by Rick Murcer
Manny wondered what Louise would have thought of their baby girl. Really, he knew, though. Her puffed-out chest would have given her away.
Jen Williams released Manny and then hugged him again before holding him at arm’s length.
“Be careful, Old Man, we’ve got Tiger tickets in a couple of weeks, you know.”
“I know. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Besides, they cost me an arm and a leg.”
“Yeah, I appreciate that. But where else can you see hot men dressed in tight white uniforms running around and bending over like that?”
He shook his head. Her mother’s child indeed.
“You finish up your senior project, and we’ll go over it when I get back.”
She saluted smartly. “Aye, aye, mon capitaine.”
Pulling her hands into his, they stood face to face. “And, Jen. No matter what’s going on, you can call me if you need to, right?”
Her eyes softened as she tilted her head and gave him a loving look. “I know, Dad, I know. I’m all right, though. I really am.”
“Yep. You are, but don’t forget to make me feel important, if you have the urge.”
“Yeah, you old people need to feel wanted. Come on, dog.”
One more hug, and she was off down the hallway toward her room with Sampson, their over-sized black lab and self-proclaimed protector of the realm.
Sampson stopped, looked back at Manny, and returned to rise up and lick his face, then rambled down the hall after Jen.
“Thanks for the kiss, Big Dog, I think,” he said.
“She’s a fine lass, Manny. She’s as strong as they come, don’t ya know.”
Haley Rose, her green eyes as bright as he’d seen in weeks, leaned against the door casing between the kitchen and living room, stroking the ends of her red hair. The last month had taken a toll on her, and there were a few more stress lines around her eyes these days, but she was still a beautiful woman, even in her early fifties.
“She is, and thank God.”
Stepping past his suitcase, he stood near his mother-in-law. “Almost as tough as her granny.”
Smiling, Haley Rose touched Manny’s face. “It’s kind of ya to say so, Manny Williams. I just wish that toughness had not needed to be tested the way t’was.”
“That’s two of us, but we don’t always get to make that call. And you three are here because of it.”
She nodded. “True words ya say. Travel safely, and I promise ya some of my famous shepherd’s pie when ya get home.”
“Now, that’s worth coming home for,” he said with a wink.
Haley Rose pecked him on the cheek and then followed Jen’s path to her own room. Her old swagger was on the way back, but it would take its time, he suspected.
“Boo!”
Turning in the other direction, he was met with a small round face inches from his own, thanks to his mother’s outstretched hands. Ian possessed his mother’s red hair, not his father’s blond, but Ian had his dad’s blue eyes. The combination was going to break a few hearts someday.
“Ohh. Got me,” said Manny, jumping back.
Ian broke out in melodic laughter. The kind that melts any parent’s heart and sticks with you hours later when you smile simply to think about it.
He took Ian from Chloe’s arms, hugged him, and whispered how much he loved him . . . just before the tickle session broke loose.
After another round of laughing, he handed his son back to Chloe.
“Keep him revved up for me. Something tells me I’m going to need to hear that laugh.”
“I think that’s true, Manny Williams. That and a little close, personal contact from yer wife, I suspect.” She reached up with one hand and pulled him to her soft lips.
Never, never would he tire of her kisses. Then there was the whole ever-present electrical charge that hailed from her touch. It had always been that way, and he prayed it would never stop.
The sensuality of her touch seemed to be magnified one hundred times over when they made love, like early this morning. She was able to awaken things in him that he feared had been lost when Louise had died.
The woman seemed born to bring out pleasure in him, and it made him want to find all of her switches as well. So far so good.
Their intimacy was more than that, however. Their time alone doubled as a sanctuary away from the worlds where they both lived, helping to balance the family world against the evil that would corrupt.
Chloe seemed to read his thoughts and reached down to squeeze his butt cheek. “I, too, have got a little promise or two to keep when you get home, man. We need more practice.”
“Why yes you do. I’ll be collecting too. Right after the shepherd’s pie.”
She ran her hand over his arm. “You’ll have to figure out which one’s hotter and better for you now, won’t you?”
“No brainer,” he said. “That shepherd’s pie is to die for.”
She hit him on the arm. “See how sleeping with pie does ya.”
“Great point.”
He kissed her and Ian again.
“You watch your back, Manny Williams. I love you, and I’ll see you when you return.”
He almost frowned. Almost gave away some of the dark thoughts, intuitions really, that he harbored regarding this case. He’d had some of those same feelings a time or two in the past when heading out to work a case. He supposed that was normal for cops who walked in the world where Manny and the BAU did.
In fact, it would probably indicate that something was wrong with him if he didn’t feel a quota of paranoia or dread regarding his fate, and the fate of those who worked with him. They weren’t exactly dealing with shoplifters and politicians.
He shook it off for the moment. There was more than one profiler in the Williams family, and he didn’t want to incite more concern with Chloe.
“I can’t wait,” he said, smiling.
He kissed her full lips again and headed out the door, his scarred travel case in hand.
