by Lorie O
“Nothing.” Susie didn’t hesitate. “Why? What’s wrong?”
There wasn’t any point hedging around the situation. “We don’t exactly get along.”
“Although that’s odd for you,” Susie said, sounding serious, “I’ve had agents before who clash with local FBI. You do what you’re there to do and move on. You know how to do your job.”
“I know.” She hated the emptiness that seemed to spread inside her.
“You know, oftentimes an agent gets involved with the community, especially when doing undercover work. It isn’t a bad thing,” Susie offered.
“I know where you’re going with this,” Kylie said, breaking off the inevitable pep talk about how this, too, would pass. “And you’re right. I think it’s just the timing with your call,” she lied. “I just left the field office after having it pointed out to me very clearly that I have absolutely nothing to nail this guy with. I have a clue who he is,” she admitted, and felt even worse as failure wrapped around the emptiness inside her. “But I really don’t have any proof.”
“Let’s break it down. What do you have?” It sounded as though Susie was typing in the background, her nicely painted nails she was able to grow sitting in an office these days instead of working out in the field tapping over the keys while she talked on the phone. “You have a description and a common location.”
“Yes. It appears he agrees to meet the girls at the bowling alley or at shops nearby. The bowling alley is a local hangout for a lot of the teenagers here. He met one girl at a grocery store she went to on a regular basis.”
“He meets the girls at locations they’re comfortable going to,” Susie suggested.
“Yes. The grocery store was closed when Elaine agreed to meet Peter. Later in the evening, there is hardly any traffic around the bowling alley. The parking lot isn’t well lit other than the marquee from the local businesses’ lights. There are some streetlights in the parking lot but not enough to cover the dark patches where it’s easy for cars to park without being noticed. Dani met Peter there after dark.”
“So a secluded location where each girl wouldn’t hesitate going.”
“Exactly.”
“And the description?”
“One of the girls who agreed to meet Peter, the name we’ve given our killer since that is the name he is using online, or variations of it,” Kylie reminded her, “saw him and drew us a picture. It’s not a lot to go on but we know he’s got dark hair and blue eyes.”
“I’ve pulled up the local newspaper there. Sounds as if you’re battling the press and concerned parents as well.”
“It’s become too high profile for it to be otherwise. Fortunately, working undercover, I haven’t had to deal with either myself.”
“Which is how it should be. Leaves you open to focus only on your killer. What is your current objective?”
“I’m going to set up another meet and let Peter take me with him.”
“Should I send in backup?” Susie sounded concerned. “I think I’ll get in touch with the local chief of police there. I’ll try calling John Athey again, too.”
Kylie didn’t understand why John hadn’t talked to Susie. Unless he was one of those agents who believed their city was their own domain and didn’t care for outsiders intruding on their space. She’d run across other agents like that when traveling from city to city, those who tackled crime in their town and balked at outsiders, even when their intentions were good. She could see John being the one who would want credit for taking Peter down. Suddenly John’s behavior made more sense. He didn’t like her because she posed a threat at stealing his glory if she and not John received credit for nailing Peter. By sending her in, informing her she would go with the perp, John would get glory for rescuing her.
Kylie blew out a loud sigh, resting her head on the back of her seat and staring at her visor. It wasn’t the first time she was the bait, entering the line of fire, only to be rescued and the bad guy taken out. For some reason, allowing John that credit rubbed her wrong. It would be so much better, so much easier, to part ways when the painful moment arrived, if Perry was the one who made the arrest.
“Stay focused,” Susie said, her tone serious again, as if she were reading Kylie’s thoughts. “There’s nothing wrong with caring about the people you’re working with as long as you keep it business, and make sure those who need to know understand why you’re there.”
Kylie didn’t say anything. Susie was right. Kylie had botched it up big-time, and as she searched her memory, replaying events since she arrived here, she tried focusing on the moment when she’d fucked up. Had it been the first time she met Perry? The first time she made love to him? A physical, almost animalistic passion had hummed around them, charged in the air, from the moment they met. Although she was coming to believe he didn’t act this way around all women, what she had witnessed last night at the crime scene made her wonder. Why would she be the only woman so strongly attracted to him? And wouldn’t he be better off finding a nice, local girl, who wasn’t going to leave the moment the case was solved?
That acknowledgment weighed so heavily inside Kylie it burned her eyes as well as made her heart hurt so badly she could barely breathe. Adjusting the key in the ignition, she rolled down her window, suddenly needing air.
“That’s what I’m doing,” she lied again, unwilling to let Susie see how badly she was handling this particular case.
“Good. And just so you know, the situation in Nicaragua is about ready to explode. You’ve always wanted one of the seriously high-profile cases, and I haven’t forgotten that. Wrap this up and I’ll get you on a plane down there. After that, I promise I’ll get you some downtime.”
Susie’s words hit Kylie hard. As focused as she was on this case, she had just been reminded of the big picture. Less than a month ago she was in Washington, doing everything in her power to nail a sexual predator who’d already raped, tortured, and mutilated several women by the time she arrived on that scene. Nonetheless, she’d jumped in, made the case her own, and solved it. Once this case was done, she’d been on a plane leaving Kansas City. Where would her thoughts be a few months from now?
