Chapter Six

Letting Kara go was impossible to do but he did it. With her absence from his arms, the world and its troubles crowded in.

His conversation with Ed Zamora had come as the biggest shock in a week full of them. That his commanding officer, the man he’d worked with for almost ten years could think he in some way might be involved in these deaths was hard to accept.

“Where are you going?” Kara asked when Davis reached for his keys and headed for the door.

“Ed suggested it might be in my best interest to back off these cases and let Ryan take the lead. I won’t accept that, Kara. Not now with Jessica involved. I owe it to her and to her parents to figure out what’s happened to her.”

He opened the door and turned back. “And I don’t want you involved in this. I was wrong to bring you here in the first place. I’m going to send you to Ava and Maggie.”

He wasn’t surprised that she’d followed him, or that she was ready to argue her cause. “No, you’re not. I’m not going anywhere, Davis. I’m here and I can help. I want to. I need to for Ava’s sake. She needs both of her parents, Davis. So you can just forget sending me away. I’m not going anywhere.”

Davis closed the door and touched her face. “I can’t let anything happen to you. I almost lost you the last time. I did, in a way. I don’t want that to happen.”

“We’re both involved in this. We both need to settle the Angel case once and for all, otherwise it will always haunt us. We’ll never be able to move on with our lives.”

He didn’t want to move on. For Kara, moving on meant letting go. He couldn’t let her go.

Davis closed his eyes before finally giving in. “All right, I guess I don’t really have a choice in the matter, do I? I know how stubborn you are. I’m going back to the office to talk to Ed. If you want, I’ll drop you off with the task force and you can start going over the evidence with them.”

“No. I’m coming with you to talk to Ed. It’s the least I can do. Whatever he has to say to you, he can say it with me there as well.”

****

Ed Zamora was not happy to see Kara. When she’d worked with the Bureau before, Ed had been her biggest skeptic. In the end, after the kidnapping and the scandal that followed, he’d been only too happy to see her leave.

“It’s been a long time.” He waited until she took a seat before closing the door.

“Before you say it, you know I don’t believe any of this but we can’t afford another scandal like the last one. We need to be above reproach on this one,” he told Davis before his gaze slid to Kara briefly.

“I understand what you’re saying but Jessica is my friend. I need to be part of this. Hell, I am part of this,” Davis said.

“Do you have any idea what the press will do when they get wind of your connection to all the victims?” Davis wondered what Ed was more concerned about. His connection to the victims or his relationship to Kara.

“Is there anything new on Jessica?” Ed asked at last when Davis didn’t answer.

“No, nothing yet. Her car is still in the garage. But we believe she knew her kidnapper,” Davis told him.

“Great—just great. That’s exactly why I need you to stay out of the spotlight on this one. The press will eat you alive when they find out you’ve known all the victims. I don’t want you to go through that. It’s not good for the Bureau or you if—”

“Are you ordering me off the case entirely?” Davis demanded.

Ed stared hard at Davis for a long moment before slowly releasing his breath. “Would you do it if I asked?”

“No. Jessica has only a short time to left if the killer is staying true to form with his first victims. Dammit, Jessica is like family to me. I’ve practically watched her grow up. I’m not backing off this.”

“All right,” Ed answered at last, clearly not pleased with Davis’s response. “But I’m warning you, stay out of the limelight. And if this thing comes to the attention of my superiors, I won’t have a choice but to pull you off the case and suspend you. Understood?”

“Yes.” Davis jumped to his feet ready to leave before Ed changed his mind.

“And keep her out of this. We can solve it without the help of a medium this time.”

“With all due respect, we can’t. She’s been the only one to give us any break in this case so far. We need her.” He turned to her and added, “I need her.”

****

Ed’s parting words were upsetting. She’d been a major part of pulling all the clues together on the first Angel case and yet he still considered her gift little more than a parlor trick.

They left him still fuming over Davis’s words.

“He doesn’t know that you suspect Frankie of these new murders?” She knew the answer as well as Davis’s reasons for keeping Ed in the dark even before he confirmed it.

