by M. J. Eason
“You did this? You killed Davis?”
“You did this? You killed Davis?” he mimicked. “Of course it was me,” he told her as if he were merely commenting on the weather. “And I had so much fun fooling you, Davis, the freaking FBI! What a joke.”
For a moment, Kara’s thoughts jumbled together. A thousand different questions floated through her mind but she couldn’t bring a single coherent thought to her lips.
“You’re impressed. I can see it. You’ve met someone worthy of you.”
“Why?”
“Why? Why? You stupid cow! How can you ask me that?”
Kara shrank away from the insanity she saw in his eyes. Ryan had finally slipped over the edge, taking on the full identity of the Death Angel. The calm, in-control man he presented to the world completely gone.
“Davis was your friend? Jessica? Rachel?” She couldn’t seem to grasp it all.
“Davis wasn’t my friend. He was nothing but in the way. He should have gone down the first time, along with you. I had it all planned. He should have been dismissed, dammit! Humiliated! You were out of the picture. I was supposed to be in charge.”
She stared speechless at him for a moment. “This was all about getting ahead? You wanted Davis’s job?”
“You don’t have a clue, do you Kara?” He laughed before swerving off the main road onto East Capitol Street. Then he turned to her. She could hardly breathe. She knew exactly what he planned to do to her.
“Don’t worry, Kara,” he said with satisfied smile. “You’ll know all the answers soon enough.”
Chapter Fourteen
They stopped in front of the abandoned apartment building. Instinctively, she knew this was where he’d shot Davis. The place was now devoid of any activity. Davis had been tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers. There would no need for a lengthy investigation. The Bureau would just want to put the whole nasty business to bed as quickly as possible.
“Are you ready?” Ryan asked as if he were merely asking her about the weather. She could only stare at him in horror. Not that he seemed to mind. He was too far gone for reasoning with now.
Once he got out of the car she tried to force her grief aside long enough to think of some way out of this. She must stay alive. Ava needed her. She’d lost one parent today already.
Kara remembered the gun she’d given to Davis. She had nothing now to use as a weapon of defense.
Ryan reached for her arm and pulled her from the car. “Stop stalling, bitch. It’s time. I’ve waited six damn years for you. I’m not waiting any longer.”
She stumbled to keep up as he dragged her inside the building. Her thoughts were all for Ava. She couldn’t think about what he had planned for her and not fall apart.
Kara forced herself to speak. She needed to distract him from the inevitable.
“You knew where to find me all these years. Why didn’t you just come for me? Why hurt the others?”
He laughed with amusement before forcing her up the stairs to the second floor.
“For a psychic you really don’t understand anything do you, Kara?” he said as he opened the door and shoved her inside. It was like going back in time to the past. Everything looked the same as it had six years earlier. The Bureau’s forensics team had gone over the space carefully, but the stage had been set just for her, right down to the bunch of lilacs.
“This isn’t about you or Davis, you stupid idiot! This is about me! What I’ve accomplished. What I will accomplish still. I will be the greatest of them all. Better than Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, The Ripper. I walked among the Bureau’s best—the ones who were sworn to capture me and they never had a clue. Even the great Kara Bryant was clueless. I will be the best. This is only beginning. I’m not done. Not by a long shot.”
“What do you mean?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“I’m thinking, why not keep going. After all, who’s to stop me now?”
“What about me. Davis is dead, remember? How are you going to explain killing me?”
He leered at her before answering. “I’m thinking suicide for you. I’ll tell them you insisted I bring you here and then you just went crazy. You took the knife you brought with you,” he reached inside his jacket and produced it for her to see. “This knife. And you used it on yourself. I’ve got plans for Ava as well.” He spotted Kara’s terror and grinned. “Maybe I’ll keep in touch. Watch her grow up. Maybe I’ll even marry her. She could be my Kara. What do you think?”
“No.” The word slipped out into the thick air. Kara forced herself to hang on. She was close to losing control. The thought of her precious daughter going through what she would suffer was too much to think about. It terrified her. “Don’t you dare touch her.”
“Who’s going to stop me, Kara? You? You’ll be dead remember? Tragic really. Father a serial killer, mother committed suicide. The poor child will be starved for affection. I can’t wait.”
She lunged at him but he easily deflected her blows. Ryan was much too strong for her.
He pulled her hard against his body. She could feel his excitement.
“Do you like it rough, Kara? Rachel did. So did Jessica. They loved it when I hurt them.” His hands slipped over her body. Kara closed her eyes repulsed by the thought of him, by the pain Rachel and Jessica and his other victims must have endured.
Ryan’s face was inches from hers. “Are you going to fight me like the others?” His hot breath washed over her before his mouth clamped down on hers. Kara struggled for an advantage and managed to catch his bottom lip between her teeth.
Ryan screamed in pain, loosening his hold for a moment. She ran for the door but he caught her and forced her close.
“You’ll pay for that, bitch. Repeatedly you’ll pay. I’m going to enjoy hurting you.”