“Thanks, Susie. That means a lot to me,” she said, meaning it, although she couldn’t get the excitement into her voice.
“I’ll be in touch.” Susie said her good-byes and hung up, probably to make another call to another agent somewhere else in the United States and to hear their personal situation.
It was the job Kylie had signed up for. The life she had craved and the dream she was seeing fulfilled. Solve this case and move on. Probably within a month she’d be trekking around in a jungle, dealing with people she would call friends whom she didn’t even know right now.
And Perry would go on with his life.
Chapter 26
Perry let himself into his sister’s house that evening. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been wound so tight. Stress had the muscles in his shoulder blades burning, and the pain crawled straight up his spine to his head. He stared at Dorine and Denise, lying in the living room watching TV.
“Mom, Uncle Perry is here,” Dorine screamed, rolling onto her back and letting the words wail so that they vibrated off the walls and pierced his already-throbbing head.
“Dorine, was that necessary?” He scowled at his niece, who looked at him upside down from the floor before rolling back and resuming watching her show without answering.
There was a pounding down the stairs and Dani flew into the living room and into his arms. Ever since her almost abduction, she’d been clinging to him. And he couldn’t pull her tight enough into his arms. If he prayed for anything, it would be that he be given a thousand more chances to hug her like this.
“Kylie won’t answer her phone for me,” Dani whispered, still clinging to him when Megan walked into the living room, wiping her hands with a dish towel.
“There’s supper left if you’re hungry,” Megan offered.
He hadn’
t given thought to food all day. “Thanks,” he said, nodding to Megan. Possibly some food would recharge him. He lowered his head, breathing in Dani’s strawberry-scented shampoo. For a moment he was thrown back to the little girl who would cry in Megan’s arms when she scraped her knee or when she fell out of a tree. Fixing those aches and pains had been a hell of a lot easier than taking care of the pain and fear that had Dani trembling in his arms now. “She’s not answering my calls, either,” he said into her hair.
Another reason he knew he was wound tight. He hadn’t been able to get over to Kylie’s last night and today she’d been MIA. He had half a mind to drive over to the FBI field office and demand to know where the fuck she was. Not knowing twisted his gut and left him convinced there was only bigger trouble looming just ahead. If things were okay, Kylie would be with him.
Dani pulled away, remaining at arm’s length, and stared up at him with sad green eyes. “Did you two have a fight?” she asked, almost whispering.
“No,” he said, shaking his head and wrapping his arm around her as he headed for the kitchen. “What’s for supper? Anything good?” he asked, changing the subject from Kylie.
“I made cheeseburgers,” Megan announced, leading the way to the kitchen. She handed him a plate that she’d piled with a mound of fries next to two burgers. “Of course they aren’t as good as when you make them on the grill.” Even her smile showed her exhaustion.
His family was suffering from this case. The sooner he wrapped it up, found the prick who had also ripped five other families in Mission Hills apart and also made it clear his intentions to stalk Perry’s niece, the better life would be for all of them. Perry almost felt guilty accepting the seat Dani pulled out for him and the food Megan put in front of him.
“Where’s Diane?” he asked, grabbing one of the burgers as his stomach growled.
Megan took a seat next to him, and Dani slid into the chair on the other side of him.
“She’s got some term paper,” Megan explained, dipping a tea bag into hot water and looking noticeably more worn-out than she usually looked. “I told her to be home by ten, but she’s at the library with some friends.”
“She’s got forty minutes,” Dani announced, leaning back to see the wall clock. “Shouldn’t those two go to bed?” she asked her mother, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the living room.
“Yes, they should.” Megan gave her daughter a pleading look.
“Get your sisters up to bed,” Perry told Dani, talking with his mouth full of burger. He gave her a look, ready for her to argue, but obviously the stress that had descended on the household took the fight out of all of them.
Dani sighed heavily and scooted the chair back from the table, forcing it to scrape loudly across the floor. Megan cringed and dabbed her tea bag with more energy when Dani left them alone.
Perry put the first burger away and stared at his sister, noting the lines at the edges of her eyes and the dark circles underneath. Megan was a pretty woman, overworked and determined to raise intelligent young women. He was proud of her but knew at the moment she wasn’t doing shit to take care of herself.
“Why don’t you head up to bed, too?” he suggested. “You look like shit.”
Any other time Megan would have been ready with a comeback, but when she sighed he almost felt bad for picking on her. Putting his hand over hers, he didn’t move it when she gripped his larger hand with a fair amount of force.
“I’m scared, Perry,” she whispered. “Did you see this morning’s paper?”
“Yup.” He hated how the media was making it a hell of a lot easier for Peter to do his job than it was for Perry to do his. Although that was the way it was most of the time. But the paper announcing the most recent murder, recapping the disappearance of the others, and labeling Peter as the high school girl murderer, was throwing the community into a panic. “We’ll nail him.”
“I’m scared for Dani,” Megan whispered, her eyes moist when she looked at him. “He’s already targeted her. What if he tries to take her again?”