“No, and until we have some solid evidence pointing that way, he’s not going to.” They took the elevator down one level to the floor housing the taskforce working the latest murders. Kara recognized several of the agents from the original Angel case but there were a few new faces as well.

“Most of you know Kara Bryant from the original case,” Davis announced to the team. “I’ve asked her to help us out on this one.”

Once he’d introduced her to the new members, Davis asked Ryan to brief them on the latest on Jessica’s case.

“So far, we haven’t turned up anything but we’ve got both state and local police involved in the search. We’re covering every possible square inch of countryside but I’m thinking it’s time to bring the press in on this thing.”

Davis’s gaze slid to Kara. “No, no press.”

“Davis, we’re getting nothing here. Someone out there might have seen something important to the case that will help us find Jessica,” Ryan added, clearly frustrated by Davis’s reluctance. “We need to reach out to the public for help now. We can’t wait any longer.”

“I said no press.” Kara could still hear Ed’s warnings but neither Ryan nor the taskforce knew what Davis had faced in there. She glanced at each person seated around the table. Some were growing suspicious of their leader.

“We’ll solve this on our own, okay?”

Ryan slowly nodded then added, “I was hoping that maybe we—you and I—could take Kara to some of the places that look promising.” Ryan gave Kara an encouraging smile. “Maybe you can see something we’ve missed. You feel up to it?”

“Sure.” She understood Ryan was willing to try anything at this point. “Just tell me where.”

“We’ve got several possibilities. If this guy is running true to form, he’s gone to great lengths to follow his—Frankie’s—old MO. So”—Ryan went to the map covering one wall, revealing most of DC and the surrounding area—“we concluded these are the most likely places he would have taken Jessica. We’ll keep searching other areas but so far, I’m concentrating on these primarily. That’s where I’m hoping Kara will be beneficial.”

“Ready?” Davis asked her quietly. She knew what he really meant. Was she ready to go through this?

“Sure, I think so. It’s worth trying. Let me just get my suitcase from your office,”

The dry countryside outside of DC literally swarmed with agents from every branch of law enforcement. They were met right away by the agent in charge of the search, who told them nothing had turned up yet.

“God, I hate this,” Davis told her once he’d finished briefing them. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

He took her hand for a second and held her back from the others. “Stay close. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“I will. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“I think we should start with the barn, don’t you?” Ryan fell into step next to them. “I mean, you never know…”

When they reached the building, Kara stepped inside and stopped. She couldn’t feel Jessica but she did sense something.

“What is it?” Davis asked.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure—”

“Look around you, Kara. I’m here with you. I’m right here with you now.”

“Kara?” When Davis stepped away for a moment to examine something one of the agents found, Ryan appeared at her side. “I thought you said something.”

“No, nothing.”

Ryan continued to watch her carefully. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“You think you are so smart, don’t you Kara? But I slip through your world without you knowing it. You’ll never catch me.”

“Mommie, Mommie, he’s there with you! Mommie be careful!” Suddenly Ava’s presence overpowered the killer’s. Kara knew Ava was afraid for her.

In Kara’s mind she could feel her daughter’s fear.

“She’s next, Kara. She’s my next victim. I can’t wait.”

“I’m okay, baby, don’t worry. I’m okay,” Kara tried to reassure her frightened child. “Daddy’s here with me. He won’t let anything happen to me, okay.”

“Kara? What is it?” Ryan asked in concern and Davis suddenly became aware that something was wrong with her.

He stopped talking to the agent and came to her side. “What do you see?”

“He’s here.” Kara was shaking from fear.

“Where? Can you see him?”

“No. He’s too strong. He’s taunting me. He says Ava is next.” Kara tried to keep the panic from her voice. She didn’t want Ava to read these thoughts.

“That’s not going to happen, Kara. I’ll never let that son-of-a-bitch hurt Ava or you.”

“We may have something.” Ryan motioned to the agent coming toward them holding something in his hand.

The agent handed Davis a diamond earring.

“Where did you find this?” he asked stunned. Kara could tell he recognized the earring.

“Over by the stall, Agent Martin. We’re still searching the area.”

“Recognize it?” Ryan asked quietly.

