Lunging across the table, I grabbed his collar and pulled his face close to mine. “Don’t you dare say such lies.”
He didn’t lose his cool. “It would be up to the court to decide which one of us is lying.”
“Let go, Cleo,” said Bryan. He moved closer to the table. For a moment, I wanted to bang the odious man’s face on the desk. Let me bloody his nose a bit and then see what he said. “Cleo,” said Bryan with a warning in his tone.
Damn it.
He was right; we didn’t want Smith to get off on a technicality, and he was right, this video wasn’t from police or the FBI. Aaron got it. I let go. What if Smith was right? What if Aaron doctored the video to show Smith as the bad guy? It took the suspicion off him and on to Smith.
Maybe Bryan was right and we were on the wrong track.
Perhaps it was better to focus on Aaron Fine.
Aaron was a good suspect. Perhaps in light of all that happened, he was a better bet. But my heart told me that Smith was lying his ass off. He was a cocky bastard. The whole persona earlier had been a charade. He wasn’t as nice and friendly as he pretended to be. Smith was unhinged, off his rocker. He was likely the killer, and the kidnapper.
But I didn’t have anything to hold him.
Bryan appeared to come to the same conclusion. We were way in trouble, and he was right that this video wouldn’t be admissible in a court of law. “Let’s go. Mr. Smith, if there is anything you want to add to this, please call me.” Handing over a card, he walked over to the door.
Even though every single cell in my body demanded to give this guy a third degree and beat the truth out of him, I couldn’t do any such damn thing. Not only was Bryan here but also Sebastian. I didn’t want to get the commune in any trouble because of my actions. Sulking, I walked over to the door.
Aaron picked up his phone. His eyes glinted. “If I were you, I would check on my office building in Mclean.”
Smith sat straight. “Why?”
“Just because.” Shoving the phone in his pocket, Aaron walked out. The secretary was cowering behind the reception, not looking happy. “Goodbye, Miss. Kind of you to let us see the old man.”
Dusk was already settled as we strode out and went to our car. For a few moments, all of us gathered there, defeated, broken. We didn’t have anything to show for all the theatrics for today.
“You should arrest him,” I said.
“What, Smith? I don’t have grounds,” said Bryan.
“Not him. This one.” I pointed at Aaron. “He has connections with both the victims, he got this video which may as well be doctored. How the hell do we know? He could have created it with all the money and gadgets he has at his disposal.”
“You don’t really mean it,” said Aaron in a low, dangerous voice.
“I’d come here, expecting to be bored, but this keeps getting better. Are you telling me, Miss Cleo, that you are of the opinion that Mr. Fine is the killer?”
No. He wasn’t the killer.
Aaron Fine was a piece of work, and I hated him, but I couldn’t imagine him using stealthy means to kill someone. If he was pissed off with someone or if he wanted them out of his way for some reason, he would meet them on an even ground and then kill them. Neither the young mage nor the werewolf was a threat to him; he could have beaten them with his eyes closed. I saw the power he wielded and it was impressive.
“He probably is.” Sticking out my chin, I challenged Aaron. If I couldn’t have Smith, I was ready to hit the nearest target to release some of my frustration. “We don’t have any evidence to prove that this video is genuine. It could be fake as Smith claimed.”
Taking a step closer, he gazed into my eyes. The golden flecks in his irises brightened and flared. Within their depth was an entire universe.
“You really believe I am capable of killing people?” barked Aaron.
“I don’t know what you’re capable of but I can’t ignore the fact that you’re connected to both victims and this video which Smith claims is fake came from you and greatly absolves you of crimes and puts him under the scanner.”
He bridged the gap between us. If I leaned, I could touch him. “I don’t fucking believe it.”
“Take it easy, man. She is doing her job.”
“Yeah, it’s all about the job, isn’t it?” Aaron sneered. “You know what? Go to hell. I don’t care about your investigation anymore. Do what you want. Search my office, go through the videos, take whatever the hell is needed. But it’s waste of time, and every moment you squander is one step closer to the horrible death Smith has planned for Mark.”
“This case is getting more interesting by the minute,” said Sebastian in an amused voice that annoyed me. “I wonder what’s next in store?”
“Is this your Job Description? To poke fun at others and wait for them to complete the work?”
Yes, I just snarled at the member from White Council.
And no, I didn’t have a death wish.
He wasn’t perturbed. “You seem a bit more agitated than usual, Ms. Mathews. I believe it’s back to the drawing board. You want to go to the commune and think about this some more?”
I wanted to bash someone’s head in.
I wanted to find Mark unharmed.
But none of my wishes were about to come true. Fine. “”Let’s go to the commune.”
Aaron was on the phone. “You all go ahead. Someone will pick me up. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to be with you now.”
“We’re going to search your office,” I reminded him. “In fact, I’ll call Jones and tell him to go ahead with it. I should join him.”
Was this spite?
Probably so.
I didn’t care; the man deserved some pain.
