Or even that rifle. Shannon knew exactly how to use it. Any of the three would do what she needed done.
Shannon wasn’t too particular at the moment.
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN
EZRA PACED WHILE Jac and Carrie Lorcan, who’d shown up to help trace everything they could about Chas, worked. It had to be about that girl, Amelia. She’d caused a lot of havoc in their unit back then. Not because she was a woman or anything like that.
But because she liked drama and excitement. A genuine thrill seeker who wasn’t above manipulating the men on her team to get what she wanted.
Amelia had been gone six years. That this could be all about that didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Unless Chas had become obsessed with her over there. Watching Chas’s only close friend die like that could have tipped the already emotionally weak kid over the edge. Maybe make him sink so far into those damned fantasies of his that he couldn’t separate reality from what was going on in his head.
“Is it possible he’s built some odd fantasy about something that happened over there and he’s acting it out now? By taking out Nils and Geoff?”
Chalmers nodded. “It’s definitely possible. We could be dealing with some sort of traumatic or psychotic break here.”
But it didn’t answer why Shannon. Shannon didn’t fit into the profile.
“We need to separate the two profiles,” Chalmers said. “Hired killer and intimacy-seeking stalker. I think we’re looking at a hybrid of the two here. Maybe more.”
“An intimacy-seeking stalker hyper-focuses on his target, believing she’s his one true love. This definitely fits, after seeing those photos,” Max said. “The guy has been watching her for weeks.”
“So, Chas was in town to do what? Take out Jaynice Miller and the rest of the victims on this monetary list? And he happens to see Shannon and decide she has feelings for him? Or fell into a psychotic episode? It’s a bit of a stretch.” Ezra had a bit of profiling experience, but his team profiler was Leina. Understanding motivation of killers wasn’t his thing. He did better figuring out what kids were thinking and tracking them down.
It was why he worked REY and not the CCU.
“If we have a contract killer here, we’re looking at more than two million for the ones he hit. And this note here. To a burner phone. It’s confirmation that for every FBI agent hit, there would be an additional twenty thousand thrown in,” Jac put a copy of the text on the screen, overlaying the cell grid. “And another confirming that Sinclair Lorcan was to be targeted, but not killed. For five hundred thousand. Sefton was making a killing, literally.”
“So, he’s in town.” Ezra tried to put it all together. “Because someone hired him to take out Jaynice Miller first, and that’s how he gets his money. He’s not an IT consultant like is listed in his federal tax returns. He’s a paid killer, here in town to do a job. He calls Geoff while he’s in town. Geoff stands him up, angering him. Sefton always did have problems when he was mad. Geoff triggers him into this break? He’d go off on rants in Afghanistan, then disappear into his computer screen for hours. Sometimes, Hollace would do it just to get Sefton out of our hair. So, he stalks and kills Geoff.”
“Becoming, in that moment, a resentful stalker typology,” Chalmers said. “He’s definitely a blend of typologies. Any of the types can both influence and contradict each other. Making him extremely unpredictable.”
“After he killed Geoff Morten, he watched the results. Idle curiosity?” Max asked. “And sees us out there. Sees Shannon. It was not the first time he’d seen her, if those photos are anything to go by. The news photos were, but he could have googled them weeks later.”
“He could have killed all of us out there that day at Colby’s. Made an additional two hundred thousand dollars. Instead, he strikes Shannon. For twenty thousand.” Chalmers drew lines on the board to connect Jaynice to Geoff, then Geoff to Shannon. “After he was already stalking her? Was it possibly a way to get her attention? He may have focused on her because of her connection to both Ezra and Jaynice. Shannon had regular contact with Jaynice. They were friendly, and I’d send her down the street whenever we needed anything. It’s likely that he did see the two together. So, we have multiple ways she’s been in his orbit; he could have taken those encounters and fantasized about them. About her. Her connection to Ezra could even be coincidence. It doesn’t take much for a stalker to become—for lack of a better term—infatuated with his target.”
Max studied the lines from her photo off her PAVAD badge to the first of the ones taken of her by Sefton.
“The dates don’t coincide,” Jac said quietly. “He has photos of her on his phone from long before then. He’s watched her for weeks. Months.”
“He’s been in town that long?” Ezra asked. He hadn’t known. Yet Chas had contacted Geoff, Nils, and Hollace already. To talk about Amelia. Yet no contact with him. He had to know Ezra was connected with the FBI here.
Perhaps it had been a safety mechanism? Fear that Ezra would figure out that he was the contracted killer targeting the bureau? Once again, it was a far stretch.
And none of it was going to help him find Shannon.
“Yes,” Carrie said. “This cell has been active in the greater St. Louis region since two weeks before your abduction. It’ll take my people time to track every call he’s received. We’ll need to find out who hired him to hurt Jaynice and shoot at Sin and Cody. Because someone did. And from the texts of these messages, that person is not finished.”
“After we find Shannon.”
Jac looked at him, then down at the computer in front of her. “I’m backtracking the cell now. As soon as it comes on again, I’ll be able to pinpoint a basic geographic location. Maybe we’ll be able to narrow down the profile.”
“We’ll get people canvasing,” Chalmers said.