“Yes.” He met Ryan’s gaze. “Jessica’s parents gave her those for her eighteenth birthday. She never took those earrings off. She wore them all the time.”

“May I?” Kara asked and he handed her the earring. She closed her eyes. She could only feel Jessica’s happiness. She’d been so happy the night she received the earrings. Kara didn’t feel Jessica’s presence here.

“She’s not here, Davis. She’s never been here. He’s playing with us. He planted that earring here to steer us off course. She’s not here.”

“Are you sure?” Ryan asked, obviously disappointed in her answer. “This has been our best clue so far.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Kara turned to Davis. “She’s not here. She’s never been here.”

Davis nodded slowly before speaking to his partner. “Keep your people looking for clues. We need to go back to headquarters and start over.”

“Davis, with all due respect to Kara, we can’t dismiss the fact that maybe she’s wrong about this.”

“She’s never been wrong before. She’s not wrong this time either.”

“Are you willing to place Jessica’s life on that? And your career?” Ryan added quietly.

“I am. Keep the team looking. You come with us.”

The tense silence stayed with them throughout most of the drive back into the city. Once more, Kara felt as if she’d come between their friendship.

“Ryan, Jessica was your friend as well. When you talked to her last, did she mention anyone special in her personal life?” Davis asked more to fill the empty space.

“Not really. She told me once she wasn’t really looking for anything serious after her last relationship ended. But you know she had a crush on you the size of Texas.” Ryan gave Kara an apologetic grin.

Davis chose to ignore this remark. “When did you speak to her last?”

He thought for a moment. “Not since the morning you left for El Paso. As I recall, Jessica left early that day and I had that commitment in New York. When I got your call, I caught the first flight out to Texas to escort Maggie and Ava to a safe place. I just got back in the office a little before you and Kara arrived.”

“Have someone check with her friends. See if there’s anyone they might know of worth checking out. Also, let’s check with her old boyfriend. Find out what he’s been up to. Oh and 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’s not a student. He might be her professor. She called him Alec. Maybe one of her friends will know him. And Ryan, do it discreetly. Without alarming her parents.”

Once they reached the command center, Ryan called in Davis’s orders to his partner, then went back to the map. “Okay, where else should we be looking, Kara?” Ryan shook his head. The lack of sleep was finally catching up with him. “Because frankly, I’m out of ideas.”

Kara stepped over to the map, her fingers tracing along the places marked by the team. Something drew her in another direction entirely. South of the city, past Alexandria, there were miles and miles of farmland. She felt the pull of one spot in particular. She realized she was still holding Jessica’s earring.

She closed her eyes and she could feel Jessica’s fear.

“Here! She’s here.”

Ryan looked at Davis. “We checked that entire area already. That was the first place we looked. She wasn’t there.”

“We’ll look again. He could have moved her there. Obviously, he enjoys playing games with us. Let’s go.”

“Do you want me to call the others in?” Ryan asked as they headed for the door.

“Not yet. Let’s just do this thing ourselves. Kara, you said you felt him there at the last site. Do you think he’s pretending to be one of our men or maybe even is one of the agents on our team?”

“Maybe—I don’t know. But he was definitely there.”

“You said he planted the evidence. Maybe you just sensed his presence because he’d been there.”

“No. It was too strong. He was there.”

“Ryan, have someone quietly check out all the personnel working that area. See if maybe someone is there who doesn’t belong. These creeps love attention of any kind. He’s probably enjoying making us look like fools.”

Ryan did as Davis asked but Kara could tell he wasn’t nearly as convinced.

They drove in silence to the small farm outside the city where Kara believed they would find Jessica.

“Is she still alive?” Davis forced the words out.

“I don’t know. I think so.”

They reached the site just as the last light of day disappeared.

“We’ll never find her alone. Davis, let me call for help. We might be able to save her if we have enough people combing the area.”

“You’re right, we can’t do this alone. Okay, call it in,”

Ryan returned to the car while Davis and Kara headed toward the barn some fifty feet away.

“Kara, I hope to God you’re sure about this.”

“She’s here, Davis. I can feel her here.”

