A Killer's Prey

by M. J. Eason

  “You have to, child, otherwise it will tear you apart. You have so much anger inside you, Kara. You have to let it go, before it eats you up inside. Use the gifts you have, Kara. And learn to make peace with it.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Two days later, Ryan Anderson died. By the time the news broke over the major networks, Kara had known about his death for hours. Not through the Bureau but through the gift.

  Since her arrival at the cabin, Ava hadn’t let her out of her sight for a moment. She slept in Kara’s bed and spent each day quietly watching her mother. Maggie believed she just needed a little time and reassurances from Kara that she wouldn’t disappear from her life like her father had.

  Kara hadn’t felt Ryan in her thoughts or dreams then. But that final night, she sensed his presence in her dream in the most unusual way. This time there wasn’t any fear on her part. After all, she knew the Angel’s identity now. As she watched Ryan Anderson, she could feel his power growing weaker even as he reached out to her in the last moments of his life. She couldn’t see the person who shot him but in her heart, she wanted to believe, in some strange form of justice, it would be Davis.

  In that second before his final death, she witnessed the blackness of Ryan’s heart. He felt no remorse for his crimes. Only an immense feeling of superiority to those around him, including his victims.

  And then there was nothing.

  The next morning, Agent Griffin told Kara, she and Ava and Maggie would be going home to Texas in a few days.

  The news hit the airways early the following morning. Public outcry demanded another investigation be launched immediately as to why the Bureau had not been able to find out the true identity of one of its own. There would be hell to pay by many including Ed.

  But Kara couldn’t find justice in any of this. She just wanted to put the whole thing behind her once and for all and return to her sanctuary in El Paso to mourn the loss of the man she would always love.

  Agent Griffin escorted them on their flight from Maine to El Paso where Maggie would be staying with them for a while.

  He dropped their bags on the front porch of Kara’s house. Kara could tell there were many things he wanted to say to her. She couldn’t listen to them yet.

  “Kara, jeez, I don’t even know how to begin to say how bad I fee…”

  This was the first time he’d referred to her by her given name. She gave Sean a weak smile then turned to Maggie. “Gran why don’t you take Ava inside. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  She waited until they were out of sight before answering. “It’s okay, Sean.”

  “I should have seen something out of place. I mean, I was with the guy for months…”

  “You couldn’t have seen it, Sean, because he didn’t want you to see it. There was nothing you could have done.”

  He laughed bitterly before adding, “That doesn’t help though, does it. And it sure as hell doesn’t change anything.”

  “No, I guess you’re right. But you can’t blame yourself for this. There was nothing you could do to change what happened.”

  “Yeah? Then why do you blame yourself?”

  Kara couldn’t answer him. Couldn’t tell him that she was the closest to the Angel of any of them. She should have uncovered his identity before anyone. From around the corner of the house, Buster came charging toward them, excited to see his family once more.

  When he spotted Sean he stopped in mid-bound and let out a low growl.

  “That dog hates me,” Sean said in an attempt to make light of Buster’s reaction. But Kara could tell he wasn’t nearly as brave as he wanted her to believe.

  “He’s just protective of us.” Kara turned to Buster, “Buster…friend. Sean is our friend.”

  Buster crept slowly over and sniffed Sean’s hand, finally accepting his presence.

  “You won’t have to worry about him anymore. He’ll remember you,” she told Sean. “What will you do now?” She’d sensed that Sean was at a crossroads in his life.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go back to law school. I always wanted to be a lawyer.”

  “You’d make a great director someday. Don’t make any rash decisions. Give yourself time.”

  He studied her thoughtfully for a moment. “I will. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to stop by from time to time to check on you and Ava.”

  Kara nodded after a moment. Sean was a good man. “We’d like that.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek. “Take care of yourself.”

  She waited until he was out of sight before going inside the house that had once been her refuge. The place looked the same as when she’d left it and yet she could see Davis here everywhere. She wanted to cry, to be strong for Ava, to say goodbye to Davis in the only way she knew how.

  Once Ava was sleeping peacefully in her mother’s bed, Kara asked her grandmother to take Ava back to Austin for a few days.

