But even as the thought crossed his mind, Joshua knew it was a lie. He had seen the pain there. It wasn’t something he could deny now.
In the meantime, Leslie was continuing to observe him. After allowing the silence between them to stretch out to an uncomfortable interval, she spoke.
“You are a large man, Joshua. A strong man.” She took the remote control wand and slipped it inside some hidden pocked in her skirt. It almost appeared as if she had made it disappear with magic. “I will not place myself in the company of a potentially violent client without making sure that I am protected.”
“But I’m not violent,” he protested. “You shocked me for no reason.”
“Really?” she insisted. “Is that true?”
Joshua was about to respond with heat, but then he thought about it. When he had heard that Reggie had been taken, that was the last conscious thought he remembered having until after getting tazed.
Leslie had been in his way. He had wanted to get past her.
His arm had been raised and ready to strike her down to get what he wanted.
A wash of shame flooded through Joshua and he felt his body slump where he sat on the floor. Leslie seemed to see his recognition, and she sat down on the floor beside him, folding her legs up underneath her.
“I truly am sorry, Joshua,” she murmured. “And I promise you that I never would have done that if it hadn’t been necessary.”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak for a moment. Then he lifted his head to look straight into Leslie’s eyes.
They were interesting eyes, bluish-green with tiny gold flecks. They were complicated eyes, filled with light and joy and love, paired with darkness and pain and betrayal. With something else he couldn’t identify.
He could see in those eyes that she knew he was sorry. That she also knew he was having trouble apologizing. The idea seemed to make her sad, but Joshua could also see acceptance there. He cleared his throat and looked up at Had and Coop.
“Let me see the note,” he croaked.
It was time to figure out what Humpty wanted.
* * *
Sariah passed the envelope to Joshua after handing him a latex glove to wear. His hand shook as he took both the glove and the envelope from her. He noticed her staring and seemed to be trying to stop the tremors.
It didn’t work.
After a moment, he handed the letter back to her. “I… I can’t…” Joshua swallowed. “Will you open it for me?”
There was a brief moment as she thought about the evidence here. She would just have to be careful about it. Nodding, she ran a latex-covered finger underneath the seal and popped it open. It had only been attached at the very tip of the pointed flap.
Humpty apparently didn’t want anything standing in the way of them reading his message. Very thoughtful of the man.
Pulling out the paper that was neatly folded inside, Sariah passed it over to Joshua, who had finally managed to get a glove on his hand, in spite of his trembling. The letter was addressed to her, but Humpty clearly knew them well enough to know that she wouldn’t be the one reading it first.
He glanced at the page and began reading. The initial words out of Joshua’s mouth confirmed her suspicions.
“Dearest Joshua…” he said, then cleared his throat. He scanned down the page, then handed the note back to Sariah. She began to read the text of the missive.
It’s such a shame we didn’t get a chance to talk, Joshy-boy. You were always such a wonderful conversationalist. So full of sophistries and hot air.
But I was otherwise occupied at the moment. So sorry.
Oh, and from what I could tell, you had your own business that would have made our reunion a tad more difficult. Glad to see you’re getting yourself some help at last. Although you might want to reconsider the one you’ve chosen as your companion.
At this point, you’re probably wondering where your “friend” Regina is. Such a lovely young woman, that Reggie of yours. You two seem to have quite the complicated relationship.
Of course, Officer Regina Black doesn’t hold a candle to your late wife. Then again, your life has gone downhill a bit since then, so it’s perhaps inevitable that your taste in women would do so as well.
Sariah looked over the white page at Joshua at that. His face was stretched into a painful grimace, his breathing shallow and fast. Pushing her fear down and moving her attention back to the page, she continued.
I could tell you where she is, of course, but what would be the fun in that? If you decide to keep puttering about where you are, I would be fine with that. Or you could head out to a different location. That would be OK.
Your call. Just remember that Reggie’s life could depend on what your answer is.
Looking forward to our next encounter.
“What was that all about?” Had asked.
Joshua held out his hand for the letter. “I need to see it again.”
Sariah handed it to him. He read over the contents once more.
“There’s something strange about…” he muttered. “The language feels… off.”
“What do you mean?” Sariah asked.
But he just shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s his handwriting, but…” He handed the letter back to Sariah. “Something seems off about the language.”
Now that she thought about it, Sariah realized that she’d had much the same response as she read the note. The tone of that last part…
But sitting there in Leslie’s hotel room musing over the note wasn’t going to serve any real purpose at the moment. Right now, they needed to search out any evidence that might have been left behind.
Reggie was out there, captured by a psychopath. The urgency of the situation pounded into her in the same rhythm as her own heartbeat, propelling her to action.
Time to pull video surveillance of the hotel. Time to look for trace evidence on the envelope.
Time to call in their newest CSI helper, Bailey Truscott.
* * *
She was moving.
