Battle Tested

by Janie Crouch

  They wouldn’t give the families all the details in the cases, especially since right now it was only a theory, but they would let them know that there had been others who had suffered similar fates. Maybe there would be something—or someone—else the family members could remember.

  Andrea worked with Joe Matarazzo to see if they could find any ties between the other four victims and Rosalyn. They’d shown Rosalyn all the women’s pictures, but she hadn’t recognized any of them.

  Steve couldn’t stay with Rosalyn the entire day like he wanted to. He had to deal with Doug Wilson’s death; the tragic job of notifying the family belonged to him. He also had to catch up the local PD with what had happened at his house this morning.

  He wanted Rosalyn’s case to be the only thing he had to work on, but it couldn’t be.

  When he got back to the conference room at nearly nine o’clock that evening, she was still poring over her notes with Andrea and Joe.

  “Time for everyone to go home,” he announced. “We’ll pick up fresh tomorrow.”

  Joe nodded before hugging both women. Steve wasn’t offended or threatened. Joe was a people person to his very core.

  “Tomorrow, boss,” he said on his way out.

  “Tell Laura I said hello.” Steve and Laura, Joe’s bride, had become close since they both were almost burned alive by a psychopath a few months ago.

  “I’m sure she’s going to want you to come to dinner with your new girlfriend.” Joe said it in an exaggerated stage whisper, winking at Steve.

  Steve’s eyes met Rosalyn’s. She was shaking her head at Joe’s antics, as they all tended to do.

  “I’ll see you guys tomorrow too,” Andrea said as she put her blazer back on. She hugged Rosalyn. “We’ll start again first thing. Welcome to real-life police work. It takes time.”

  Rosalyn’s frustration colored all her features as she looked down at the case files and papers spread out all over the table. It wasn’t messy but it was chaotic.

  He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Andrea’s right, you know. It takes time.”

  She eased against him but rubbed her face with her hands. “We’ve gone over so much my brain hurts. And I don’t know that we’re any closer to catching the Watcher.”

  “We are. Every day we put together more of the puzzle pieces. Soon we’ll have a good view overall.”

  “I can’t stay here forever. He has me just as much trapped here as he did when he had me on the run before.”

  He grabbed her by both shoulders so they could look eye to eye.

  “No. You’re not alone here. You have people who will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. We will catch him, Rosalyn.”

  She shrugged. “I hope so. Everyone has lives they need to get on with. They can’t spend all their time just on this one case.”

  He pulled her to his chest and felt her arms wrap around his waist.

  “You let me worry about that. Working cases, hunting down people who hurt others? That’s what we do here. We find the patterns nobody else sees. And we’re damn good at our job.”

  “Okay.” She nodded her head against his chest.

  “We’ll catch him.” He brought his lips down to her forehead. “I will do whatever it takes to make sure you and our baby are safe. I promise you that.”

  It was a promise he had every intention of keeping.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rosalyn awoke to sounds of voices in the small living room area of the Omega Sector apartment. Evidently the apartment was used by experts who came to help with cases or by agents who needed a night’s rest and didn’t want to go to their homes.

  Or for people who were being hunted by psychopaths.

  The apartment was within the compound but outside the main section of offices. Members of the SWAT team, angry over the death of an Omega agent, were taking turns guarding the door. Ashton Fitzgerald had been there when she and Steve had arrived.

  Rosalyn had fallen to sleep knowing the Watcher couldn’t find her here. Or at least couldn’t get to her.

  But she had dreamed that he sat right outside the gate. In a lawn chair. Drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. His face was hidden from her in some sort of unnatural darkness, but she could clearly see a giant knife sitting on a small table by his side.

  Just waiting for her to exit Omega so he could kill her.

  Worse than that, the bodies of everyone she’d come to know and care about at Omega Sector—Jon, Brandon, Andrea, Derek, Joe—lay around him. Murdered.

  Steve’s body sat propped up closer to the Watcher, blood staining his T-shirt. Steve’s green eyes were open, lifeless, staring out blankly.

  Rosalyn took a step outside the gate. The Watcher folded his paper and stood.

  “I was beginning to think you’d never come out of there,” he said, his voice sounding like it was coming through one of those modulator things. “But I had fun with your friends since you were so busy protecting yourself.”

  She watched in horror as he kicked Steve’s body over and rushed toward her.

  “I’m so excited to meet the baby!”

  She’d awakened sobbing right before he reached her.

  Steve had held her in the bed as she fought him at first—caught in the terror of her dream—then as she sobbed.

  “You’re all going to die because of me. Because I’m hiding and the Watcher wants to keep his sick game moving forward.”

  “Nobody else is going to die. We are all on high alert and everyone can handle themselves.”

  He’d stroked her hair and held her close to his chest, murmuring soft words of comfort and encouragement. But she still couldn’t fall back asleep until the light of dawn crept up through the small window.

  She heard the deep timbre of Steve’s voice right away and soon recognized the other voices to be Derek and Molly Waterman. Maybe Molly had found something when analyzing the crime scene at Steve’s house yesterday. Rosalyn got dressed and went out into the small living room. She didn’t have any makeup to put on even if she could have been bothered to do so.