  “It will do her good to be on the ranch with you, Gran. And I need to get over this. I’m no good to Ava this way.”

  “Kara, come with us. You don’t need to be here by yourself.”

  “Gran, I can’t. I know you’re worried about me but don’t be. I just need to get myself together. I can’t seem to let him go. I know he’s dead and yet I still feel him with me.”

  “Kara, don’t do this to yourself. You’re only getting your hopes up. He’s gone, honey.” Of course, Maggie would know what her granddaughter had planned.

  For someone with the gift, trying to reach out to the dead could have dangerous results. You never knew who might be out there reaching out to you. Would she find Davis or someone far worse than the Death Angel?

  “Gran, I know—at least, in my head I understand he’s gone but in my heart, I can’t let him go. I have to do this.”

  “You must do what you feel is right in your heart. But you’ll call me? The second it’s over, you’ll call?”

  “Of course,” she promised.

  Ava didn’t want to leave her mother but she did. Kara assured her daughter she would join her at the ranch in a little while and that they would go somewhere fun for a few days. They both could use a little fun in their lives. While Ava was afraid of losing her mother, Kara believed she understood what she was doing.

  After they were gone, the place grew quiet with just her and Buster. They went for their usual run but that day Kara pushed further. She stopped by the boutique for a little while to talk to Justine, who seemed happy to have life almost back to its normal boring pace for once.

  “I still can’t believe all those things that happened were real. God, Kara, I had no idea you had such a gift.”

  “I hate that I got you involved in this thing, Justine. I wouldn’t wish that type of nightmare on anyone.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be all right out there by yourself?” she asked when she spotted the sadness that seemed to cling to Kara since Davis’s death. “I could stay with you for a while?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. Maybe not for a while—but soon. I probably won’t come into the shop for a while, so you’re still in charge. Call me if you need anything.”

  By the time Kara returned home the desert surrounding her had grown dark. She and Buster went outside to the porch. Kara sat in her favorite chair, rocking. In the distance, the coyotes howled.

  She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat with her eyes closed before the world around her grew unearthly quiet and Buster began to freak at the silence. He sensed something close as he crouched nearby and growled in a low throaty tone that warned her something was near that Buster didn’t understand.

  And then she heard it—the sound of footsteps creaking boards of her porch. It sent Buster rushing out into the night in fear. But Kara remained calm.

  “Kara,” Davis stepped from the shadows into the single light from the stark yellow bulb.

  “What took you so damn long?” she asked quietly and heard him laugh. The sound of it fulfilled all of her longings.

  “I couldn’t come
sooner. I had something to take care of first. I needed to fulfill a promise I made to a young girl to clear her brother’s name. I couldn’t let the Bureau leave those murders at Frankie’s door.”

  “I know,” she told him quietly and understood his commitment.

  “Where are Ava and Maggie?”

  “In Austin. I sent Ava home with Gran today. She needed… I needed… Well, I’m not sure what I needed. I just couldn’t accept that you were gone.”

  “I know, love. We’ll go get her tomorrow. Tonight should be for us. I know you were hurting. But I couldn’t risk Ryan realizing he’d been set up. He was so close to you, Kara, reading your thoughts at all times. I couldn’t risk him finding out I was still alive until I found him. But Ryan chose the coward’s way out. Even in the end, he proved to be weak. Nothing more than a killer.”

  “Yes, I know that now. I saw his death.”

  “You did? I guess I should have known.”

  Kara nodded. “Is it over?” she asked quietly, not yet looking at him. Buster came reluctantly back to the porch, tail tucked between his legs. He sniffed Davis’s hand once then settled back into his spot next to Kara’s feet, apparently satisfied Davis was not the enemy. “Is it really over this time, Davis?”

  “Yes. It’s over and finished. I’ve finished it. It will never come back to haunt us. And I’m finished. I’ve left the Bureau. We can be together now, Kara.”

  “You promise? I won’t get Ava’s hopes up, Davis. She can’t lose you. I can’t lose you to the job again.”

  “There isn’t any job anymore. I’m done with it.”

  “And the investigation?”