That much was clear. Reggie could now recognize that the vibrations she’d noticed the first time she’d come to were from the engine of whatever vehicle she was in. The darkness was from something tied across her eyes.
The vibrations were constant. And as far as she remembered, there had been very little side-to-side motion. That meant that if she was in a car or a van, they’d been on the freeway. Reggie was being taken somewhere. Somewhere far away.
She started to panic, feeling her throat begin to close around the gag once more. Forcing herself to relax, she fought the gag reflex.
The team would find her. They were some of the smartest people she knew. There was no way they would let her disappear without doing everything they could to track her down and get her back safely.
An idea began to form. A way she might be able to get herself out of this situation. It was terrifying, especially if it didn’t work. But it might end up being her best option if it came down to it.
But at least for now, she could just observe.
What did she know about her situation? Her memories were still hazy, filled with fog. She had been drugged.
There were sedatives that also messed with memory. But how would she have ingested…
A vague image formed in her mind. An urgent message from the base. From Agent Klingler…Someone offering her a bottle of water.
Then there was a shifting to the side as the vehicle seemed to be making a turn. The vibrations slowed. Stopped.
A voice interrupted her reverie, speaking over the sound of the engine and the wheels against the pavement. “You’re awake again.”
Reggie kept herself still. There might be value in her captor thinking that she was still passed out.
“Don’t try to fool me, Officer Black. Your breathing changed. I know you can hear me.” The voice was masculine. One that she felt like she recognized, but not well enough to place. Who was her kidnapper? Memories played about the edges o
f her mind, taunting her with wisps of images, sounds, smells.
She knew him. She had to.
“I can’t decide if I like this or not,” the voice continued. “Having a captive audience, I mean. Sorry for the terrible pun.” There was a small chuckle.
Once more, the man’s hand caressed her cheek, traced down to her shoulder this time. The last time, the caresses had been brief, followed by a sharp pinch on her arm and a sinking back into oblivion.
“It’s silly, I know,” the voice mused. “I should be putting you back to sleep. Definitely shouldn’t be talking to you. It’s just that I feel like you get me.” There was a sigh. “Oh well. Orders are orders.”
Another slight pinch and a sting on her arm, and Reggie felt herself start to drift off again. She fought the sensation, trying to stay awake. Trying to bring back the memories of how she had gotten here.
“Don’t worry,” the voice murmured. “I’ll watch over you while you sleep.”
And then blackness enfolded her once more.
* * *
Sariah peered into the monitor, trying to see what the camera wasn’t showing her.
Bailey stood at one shoulder, Had at the other. Joshua was back in Leslie’s hotel room, reciting his affirmations or burning incense or whatever the hell it was that woman was forcing him to do.
The idea of a sober companion had seemed like a good one when Agent Tanner had first brought it up. But the reality of Leslie Sands grated on Sariah’s last nerve.
The woman was everything that Sariah was not. Soft where Sariah was hard. Touchy-feely where she was nothing but logic and straightforward investigative work. Gentle where Sariah was all jagged points.
And for Joshua it had to be even worse.
She forced herself to return her attention to the monitor. It wouldn’t do their investigation any good for Sariah to keep getting distracted with thoughts of Leslie Sands and the methods that woman was employing.
“Whoever it was knew where the cameras were,” Bailey was saying. “Look. At each point, all we see is Reggie. It’s clear she’s talking with someone, but we have no idea with whom.”
“I’m not even sure how he did this,” Had agreed. “It seems like there has to be at least one angle from which we would be able to see him.”
“I’ve checked it through five times,” Bailey answered. “Nothing. But there is this.”
She brought up different footage, this time of the parking garage. The camera was focused on the cars as they came up to the gate.
“I figured whoever it was would have to get Reggie out of there, so… I pulled the footage from here. And take a look…”
The footage scrolled for a moment, flipping through car after car. Then Bailey stopped the video at one in particular.
A white van. With paneled sides.
Sariah heard Had groan. “A paneled van? Are you kidding me?”
“It’s a cliché for a reason,” Bailed responded. “Best way to kidnap someone I can think of.”
“Do we have the driver’s face?” Sariah asked, trying to force attention back where it should be. “I’m not seeing it.”
“No,” the investigator admitted. “The guy seems to be aware of every single camera. He’s got a baseball cap on. Here…” She inched the video forward a frame at a time, and Sariah could see that at no point was the man’s face visible.
“Plates?” she asked, but Bailey shook her head.
“I ran them. Fake.”
Great. So they had nothing.
Sariah paced back and forth, trying to kick her mind into gear. It seemed like there had to be something here that would help them out.
“We need to talk to Agent Klingler again,” she muttered. “See if he has any new information that might shed some light on this.”
“Oh,” Bailey answered, her tone surprised. “You didn’t get the message?”
“What message?”
The investigator frowned. “Half of the CID team left. Headed out to Fort Sill to check on the other kidnapping. Someone found another body part.”