  Steve immediately crossed to her and kissed her on her forehead.

  “You okay?” He led her over to the small kitchen island so she could have something to eat and some coffee. “I’ll make you eggs and toast.”

  “Thank you. Rough dreams, but yeah, I’m okay now.” She turned to Molly and Derek. “Good morning. Anything new?”

  Molly surprised her by coming over to give her a hug. It had been a long time since she’d had friends, really anyone besides Steve, who cared about her. She returned Molly’s hug, trying not to be as awkward as she felt.

  “We didn’t find anything useful at Steve’s house. Like you said about the other notes, there was no usable DNA available.”

  Rosalyn swallowed and nodded. She hadn’t really expected them to find anything. “I’m not surprised. I had hoped maybe a professional would find something I had overlooked all these times.”

  Molly shook her head. “There was nothing to be found, not by you, not by anyone. I’m sure that was true for the other notes, as well.”

  Rosalyn felt a little bit better.

  “But Jon found a transmitter on an article of clothing of one of the other deceased victims. He’s bringing it back here so I can analyze it.”

  Steve looked over from where he was cooking at the stove. “Our primary focus with your case as of now is figuring out how the Watcher has found you after we removed the trackers in Pensacola.”

  “Being able to look at a functional transmitter will help me,” Molly said. “I might be able to pinpoint where it was made.”

  Steve fed not only Rosalyn but Derek and Molly breakfast. Molly and Derek told humorous stories of Molly’s own pregnancy—their daughter ha
d been born five months ago—and some of Derek’s outrageous behavior in the delivery room.

  Evidently the big, bad SWAT agent who towered over his petite wife had been reduced to “less than useless”—Molly’s words—while their child made her entry into the world.

  “It was time to go to the hospital, and he got lost.” Molly rolled her eyes. “The man navigated his way through a Colombian jungle once to rescue me and he couldn’t figure out how to get to a hospital eight miles away.”

  Derek nearly choked on his piece of toast. “I made one wrong turn. That is not the same as getting lost.”

  She slapped him on the back to help with his coughing. “Of course, honey.” She turned to Rosalyn. “He was lost,” Molly said in an exaggerated sigh.

  Steve laughed.

  “Just you wait.” Derek stabbed some of his eggs, glaring at Steve. “Your time is coming. I’m going to follow you around with a camera.”

  The normal conversation, the joking, even the glares, made Rosalyn feel better. Made life seem a little more normal.

  But then the vision of the Watcher in her dream came back.

  If the Watcher killed Molly and Derek, their daughter would be an orphan. Rosalyn fought to keep down the food she’d just eaten.

  Steve moved closer to her. “Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop,” he whispered in her ear as Derek and Molly gathered her papers so they could all leave.

  “But...”

  Steve tilted her chin up. “I know it feels this way to you, but the Watcher is not the baddest bad guy we’ve ever faced. Isn’t that right, Derek?”

  “Not even in the top ten,” Derek confirmed.

  “That man is not going to let anything happen to Molly, so don’t even let that enter your mind.”

  “Nope.” Derek confirmed again, reaching down to wrap both arms around his wife’s hips and lift her so he could kiss her. “Never again.”

  “And I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  They got the rest of what they would need for the day and the four of them walked out the door and down the hall. Rosalyn tried to hold on to the good feeling she’d had for a few minutes, but it was lost in the weight of what was happening.

  They had to go through the security section again as they entered the main offices. Everyone made it through the metal detector without it going off but Rosalyn. Again. Always her luck.

  The poor guy looked as though he feared for his job when he used the wand on Rosalyn and she set it off once more.

  “Eastburn, I thought I told you to get that wand checked.” Steve spoke through his teeth with forced restraint.

  “Yes, sir, this is a new wand. There shouldn’t be any problem with it.”

  “So, you’re suggesting that Ms. Mellinger has a weapon in her mouth?” That was where the wand kept beeping.

  “No, sir. I’m not sure what is wrong.”

  “You ever have problems in airports or anything?” Steve asked her.

  Rosalyn shook her head. “I haven’t been in one for a few years, but no, not that I recall.”

  Molly put the files she’d been carrying down and walked over to Steve and Rosalyn. “You’ve set off the metal detector every time you’ve come through?”

  “Yes.” Rosalyn shrugged. “Well, the first time I was in handcuffs, so I’m pretty sure that did it. Yesterday we were assuming it was just a defective wand.”

  Molly, Derek and Steve were all giving each other looks.

  “What?” Rosalyn asked.

  Steve tossed some keys to Derek, who put them in his pocket. Steve took the wand from the guard and scanned Derek. It beeped when it got to his pocket, signifying the presence of the keys.

  Without Steve asking, Derek took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to Molly. Steve scanned Derek again, with no beeps this time.

  “Scanner seems to work correctly,” Derek said. They all turned and looked at Rosalyn.

  “What?” she asked again.

  “I need you to come with me over to the lab,” Molly said.

  “Why?” Rosalyn had no idea what was going on.