Usually Sophie would have picked him up, but Dean and his enigmatic friend had a couple of last minute errands to run and were going to meet him at the Capitol City Airport—with bows in her hair and a short mini skirt, she’d told him.
That made him smile as he climbed into the FBI’s black SUV.
She just might do it.
Leaving the subdivision, he headed north, leaving his family behind once again. That was torture enough.
The thing he didn’t leave behind was the sense of pending doom. As the darkness of the morning grew toward dawn, his feelings of apprehension grew more profound with each passing street light.
What the hell is wrong with you, Williams? You feel like a frightened school girl.
Maybe it was the whole thing with Chloe and Ian’s attacker. That shitty incident had heightened his emotions, no question, and probably increased his sense of insecurity.
He sighed. “That’s it, diagnose yourself and then prescribe the cure. Physician, heal thyself,” he said out loud.
Back to focusing on the case. He’d have plenty of time for self-analysis later.
Flipping on the radio, the sudden blare of heavy metal guitars and unintelligible screaming caused his heart to skip a beat. He yanked the volume dial to the left, shaking his head.
Sophie.
She knew he didn’t care for this type of music and certainly not at full volume.
She’d pranked him, again.
There had been the IcyHot gel in his underwear. Rubber snakes in his suitcase. And even shaving cream in his stocking cap last winter, among others. Not one time had he retaliated and dropped down to her level. Up until this minute, he thought acknowledging her little shenanigans would only encourage her and eventually she’d stop.
So much for that logic.
“Paybacks, Lee. It’s time,” he said.
Finding something far more to his liking, the smooth sounds of Boney James and his sax filled the SUV as he began his compartmental ritual. There cou
ld be few distractions on this case. He suspected they couldn’t afford to miss a beat. Not one.
Manny turned west on 496 and slowly brought his concentration toward the Miami killer and his heinous actions. He’d not seen the crime scene photos yet, so he did an inventory on what he knew about killers who named themselves.
They were ultra-organized, leaving little to chance regarding the possibility of being caught, which demonstrated a fallacy regarding the theory that most serial killers wanted to be captured. Spending the rest of their lives in prison or getting a lethal injection or a hot chair wasn’t on serial killers’ agendas, ever.
Killers like this one usually stalked their victims, took them to a second location for the kill, and, most times, found a third location to dispose of the bodies in an effort to confuse the police further. Three potential crime scenes were far more difficult to locate and forensically process than one.
This killer hadn’t gone to step three, however. He’d killed and left the victims in the same area. And, according to Josh, had seemingly brought and left behind his own knives.
Manny scowled, his stomach doing one of those fluttery circles. It wasn’t typical to leave the bodies where Valentino had, but to abandon his killing instrument of choice . . . that was almost unheard of. In fact, Manny couldn’t recall running across that situation before, and he’d been doing this for years. Dahmer had been caught with his saws and knives in his apartment, but he hadn’t left them on display for the Milwaukee police to find.
Valentino leaving his weapons was a dangerous move. In this day and age of forensic science and procedures, that act alone could get him caught. So, why? Manny would normally think of it as a throw-it-in-your-face kind of thing, but he wasn’t sure, at least until he had more information. Still, it didn’t feel right.
Reaching the airport, Manny drove into long-term parking and turned off the engine.
Valentino was arrogant and confident, no question about that. The act of naming himself was clearly a narcissistic move.
Getting out of the vehicle, he grabbed the roll of antacids from the dash—he was going to need them—and headed for the tarmac and the FBI’s Gulf Stream V.
He shifted his travel bag to the other hand, his mind racing.
There was at least one more thing he knew about serial killers who named themselves, as rare as that act was. Usually it was the press who did that sort of thing, believing themselves to be clever.
Killers like Valentino didn’t stop until they were caught. If they were caught at all.
CHAPTER-6
“Hey, Williams, how did you like that music? I couldn’t turn it up any louder, but you know, those SUVs have great sound systems.”
Entering the jet, Manny acted as if he hadn’t heard Sophie. He opened the portside closet, put his bag inside, and then headed for the seat facing her.
“Williams? Are you listening? Did you hear my ass?”
He continued to ignore her, careful not to look at her face as he played with the seatbelt.
She reached over and touched his arm, a trace of frustration now creeping into her voice and body language.
Feigning to be startled, he put his hand to his chest as he stared at her, then looked relieved as if first noticing Sophie.
“Sorry. I can’t hear anything. Someone left the radio on full-bore in my truck, and I’ve not been able to hear much since then. I went to the emergency room, and the doctor thinks I might have a condition called NIHL. Noise-induced hearing loss.”
Sophie’s frustration morphed into a guarded concern.
“Bullshit, Williams. That can’t happen.”
“What? Say that again, slower. I have to read your lips.”
“I. Said. Bullshit. That. Can’t Happen,” she repeated, becoming louder and slower in her speech pattern as her alarm grew.
“I said that too,” he said, getting louder himself. “But apparently I had a preexisting condition, and all of the flying and gun training and whatever has weakened my ear structure. He said that it happens and people don’t even know it, then bam, some one-time loud noise could deafen someone. Maybe for good.”