“No.” Ezra knew the ramifications of that. He’d been trained to sit and wait, to watch and learn. No doubt Sefton had sat and watched his targets for longer than those not taught the same skills could imagine. Even those in the bureau. “If he’s holed up somewhere with her and sees people coming, he’ll feel cornered and he’ll start shooting his way out. We’ll have far more people hurt than we want to think about. He’ll cut his losses, kill her, and run.”
“Then how do we get to her?” Jac asked. “He’ll see us coming from miles away. And we’re already targets worth twenty grand each to him, apparently. He’ll pick us off like targets in a—”
“Video game.” Ezra had no trouble imagining it. “Then we have to finesse our way in. Get him focused on someone else. Me. But first, we need to know where he’s at. And what he’s done with her.”
It took every ounce of strength he had to keep how he felt bottled inside. The only hope he had was that he knew she was good at what she did. Cool-headed, fast-thinking, and well-trained.
Far better than Chas Sefton could ever hope to be.
She had to know Ezra was coming for her. He just prayed she trusted in that.
He wasn’t going to stop until he had her back.
A hand landed on his shoulder. He turned and looked into the face of his closest friend in the bureau.
Cam nodded. “We just heard what happened. Kyra’s on her way to the hospital now to check on Agent Ward. I’m here to help get your woman back. Same as you helped me save mine.”
“Ok!” Jac broke in. “We’ve turned on the phone remotely. It’s in this area here.”
Ezra moved over to her desk quickly. “Where?”
Jac brought up another screen on the display for everyone to see. “It’s the same residential area as where the Lorcans were targeted.”
“He’s either left his phone there to get rid of it, or he’s still there, camped out. The truck was found in the same place,” Max said.
“I don’t think he left it there. It’s pinged several other towers since then. Including the neighborhood where Shannon lives,” Carrie said, pulling up still more screens.
But they were damned good at what they did. They’d proven that before. When they’d rescued him and Shannon.
They’d rescue her again. Then he was never letting that woman go.
“Give me three minutes and I’ll have it. I’ll need to make a call...to an old friend.” Jac looked at Chalmers for permission. “It’s going to require a warrant, unless I can barter a favor for a favor. He’s with the Air Force division that controls the US satellites.”
“Do it. I’ll square it up with Dennis later,” Chalmers nodded.
“Consider it squared.”
Ezra turned. The director was there, his concern on his face. “What do we know?”
“His name. General location. That he’s a contract killer hired to target members of the bureau here in St. Louis. And that he’s built an intimacy-seeking fantasy about Agent Toliver,” Chalmers said quickly. “He’s a former military connection of Agent Hahn’s. It’s how he focused on her to begin with.”
“Bring our agent back to where she belongs. We’ll deal with the rest of it later.”
Jac returned. “We have images.” She leaned over the desk and hit the keys on the laptop.
Ezra studied the map for a long moment, trying to think like a man with Sefton’s training and background. “There. Right there. It’s a house with pines around it. Artificial cover. Smaller. A bit more isolated. Agent Al Lorcan’s parents live a quarter of a mile up the road. Here. If he stalked Sin Lorcan long enough, he’d have had time to explore the neighborhood well.”
The director looked up at Carrie Lorcan sharply. “Where are the children, Agent Lorcan?”
“With Paige’s brother. Al moved her parents into Luc’s complex for the time being. All of our children are there. Just in case.”
“So Alessandra’s parents’ house is empty?” the director asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Zoom in on the yard of that house. There’s something in the front.” Ezra leaned closer to the digital display. “A sign.”
“As close as I can. It’s a sign. A real estate listing, I think,” Jac said. “There’s a few in the neighborhood like that.”
“We sure he’s in the area?” the director asked. “That seems odd to me.”
“It fits,” Ezra said. “Chas fantasizes. And sharpshooters... We’re trained to stay put for days, weeks with very little physical movement. It can mean life or death in a warzone. We used to razz him that he couldn’t stand still for anything. That he couldn’t do what Hollace, Geoff, and I could. So he’d set out to prove us wrong. And he did. I asked him once how he managed it. I honestly hadn’t thought he had it in him.”
“His answer?” Cam asked. “How did the punk do it?”
“Fantasizing. He’d built himself a damned complex fantasy about him and the one woman on our team. Kept him still for hours. He watched Jaynice. Probably for a while. Noticed when Shannon and I were on the news together. And then after he shot Jaynice, he saw her. And he shot her. To get her attention. Or mine.”
“For the money. And to send a message. To you. Even if it was just in his head,” Max said. “Something happened over there that turned him against Geoff Morten and Nils Schneider specifically. His emails make that clear. Yet he never emailed you, Ez. Why?”
“Because he was waiting. Or afraid to because I’m PAVAD. Or because of Shannon.”
“He followed Shannon for weeks. We can confirm that. And he contacted Morten and Schneider after that. There’s nothing that says Ez wasn’t next on his list,” Max pointed out.
“This whole thing could be partially that. What if he’s wanting Shannon for his own but plans to get rid of Ezra first?” Chalmers asked. “Combine all of his possible objectives?”
