by R E Gauthier
“Well I’m just about to get to the best part of my questioning; can you hold him down while I knock him around until he remembers the name he sold Cassandra?”
“I told you I can’t remember but I do have a list of all the names I sold everyone in my personal files held in storage.” Calvin hurried to tell the tall, menacing woman in his face.
“Where is this storage unit located?” Nikki asked as she held Mack’s arm as if she were trying to hold her back; the good cop, bad cop routine had worked. The prison warden told them about Calvin Gillis being a hard-nosed inmate and he wouldn’t snitch and hated authority but he had been a momma’s boy. Calvin had been described as afraid of strong women. She and Mack had devised the plan to get him to talk because they were not at liberty to offer him a plea bargain for his information. Mack had played the bad cop part to perfection.
“It’s in upstate New York near my family’s old house. I can give you the address and you can go have a look yourself.” Calvin said looking like a scared rabbit.
Nikki wanted to laugh because she knew how fierce and intense her best friend could be but she wasn’t violent, this man didn’t know that though and it did well for their plan that he didn’t find out.
“Give me the name and I contact them so you can give the local police authority to open your unit, so that my friend here won’t crush your throat.” Giving Mack a look that conveyed she could ease up on the death stare.
Kelsey watched as Nikki made the call and had Calvin talk to the storage facility’s owner to allow the police to have access to his storage unit. She tried to relax it had been too easy to tap into her anger when she played the part of the ‘bad cop’. Her emotions were raw and the excitement of closing in on a possible killer marred only by the fact that the killer is a victim of abuse and had horrible adoptive parents and that even though she may have killed these people they had also victimized her, how could she be happy about finding and putting away a killer who had been a victim her whole life?
These inner thoughts of victims made her think about Miranda and how she was also a victim. Wanting this to be all over so that the author could have her quiet, reclusive life back and she could return to being an emotionless FBI agent who solved cases. Before today she had been sloughing through the days weighed down by emotions but today she gained control over them. Talking with Nikki had helped, she was able to put aside the feelings she had for Miranda and had been the most productive she had ever been in a long while. If I talk about them I can forget them and when I forget I can do what I do best, solve the tough cases.
On the long ride back to Baltimore, Kelsey sat and went over all of the facts and new clues, she could hardly wait to finally find their killer and bring her to justice even if doing so meant that they were punishing a victim for fighting back.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“What hides in plain sight isn’t hiding at all but what your eyes cannot see.”
When Kelsey and Nikki arrived back at the hotel, they went directly to the meeting room on the fifteenth floor where they had asked Rachel and Doc to wait for them. Walking into the room she could see the expected faces of the two older agents and knew they both had something important to say.
Rachel spoke first and smiled at the two agents as they walked into the room.
“You two look like you had a successful afternoon, but before you tell us I need to tell you we have a small problem with Sara.”
Kelsey looked at Nikki and frowned she had worried that her best friend’s liaison with the young PIO would become a problem.
“Nikki I warned you,” she growled.
“What does Nikki have to do with this? I just learned that Sara has been listening in on our case and Detective Freeman has been speaking loudly and proudly about the case for her to hear.”
Nikki blew out a held breath and she looked sternly at her.
“Sorry Rachel I had thought...never mind. What does Sara know about the case?” Relieved that Rachel didn’t seem to be aware of Nikki’s involvement with Sara but concerned with what the PIO had been doing snooping around the case for information they certainly didn’t need any pertinent information about their investigation being leaked to the press.
Rachel explained to them that Sara now knew they had a witness to one of the murders who may have seen the killer and she also knew there might be a fourth woman that the killer could be targeting. Kelsey had listened with brewing irritation but calmed down when Rachel assured them that the Public Information Officer understood her job and she wouldn’t be a problem letting any of the information being leaked to the media.
“Good see that she doesn’t I don’t have to tell you what a crucial moment we are at right now. That one slip up could tip off our killer and we don’t need that.” Kelsey rubbed her brow and blew out a breath before she turned to the tall profiler who looked like he had something important to say. He paced back and forth and looked expectedly in her direction several times as Rachel told them about Sara. Now he looked like he could wait no longer.
“Doc you look like you want to tell us something very important. What is it?”
“Well Miranda has had a major breakthrough today, I showed her the pictures of the six women and she recognized them all but one in particular stuck out for her. Cassandra Redmond’s photo, only she said she saw her with black hair and brown eyes. Mack this is what gets difficult because she told me she saw you and a woman kissing the other morning and I just thought she had transferred her feelings of confusion onto you and had mixed up memories with dreams. Now Miranda says this woman she saw you kissing is this Cassandra Redmond only older and with black hair and brown eyes.”
Kelsey reeled with the implications of this statement. Miranda said that Race is Cassandra Redmond. How is that possible?
Nikki spoke first before she had the time to formulate a response.
“What the fuck all this time, Cassandra Redmond is someone you know, she’s talking about Race. It makes sense; Calvin Gillis said that he remembers that girl having black hair and brown eyes...why wouldn’t you have known?”
