by Paris Hansen
He was the reason she was coming in as a civilian consultant, not Agent Morgan, or the resurgence of the killer she’d chased five years earlier. The Mommy Murderer coming out of hiding was just a coincidence Cade was all too happy to use to his advantage.
Bringing Sloane back to San Francisco would make his job a hell of a lot easier. He’d be able to keep an eye on her while she helped Morgan with his case. Of course, Cade planned on helping too so he could keep up appearances, but Sloane would be his real focus.
Only a handful of people in the office knew his real objective, and he hoped to keep it that way. He would’ve preferred to keep Morgan out of the loop, but they’d all agreed he’d be essential in getting Sloane back to the city. He just hoped the other man’s loyalty really did lie with the bureau like his bosses thought and not with the woman he used to be married to.
“I’m actually a little nervous about meeting her,” one of the members of the team admitted.
Cade was pretty sure the voice belonged to Brian Mills, one of the two analysts assigned to the task force, but he hadn’t been around the team long enough to be positive. He was barely able to remember who was who, something he’d remedy soon. The last thing he wanted to be was the “asshole from Quantico.” That wasn’t how you got people to trust you or work with you.
Instead of studying his shoes, Cade looked at the people sitting around the long conference table. He’d been in their office for a little over a week, digging into Sloane and her past. While they thought he was there to help with another case, he was trying to come up with a way to bring her in without arousing suspicion.
Everyone in the room had been friendly since his arrival, which wasn’t always the case. For some people, Quantico agents were the enemy, coming in to take all the glory, which was usually the furthest thing from the truth.
“I don’t understand why we’re bringing in a washed-up has been to help with the case. She couldn’t hack it as an agent, yet we’re going to have to listen to her. If she couldn’t crack this case the first time, why would they trust her to try again?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Cade leaned back against the wall next to the door. Even if he hadn’t been watching the room, he wouldn’t have had a problem recognizing the voice that time. Special Agent Silas Gardner was the epitome of a grumpy old man if ever one existed. He was close to forced retirement but refused to sit back and rest on his laurels while he waited to turn 57.
Cade admired the man’s stubbornness even if he was a pain in the ass. Gardner had seen some shit during his career, which had shaped him into the cantankerous, bitter agent he was now. His time with the bureau had also made him look much older than he truly was. The man looked like he should’ve retired a decade ago between the heavy wrinkles and the receding hairline punctuated with tufts of gray hair.
“You know she was the only one who believed the unsub was a man the first time around. And despite everyone telling her she was wrong, she stuck with her gut. Her instinct was right, and if they’d listened to her in the beginning, they probably could’ve caught the guy the first time around. Instead, they chased the wrong leads trying to make their profile work.”
Cade was as surprised as the rest of the group to hear himself defending the former agent, but he wasn’t wrong. Even though he had his doubts about her, and it stung a bit to admit a former member of his team was wrong, they had to own it.
No matter what she’d been up to since she left the bureau, Sloane Matthews had an uncanny ability to see through the bullshit. She saw things no one else saw. She could put herself in the killer’s head better than most people in his office, and that was literally their job.
Given her background, she could’ve been an unbelievable asset to the Behavioral Analysis Unit. It was too bad her background was the very reason she got passed over every time a spot came open. Now he’d been sent to see if they’d been right to be worried about her.
“Come on, Gardner, even you have to admit she’s a legend. It didn’t matter what kind of case she was working on. She closed more cases than any active agent during her service. You can’t argue with numbers, man.”
“Look, Mills, you’ve obviously got some kind of crush on the chick, I respect that, but you aren’t going to change my mind. It’s a waste of time and resources to bring her in.”
“Well, I hope you’re wrong about that, but I guess we’ll have to see,” a new voice said from next to Cade.
It bothered him that he hadn’t heard anyone approaching the room. He never let his guard down, not even in the perceived safety of an FBI field office. Yet, the conversation about Sloane and her accomplishments had distracted him enough to allow someone to sneak up on him. When he turned to see who was standing behind him, he realized the voice’s owner wasn’t alone. He mentally kicked himself for missing the obvious signs of not one but two people approaching him.
The moment his eyes met those of the new arrival, he knew instantly who she was. He’d studied enough pictures of Sloane Matthews to recognize her on sight, but his familiarity with her picture wasn’t the only reason he knew it was her. She didn’t have the air of an agent, though there was confidence in how she entered the room.
Most people would be intimidated walking into a federal building, but she showed no signs of being fazed by where she stood, despite every pair of eyes in the room focused on her. Even Gardner seemed taken by her undeniable presence.
“Everyone, this is Sloane Matthews, Sloane this is the team,” Morgan said as he introduced the task force members to his ex-wife.
Cade watched as she smiled at each of them as they were introduced. He had a feeling she would put his ability to remember each of their names to shame. When it was his turn to be introduced, he met her gaze again.
“And this is Supervisory Special Agent James Cade from the BAU.”
Confusion flared in her gaze for a split second. It was barely perceptible, but Cade had been expecting it.
