Wayne rolled his eyes. “Now that we got you alone, what’s going on with you and him?” he nodded his head toward the closed office door.
“What do you mean?”
Noah answered. “We’ve noticed you haven’t tried to chew each other’s heads off yet and it’s odd. I think the sexual tension has finally caught up to you.”
Sasha stuttered around a gasp of breath. “What?” it hit her like a ton of bricks that Gage had said nearly the same thing last night. She looked at him now and he shrugged as if to say I-told-you-so. “I don’t know what you all think you see but there’s nothing going on between me and Nick. I look at him the same way I look at all of you.” Ok, maybe over the last few days something was changing with Nick but it wasn’t anything like what they were hinting at. Back home there wasn’t one shred of sexual tension or anything close to it.
Noah snorted. “Bull shit. You look at us like brothers you don’t really like but love deep down, most of all Gage. You look at Nick like you can picture him naked in the shower and you want to lather him up.”
She felt her face turn bright red with insufferable heat. She lowered her face and tried to conceal her embarrassment all while praying she really didn’t look at Nicholas like that. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” That was the truth.
Gage finally ran to her rescue, so of. “Let’s stop before she passes out, she’s in too much denial to find the humor in this.”
“There is no denial!”
“Are you admitting then that we’re right in our observations?” Wayne was highly curious.
“I’m admitting that you’re all idiots.” Sasha wanted to scream that her personal life was none of their business but she couldn’t treat them like simple colleagues because they weren’t, they were her friends and that had a right to tease her. Her only option was to return the favor one day.
Noah threw a pen at her for the remark. “If it helps at all I think you’d make a nice couple. You balance each other out even now.”
Now Sasha’s interest was peaked. “What does that mean?”
Wayne answered. “You compliment each other and that’s why Pete likes you to work together. You both won’t admit it but there isn’t a competition of whose better because you’re so much alike in your thought patterns and solutions.” His words gave her something to think about and something she couldn’t brush away with denial.
FBI agents didn’t have assigned partners like local police departments but when it was called to work with another agent it was true Pete always found some way to put Nick and Sasha together. She thought it was because he secretly enjoyed their arguing like those crazy people who enjoyed reality TV fights.
“Anyway,” she was more than ready to move past this conversation. “what’s going on back home?” sure she had asked Gage that very question last night but she hadn’t asked Noah or Wayne yet and it was a good opening line.
Chapter 17
The screams were loud with vigor and anger when he first locked them in the room. He enjoyed listening to how the screams changed as time passed. Soon the fight and hope would fade and left would be desperation and fear. It was the fear he enjoyed the most because it solidified what he as the master and she as the victim both knew; he was in control and her life now belonged to him to do as he pleased. He also liked when they tried to bargain because they somehow knew the magic trick that was going to save their lives. In twenty one years not one of his little toys had ever said the magic words because they simply didn’t exist.
He strolled up from the basement into his kitchen with a satisfied grin on his face. He nudged the sink handle open with his wrist and started to wash the bright stains of red blood from his hands.
The TV was low in the background just the way he liked it. Silence got on his last nerve and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. Silence would always lead to bad things when he was a child and he avoided it at all costs now. The hum drum of the news became important at the mention of Maggie May’s name. The grin on his face broke into a big smile at the thought of his favorite toy. It was sure nice getting her scared past night. She had tried to appear strong but he smelt her fear from where he hid. It was so much fun that he made plans to pay her another visit very soon. He couldn’t jump the schedule and take her to his play room but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun in other ways.
He dried his hands on a paper towel as he walked into the living room and put the volume higher on the TV. On the bottom line it read ‘7Xs killer returns to Maple Oaks’ and all the joy he felt from playing with his new toy quickly vanished. The hick sheriffs department wasn’t supposed to know of his return, sure he suspected with the same MO someone might become suspicious but never had he thought it’d be this soon or that the small time sheriff would be so bold to have a news conference. Now everyone was going to be on alert and that made hunting troublesome.
He frowned as he listened to the sheriff announce the first two victims names and express his condolences. On the stage across from the sheriff’s right side sat three chairs and Maggie May was on one of them. Suddenly the world was full of cruel coincidences. Had his pet returned only to trap him? She was going to live to regret it if true.
“We don’t want this man getting away for a second time.” The Sheriff said with strong conviction only he was fool enough to believe. “I want to help me welcome with open arms the FBI. They are lending a helping hand and with their resources and ours we hope to end this nightmare soon.”
Scattered applause sounded as another black man took to the stage. “Hello Maple Oaks, I’m Agent Wayne Smith and along with my partner we’re here to put this case to rest and give all of the grieving families closure. The Sheriff and the only surviving victim Maggie Walker reached out to my office this morning with their concerns and after surveying the evidence we agreed this unidentified subject is striking again.”
