Zurich, Switzerland
Monday, 25 January, 1:22 p.m.
––––––––
From Dübendorf Air Base we drove to Zurich. I booked us two suites at Baur au Lac, while Aidan contacted the local operative to help us track down the detective assigned to the most recent murder case. I considered giving the killer a nickname, but I've always been against the idea of giving them a name the media uses to sell sensationalized stories. It isn't stories when people are brutally murdered, and it doesn't matter what the final victim count is. Until I could call him by his actual name, I continued referring to him as the serial killer, or killer.
Rowan wasn't happy when I told him he would share a suite with Liam. Instead, he proposed we book Liam on the longest possible flight back to Marcel. I refused. Until word got around of Ludwig Schneider's death, I couldn't risk having Liam in the same city as my daughter, or my sister and nephew.
While Aidan showered, I stared at my murder board. Its puny size mocked me, as did my inability to profile this killer. I checked the time on my mobile phone and smiled at the image I chose for the wallpaper – Aidan and Ainsley. Their eyes the same, but where her red hair came from was a mystery. If not for the security measures on my phone, I wouldn't have something so personal on it. Without my retina, it can't be unlocked. Not even if my eye is removed or my last breath taken.
A soft knock on the door brought my mind back to Zurich. In the span of two days, I went from my daughter's birthday party to Vienna and now Zurich. I opened the door to find Rowan, anger pulsing off of him. I stepped back to let him in.
"Where's Aidan?" he asked before slumping down on the couch.
I walked to the doors leading to the balcony and gazed out over Schanzengraben canal. No swans, despite there being no snowflakes in sight. "What happened in Vienna?"
"You were there."
I turned to my brother-in-law, a man I grew to love as if we shared the same blood. "I'm not one of your brothers, Ro. Let me in."
Rowan shook his head but kept his eyes on mine. "Anna's number five."
I understood the implication. Rowan can count his sexual partners on one hand, but he only ever loved one.
He leaned back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "I know which number she is, but Liam has no idea. The fact that he doesn't understand why that bothers me, scares me, for him. I get why he has hated me since we were both in diapers, but since joining Fortius he's different."
"Liam doesn't hate you." I sat down next to Rowan and leaned my head against his shoulder. "He hates himself. I'll make it my personal mission to find the root of his hatred and help him deal with it."
Rowan pressed his lips to my hair. "Thank you for your willingness to try, but don't take it personally if you can't get through to him."
"You underestimate my power, Ro. I understand Liam better than you think. A long time ago I was him. Lived in my sister's shadow all my life, but once I joined the army, all that changed. Liam needs to see his worth within the family, and sooner or later he'll find a woman he won't be able to toy with."
Rowan laughed, the sound warm and familiar. "I can't wait for the day he falls in love again. He's doing all of this because she chose me. Liam's afraid of women he can become serious about because he doesn't want to get his heart broken again. It's been almost two decades; I can't believe it still bothers him."
I made a deal but was in the mood to probe. "When last did you and Quinn have sex? The tension between the two of you on Saturday spoke volumes. By the way, leave the profiling to me. If you don't, I might be out of a job."
Rowan placed his arm around my shoulder and hugged me to him. "Do you see a bullet between the killer's eyes?"
Worth a shot. At least I came to the correct conclusion. "Speaking of, the tattoo artist you met last night in Vienna, does he also have a criminal record?"
"Yes. The unsub knows who to go to, not only for their artistic skills, but people who'll be reluctant to go to the police. Janos has been an invaluable informant to me over the years, and even though he's out of the game, he knows what goes on in Hungary's underworld."
I kissed Rowan's cheek and stood; Aidan came into the living room wearing nothing but a towel. "I'll get dressed, didn't expect company."
"Sorry, bro, I'm either here or strangling Liam. If I have to listen to him say Maria is innocent one more time, I will snap. Dammit, I have footage of her taking a delivery from Theo's main fentanyl supplier. The world's a better place with Theo dead and Maria incarcerated. Although, she won't be for long. Theo's men will find a way to get to her."
"How does he know who to go to?" Both brothers looked at me, so I elaborated. "Our unsub, he goes to tattoo artists who have criminal records. Janos was incarcerated as a teenager, got out before his twenty-first birthday. He's been living on the straight and narrow ever since."
"We might be looking for a hacker." Rowan offered.
Aidan closed the bedroom doors and returned dressed in more clothes than I wanted him in. Perhaps the newsboy cap, and nothing else. I shelved that request for later. He was about to add something that I hadn't considered yet.
"A pilot. Someone who works on a cruise ship. A businessman who travelled to all nineteen countries for work. We've considered these possibilities, but what if our unsub has extensive financial means? An inheritance, or he has a lucrative business with a CEO or MD who runs the day-to-day operations, leaving him with time to indulge in his fantasies."
"We need Eli's help," I said. Aidan retrieved his mobile phone from the bedroom and called Eli.
"What was Theo going to buy from you?" I asked Rowan.
Rowan stood and walked to the minibar. He removed three small bottles and emptied each in a crystal tumbler. He added ice to mine and his, leaving Aidan's neat. He held the tumbler out towards me, and I sipped the Johnny Walker Blue Label, savouring the taste of my beloved liquid Walker.
"It doesn't matter anymore." Rowan lifted the tumbler to his lips.
"Humour me. And what party?"
"The party is a story for another day, and party isn't the best word to describe it. Theo wanted long-range rifles."
The whiskey lodged in my throat; I swallowed hard and ignored the burn. "Your cover is as an arms dealer?" Rowan shrugged, but the wink he gave me confirmed it. "So, this party, what is it if not a party?"
Rowan drained the remaining content in the tumbler. Ice clinked as he placed it down and refilled it. "Let's just say, while we talked business, a woman went down on Theo's business. And there I sat, watching her head bop up and down, and tried to negotiate a price in between his moans." I gagged. "That's how I felt."
"Okay, so he's allowed to do whatever he wants, but his wife isn't? Did Liam sleep with her at the party, event, sex-whatever?"
"Yes, and with Anna. Same time." Rowan lifted his tumbler into the air. "He claims he and Anna did it to gain Maria's trust. Anna has been trying to find evidence of Theo's dealings for years, but she is who she is. She had a brief affair with your murder victim in Vienna, after she learned about her husband's infidelities."
"He's a few years younger than she is. I can understand why she doesn't want anyone to learn about their past. If he's her ex-lover, with him leaving for Canada, and being found with a woman younger than her, it puts Anna straight at the top of the list of suspects. Means, motive, and opportunity. She has all three."
"Yes, well, it's all in the past now. As is she in mine."
I marched up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "You will find your fairy, Rowan. I promise you."
He hugged me back. "Aidan told you about that?"
"Of course, it's sweet."
"Do you two want a room?" Aidan asked. "Eli's running with the information and will get back to us as soon as he finds something."
I released my hold on Rowan and turned to Aidan. "What if he travels on different passports?"
"I've asked Eli to run facial recognition of all the footage he can access at any ports, or points of entry."
The rhythm of the murders bugged me. There was something there and I couldn't figure it out. If only the hotel had an indoor shooting range instead of a gym and spa. I asked Aidan for permission to shoot something in the room, he denied my request.
One, one, two. One, one, two.