He took Kara’s hand as they made their way inside the dark barn. In the beam of Davis’s flashlight, the shadows of the barn stretched out around them. The place was covered in years of dust and abandonment.

“Do you feel anything?”

Kara clutched the earring and moved instinctively toward the place where she felt Jessica’s presence the strongest. Her fear and pain continued to grow. Jessica was terrified.

“God, he’s here with her. Frankie’s here!” Kara whispered urgently and watched as Davis drew his weapon. She did the same.

The voice of the killer and victim warred with each other. Jessica tried to scream but he was there preventing her. “He’s laughing. God, he’s laughing at her pain.”

“Where is she, Kara? Can you tell me where she is?”

“This way!” She moved to the side entrance of the barn and Jessica’s fear became more pronounced. Kara tried to focus on the girl alone but suddenly she went silent. She could still hear his laughter though.

Outside, a short distance from the house, the previous owners had built a small root cellar.

“The door’s open.” Kara pointed to the entrance where a weathered door stood ajar.

“Someone had the damn thing locked. Look,” Davis’s light hit the lock that lay open on the ground.

“Davis!” They could hear Ryan calling to them from inside the barn.

“We’re out here! We’ve found something!

Ryan’s hurried footsteps rounded the corner of the building, then stopped when he spotted them.

“Jeez…” Fresh blood covered the doorpost of the place.

“Kara, stay here.” Davis led the way down the stairs with Ryan following. But Kara couldn’t stand by and wait. She followed them inside. At the bottom of the stairs, the light caught something. Jessica. Jessica’s warm body lay positioned in the Death Angel’s standard pose. Her hands secured with the white scarf. The bunch of white lilacs clutched within them. The Bible quote lay haphazardly, placed near the body as if the killer had run out of time. Gotten sloppy.

“Dammit,” Davis knelt close to her searching for a pulse. Her throat had been slashed. He’d taken his time with her. She’d been tortured for days. “Call an ambulance!” Davis yelled out to Ryan.

“Davis, she’s dead,” Kara told him quietly.

“Do it, dammit!” She knelt next to him as he began to perform CPR. The blood pulsed from Jessica’s body with each compression.

“Davis. She’s gone. You can’t help her now.” Kara somehow managed to pull him away from Jessica’s body.

Within a matter of minutes, the small room filled with agents. They descended on the crime scene and began analyzing everything, asking dozens of questions. It seemed like hours before the team finished examining Jessica’s body and released her to the coroner.

Davis and Kara stood a little ways away from the bustle watching.

“I need to tell her parents. Dear God, I don’t know how to tell them this.”

“Let someone else do it, Davis.”

“No, I owe it to Jessica to be the one.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” He turned to Kara and smiled wearily.

“Thank you. I need you, Kara. I need you with me. I’m so glad you’re here.”

The drive to the Youngtrees’ house felt as if it took forever. Just getting out of the crime scene clogged with emergency vehicles seemed endless.

“Have they been told she’s missing?” Kara asked as they stopped in front of the house and someone, obviously watching through the window, stepped outside.

“Yes, they were told. I told them. Dear God, how am I going to tell them their only child is dead?”

In the end, no words were necessary. The minute Mrs. Youngtree saw Davis’s expression she knew. She screamed and collapsed onto her knees. Her husband caught her in his arms and managed with Davis’s help to get her back inside.

Everything slipped into slow motion. Mrs. Youngtree’s doctor arrived soon after her husband called and sedated her. The doctor sat with his patient while Davis asked his friend some difficult questions, starting with the last time he spoken to Jessica.

“We talked to her Sunday evening when she had dinner here. It wasn’t unusual for us not to hear from her during the week. Jessica kept busy with work and friends and school. We understood that.”

“Has anything unusual been happening in her life? Anyone new that you know of?”

“No, not as far as we knew. She seemed happy with her life the way it was. Said she wanted to pursue her law degree. She had started taking classes, as you know.” He stopped for a second and then asked.

“Davis, did that son-of-a-bitch rape her? Tell me what happened to my baby.”

“Mark, don’t go there. This won’t help you or Nancy. Just let me take care of this.”