Rachel, Doc and Nikki were all looking at her to speak and she didn’t know what to say.
Rachel stepped forward and grasped her arms and shook her.
“Kelsey what’s going on here? Who is Race and why did Miranda see you kissing her? You know our killer?” She searched her eyes for answers.
Trying to make sense out of everything she had just learned she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to formulate her jumbled thoughts.
“Well it would seem as though Miranda did have a major breakthrough indeed. Nikki and I have been out investigating Cassandra Redmond and we found out she had changed her identity; it would appear she changed it to Race Norwood. Answering your other questions Rachel, I have known Race Norwood since she was nineteen, obviously ever since she changed her identity but I had no idea she had been Cassandra Redmond. I can’t believe I never saw the resemblance.” Now things are starting to become clearer.
Rachel then spoke to Kelsey in a hushed tone.
“Kelsey you must be devastated learning that your longtime friend is our killer.”
“I don’t feel anything right now. I have to call Race and have her come here for questioning. We need to clear this up. We don’t know if she is the killer and until we talk to her we only know she is...was Cassandra Redmond; a troubled young girl who we know had been bullied by four girls in school. We don’t know if she is in fact our killer yet. She shook her head; she just knew there had to be an explanation for all of this. “Did Miranda actually say she saw her kill Kate?” She directed her question at Doc who looked like he tried to figure something out.
“No she didn’t and I didn’t ask her, she looked upset and with all she has been going through, I thought it would be best to let her relax and try to recover from what seems to be a major breakthrough. She is still quite fragile.”
“Wait, she told you the other day, she had a dr
eam about who killed Kate and saw me kissing Race. What do you mean, you thought she had transferred her feelings of confusion onto me and mixed up memories with dreams?” She said trying to control her anger.
“She told me she saw you kiss a woman and said that she saw a woman standing over Kate that night, she had blonde hair and blue eyes and then everything changed and she saw the woman you were kissing.” Doc said avoiding eye contact.
“Jesus, Doc this is a monumental fuck-up. You should have told us this before.”
“Mack, yelling at Doc isn’t doing us any good right now. We have to talk to Race Norwood, you know that.” Rachel said.
“Where is she right now? Where is Miranda?” Kelsey asked concerned that the author would run into Race when she called and asked her to come in for questioning. I don’t want to further upset Miranda right now.
“I told her to relax; she said her friend would likely suggest they do something away from the hotel. So I imagine that’s where she is now with her friend. I’m sorry Mack, I didn’t know.”
She knew she had to calm down and Rachel was right about yelling at Doc. Never thinking she would be happy about Jess being around she was relieved knowing that she could take care of Miranda.
“Well with that settled let me call Race and we can get this straightened out. I don’t think Race could be our killer we must have followed the wrong clues.”
“Mack I think you should step back from this case at this juncture because of your recent involvement with this person of interest,” Nikki said stopping her forward motion with a hand on her arm. “Until we found out Miranda recognized the picture of Cassandra Redmond and said she and Race are one in the same, you were on the same page as me, that Cassandra Redmond and who she had become is our killer.”
“Kelsey I concur with Nikki on this, we need to conduct a thorough interrogation and you’re too close to the case to be effective.” Rachel said stepping into her space.
“You think I can’t be objective?” Hurt that the two people closest to her would think so little of her.
Then Doc stepped in and added his professional opinion.
“Mack we’re just saying you’re too close and I can tell the shock of this new development is hard for you and she is your friend. It’s just best you step back here.”
Anger bubbled up but she bit it back, emotions wouldn’t help her here she needed to remove her feelings from this case.
“Of course I’m shocked, who wouldn’t be but I can still do my job.” Indignation joining anger, two foreign emotions she never felt around her FBI family. They don’t trust me.
“Mack it’s not that we don’t think you can do your job but we need to be careful, you said it yourself, we’re too close to mess things up now.” Nikki said squeezing her arm.
Dismayed because what Nikki, Doc and Rachel had said was true, she bowed her head and nodded in defeat. Why didn’t I see it myself? Looking at the photo of Cassandra now she could see that the facial similarities were all there; the hair and eye color had been what threw her off.
“I’ll call Race and have her meet us at the Baltimore field office and then you and Nikki can conduct her questioning but I want to listen in.” She explained to her three colleagues that keeping their witness and Race away from each other would be best. They all concurred. She asked Doc to hang back at the hotel in case Miranda came back and needed him.
At least if Race was away from the hotel, her presence wouldn’t upset Miranda. That’s why she was so upset last night when she saw Race with me. But she must be mistaken, how can Race be our killer?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“A memory is never gone, only stored away to be found another day.”