“By all means, Ms. Mathews.” If I didn’t know him better, I would have thought he was offended but he was incapable of such human emotions. “Go ahead. My staff has been told to extend you their full cooperation. If you find something that connects me a tad bit more tenaciously to your victims then get back to me, arrest me if you must.”
Reaching for the door handle, I snapped open the door. After I sat, Bryan got in.
“I’m worried,” he said.
“Join the club.”
“What if we are nowhere close to the right killer?”
Whoever it was, he had Mark, and we didn’t have any clue how to get him back. Life was a mess. And I hated to be in the damn center of this particular garbage dump.
Chapter Eighteen
The day was sharp, bright, and a bit chilly. The cold was bearable but I hated the sunlight that made me a sitting duck in my car. There was no other option; this is what I had to do to catch the killer, and I wasn’t backing off from the work that usually fell on Mark or Jeremy.
Mark wasn’t available, and I would never put Jeremy at risk.
For a long time, I sat still. Thoughts churned in my mind but I was focused, determined. It was nearly one o’clock. I was a fair distance away from Smith’s office but if he left, I would be able to see him. There was no back entrance so that made things slightly easy for me. As the door opened, I hunched forward.
Was it the secretary?
Or someone else from another office.
Yep. It was an old man who walked with a cane. The office building Smith occupied was shared with three other firms; one was a small, legal outfit, another was the back office of an IT firm, and the third was unoccupied. But there was quite a bit of foot traffic and I needed to be careful so I didn’t miss him. Picking up binoculars, I peered at the gate. If he went out in a car, he would come through that way. Smith had an unpredictable routine. Sometimes he went home for lunch, which is what had happened when he kidnapped Mark. Sometimes he went out to a restaurant as per the details Mark had given us before disappeared.
Maybe Smith would change his routine now that he knew we were on to him.
Jesus! This was boring, and more than likely a waste of my time.
Jeremy and Augus
ta were working on finding anything about Aaron’s connection with the victims. He was the best bet now. A search in his office yesterday revealed nothing.
While I blustered and yelled in front of him, in my heart Aaron Fine was no longer a suspect. He was an efficient killer, but he didn’t kill these two victims. Drama and ostentatiousness wasn’t his style. When he killed, it was fast and furious. He wouldn’t have bothered setting a stage. With him, it would be cold, calculated, measured.
A knock on the passenger window made me yelp. Aaron Fine stood there. Was he out to get me? If yes, I didn’t intend to make it easy for him. My magic primed as I opened the window.
Let’s get this out of the way.
“What do you want?”
He opened the door, slipped in, and clicked the belt in place in one smooth movement. “Quick. Follow that guy.”
Like I would dance to his tune. “Go away.”
“You’re not good at this surveillance business at all. He likely knows you were sitting here.”
Sputtering, I leaned over him to open the door. “Get out right now.”
He closed the door. “We’re going to lose Smith. There he goes, likely to the bus station or he might grab a taxi.”
Had he lost his mind?
“What are you talking about?”
“That guy with the cane is Smith. He is in disguise,” he explained in a phony patient voice that told me he was close to losing his temper. “He isn’t going to use his car while you are sitting there so obviously.”
That old man who hobbled with the cane?
No way.
And yet, Aaron was likely better than me in this. Subterfuge wasn’t my forte. But if Aaron were wrong, I would lose Smith. He could drive out of his building while I was chasing an innocent, old man.
Take the call.
Or not.
Sliding the key in the ignition, I glared at Aaron.
“Now,” he ordered.
Damn the man. He couldn’t just order me around, not after he was wrong in such a spectacular manner yesterday. But I started the car and tailed behind the old man. Taking out his phone, Aaron called someone. “Yeah, I think he’s going for the bus. Stay ahead of him.”
“You have someone tailing him?”
“My team has been on him since I walked out of his office,” he said. “And it’s clear that you suspect him also or else you wouldn’t have been stalking him.”
I wasn’t going to grace him with an answer.
But yeah, if Aaron didn’t do it which I firmly believed he didn’t then Smith was my only suspect. That canny old bastard was behind this macabre circus. Admitting this to Aaron wasn’t an option. Silence was my weapon of choice. It was impossible to ignore Aaron. It didn’t help that we were in the car, alone. He just ate up the space and didn’t leave any room to breathe. The scent of him, the tang of it hit my nostrils, and the blood pounded a little too heavily in my veins.
No. I wasn’t going to pay attention to the way my body responded idiotically to his presence.
He was the same man who made out with another woman hours after he asked me out.
He was the same man who lied to me about his connections with the victim.
He made a fool out of me, and I couldn’t ever forgive him for it.
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
No doubt he had one.
“We’re going to tail him to the bus station and then whizz pass him. If he knows your car then he will relax when he sees that you have gone off somewhere else. He hasn’t spotted my men. Two of them are on a motorcycle and two are in a car.”
“Why did you put them here?”
“I also want to catch the bastard. If Mark is in that building, he will go there to feed him. And in any case…I planted that idea in his head that he needed to go check the door. It’s broken, remember.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
“But he will wonder what I meant when I asked him to check on his office building.”
Ingenious. Devious.