He sat back in his couch and kept his eyes on the nervous Maggie in the corner of the screen. She had returned back home almost a week ago, before the idiot sheriff called in for reinforcements. He liked knowing she wasn’t back as some plant to draw him out but he still hated the idea of cops surrounding her and interrupting his plans. He wasn’t going to let them ruin all his hard work.
Twenty one years of evading capture from much better cops, he had nothing to worry about.
When it was time to answer some questions Maggie stood and joined the fed behind the podium. Hers was a name he had never forgotten, she was the only one to ever get away for the simple fact she wasn’t supposed to be there and he didn’t kill children. It wasn’t some miracle that saved Maggie’s life, it was him to let her go and he could’ve just as easily decided the opposite and killed her. He couldn’t wait to tell her that and remind her of the screams her parents had let out as he cut into them. The same way he was going to cut into her and hew new husband in just a few short days.
Chapter 18
Nicholas knew facing a room of reporters vying for answers and a piece of you for their cover story couldn’t have been easy and yet Sasha went through it like a champ. In front of the cameras she kept a steady smile and answered all their questions as best as she could from Maggie’s point of view. Now back inside Wayne and Noah’s tiny office she let the masks fall away and paced the small space.
“It went good, right?” she asked.
Nick nodded. “It was perfect.” They were alone as Noah and Wayne spoke with the sheriff and Gage returned back to the house to install some new security devices. The unsub wouldn’t be thrilled to have his plans shaken and they needed to be ready for his next move. It still made Nick stick to his stomach to think of how close that evil SOB had been to her last night at the diner.
“I pretty much dared him to come after me. If that doesn’t get a reaction I don’t know what will.”
“It’s not everyday you want a serial killer to come after you.” Nick came to realize he was bitter as the words left his mouth.
The rules of the job suddenly changed when you were terrified for the person playing the bait. He never loved the idea of putting Sasha’s life on the line but right now he wanted to grab her and run away. The only thing stopping him was the innocent lives depending on them and their plan.
Sasha stopped pacing and faced him where he sat. “Have you ever done anything like this? Undercover bait work?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand how scary this might be.”
“That’s not why I was asking. I was only curious and since we’re stuck here until the press clears out I was making small talk.”
“You’re rambling.” Nick stood from his chair and joined her in the front of the room. “It doesn’t make you less of an agent to be scared. I haven’t done anything like this but I have been scared.” That wasn’t something he’d admit easily if ever and she knew it.
“Right. I want to know where the real Nicholas McBain has gone.”
“I don’t know, you’ve done something to him on this trip.”
“And when we get back home you’ll find him.” Her voice carried a beat of doom not even she noticed.
“Is that what you’re scared of?”
Sasha made sure to turn her face away from his as she spoke. “I’m not scared of anything, Nick.”
“Yes you are. You’re scared the unsub is going to get too close and we won’t be prepared and you’re scared of getting your heart broken by giving me a chance.” Nick’s heart raced at the intensity of his words and the drive he carried to stop running away from it. He knew this situation wasn’t ideal and it came upon them with rapid speed but that didn’t change what he felt in his heart. He wanted her, plain and simple.
“You’re not being realistic. We work together and we should respect that by keeping boundaries.”
Nick cupped her right cheek and brought her green eyes back to his stare. “Uh-huh? What else?”
“What else?” Sasha repeated the question softly, unsure of his meaning.
“How many other ways are you going to spin this to keep avoiding me? You gave into this last night.” He guided her hand to his chest and let it rest across his rapidly beating heart. “I think we’ve both been fooling ourselves for awhile here and I’m just the first one to snap out of it.” He bent and inhaled the curve of her neck, the deep intoxicating scent of her perfume filled his senses and left his eyes closed. He followed the moment and the outline of her jaw to her mouth. Sasha didn’t tense nor try to push him away.
A sharp knock on the office door broke the spell. The knock and disapproving look came from Sasha’s sister Carolyn. “Can we talk?”
“Um…” Sasha noticed her hand wrapped around the front of his shirt. “…sure. Nick, can you give us a minute?”
Nick didn’t want to walk away and have her forget the last few minutes they spent together, he didn’t want to argue his point again and have her try to fight it. “Yeah.” He kissed her across the mouth. “I’m not willing to go back to how things were before.” He left her with that to think about and accept. The ball was in her court and she had to make up her mind one way or another.
Sasha felt like a fish out of water as she watched Nick’s back leave the room and turn down the hallway. She knew it had been wishful thinking to believe he’d leave well enough alone until they got home. Of course he’d add to her already full plate by proving to still be a pain in the ass. “What’s going on?” she looked at her sister and that helped ease the rolling desire still left in her system.
“I think I should be asking you that. I thought you and him just worked together?”
“We do, we did, I don’t know. I really don’t know anything anymore.” Gage’s words of advice echoed in her head. She was going to have to tell Nick the truth if she ever wanted to figure their new situation out. “I’m guessing you saw the press conference.”
“Yes I did and you’re fucking insane. You baited him seven ways from Sunday and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s waiting outside to hurt you right now. How could you do that?”
