by M. J. Eason
“No!”
“Kara?” She could feel Davis trying to shake her from the dream but he wouldn’t let her go.
“He’s your greatest weakness, Kara. And you will be his ultimate downfall. Once you’re both gone, I’ll make sure the girl pays for your crimes. You can rest assured once you’re out of the way, the child—your child—will become mine. I will bring her to death very slowly. And you and he, wherever you are, will experience every single part of her pain.”
“Kara! Kara, wake up!” The authority in Davis’s voice finally freed her from Frankie’s hold. She sat up in bed, shivering from fear and dread.
This dream had been clearer than ever before and far stronger than all the others. It proved there would be no avoiding this final showdown no matter how unprepared she was for it.
“What happened? You were screaming. I couldn’t wake you. God, Kara, I’ve never been so scared.”
She shook her head. She didn’t want to talk.
Davis held her close. She felt safe in his arms. Safe enough to talk about what she had heard. She clung to Davis’s strength and prayed when the time came, she could remain strong for him. For Ava.
“It was him. Davis, he wants Ava.”
“Shh…I’m not going to let that happen. Don’t worry. I won’t let him hurt her or you ever.”
“Davis, how are you going to stop it? Whether Frankie is working alone or with this Alec person, he’s effectively taken you out of the game.”
She knew she’d hurt him. Davis seemed to withdraw further from her. But Ava’s safety must be the most important thing to both of them.
“He knows Ava is your daughter. He told me she would be next.”
“Sweetheart, I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to Ava.”
“We don’t even know where to look for him! Davis, it’s almost time for him to take his next victim.”
“Ava is safe, Kara. There’s only one person at the Bureau who knows where she is. You don’t even know her whereabouts.”
“I think we need to move her and Maggie again. We can’t afford to be too careful now.” She got out of bed and reached for her clothes.
“Stop it,” Davis said calmly. “She’s with my father. Dad will take good care of Ava and Maggie.”
“Don’t tell me any of the details. Just do this for me, okay. Please, Davis. For my peace of mind move her and Maggie now before it’s too late.”
He sat watching her before finally giving in. “All right. I’ll call Dad right now and have him move them both.”
“Thank you.” She came back to bed and sat down next to him while Davis reached for the phone and then stopped suddenly.
“I don’t want to take any chances. This line could be bugged. I’m going to use the payphone down the street. Stay here.”
“Not a chance. I’m coming with you! Ava is my daughter, too. If anything happens to her, it will just be as much my fault as yours.”
****
After he’d showered, Davis dressed in the change of clothing he kept at the apartment then waited while she did the same.
At the corner store, the clerk directed them to the payphone located around the back of the building. Davis stood close to Kara as the clouds that threatened during the day gave way to predicted thunderstorms. He waited for his father to pick up the phone.
“That’s odd. Dad has to be home.”
“Oh God,” Kara closed her eyes and turned away.
“What is it?” he asked frantically.
“He’s close to her. I can feel her fear…”
“Where Kara? Can you see where she is?” Davis tried to keep the panic from his voice.
“There are street vendors everywhere. She’s in an open market. Does that make any sense?”
Davis nodded then dialed the number for the Raleigh Police Department. While Kara listened, he identified himself and asked to speak to a detective he trusted.
“Wait! She’s safe now, Davis. She’s upset but she’s with Maggie and your father. She’s okay!”
Davis brought her close and whispered, “Thank God.” When the detective picked up, Davis quickly explained what had happened and then gave directions to where the patrol car would find them. As soon as he hung up, Davis tried his father’s cell phone once more.
“Dad, what happened?” Davis could hear Ava crying in the background.
“She’s okay, son. They’re both okay.”
“Thank God,” he murmured.
“The police are here, hang on.” Davis listened as his father explained to them what had happened before returning to the phone.
“The officers are talking to witnesses now but”—his father lowered his voice—“no one can identify the man who took her. They want us to go to the station with them. They’re hoping Ava will remember something important.”
“Dad, let me talk to the officer in charge for a second.”
Davis held the phone so that Kara could listen in to the officer’s report.
“According to your father and Ms. Bryant they only took their eyes off the little girl for a second. I guess whoever did this was watching her. She didn’t even have the chance to scream.”
“No one saw anything?” Davis asked in amazement.
The officer sighed. “No. Whoever did this is good. If you like, I’ll have an officer sit at your father’s house and keep an eye on everything. And of course we’ll continue investigating the case but without anything to go on, I don’t have to tell you how impossible this is going to be.”
“Thanks for your help Officer but no, let me handle it from here. If you find anything, you’ll let me know?”
“Of course, Agent Martin.”
“Can I talk to my father for a second?”
Davis waited as the officer handed the phone back to his father.
“I hate that I let you and Kara down.”
“Dad, it’s not your fault. I should have seen this coming. Look, I need you to do something for me but you can’t tell anyone, not even the officers with you. Don’t say anything—just listen for a second.”