  “I’m not part of that. But there will be lots of people looking for new jobs soon, including Ed.”

  “Good. The Bureau needs to do some housecleaning. You won’t go back, will you? You know they’ll come after you for Ed’s position. They’d be crazy not to.”

  “They already offered it to me. I turned them down. I told them no way. I’m finished with it.”

  “So what are you going to do to fill your days?” she asked, finally believing him. Kara got slowly to her feet and went into his open arms. He answered her with a kiss.

  “I’m going to be the father Ava needs me to be. I’m going to be the husband you deserve. I’m just going to be there for the people I should have been there for years ago.”

  “You’re not going to miss the excitement?” She smiled against his chest. “The thrill of the game?” Kara understood how powerful and exciting the chase could be.

  “The only excitement I need is what I find here with you,” he added and then lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed.

  ****

  “What went wrong, Davis? Why didn’t we know Ryan was the Angel all along?” She asked him quietly after he’d loved her and convinced her throughout the long night that he meant all those things he’d promised her about the future.

  “God, Kara, I wish I knew.” He kissed her temple then held her closer. The thought of Ryan still held the power to unnerve him. The enemy had been so close and yet he hadn’t seen the warning signs that were clearly there, looking back at them now.

  “I did some checking on his background before coming here. I had to know. Turns out, the people I believed were Ryan’s parents were actually his adopted family. He was a juvenile so his records were sealed, but there were the usual signs of violence from the beginning. Pets mutilated. Acts of cruelty toward other children. And get this. His adopted parents told me Ryan’s biological father murdered his mother. I saw the photos of the crime scene. It was identical to the Angel MO right down to the use of Hermès scarves and lilacs. And the Bible quote. I guess Ryan wasn’t the original Angel after all. The police suspected his father might be responsible for more deaths although he took his own life after he killed Ryan’s mother, so they’ll never know. Ryan was copying his father’s work. And another thing. Ryan had an IQ off the charts. Far greater than what we thought Frankie Stephens possessed. And there’s more.” He waited while she sat up in bed, wrapping the sheet around her body. “Turns out he framed Alec Harrison.”

  “He wasn’t involved in any of this, was he?” Kara had guessed the truth.

  “No. He taught at the academy recently but he wasn’t there during the time Frankie attended. And the missing instructor—James Young, well, Ryan lied about him as well. We were able to track him down easily enough. He still lives in the DC area. He wasn’t involved. Ryan was probably the one who forged Frankie’s IQ test. Unfortunately, we may never know what exactly triggered the killer in him or why he did these things. We found out the scarves were never accounted for when Ryan took them to the evidence storage facility last year. We managed to track where he purchased the lilacs online for each of murders. Get this, he used his father’s name.”

  “He wanted to be the best. I think it was as simple as that. He told me he wanted to be known as the greatest of all time and yet in the end, Ryan Anderson will go down in history as just another sick killer.”

  She went back into his arms searching his expression. Since his return and even after countless reassurances she still believed this would all prove to be part of a dream.

  “Davis, I don’t want to talk about Ryan or the Death Angel anymore. Let’s just promise each other we’ll let that part of our life go, okay?”

  He took her face in his hands and kissed her until she believed.

  “So, what are you planning to do for a living, Davis Martin? There aren’t too many jobs available in El Paso for former FBI agents.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’ll think of something. Maybe they need a sheriff out here on the reservation. Or maybe I can just write about all the terrible things I’ve seen in the past,” he said and then smiled at her reaction.

  “Well, you have to admit, it would make one hell of a story, right down to the part where the hero saves the day and ends up in the heroine’s bed. Kind of like right now.”

  She laughed at the expression in his eyes as Davis turned out the lights once more and reached for her. The woman of his dreams.

  A word about the author…

  MJ Eason grew up in a small Texas town famous for, well, not much of anything. Making up stories seems to come naturally to her. As a pre-teen, MJ discovered romance novels and knew instinctively that was what she wanted to do with her overactive imagination. She wrote her first novel as a teen but never really pursued her writing career seriously until a few years later. Today, MJ still lives in Texas and writes about romance. In fact, she can’t think of anything else she’d rather do.

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