Dean leaned forward from his seat beside Sophie, stroking his beard, his dark eyes alive. “I’ve heard of that. I actually had a case in LA that revolved around that same thing. If noise grows above eighty-five decibels, it can begin to affect our hearing. If it gets to, like, one-twenty to, like, one-fifty, people with a weakened hearing system can lose their hearing in one or both ears.”
Even though there remained a tiny thread of doubt on Sophie’s face, having her husband corroborate Manny’s story seemed to be driving her closer to the edge of belief.
“Are you kidding? How come I’ve never heard of that?” she asked, her voice even louder.
Manny shouted back, “I hadn’t either, but it’s real. I just wish I knew who screwed up and left the music up so loud.”
He watched her eyes dart back and forth. He knew her wheels were turning and could guess what was coming next.
Confession was always good for the soul.
She got out of her seat and turned away from him, speaking softly in an obvious attempt to get him to trip up. “I think you’re jerking my chain. You know I turned that music up, don’t you?”
Manny glanced at Dean and shrugged his shoulders. “Did she say something?”
“I think so, but I didn’t quite catch it. Watch my lips closely. Are you really still going to Miami?”
Manny answered with all of the slow speech and high volume he could muster. “Yes. I’m still going. The doc said the flight won’t bother me, but if my hearing doesn’t come back in a few days, I’m to come home immediately. They might have to do some surgical procedure to restore at least some of my hearing.”
Manny waited, embracing the pregnant silence and enjoying the sweat, literal and figurative, that his partner was boiling in.
It didn’t take long.
Sophie spun around, grabbed Manny’s face with both hands, true anguish on her face, her eyes glistening. “This is my fault. I’m sorry. It was just a prank. I didn’t mean to cause this. Damn it. I was just playing around.”
“Cause what? What the hell did you do this time, Lee?”
Manny freed himself from Sophie’s grip and turned to see Josh Corner entering the jet with Belle Simmons right behind him.
“Hey, Josh. Good to see you two. Oh, she was dinking around again, and I thought it time to reverse the tables and enjoy a little payback, teach her a lesson.”
Sophie stood up straight, her hands on her hips, moving from remorse to pissy in two seconds flat. Her eyes began twitching as she looked from Manny to Dean, then to Josh and Belle. Then back to Manny and Dean.
“I’m not sure which one of you to kill first. Or how. But it’s going to hurt like hell. I’m going to make it last for days. And I’m going to do it wearing leather and using a whip.”
“Oh, that’s far too much information for me, Sophie,” said Manny, laughing.
“That wasn’t for you, big boy that was for my loving husband. I want him to see what he can’t touch, ever again. All the while, I’ll be pulling his beard out one hair at a time. Maybe his pubes too.”
“Ouch,” said Josh.
Bending back down to within an inch of Manny’s face, squeezing again. “As for you, Guardian of the Universe. I’m going to . . . to remember that one. That was pretty good, once I got over the shock. You got me, boy. But—”
“But what? You can’t stand not having the last laugh so I need to watch my ass, right?”
“Yep. You’re even smarter than I thought, for a blond, blue-eyed, over-forty cop who should be looking at rocking chairs instead of chasing serial killers and shit.”
“I don’t think you should keep your feelings inside. I think you should let them out,” said Manny, straight faced.
“Funny.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “Just know mama’s coming for you, and it won’t be pretty.”
“I bet it won’t. I can’t wait to see what’s next. But right now we have to get our fannies in motion.” said Josh, his cobalt blue eyes bright.
Manny rose from his chair and shook Josh’s hand. “Great to see you.”
“You too.”
He then gave Belle a hug and stepped back. “You ready for this one? It’s not like we’re on Cozumel or anything.”
Belle’s laugh was genuine, adding to the setting of the jet’s cabin.
“True enough, Manny. Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, I can’t wait to help bring this one down.”
The frown came and went from her pretty face, causing Manny’s mood to darken some. Belle was a talented profiler who had seen a few things, especially in light of her work as a forensic tech and detective in DC. Her sudden change in mood indicated to him that she was already feeling the weight of the case.
“So you’ve seen the crime scene reports and photos?” he asked.
“Sort of. Josh wanted to wait until we could all look at them together. I respect that. But I just had to take a quick trip through both files on the way up here this morning to see if I could pick up anything right off the bat.”
“I get that. I couldn’t have waited for an hour and half flight either. So, did you see anything?”
“Yes, I did. I made a couple of notes, but that’s for later,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to hearing what you saw.”
“Yeah, let’s do that when we get airborne, my favorite part of this job,” said Sophie. She then hugged Josh and Belle, Dean following right behind her, making the reuniting of the BAU complete.
While watching the group’s interaction with each other, Manny was struck with how much they leaned on each other. Not simply in the professional sense, although that was true, but in the emotional arena. What they did, what they saw collectively, reflected the bizarre of the bizarre, the darkest reaches of the human condition. Their job consequently showed them places most humans need not see, not even on the boob tube.
God knew, at times, they all needed a hand to pull them out of those terrible places. He couldn’t think of anyone better to make that happen than these people.