“Why haven’t I heard anything about this?” Sariah pulled out her cell phone. It was fully charged, but on the screen she could see there was a new voicemail from a number she didn’t recognize, with no missed call.
Had, looking over her shoulder, clucked his tongue. “Looks like you must have been in a dead spot.”
Sariah turned back to Bailey. “But what about the dead body?”
The CSI pursed her lips. “What body?”
There hadn’t been another murder on the base. Sariah wanted to smack herself in the forehead. There was no dead body.
It had been a misdirect. The entire conversation with that unidentified CID agent had been riddled with misinformation. Sariah swiped the screen of her cell phone to give Agent Klingler a call.
The line rang and rang with no answer. Sariah swore under her breath and hit END. She needed information, and at every point, she was getting nothing.
“Are you trying to reach Klingler?” Bailey asked. “Because he has a new number. Said something about his phone getting lost.”
The CSI opened up her own phone, showing Sariah the contact on her screen. It was the same as her missed voicemail. That made sense.
This time, the line rang only once before it was answered. “Agent Klingler,” the man’s voice came through Sariah’s speaker.
“Where are you?” Sariah asked.
“We caught a flight out to Fort Sill,” he answered. “I left you a message about it.”
“Yeah. I must not have had any connection. The voicemail just came through.”
“Well,” the agent said. “An arm showed up out in Montana. DNA pointed to the missing Private out at Fort Sill. We weren’t getting anywhere there at Jackson, so we decided to split up the team and work both crime scenes.”
Sariah thought about that for a moment. “Who’s left out here?”
“Shively’s back at the… running things for now,” he answered, a burst of static breaking up his speech for a moment. “Let me know if you have any trouble with him. He’s been a little touchy lately.”
That was the understatement of the year.
“Hey…” Sariah said, remembering something she had wanted to ask. “When did you lose your phone?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “I noticed it was missing early this morning.”
Before Sariah had gotten the call about the new victim. So everything about the call had been fake from beginning to end.
And she had swallowed every last piece of misdirection that had been fed her. The killer was constantly three steps ahead of her. At least.
The only one who knew Humpty well enough to anticipate his possible next move was right now upstairs drinking a green smoothie or some herbal tea infusion. Trapped under the thumb of an overbearing sober companion.
While Sariah was left to deal with Humpty on her own. She wasn’t up to this. She knew it. Humpty knew it. And the bastard was taking full advantage of the situation.
Sariah was really starting to hate this killer.
CHAPTER 9
Oklahoma City.
Another location that was new to Had. Once Agent Cooper had made the announcement, he’d immediately gone up to pack, but then had gotten hopelessly distracted by all of the information about the place that had popped up on his laptop screen. And then he’d realized that Reggie wouldn’t be there to share it with.
No one else ever really listened to him when it came to his nuggets of information. Reggie was the only one who would not only listen, but get excited about them from time to time. Especially anything regarding history.
Now he was bursting with all kinds of information about the city they were going to, but with no one who wanted to hear it. It was like his own private version of hell.
Mama was disappointed, of course. Just as she had arrived, her coterie of adopted law enforcement children were headed off to another locale. But when she’d heard that Reggie ha
d been captured, her attitude had shifted.
At that point, she’d decided she wanted to go with them. So then it had taken them all a good half of an hour to convince her that staying here was the better option. Last he had heard, she was planning on going back home after spending another day to “see the sights” to take her mind off the situation. That sounded like code for “flirt with soldiers from the base.” Had was doing his best not to think about it.
Now they were boarding another plane. It was something that he never tired of. When the others would complain about it, Had was smart enough not to say anything, but how could anyone not enjoy flying in a plane? You were flying, for heaven’s sake!
Plus, the people were fascinating. Maybe they would take his mind off his worry for a little while.
He moved his way down the aisle, finding his row and tossing his bag into the overhead compartment. There, waiting with a patient look on her face, was a woman who was obviously pregnant. And from what Had could tell, it seemed like she was just about to pop.
“Hey, there,” Had said as he squeezed past the woman to sit by the window. “Sorry,” he added, as he bumped into her.
“No, it’s my fault,” the woman replied in a higher voice than Had was expecting. “I’m just too lazy to stand up.”
“Lazy, nothing,” he corrected her. “You’re making a baby in your belly. I’d say that was work enough.”
The young woman’s face fell. “I’m not pregnant.”
Had paused mid-squish, trying not to look back at her stomach and failing miserably. It was now official. He could somehow manage to put his feet in his mouth even while he was right in the middle of using them.
There was an awkward pause, during which Had managed to get past the girl and sink into the seat next to her. He was wishing that he could sink all the way through the seat and down past the floor when the woman spoke up again.
“I was just kidding. Of course I’m pregnant.”
Had just about choked on his own spit as he took in a huge breath and released it in a sigh of relief. Then he turned to face his seatmate.
“That was just cruel,” he accused her, a smile on his face to take any sting out of his words.
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