“Already? How did you make that happen?” she asked her ex without breaking eye contact with Cade. “We had four victims in the morgue before we got the BAU help we requested last time.”
“I was already in the office, helping out on another matter. My boss decided I should stick around and offer my assistance with this one before I head home,” Cade answered before Morgan could.
There was no telling what the other man would say or how he might flub their story if given a chance. For all Cade knew, he’d already told his ex the truth about Cade’s involvement, and she was just a good actress.
“Well, isn’t that lucky for everyone,” she said snidely.
It seemed she still had a bit of animosity toward the BAU from before, not that Cade could blame her. He just hoped it wouldn’t cause him problems in the long run. He’d need to get her to trust him and the best way to do that was to earn it. If she hated him on principle, he’d never have a chance.
“I read your reports from the first time around. They should’ve listened to you from the start. The case had male unsub written all over it.”
“Well, Agent Cade, I don’t disagree, but none of that matters now. What matters is he’s back, and we’re going to catch him this time.”
Tearing her gaze away from his, Sloane moved around the room and shook hands with the task force members before finding a seat at the table. Cade felt her dismissal down to his bones, and instead of being pissed, he appreciated it more than he’d ever admit. The woman wanted to get down to business, which was something he could respect.
“Hey guys, before you get started, SAC Jennings wants to see Ms. Matthews in her office,” another newcomer said, although this time, Cade had heard him coming.
“Damn it. We really need to get started. Can’t the meeting wait?”
Annoyance was evident in Morgan’s tone, if not in his body language. The other agent hadn’t even been able to take a seat at the table before they were interrupted by Michael Peters, the assistant to Special Agent in Charge Dian
e Jennings. Morgan took a few steps toward the door, then stopped, his hands on his hips as he waited for an answer.
“You know it can’t. She told you before you left that she wanted to meet as soon as you got back. You don’t want to piss her off, Agent Morgan.”
Morgan swore under his breath, but Cade could hear the words loud and clear, being as close as they were.
“Fine, I’ll take her up.”
“That’s okay. I can escort her upstairs. You can start your meeting without her.”
Michael gave Morgan a sickeningly sweet smile, then looked over at Sloane, who seemed just as annoyed as her ex. With a sigh, she stood up and walked toward the door, her back ramrod straight as she moved. Cade would pay a lot of money to be a fly on the wall during the meeting about to take place. SAC Jennings was a no-nonsense ballbuster who didn’t care who she had to step on to make her way to the top. She wouldn’t put up with bullshit in her house, and Cade knew she considered the entire Sloane Matthews situation as bullshit.
The SAC wasn’t happy with his presence or with his wanting to bring Sloane in, but she didn’t have a choice. His orders came from well above her pay grade, which meant she had to cooperate. However, it didn’t mean she couldn’t put the fear of God and everyone else into Sloane. It also didn’t mean Sloane had to put up with it. He had a feeling she gave just as good as she got, and she wouldn’t hesitate to tell Jennings where she could stick it, which could be a big problem for him and his case.
As he and Morgan watched Sloane walk away with Michael, he wondered if he shouldn’t follow them to make sure Jennings didn’t screw things up for him. Then again, he didn’t want to blow his cover, so like Morgan, he had to hope Sloane would keep her cool and Jennings wouldn’t poke at her too hard.
“Shit.”
Morgan took the words right out of his mouth, and Cade couldn’t agree with his sentiment more.
Chapter Five
And so the bullshit began.
Sloane knew it would happen sooner or later; she’d just hoped it would be a hell of a lot later than five minutes after she walked through the door. She wasn’t in the mood for a pissing match or whatever the hell the special agent in charge was planning.
It wasn’t like Sloane really wanted to be there.
Hell, she probably wanted to be there even less than the SAC wanted her to be. But she had a job to do and a man to catch, so she’d do whatever she needed to do to make the meeting the shortest one of her life, even if it meant rolling over and letting the other woman win. Nothing good could come from her getting into it with the one person who could keep her out of the investigation for good.
She followed the young man, who introduced himself as Michael, through the bullpen to the elevators. The SAC’s office was on the floor above where they were in a space she shared with her two assistant special agents in charge and the higher-ups from other federal groups who called the building home. Michael didn’t make any small talk on the way to his boss’s office, which didn’t bother Sloane at all. She wasn’t much for small talk on a good day.
“She’s waiting for you; go right in,” he said as soon as they reached her door.
She opened the door without hesitation. The only way to get back to what mattered was to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible. Wasting time wouldn’t keep the discussion from happening; it would only prolong the inevitable.
Standing behind her massive wood desk, Diane Jennings did her best to look intimidating. To most people, she probably epitomized the word bitch, but she didn’t scare Sloane. She’d seen scary up close and personal both during her FBI life and before that. It would take a hell of a lot more than a firm stance, a power suit, and glare to intimidate her.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been in Diane Jennings’s presence. They’d crossed paths a handful of times before Sloane quit, back when Diane was an ASAC, working her way up through the boys club that dominated the FBI. The woman pulled no punches, which earned Sloane’s respect back then. She had a feeling that if she returned the sentiment now, she might earn the same respect. Or at the very least, she’d get through the meeting and back to the conference room unscathed.