“I swear I’ll kill him if I ever find out who did this to her. You tell him that. You tell him I’ll kill him.”

Outside the Youngtrees’ house, Davis told Kara he needed to go back to the command center.

“Kara, you should go back to my place and get some sleep. I can’t. I can’t even think about sleep right now. I want to stay and help. There’s going to be lot of evidence to process. This could take hours.”

“No, I’ll stay with you. Maybe I can help.”

He lowered his head accepting her answer. Davis started the car and then asked, “Have you talked to Ava lately?” Kara knew he wanted to be sure Ava was safe without giving her location away.

She hadn’t told him about Ava earlier because she didn’t want to worry him. “She’s okay.” When he looked at her questioningly she added, “She’s fine, Davis.”

“Thank God for that. I can’t imagine going through what Mark is going through right now. I don’t think I could bear it if anything happened to either of you.”

The evidence from Jessica’s crime scene began to arrive shortly after their return. Dozens of evidence envelopes had been collected at the scene. The taskforce spent the rest of the evening and well into the morning, sifting through their contents to no avail.

“It’s like he’s getting better with each new victim. There’s no footprints, no fingerprints. No hair samples. No semen,” Ryan said once all the evidence had been processed.

“She was raped?” Davis asked. Kara could tell he knew the answer already.

“Yes. Looks like repeatedly. This is one sick bastard,” Ryan told them both.

“He’s a monster but he’s also human. Sooner or later he’s going to screw up.”

“I hope you’re right. But so far, with four bodies behind us, he hasn’t shown any signs of screwing up.”

Davis flinched at Ryan’s choice of words. “They’re more than bodies, Ryan. These are women I knew personally. And you were close to both Rachel and Jessica.”

“I know that. I only meant that he’s perfecting his MO and expanding upon it. I think we have to face facts here.”

Davis sat down on the edge of the table, covering his eyes for a moment. “What are you getting at, Ryan?”

“Well, think about it. During the original case, we saw some evidence that seemed to indicate Frankie might not have acted alone. Maybe there are two killers. Maybe we should be looking for someone close—”

“To us? Someone working the case? Why not just say it? You’re starting to believe all the stories about me now as well. Do you really think I’m capable of doing such horrendous things to anyone, much less the people I know?”

“No! For Christ’s sake, Davis, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Of course not! But you have to admit this is starting to look less like Frankie acted alone, even on the old cases. I’m thinking someone connected to the Angel case maybe leaked evidence without even realizing it. What I’m saying is, I think we need to tighten the circle of people who have access to this case to only those we know we can trust. Like it or not, someone is exposing information that could prove crucial to solving the case. We can’t afford another scandal like the last one. You know this, as well as I do.”

“You’re right,” Davis said wearily. “I apologize, Ryan. I’m just upset about Jessica. I’ve let this get too personal.”

“Davis, it is personal. You knew all these women. Maybe…”

“Maybe what?” Davis met his gaze unflinchingly.

“Maybe nothing. Maybe we’re all tired.”

“Ryan, I want to find out who’s behind this more than anyone. I have a huge stake in this as well. But you’re right. Go over the files of the people involved in the past cases as well as this one and let me know what you find. Oh, and do it quickly. I want to let Jessica’s parents know something soon.”

“Of course, I’ll get right on it. Why don’t you try to sleep. You look terrible. I’ll call you when we know something.”

“I’m fine. Just get me some answers soon. Where are you on re-interviewing the people connected to the first murders?”

“We’ve gone through just about everything in the files. There’s nothing new. I talked to a few of Frankie’s acquaintances from the past but no one has a clue where he might be. Most still believe he’s dead.”

“I know it’s difficult, and I appreciate all your hard work but still he’s out there. We both know it. And we’re running out of time.”

Davis turned to Kara. “You feel up to a little ride?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go back to that cellar. It’s almost daylight. I’m thinking maybe we overlooked something. Something critical.”

“Davis, we went over every inch of that place,” Ryan told him. “We didn’t miss anything.”

“Maybe but I’m hoping we missed something important that can’t be seen through normal eyes.”