“He gets Shannon, takes out those he has a grievance against, and gets paid for doing both,” Jac said. “Takes the money and runs? Or takes Shannon and the money and runs? Fulfilling his sick, little fantasy?”
“Then let’s give him what he wants. I’ll call him. Set up a meeting to talk to him. It’ll confirm his phone is where we think it is. In the meantime, we can get agents into Al’s parents’ house through this road here.” Ezra traced the path for others to see on the digital board. “It’s blocked by the trees and this house here.”
“And do what?” Chalmers asked. “Talk it out.”
“Be ready to move in. Chas’s extremely determined. He always has been.” Tenacious. Ezra had once half admired that trait in the younger man.
“He’ll want to shoot his way out. And if he is an intimacy-seeking unsub, he’s not going to want to let her go.” Chalmers was already grabbing his gear. “No matter what outside obstacles we put in his path.”
“Get people into place. Move cautiously. Agent Hahn, make your call.” The director looked straight at him. There was understanding on the man’s face. Compassion. “And then go bring her home. The entire focus of this op is to get Shannon back with the ones who love her. Everything else—we’ll figure that out later. Just get her back safely.”
Ezra took the phone Jac held out to him. “It’s clean, Ez. Untraceable. And I spoofed it to the number called by Sefton’s phone most frequently. He may pick up. Or call you. Keep it with you. No matter what. And we’ll be able to trace you.”
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT
THE PHONE RANG. Shannon watched him from the couch. Chas thought about ignoring the call, but he needed to make contact with his client. Let him know what had happened and somehow hide the fact that he had her with him. And set up time to finish their transaction. Chas was going to have to cut his losses on the long-term contract.
But today, he had gained something infinity more precious than money.
The client owed him for that agent he’d shot today, as well. That extra twenty grand was going to get him and Shannon far in Mexico. For a little while. Once she was settled in, they’d come back to the States—if it was safe. He had all his bank accounts offshore. He wasn’t stupid.
They’d be just fine.
He would do whatever he had to in order to keep her safe. Maybe it wouldn’t be the most ideal life for her at first, with just him in a foreign country, until she adjusted, but she would eventually. Someday, she could maybe even reestablish contact with her family, if she liked.
Chas did not plan to keep her from those she loved.
He would if he had to, though. She would see that they belonged together.
Just like he and Amelia had belonged together. It was meant to be.
The phone buzzed again. “I’m sorry, honey. I really need to take this. It’s business.”
He stepped into the other room but made certain to keep the door open between them, just so he could watch her.
Shannon pulled her knees up to her chest, looking so vulnerable and frightened he felt like a monster. Chas wouldn’t leave her alone for too long. She needed him. He answered quickly. “Yes.”
“Chas. We need to talk.”
“Who is this?”
“Who do you think it is? It’s the damned FBI. Give you two guesses who. I want to know where Shannon is and if she’s ok.”
A mix of anger and fear shot through him. “Ezra. How did you get this number?”
“I have my ways. How is she? Is she hurt?”
The mere idea of it was insulting. The idea that Ezra was questioning him about keeping Shannon safe was just wrong. “Of course not. I will never hurt Shannon. She knows that.”
“Yet you hurt so many others. Why did you kill Geoff? How had he hurt you?”
“He knew. He knew exactly what happened to Amelia. And he just didn’t care.” Chas forced himself to breathe. He hadn’t expected this. He’d thought he’d covered his tracks well.
How had Ezra found him? It had to be because of Nils. It had to.
Movement caught his atte
ntion. He looked back at Shannon.
She was at the window, pulling at the lock. How had she gotten over there so quickly? “No, Shannon! No! Get away from the window!” He dropped the cell phone on the table and ran to her. “You can’t go out there!”
Shannon fought, her hands going toward his eyes. Chas tightened his hold on her. He didn’t want to hurt her. She was his world. Why didn’t she understand that?
He got his hands around her arms and pulled her to the floor so he could hold her tightly until she calmed. She slammed the back of her head into his face. He yelled out.
She leaned away from him and screamed as loud as she could. “Ezra! Ezra, hurry!”
Chas covered her mouth and nose with his hand and squeezed until she stopped fighting him.
Tears covered his cheeks.
He knew what he was doing to her.
Chas had never wanted to hurt her. Not his Shannon. Never her.
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE
MAX WAS AT Ezra’s side when the other man made the call. It was on speaker, and Carrie Lorcan was recording. They were in the van parked just outside of the neighborhood where Al’s parents lived.
He’d called his team leader personally and confirmed her family was nowhere near the place. Just to be on the safe side. And to get any information about the houses in question from her.
The forensics team was still combing over the house where Al’s parents lived, and the one across the street and up two driveways, where the photos of Shannon had been found. There was another house three houses south of it that they were certain had been where Sefton had holed up and used as his nest.
They’d found a spent shell casing that the man had obviously overlooked. The forensics team would be analyzing it as soon as they could.
But it was the far house on the street that they were truly interested in now. All of the other properties were occupied by families. It was the only one that wasn’t a high-risk location for Sefton.
No one was lost to what was at stake. If this Sefton guy lost it and started shooting his way out, there were far too many targets.
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