“Okay, son.”
“Once you leave the station, get out of there. Don’t go back to the house, not even to pack your clothes. Just leave. Make sure you’re not being followed and get Ava and Maggie someplace protected.”
“Where do you want us to go?”
“Don’t tell me, Dad. I can’t know anything about where you’re taking them. Just use your cop’s instinct and get them somewhere safe. Then stay there, don’t tell anyone where you are and don’t use the phone. I’ll be in touch when things are safe. Do you understand?”
“I do. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of them for you.”
****
“Thank you, Davis,” Kara said once they’d returned to the apartment.
“Don’t thank me. You were right all along. I should have seen this coming as well.”
“You thought you were doing what was right. We just didn’t have any idea what we were facing.”
“No. And I’m beginning to think we still don’t have a clue. I’m going to check in with Ryan. Maybe he knows something new by now.”
“We should try to eat. I’ll make us something while you talk to him.”
Davis called Ryan’s cell repeatedly but it went straight to voicemail each time. He tried the office number but when the assistant picked up, he hung up without leaving a message.
“He’s not answering,” he told Kara when he joined her in the kitchen. “I’m hoping that’s a good thing. Maybe they’ve tracked the professor down.” He sat down at the table and rubbed his hand across his eyes. “God, I wish I knew what to do next?”
Kara knelt by his side and took his hand in hers.
“I know it’s frustrating.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Yes but I’m so glad you’re here with me. I don’t think I could make it through this without you, Kara.”
“Don’t give up. We’re going to f
ind him.”
“I’m trying. I’m really trying.”
Neither of them had much of an appetite but they tried to eat. They’d been working off adrenalin and coffee for so long that it was hard to think clearly anymore.
As much as Davis wanted to forget about the case for a little while, he knew it was impossible. Frankie had been bold enough to try and take Ava as his next victim. While Ava might be safe now, the Angel’s next victim was not.
“It’s time for him to take his next victim, isn’t it?” She read his thoughts clearly. “AM. Do you know anyone with those initials?”
Davis got to his feet and began pacing around the room. Moving around helped him to concentrate.
“I’ve been thinking about that for hours now, Kara but I can’t come up with anyone!”
“What about an acquaintance. Someone from your past. Someone you may not know personally. It could be someone you worked with in the past?”
“Nothing. I’m drawing a blank. I’m going to try Ryan again. Maybe something’s popped there.”
Kara cleared away their plates then joined him in the great room.
“Ryan, thank God, I’ve been trying to reach you for a while.” When Ryan didn’t answer, he asked, “Has something happened?”
Ryan Anderson had never once refused to discuss evidence with him. Davis could tell something was wrong.
“I have to go. I’ll call you later.” Before Davis could ask anything further, Ryan hung up.
“Anything?” Kara asked.
“No, at least nothing he could tell me. But he knows something. I could feel it. He sounded agitated and he never used my name. Something’s up.” He felt so helpless. He didn’t know how to handle being the Bureau’s number one suspect in the very crimes he’d worked so hard to solve.
“Davis, something you mentioned earlier has been bothering me. You said Frankie took the entrance exam to join the Bureau. So what happened when he failed?”
Davis considered this for a moment. “Well, that’s just it. He didn’t fail. He met all the qualifications. In fact, he even attended the academy for a short time. He was there for almost a week and then he just disappeared. This was shortly before we found the first victim’s body.”
“Did anything unusual happen to him while he was there?” she asked.
“Not as far as anyone remembers. In fact, most of his instructors said he showed promise. They all believed he had what it took to make an excellent agent. He was a model student. We’re at a dead end until we find out if Harrison actually instructed there at the same time as Frankie.”
“Did he become friends with anyone in particular? I’m wondering if maybe someone might remember something new about him.”
“We checked out everyone who attended the academy at the same time as Frankie. Just about everyone who came in contact with Frankie’s life during that time was interviewed.”
He stopped for a moment, remembering something he’d almost forgotten.
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking about something Victoria told me. She said the last time she saw Frankie was right around the time he started at the academy.” Davis’s gaze fixed on Kara’s expression. “I think we should talk to her more.”
It was dark when they reached Victoria Blake’s townhouse. She invited them inside and then waited for them to sit.
“Can I get you something? Coffee?”
Davis smiled but shook his head, “No, I think we’ve had way too much of that already. I wanted to talk to you about the time Frankie was at the academy. Do you remember anything in particular about that time?”
“No, not really. Why? Is it important, Agent Martin?”
“I think so,” he told her slowly. “Can you tell me what you and Frankie might have talked about during that time?”
“I only saw him a couple of times while he was there, Agent Martin, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I remember how excited he felt about joining the Bureau though. It was his dream to become an agent.”
“Did he mention anyone in particular? I’m wondering if he made a friend there that we don’t know about.”
Victoria shook her head. “He never mentioned anyone.”