  “We need to take an X-ray of your mouth. Your teeth in particular. I think we’ve just discovered how the Watcher keeps finding you.”

  * * *

  ONCE MOLLY MADE her announcement, everyone flurried into action. Rosalyn wasn’t quite sure what to do except go along with it.

  “The X-ray equipment in the lab is not really for use on a human,” Molly stated as she walked with Steve and Rosalyn toward the lab. Derek had gone to research transmitters.

  “Is it safe for the baby?” Steve asked. “I won’t risk any harm to Rosalyn or the baby just for quicker results. If we need to get her to a hospital, we can make that work safely.”

  “No X-ray machine is great for any human. It’s radiation. But it’s a small amount for a very short time. And we’ll use a lead covering.” Molly turned to Rosalyn and took her hand. “Under the same circumstances, I would’ve allowed the X-ray when I was pregnant. That’s the best assurance I can give you.”

  Rosalyn nodded. It was enough.

  Molly’s comfort inside her lab was evident. She slipped on a white coat and began giving orders and answering questions the moment she arrived. Obviously how things occurred here every day.

  Molly led them into a smaller room with an X-ray machine. “We’re fortunate. We got the X-ray as part of the new lab.”

  Rosalyn looked over at Steve as Molly set up the machine so it could be used on her rather than objects.

  “New lab?”

  Steve nodded. “About eighteen months ago a terrorist group bombed the lab to try to hide some evidence concerning a bigger crime. We rebuilt a newer, better one.”

  “I’m glad you weren’t in here when it blew, Molly.”

  “Me too. We did lose one tech, though.” Rosalyn saw the glance between Molly and Steve. There was more to this story than they were saying. She was about to ask when Molly brought her over to sit on a step stool.

  She arranged the X-ray machine while Rosalyn held her head in an awkward position. Like Molly had said, the machine wasn’t meant for humans. But in the end, they got what they wanted. Ten minutes later they were sitting around Molly’s computer as the X-ray image came up.

  “There.” Molly pointed to one of Rosalyn’s teeth from the X-ray.

  “My tooth?”

  “No. It’s a crown. And beyond that, it’s a transmitting and locating device. It’s how the Watcher has been finding you.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  They were out in the hall talking about her. As soon as Molly announced about the transmitter, Steve and Molly had immediately stopped talking. It took Rosalyn a minute to understand why.

  They were afraid the Watcher could hear everything they were saying.

  Steve wrote her a note explaining that, but Rosalyn had already figured out that he and Molly weren’t just being rude.

  Meanwhile, Rosalyn was fighting the urge to find some sort of pliers and yank the crown out of her jaw.

  The Watcher had a transmitter inside her body. Rosalyn laughed out loud, although she could recognize the hysteria that tinged it.

  All these weeks when she thought the Watcher was inside her head she’d been literally right.

  She glanced around for pliers again. Yeah, it would hurt, but the pain might be worth knowing he was out of her thoughts once and for all. But she couldn’t find anything in the lab.

  Steve and Molly came back in about ten minutes later.

  “It’s okay—we can talk.” Steve came to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them gently.

  “But can’t he hear us? The transmitter?” Rosalyn fought to keep her voice even.

>   “No. Not here at Omega. We use a similar jamming device as the Ammonses use in Georgia. We want to make sure criminals are not privy to our private conversations.”

  Molly looked up from where she had sat down at her computer. “And ours are on a much greater scale and more sophisticated than the jammers in Georgia. Anything you say here is safe.”

  Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go up to the conference room. We need to get Jon and Brandon on a conference call and figure out our next step.”

  “I want to get it out as soon as possible,” she told both of them. “Fortunately, I couldn’t find a pair of pliers while you were in the hallway talking or I might have already taken care of it myself.”

  “Absolutely,” Steve agreed. “I want that thing out of you just as much, believe me.”

  “It’s still a crown. It’s cemented in,” Molly reminded them. “A dentist will be much less painful and ready for any emergency.”

  She and Steve were both deep in their own thoughts as they made it back to the conference room. He had Brandon and Jon on the line within minutes, explaining what they’d found.

  “That makes so much sense,” Brandon said. “The reason why he could find Rosalyn at Steve’s house but can’t find her at Omega.”

  “Yes,” Steve agreed. “Molly and I already double-checked. Omega’s frequency jammer is keeping the signal from being broadcast any farther than the building.”

  “So he probably has no idea where you are, Rosalyn,” Jon said.

  “That’s right,” Steve agreed. “And even if he somehow followed her, there’s no way he can get in.”

  She felt safe, but she still wanted the thing out of her mouth.

  “More important,” Brandon said, “this gives us a big clue as to who the Watcher is.”

  Steve turned to her. “Your dentist, Rosalyn. There’s no way that transmitter could’ve been put in the crown by accident. Whoever did your dental work is most likely the Watcher.”

  “Fits the profile,” Jon agreed. “Intelligent. Professional. My personal bet had been on some sort of doctor, but I guess a dentist is close enough. Plus, he would’ve had days he could devote to following you and days he couldn’t, thus the gap in notes sometimes.”