And if he was right then Smith would lead us right to Mark.
Smith got on the bus. We passed the bus before it moved. “What should I do?”
“Circle the block once.” His phone buzzed and he picked up the call. “Yeah, ok. Hmm. Got it. We are way ahead of you. If he changes path then let us know.”
“The bus is headed in the general direction. I’ve a feeling he’ll get off and grab a taxi. He wouldn’t want to be too slow. After all, he has been patiently waiting since yesterday to see what I meant. We’ll go to his office first and hide there for him.”
It was a plan.
But what if he was wrong?
It wasn’t as if I had a lot of wonderful ideas so I might as well run with it. “If you’re wrong, I will twist your neck.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you had a violent streak. I like it.”
“Oh, shut up.”
I drove on, trying to concentrate on anything but the man who sat next to me. I still didn’t like him, even though he was going out of his way to help with this case. Actually, come to think of it, he was doing it for himself. If Smith was the real culprit then Aaron was off the hook; that’s what he wanted. Not that we had anything much against him in the first place. It would be impossible to link him in a solid manner to the murders with what we had.
“I realized another thing today.” He paused, perhaps waiting for me to question him. But I didn’t care what he had to say. Not really. “You know that I wasn’t the murderer. You suspected Smith and that’s why you staked his office.” Keeping my mouth shut, I kept driving. “That kind of makes me feel better about our relationship.”
Delusional didn’t even begin to describe him.
“Excuse me. We don’t have a relationship.”
He tapped a finger on his thigh, looking at me in a quizzical manner. The golden flecks in his eyes twinkled. “I was pissed off, I’ll admit. Honesty is very important in a relationship, or so I have heard. Not that I have had many long relationships, but since we’re going to embark on one, I feel that we should make an effort to be honest with each other.”
“We. Are. Not. In. A. Relationship.”
Leaning back, he smiled. How I wanted to hit him right on his pearly, white teeth. “I admit that we’ve gotten off to a bad start. Could have been better. But I’ve realized my mistakes now. Should have come clean about my connections with both victims, and I think that whole event with Colonel Sanders was overdone.”
“You’re insane.”
“You’re an interesting person. I admire your loyalty to your friends, to your work, and your hard work and commitment.” He raised a finger before I could speak. Not that I was going to thank him for the compliment. “But you do seem to be a little out of touch with your own feelings, and that threw me off, and hence my abysmal behavior yesterday. I was miffed.”
“Miffed?” I repeated, trying to make some sense of his nonsense.
“Yeah, it was humiliating to think that you would believe that I was capable of murders. I mean…I can kill, but I would never kill someone in such a deceitful, convoluted manner.”
So it was ok to kill. But not to kill in a devious manner?
That made no sense.
Although he was right. I’d seen him kill. He was brutal, but he wasn’t capable of complicated planning before murdering someone.
As if that made me like him.
“I really don’t care about all this.”
“This is a perfect example of your stubborn refusal to admit your feelings. It’s a good thing that I have gotten to know you a bit better and can now understand your thought process.”
Would this ride never come to an end? Pushing hard on the escalator, I strayed a tad above the speed limit. “You don’t know me at all.”
“Of course, I look forward to learning more about you,” he said. Why the hell was he in such a talkative mood? And why did he think I cared to listen? “Like I am still trying
to understand why you were mad yesterday?”
“Maybe because you lied to me about knowing the victims.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“Lying by omission is the same thing,” I countered.
“Glad we got it sorted. I’ll keep it in mind as we progress.”
I snorted. “We’re not progressing anywhere.”
“Yes, we are. We’re in a better place already. See…I get that you were angry because I didn’t tell you about the murders…but I feel that perhaps what you have failed to admit to yourself is that you were jealous.”
“Of you?”
Waving a hand, he shifted on his seat. “Not of me, but of Victoria.”
I spluttered. He was off his rocker. Admitting him to an asylum for the insane would be a kind thing to do. “Oh please. As If I care.”
“If I actually accepted your statement at face value there would be serious issues between us, but I’m willing to admit that you caught me in a compromising position. I wouldn’t have reacted well if the situation was reversed.” He paused. “To make things clear; I wouldn’t like it at all. I would hate it.”
“You know what? I don’t think we should be talking about all this.”
“But we must,” he insisted. “I want to assure you that I didn’t call her over. Victoria…is a family friend, and she is of that age where her family wants her to get married and settle down, and for some odd reason, she has decided that I would be a perfect match. I’m a strong mage and rich and handsome; I tick all the right boxes.”
“And here is that abominable ego.”
“These are just facts, Cleo.” When he said my name in that low voice, something warm and enticing slithered over my skin. “Many mages think about the magical potential of their partner before they get married. Two strong mages produce off springs with phenomenal powers.”
“It’s a lousy way to get married.”
“Practically speaking, no. But I get your point. So I take it you are determined to marry for love?”
What the hell were we talking about? And why? “I’m not getting married.”
“Not right now, of course. We don’t even know each other that well.”
01 Serial Killer (FBI Paranormal Casefiles) Page 19