Davis tried to keep the helplessness growing inside from showing. He wanted to be strong for Kara but with each passing moment, a little more hope disappeared.
“Oh, wait—there was something strange that happened, I almost forgot. It was right before he dropped out and before he disappeared for a while. I remember he became very withdrawn. You’d have to know Frankie to understand how odd that was. Frankie was always so sweet, always so positive about life. He was a good person.” When she saw his skepticism, she added, “I know you don’t believe that but it’s true. This was completely out of character for Frankie.” She paused for a moment and then added, “There’s something else—”
“Whatever it is, just tell me, Victoria.” Davis tried to remain patient but time was running out for the Angel’s next victim.
“I saw Frankie a few weeks before his death.”
Davis and Kara glanced at each other in surprise.
“You did what?” he asked incredulously. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I told you it didn’t seem important. It wouldn’t have changed anything. And, I guess I thought it might make you think he did those terrible things after all,” she added.
“What happened?”
“Frankie called me out of the blue. I hadn’t spoken to him in a while. I thought he was still at the academy.”
“And?”
“He asked me to meet him at my parents’ place, by the old tree, after dark. I thought that was strange but the person who met me there wasn’t anything like the man I knew. God help me, for a while after the news of Frankie’s suspected involvement in those murders broke, well, for a while I wondered if maybe he really might have been the Death Angel.”
“What made you think that?” Davis asked, trying not to get ahead of her in his thoughts. He needed all the details.
“When I got there, Frankie appeared very agitated. He couldn’t stand still. He kept pacing around the tree and saying, ‘He’s watching me, he’s going to kill me. He knows I’m weak.’ It was creepy.”
“Did he give you any indication what he meant by that?”
“No, he just kept looking around as if he expected someone to have followed him there. I asked what he was talking about, but he simply laughed. I’ve never heard anything like that laugh before and I hope I never do. It sounded…deranged. That’s the only way I can describe it. I thought maybe he was on something.
“It scared the hell out of me and so did Frankie. I tried to talk to him. To reason with him but he wasn’t making any sense. So I left. I ran away from my friend. Frankie needed me and I deserted him.”
Something or someone had pushed Frankie over the edge. Maybe his partner in murder? Could Alec Harrison be the true mastermind behind the Death Angel?
“Anything else stand out in your mind as odd?” Davis hoped she might remember something further. Maybe something that didn’t appear important at the time.
“No, as I’ve said, I left. I was scared out of my mind. I remember the whole way back to my car I kept looking over my shoulder. Frankie’s paranoia really freaked me out. I expected someone to come after me as well.”
“Did you see anything or anyone suspicious?”
“No…Wait. Now that you mention it…I didn’t see anyone on the property but when I left, there was a car parked along the road.”
“Could it have been Frankie’s?” Davis wondered if it belonged to Frankie’s partner.
“No, Frankie walked. I know that sounds strange but Frankie loved to hike and he was very good at it too. He walked to my parents’ place.”
“Do you remember anything in particular about the car?”
“Not really. It was dark, nondescript. Is it important?”
“It may be.”
“I�
�m sorry, Agent Martin. But I didn’t see anyone in there. When my headlights swept over it there wasn’t anyone inside.”
“It’s okay, Victoria,” Davis told her getting to his feet. “You’ve been a tremendous help. It’s something to consider and I’ll check it out.”
“You’ll let me know, won’t you?”
“Of course. I promise I will.”
“What do you think it means, Davis?” Kara asked once they’d left Victoria’s townhouse and stood outside in the clear fall evening. The storms from earlier in the day were all gone now. But there was still one more storm gathering that threatened to be the most destructive of them all.
“It means Frankie was scared of someone. Probably the real deviant mind behind the Death Angel. If it’s Alec Harrison, then he’s the one calling the shots. We need to find this guy, Kara and soon.”
“Try reaching Ryan again.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Davis waited until he’d put the car into motion before dialing his friend.
“You must be reading my mind,” Ryan told him after picking up on the first ring. Davis hit the speaker button so that Kara could listen in. “I couldn’t really talk earlier and I saw that you’d called but I wanted to wait until I had something for you.”
“You’ve found out something about Harrison?”
“Yes, well, sort of… I’m not trying to be evasive. The truth is, I don’t really know much yet, but the details are unfolding even as we speak. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anything to indicate Harrison taught at the academy around the same time Frankie was there.”
“Dammit. Are you positive, Ryan? I would have bet money he was there.”
“Me too and I’m not ready to rule it out entirely just yet.”
“Why is that?”
“There are a couple of substitute instructors who taught around the time that we can’t locate just yet. One in particular only taught there once. A man by the name of James Young. But oddly enough, no one remembers anything about him.”
“That’s strange.” The academy was extremely strict when it came to selecting its instructors. They only picked the best of the best. And their record-keeping was impeccable. “Something doesn’t add up there, Ryan. You’d better take a closer look.”