“I need him to come after me if we’re ever going to stop him. I work with some pretty amazing people and we all know what we’re doing. I don’t want to keep waiting for him to kill others and then target me. Two women are already dead and I don’t want there to be another. This is what I do for a living, Caro.”
“This is what you do all the time? Antagonize insane people?”
“Pretty much, yes. I took down a man named Ronald Kellermen before this case, he had been targeting kids to torture and kill. I made sure he can never do that again and I want to make sure the 7Xs killer can’t either. ”
“You take down very bad people.” Carolyn was trying to accept the facts, nodding her head as she repeated the words. “Does this have anything to do with what happened to mom and dad?”
A surge of panic pierced Sasha’s heart, she rushed to the door and made sure they were still alone. “I haven’t talked to any of my co-workers about that yet. They only know it was a car accident and I’d like to keep it that way. I should go find out what’s happening with the case. Are we good here?”
“I guess we have to be. Just please be careful.”
“You can count on it.” Sasha left the office first and joined the others in the Sheriff’s office. “What have I missed?” everyone’s expression was serious.
Sheriff Deacon Howard answered, “Another girl has gone missing. Her mama just reported her missing. It’s been a little over twenty four hours since she has been seen.”
Sasha didn’t ask the question she already had the answer too. A girl missing wasn’t an everyday occurrence in Maple Oaks and there wasn’t much doubt it was connected to the 7Xs investigation. “She’s going to be number three if we don’t find her in time. Is there any leads at all?”
Noah was grim to answer, “We’re looking. We know her name is Candice Shelburne—”
Sasha turned quickly to Deacon and hoped she was wrong. “Candice that works at the diner? Carter Wesley’s cousin?”
“That’s the one.” The sheriff drawled softly. “Did you know them?”
“I went to high school with Wes and I met Candice yesterday morning during her shift. If it’s been twenty four hours since she’s been seen I was probably one of the last people to see her. She told me about her two kids.” Bile rose in her throat as she thought of those two young children without a mother. The vivid memory of her own lost of parents struck her deep in her mind’s eye. One day there your mom was happy and smiling and the next an officer came to tell you you’d never see her again. She couldn’t let the same happen to Candice’s children.
“It looks like she was grabbed from work.” Wayne reached for a piece of paper and pen. “Tell me about everyone you remembered seeing.”
Sasha closed her eyes and thought back to the different customers she had seen inside the diner and gave their descriptions up. “I didn’t know any of them by name.”
Nick spoke up next. “From what the profile says the unsub is a man and somewhere around his late twenties when he started killing so that’d put him in his late forties early fifties now. There’s three men that match that description and right now it couldn’t hurt to try and track them down.”
The sheriff reached for his phone and punched in a few numbers. “I have our sketch artist coming down. Let’s give our mystery guys a face and just hopefully I can recognize two and the other one is our guy.”
Nick sighed, running his hand over his short dark hair. “It won’t be that easy. There is a good chance this unsub is someone known around town. He’s hit Maple Oaks before and it’s somewhere he’s comfortable with. There’s a reason he picked this town the first time and is using it again to end his cycle.”
Deacon silently cursed, mouthing a string of unpleasant words before meeting Nick’s face. “It isn’t just because he left unfinished business here with Maggie alive?”
“It could be had he not start killing before she returned. He’s
planned this for a long time and adding her to his list is only a bonus not a motivation.” Nicholas didn’t mince words. Not when lives were at stake and the more acknowledge of the unsub could make the difference of life or death.
Wayne reached for the door. “I’ll go call Pete.”
Peering out the door Sasha noticed Wes was waiting with Candice’s mom to finish filing the missing person’s report. “Hey.” She walked up to him and gripped his arm. “I heard about Candice, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” He stepped away from his aunt and asked softly, “I saw you on the news today, do you think that freak has her?”
“I really hope not and if he does the sheriff and FBI are doing everything they can to bring her home safely.”
“This is so crazy. I had no idea about your story, I’m sorry. I thought you looked so familiar but I never thought it had something to do with all those murders. I could’ve sworn we shared a class in high school but that isn’t possible, is it?” Wes smiled weakly as he tried to put his focus on something else rather than Candice’s disappearance.
“No, it’s not. I did high school very far from Texas.”
“I figured that out after seeing the news. I gave it some thought and remembered the name of the girl I was confusing you with.”
“Yeah? Who is it?” it was insanely stupid in the middle of what they were both dealing with but she wanted to know and right now it didn’t hurt to shift focus and gave his fear a break.
“Her name was Sasha, nice right? She was a shy mess but I liked her well enough.”
Sasha found that hard to believe even though he had never done anything wrong to her and a lot of kids in their class couldn’t say the same. “I was at Stacy’s party the other day and she mentioned that girl and said no one liked her.”
“That’s because everyone to Stacy that didn’t fit her mold was unworthy of attention. From like the age of thirteen to now I’ve liked every girl I’ve encountered.”
Games We Play Page 10