“He won’t succeed,” Perry said firmly. Thankfully, the press didn’t get ahold of the fact that a picture of Dani was left in Lanie’s hand when she was found. “What do you think of sending her-”
“No!” Megan interrupted, yanking her hand from Perry’s and lifting her teacup. She stared hard at Perry over it. “I’d be scared to death he would snag her from anywhere I sent her,” Megan stated. “I did talk to the principal over at the high school today. I know they’ve put several cops on permanent duty over there to protect the kids while they’re switching classes or out in the parking lot, but I am still scared something could happen.”
“Nothing will happen.”
“You can’t swear that to me,” she pressed.
He stiffened. The day his sister didn’t have faith in him would be the day all hell would break lose. “Like hell I can’t,” he growled.
The girls paused at the bottom of the stairs, peering into the kitchen, their innocent faces full of curiosity as they stared from their mother to their uncle. It wasn’t often he and Megan argued about anything. And they weren’t arguing now.
“Go to bed,” Megan instructed, trying to sound firm, but the life was gone from her voice. “I love all of you,” she added, her voice softening.
“Love you, too,” each of them mumbled.
“Upstairs. Now,” Perry emphasized, getting the three of them to jump and hustle up the stairs. He looked earnestly at his sister. “There is no way in hell that monster will get anywhere near Dani again. You have my goddamn word on that one, Meg, and if you doubt me for a fucking minute-”
“Quit cussing and I believe you,” she said, leaning back in her chair and bringing her cup to her lips. “Eat your supper. You’re no fun when you’re grouchy.”
Perry swallowed a bite from his second burger. “The food is good.” He knew he was grumpy but didn’t see it going away anytime soon.
His phone vibrated against his hip and he grabbed it, feeling his mood sour even more when it was his partner, Carl. “What’s up?” he asked with a mouthful of food.
“Are you planning on pulling the night shift tonight?” Carl asked, apathetic to Perry’s curt manner.
“Probably.”
“Just checking. Give me an hour, okay? Mom is cranky tonight and I’m going to chill with her until she settles in, but then I’ll hook up. Any word from Blondie?”
“Her name is Kylie, and no.” Perry ignored the interest in Megan’s eyes when she shifted her attention to him and suddenly made a show of listening. He dropped his burger on his plate and grabbed a French fry. “It doesn’t feel right, though, man. I’ve got a sensation I can’t kick.”
“Just because you haven’t heard from her?” Carl didn’t pause to let Perry speak. “Go with your hunches, man. They’re usually right.”
It wasn’t the first time Perry had heard that from his partner. Any other time Perry would advise Carl on listening to his own hunches, paying heed to the electrical charges in the air when he felt them. But tonight Perry didn’t give a damn about coaching his partner.
“Yup,” he said, shoving the fry in his mouth and swallowing after barely chewing. He slid his chair back, managing to make less noise than when Dani shoved her chair from the table and headed to the refrigerator. He didn’t need a beer, especially if he was returning to duty, but damn, he wanted one and almost growled when there weren’t any in his sister’s fridge. Grabbing the gallon of milk, he placed it on the counter. “Meet me over at Megan’s when you head out. I’m staying here until I return to duty.”
“Gotcha, man,” Carl said, and hung up.
“Why haven’t you talked to Kylie?” Megan asked before Perry could put his phone back on his belt.
“Because she hasn’t answered my calls,” he snapped, knowing his sister didn’t deserve him being a pain in the ass.
Perry grabbed a large glass out of the cabinet and filled it with cold milk. He downed
half the glass, refilled it, then returned the gallon to the refrigerator.
His sister watched his actions. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s not sticking around.”
He hated the way his sister studied his face whenever she decided he wasn’t telling her everything she seemed to feel she had a right to know.
“Is she really a college student?” Megan asked.
Perry didn’t answer but set his cup down and sat, returning his attention to his food.
“Seems to me if she were, you would be willing to say so,” Megan said, apparently content to carry on the conversation on her own. “I haven’t seen you worked up like this in a long time.” She held up her hand, as if he would actually comment. “And I know you’re worked up over this murderer. We all are. But more than that has you bugged, Perry. You forget how well I know you.”
“I told you it doesn’t matter. She’ll be leaving.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know.”
Megan nodded, placing her cup on the table and leaning on her elbows. She stared ahead, letting the silence grow for a few seconds. “There are days when I really miss David.”
Perry wasn’t ready for that one. She hadn’t mentioned her husband in ages. Perry knew the love between the two of them was something unique and special that few ever got to experience. He leaned back, studying her for a moment.
“He was one hell of a guy,” Perry said finally.
“Seems to me, if someone has a chance at what David and I had, they should go for it, no matter what stands in the way.”
Perry should have known she was setting him up. He returned to his food. “I’m sure you’re right,” he mumbled, knowing she would press until he said something.
“I like Kylie.” Megan was watching him. He could feel her gaze burning into the side of his head. “The girls like her, too. Dani doesn’t think she’s a student, though. She’s pretty perceptive. You’ve said so yourself.”