She tried to kick him but he lifted her up and threw her down onto the filthy mattress. For a moment, the force of her body being slammed against the floor stunned her. Her thoughts rattled. She tried to react but he forced his body down on top of her knocking the wind out of her.
In his hand, she saw the knife. The one the Angel used to take the lives of his victims. Kara stopped resisting.
“Remember this?” he asked with a new spark in his eyes. Her fear pleased him. She had to control her fear.
“You’ll never get away with this, Ryan. They’ll know about the rape.” Kara tried to sound calm but inside she was terrified of never seeing her daughter.
“I’ll figure something out. It won’t be hard. After all, I’ve been able to fool them for years. Maybe another patsy will be in order. Or maybe I’ll just tell them you ran away and I wasn’t able to stop you. The loss of Davis was too much for you. Maybe you can be my patsy. After I’ve had the pleasure of you, it won’t be hard getting rid of your body.”
He held the knife at her throat, “Who’s going to miss you really, Kara. Your daughter? Your grandmother. They’re better off without you, aren’t they, whore?”
He let the knife slide slowly down her body and she couldn’t keep from showing him her fear. “Do you want me to use the scarf, Kara? Or do you want to watch it all.”
A tiny whimper escaped and then she let herself go numb. She wouldn’t struggle. He wanted her to fight him.
Kara tried to let her mind go blank as well. She didn’t want Ava to feel this. She might not be able to stop him from hurting her but she wouldn’t make it more enjoyable for him.
Inside her thoughts, she could hear her daughter calling out to her. Kara tried to reassure her but Ava knew.
It’s okay, baby, I’m okay. Don’t worry.
Ava continued weeping and calling out to her father. She didn’t know about Davis yet.
A noise drew his attention from her.
Ava continued crying but among her helpless tears, Kara heard another familiar voice. Davis! Davis?
Suddenly a shot rang out. Ryan screamed in pain and then his weight left her body. But Kara couldn’t react. She was still thinking of Davi
s. Davis was still alive.
She became aware of other people and activity around her. Glass exploded close by. A scream. Then silence.
Two sets of eyes—familiar eyes—looked down at her. Judy and Geneva. One of them placed a jacket over her body. She couldn’t stop shivering.
“It’s okay, Kara. You’re all right,” Judy told her, then called for help.
“That SOB! Did you see him jump right through that window? I shot him in the shoulder and it didn’t even faze him. How’d he do that?”
She turned away and spoke into the phone.
“Did he hurt you?” Geneva gently examined Kara’s body for broken bones.
“No, I’m fine.”
“He didn’t—”
“No. Thank God! But a few more minutes and…” She couldn’t actually bring herself to say the words. Kara clutched at her shirt. The knife had all but shredded it. She slipped the jacket on and buttoned it.
“How did you know where to find me?” she asked.
“We followed him. Judy told me what he’d said to her in the beginning. Something didn’t add up so we tailed him. We would have been here sooner but we were stuck in that jam-up. I’m sorry about that, Kara.”
“God, Geneva, no—thank you! I’m so glad to see both of you. He was going to kill me. Ryan was the real Death Angel all along.”
“Damn! Let’s just see the feds beat what we did here tonight. We stopped the Death Angel.” Judy said with a wicked little grin. “The big guy’s on his way with the cavalry. I told him not to hurry. We had it covered over here. Looks to me like they should have stuck around a little bit longer, huh?”
Kara started to laugh at Judy’s confident words and just couldn’t stop. She was still laughing when the cavalry arrived.
****
Within minutes, the place filled with Bureau people once more. Someone had called EMS as well.
“I’m fine. I’m just a little bruised,” she dismissed the EMS worker, when Ed walked over.
“Kara, we’ll get him. I only wished we’d been sooner. But we owe it all to Davis. He tried to leave me a clue. He left his cell phone on during the attack. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear the identity of his attacker but we found a box in Davis’s car containing evidence linking Ryan to all the original killings. In fact, it pretty much exonerated Frankie Stephens entirely. He was innocent all along. Just met up with the wrong person. The poor slob. Ryan killed him a few weeks before he kidnapped you and killed Kim Billings. He had Frankie terrified. Apparently he forced him to watch all the murders. But Frankie was smart. He left evidence that proved Ryan was the one responsible, just in case Ryan did what he ultimately ended up doing, which was killing Frankie and framing him. He killed Rocky, too. We found him a little while ago.”
“Oh God. Tell me the truth, Ed. Did he get away with it this time as well?”
He took his time answering. “No. We’ll get him, Kara. It’s only a matter of time. We have people everywhere looking for him. He can’t get far. He’s wounded. The officers got in a good shot before he escaped. We’ll get him, Kara.”
“How? You haven’t managed to get him for six years. You ruined countless people’s lives because you couldn’t capture him.”
“Kara, I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else. I promise you. I promised Davis.”
“I don’t care about your stupid promises, Ed! They mean nothing to me!” she told him, literally shaking with anger. She was angry at Ed. Angry with herself.
“Davis? Where is he, Ed?”
“Kara—”
“Don’t tell me he’s dead! Don’t you dare tell me that. He’s not dead! I still feel him. He’s still alive, Ed. So don’t you dare tell me he’s dead!”
