We’ll figure it out together. You’re not alone in this, okay. But I need you to help me. Ava needs you—you can’t give up.”

He didn’t answer for a moment, and then he shifted in her arms.

“I’m not giving up, Kara. I want this guy as much as you do. And I won’t let him hurt Ava, I promise.”

When he looked down at her, all the old feelings resurfaced. Her body ached for him. She responded without hesitation to the open need in his eyes. Kara leaned into him and felt his hands tighten around her waist. Lifting her fingers, she cupped his face. The moment their lips touched, the years melted away. It never felt more right. This was what she’d wanted for so long. Even when she tried hating him, she still craved his touch.

“I want to make love to you, Kara. Dear God, I’ve thought of making love to you for so long.”

Her eyes searched his. It would be so easy to give in. After all she wanted the same thing but it was too late for them. Too many things stood in the way. And the pain of Davis’s betrayal cut too deeply.

Slowly, she untangled herself from his arms. “I can’t do this.” The look in his eyes was hard to take. Davis Martin had never looked so vulnerable. “It’s too late for us.”