Miranda remembered seeing Doc’s expectant face when he showed her the photos of the six women. She had recognized all of them as women she had seen over the years but it was the young blonde woman who had stuck out when she glanced at the six photos. She looked closer at the photo and said that the woman is in disguise and should have black hair and brown eyes. From her high cheekbones and almond-shaped eye she could tell the facial qualities of a Native American and then it dawned on her where she had seen that young woman before she had seen her kissing Agent MacGregor last night and the other morning only it had been a much older version of her. Doc hadn’t answered her question how this woman fit into their case and told her that she should go and relax. Getting away from the hotel and try to think about anything but the case had been the perfect idea and she knew Jess would gladly help her find a suitable distraction.
“Wow Randi you’re certainly having quite the adventure. Great fodder for a new book...hmmm?” Jess winked at her.
She hadn’t liked Jess’s nickname for her at first but it had stuck and then became her pseudonym for her erotica writing because it seemed to fit her randy mind.
“I know it’s been surreal how I have gone from being a simple writer to now living in my very own FBI serial murder case,” she said shaking her head in disbelief.
“So what happened last night, are you ready to talk to me about it.”
Miranda had hoped to keep from talking about last night for as long as she could but knew her best friend’s relentless nature when she knew she kept something from her.
“I’m not sure I just remember enjoying myself with Sandy at that club and then I woke up in Agent MacGregor’s bed again.”
“What do you mean again?
Damn now I have gone and done it. Keeping her mouth shut would have been better. Now how am I going to keep from telling her what happened between Kelsey and me?
“Well I mean the first day of questioning I had been there that’s all.”
“Randi what aren’t you telling me, you’ve been twitchy all day and also have that look in your eyes you get when you’ve been out all night with some woman for research you called it. How can that be? You couldn’t have had sex with the tall gorgeous woman last night out on the dance floor.”
Knowing that her best friend would know if she lied she thought it’s best she tell her the truth and be done with it.
“You’re right I didn’t have sex with Sandy last night I had it with Agent MacGregor,” saying the last of the name as barely a whisper.
“Agent MacGregor...? You had sex with her last night after Nikki and I left you with her and Doc Branson?”
“Well Doc wasn’t there.”
“I would hope not, Randi what happened did she take advantage of you?”
“No she didn’t take advantage of me. She’s not like how you think she is; she’s thoughtful, gentle and...”
“And what...? Don’t tell me, Randi you know this isn’t a good idea. You said it yourself she’s a FBI agent and her job consumes her, you know women like her and you’ve been hurt too many times.”
“I’m not saying that...”
“I don’t need you to say it I can see it on your face, I just thought you were acting odd because of all this stress but you’re falling in love with her.”
“I’m not it’s like you said all of this stress it’s just getting to me, I thought you had some ideas to get my mind off of all this?”
“You’re just changing the subject.”
“I am and I need you to help me change the scenery and get me out of here. What are your ideas?”
“Randi before we go anywhere explain to me how this happened. How did you end up having sex with Agent MacGregor? When Nikki and I left you were still out of it not talking, how can you say she didn’t take advantage of you?”
“You and Nikki so how did that go?”
“Randi, stop it and tell me because you know I won’t give up.”
I might as well tell her, she won’t leave it alone until I do.
“I remembered being aroused then waking up in Kelsey’s arms in her bed; she was softly talking to me and telling me everything would be alright. We kissed and I touched her and begged her to touch me. Then we made love...I mean sex.” Knowing immediately she had to
ld her friend too much. Damn.
“I knew it, you never use ‘made love’ if it’s just sex. You are falling in love with her.”
“She didn’t force me or take advantage of me; I knew what I was doing and wanted it.”
“That’s not the point. She took advantage of you while you were in a vulnerable state and it’s not ethical or moral; it’s just not right.” Jess was clearly upset and she knew she had to explain.
“Jess, Agent MacGregor and I have been dancing around this attraction to one another since we met and she’s not... well she’s...I think she had never been with a woman before.”
“What are you saying...? No, that’s impossible, she couldn’t be. Seriously...?”
“I’m not one hundred percent but I’ve been with my fair share of ‘experienced women’ and she most certainly isn’t one of them.”
“So you are in love with her,” Jess said not waiting for an answer. “You know that it’s not a good idea.”
“I know and I took care of it. I told her we can only be friends; the last thing I need right now is to jump into a rebound relationship while I’m so fffed up and clearly one with Kelsey would be disastrous.”
“Yeah a baby dyke with a superiority complex and you that would be disastrous not to mention that you said you swore off of driven women after Kate.”
Geez Jess always was her voice of reason.
“So now that you know what happened, what is your plan to help me take my mind off of everything?”
“You know what would be good for us right now?” Jess asked wiggling her eyebrows.
“No we are not going out to pick up a couple of women besides its only 4 O’clock there wouldn’t be too many out right now. The ones that are would be drunks and unemployed neither would help me much.” She shook her head when Jess smiled mischievously.
“I wasn’t talking about picking up women but going out for a Spa day; we can go out get a massage, a facial...the works.”
Miranda thought about that and it sounded heavenly, she had been thinking about getting a new hairstyle and a massage right now would certainly help to relax her. Since leaving Quebec she had been strung as tight as a bow.