“Ms. Matthews, please take a seat.”
“If it’s all the same to you, ma’am, I’ll stand. I don’t think this conversation will take that long. We both know there’s a killer out there that isn’t going to wait while we hash things out.”
A small smile graced the older woman’s face. “You’re right; this won’t take long. I want to make sure we’re on the same page. You are a guest in my house. You have no authority here. You have no control. You are simply here as a consultant and nothing more. You can sit in on interviews, but you can’t participate. You can visit scenes, but you are to use your eyes and ears only. You will not talk to witnesses; you will not touch anything; you will not go off on your own.”
SAC Jennings wasn’t saying anything Sloane hadn’t already expected. She knew what her limitations were as a civilian consultant. Hell, if she were honest, she’d actually expected to be far more hamstrung than what was currently being laid out for her.
“You cannot carry a weapon, which makes you a liability to my agents. When you’re out in the field, you will obey their every word even if you disagree with it. I will not have you going rogue out there and endangering their lives. I’ve read your file. I know you were a damn good agent, but you’re not an agent anymore, and you will not act like it. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m just here to finally bring this guy in. I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here, but I promise I’m the best person for this job.”
“I know you are, which is the only reason I allowed Agent Morgan to bring you in. If it turns out this newest victim is unrelated to your original case, I’ll send you back to Seattle faster than you can blink.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
“Good, then we have an understanding?”
Before Sloane could agree, the door to the office was thrown open. An angry Reid, followed by an agitated Michael, marched into the room.
“I’m sorry ma’am, I tried to stop him.”
Sloane looked over at SAC Jennings and hoped like hell Reid had a damn good reason for interrupting their meeting. His boss was pissed, her brows furrowed, a scowl drawing her eyes closed a fraction. She opened her mouth, no doubt to yell at him, but stopped short when he blurted out his reason for being there.
“We’ve got another missing pregnant woman.”
Sloane gasped for breath as the words hit her like a punch to the gut. She knew the killer wouldn’t sit around waiting for her to get her bearings and have one meeting after another, but it had barely been a week since they’d found his last victim. The first time around, he’d waited at least three weeks between victims, if not longer.
Except for once. When he attacked Danielle Zimmerman in her home and left her and one of her twins to die, then left the other baby in a dumpster a few blocks away.
Shaking the image of that poor baby out of her mind, Sloane focused on Reid. Without looking back at Diane Jennings to make sure it was okay, she moved toward her ex.
“Let’s go,” she said as she walked out of the office.
She didn’t look to make sure he was following her. It didn’t really matter. She knew where the rest of the team was. As long as they hadn’t been dispatched, she’d find a ride to wherever they were headed. It was about time she got involved with the investigation. She didn’t really care where she started.
Chapter Six
This wasn’t supposed to be the way her life ended.
She was supposed to have another 40-50 years with her husband and their beautiful child. She should’ve been able to watch her son grow up, maybe have children of his own. And if she were really fortunate, maybe she’d even get a chance to watch her grandbabies have babies themselves.
Yet, it seemed life had something else in store for her.
She
knew this would be her last day on earth. There was no doubt she’d never get to see her husband again or hold their baby boy in her arms. After all of the starts and stops, they were finally going to have the family they’d always wanted.
Only now, it looked like this was just another close call in a long list of them.
She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve whatever this man had in store for her. It was death, no doubt, but she wasn’t sure how her final moments would come about.
Would it be quick? Would he be merciful?
He looked like a nice guy, but those were the ones who usually turned out to be cold-blooded and sadistic.
Would he rape her first? Would he torture her? Keep her alive for days so he could hurt her over and over.
A full-body shudder caused her head to jerk too fast. Pain spread out quickly as her stomach lurched. The last thing she remembered was the blow to the head. He’d asked her to look at something in the back of his van, and like an idiot, she’d agreed.
She’d felt bad about hitting him with her cart. And he’d been so nice to her after that, offering to help her with her items, though they never finished unloading them into her car. She hadn’t wanted to be a bitch and brush him off.
And look where being nice had gotten her.
She tried to hold onto a sliver of hope that someone saw him abduct her. It was broad daylight in a busy parking lot, after all. At least one person had to have witnessed the moment he hit her and shoved her into the back of his van. The odds had to be in her favor.
Someone had seen it and called the police, and they were out looking for her as she tried to hold it together. It didn’t matter how many times she repeated it to herself; she couldn’t allow herself to believe the lie that would give her hope.
People were so self-absorbed and distracted nowadays. The parking lot could’ve been packed like a Taylor Swift concert, and the odds of someone seeing her being thrown into the back of a van were slim to none. And even if they had seen something weird, they probably wouldn’t say anything because they didn’t want to get involved. Didn’t want to be inconvenienced by having to wait around for the police so they could give a statement.