The room around them grew silent. People stared curiously. Ed took her arm and drew her aside.
“Kara, I know you’re angry with me and you’ve been through a lot but I’m telling you the truth. Davis is dead. So leave it at that. Ryan is still out there. Until he’s found, I don’t want to leave you alone. I’m sending you, Ava, and your grandmother into protective custody for a while.”
“What?”
“Until Ryan is caught. I still have to believe he might try to come after you and your daughter.”
“My daughter and I aren’t going anywhere but home.”
“No, you’re not,” he insisted quietly. “Even if I have to arrest you, you are not going home.”
“Ed, you can’t force me to do this.”
“I can and I will.” He motioned behind her to someone standing close. Agent Sean Griffin, the rookie agent stepped forward. “Take her to where we discussed. I’ll have the others meet you there. Don’t let her out of your sight, Agent Griffin. It’s your responsibility if she gets away.”
“Ed, don’t you dare,” Kara told him even as Agent Griffin reached for her arm and pulled her along with him.
“Please, ma’am, just come with me.”
“Ed! Ed, you can’t do this!”
Ed turned away, ignoring her.
“Ma’am, please.”
Agent Griffin forced her toward the door but not before Kara managed to catch the attention of Geneva and Judy. They started forward and were met by two agents who prevented them from reaching her in time. Once outside the agent hurried her inside a black SUV and sped away toward the interstate before Kara could react.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, at last accepting her limitations. She couldn’t do anything about this at the moment.
“I can’t tell you that, ma’am.”
“Stop calling me ma’am and tell me where we are going.”
“Ma—Ms. Bryant. I have orders not to tell you anything. I’m afraid it’s classified.”
“If you don’t tell me where you’re taking me and my family right now, I’m going to scream and swear to whoever will listen to me that you’re attempting to kidnap me.”
He stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide if she might be serious. They exited the interstate and headed in the direction of Bolling Air Force Base. When the SUV stopped at a red light, Kara rolled the window down.
“All right,” Agent Griffin said in resignation. “We’re going to Maine. I’m taking you to Maine and that’s all I’m going to tell you.”
“Maine? What’s in Maine?”
But he ignored the question and Kara finally gave up. Agent Griffin had his orders. He would stop at nothing to perform them.
The SUV stopped at a section of the base that serviced the White House and non-military personnel. They would be flying to Maine.
“Just cooperate, okay?” Agent Griffin told her finally. “The sooner you do, the sooner this will all be over.”
The flight to Maine seemed endless. Kara tried to close her eyes and reach out to Davis. Something blocked his presence. But Ryan was there reaching out to her as always.
Once the flight arrived, another agent met them at the airport and drove them to a small cabin along the coast.
“Mommie! Mommie!” Ava ran out to meet her mother the second Kara stepped out of the car. Her grandmother and another agent stood close by.
“Mommie, Daddy’s dead, Daddy’s dead!” Her daughter wept inconsolably in her arms.
“Baby we don’t know that yet.” Kara couldn’t accept that he was gone either. She wouldn’t until she saw his body.
“It’s true.”
Kara lifted her distraught child into her arms and carried her inside. “Ava, don’t say that. We don’t know anything yet.”
“It’s true and you know it! I can’t feel him anymore, Mommie.”
“Baby, hush, you’ll make yourself sick if you keep this up.” Kara struggled to control her own tears. She couldn’t fall apart in front of Ava. There would be plenty of time for that after she’d comforted her daughter.
“I never got to know him. I just met him. It’s not fair!” For the rest of the evening, Ava wept despondently in her mother’s arms. When she finally slept, it was almost the
dawn of another day.
Once Ava was in bed, Kara could finally talk to her grandmother.
“Do you think she saw it, Gran?” Kara poured coffee into a cup and stood staring out the window. She felt as if she were going through the motions of living.
Maggie placed a hand on her granddaughter’s arm. “Of course she did, child. She has the gift after all.”
“I don’t ever want to hear that word again.” She didn’t have to look at Maggie to know her reaction. “It’s not a gift, Gran. It couldn’t be further from a gift and I won’t have Ava going through that.”
Maggie knew her granddaughter too well to respond.
“God, I don’t know what to do, Gran. I can’t imagine trying to explain how the father she just met could be taken from her so easily by someone he trusted. It’s so unfair.”
“Yes. But you are alive, child. And she will learn what a wonderful man he was from you. Kara, Davis knew his daughter before his death. He knew you would be there for her when he could not be. You and Ava are both strong. You’ll go on.”
“I don’t want to go on, Gran! I don’t want her having the gift. I want Davis!”
“I know, Kara but you can’t stop it. I know you’ve tried your whole life but it doesn’t work that way. Look at your mom. It destroyed her because she couldn’t make peace with it. You have to find a way to make peace with it, child. You have to accept it and learn to live with it. And so does Ava.”
“How can I accept it, Gran? Look what’s it’s done to our lives. It’s destroyed mine, Davis’s, and Ava’s. How can I accept it as a gift?”