Where Secrets Lie

by R E Gauthier

  ***

  “What are we going to do?” Nikki asked softly.

  Looking at the closed bathroom door and hearing the shower turn on, Kelsey answered, “I’m not sure what our next move will be to catch Paul, but I do know we cannot let Ashley go back home. I’m not going to let him finish the job with her. I’m not letting what happened to Jeanette happen to Ashley.”

  Nikki looked like she was thinking. “We could keep her with us, but then what? Washburg will want to make his next move, and she won’t be there. We can post people at her place, but if she’s not there how are we going to catch him?

  “I’ve been thinking about that. We could put a decoy in her place. That way we’ll protect Ashley and can take Paul down when he comes to finish what he’s started.”

  “We’ll need someone who can look like Ashley. Who do we know that could do that?”

  A knock at the door interrupted Kelsey’s reply. She walked over and looked through the peephole in the door. Seeing Deborah Norman standing on the other side of the door, she knew her answer. “I think the answer to your question has just arrived.” Opening the door, she said, “come in Agent Norman, we were just talking about you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Village Inn Motel, Holt, Afternoon, March 13, 2012

  “Mack, are you sure this is a good idea?”

  Kelsey didn’t know how good of an idea it was, but it was the only thing she could think of that may give them the upper hand with Paul Washburg. This way they could protect Ashley Foster and still draw Washburg out to finish his plan to kill Ashley. When Deborah Norman arrived earlier, Ashley came out of the bathroom. Kelsey introduced the two women and then asked Deb to take Ashley to the room next to them. Nikki had booked another room because their room wasn’t big enough for four women to share. “What other idea do we have? Washburg is going to know something is up if we keep Ashley here with us and she isn’t going back home. Ashley said Kyle hasn’t called and spoke to her over the phone for the last two weeks; we know it’s because Kyle is dead and Paul doesn’t want Ashley to suspect anything. Kyle texted Ashley a few times; we can use that to our advantage as well. Paul doesn’t want to tip his hand, so he texts Ashley. We’ll have Deb impersonate Ashley and text Paul.”

  “But what if he suspects something?”

  “We’ll have Deb text him that she went to visit a friend and now, she’s home. We’ll have her say she wants to talk. He’ll think she’s being needy and plays into his ego.”

  Nikki frowned. “I’m not sure Deb can handle this. It’ll be her first undercover job, and it’s a dangerous one.”

  “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself. And it won’t be my first undercover assignment. I went undercover on a few Narcotic Unit cases while I was a detective.” Deb had quietly appeared inside the room behind Nikki.

  Kelsey chuckled. “She’s also very stealthy,” she winked at the smiling blonde. “Besides, we don’t have another option, Nikki.”

  Deb ducked her head. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear every word; these walls are paper-thin.”

  Nikki turned and put her hands on her hips. “Where is Ashley? We cannot have her wandering off and someone seeing her.”

  “She fell asleep a while ago. I’ve been sitting there watching her sleep, trying not to wake her. The poor woman looks exhausted.”

  “Ashley hasn’t been able to sleep since her boyfriend raped her the other night.” Kelsey lowered her voice to make sure Ashley wouldn’t overhear. “We need to explain a few things to you. We’ll need you to get up-to-speed on this case as quickly as you can.”

  “As I said, I became an FBI to catch the people I couldn’t while I was a detective. I’m ready to take on anything you want me to do. What is this about impersonating Ashley? You want to trap this boyfriend of hers?”

  Nikki held up her hands. “I think you need to read what we have so far on this case before you agree to this assignment. It will be dangerous. Our suspect is a rapist and a killer; he’s responsible for raping six women, killing five of them, and attempting to kill one, twice. He also killed seven, possibly, eight men.”

  Kelsey gestured to Deb to come further into the room. “Nikki’s right, you should read the file first and get an idea of what you’ll be involving yourself with this case. This man is dangerous, and we’ve had a hell of a time trying to catch him. We get one step ahead of him, only for him to evade us once again.”

  “Is this the Chameleon case?” Deb inquired as she took the file, Kelsey offered her.

  Kelsey shook her head. She hated when the press gave their cases cute little names. There had been a leak to the media that Robert Smith had died in the fire and may have been responsible for the deaths of five women and seven men in Washington D. C. “The press may have given this case that name, but rest assured this is no simple case with a cute name, and it’s far from resolved.”

  “I thought the case was solved when Robert Smith and Angela Backman were found dead in that storage unit. It was full of the masks and items from the dead men. The forensics all supported the fact that Robert Smith killed the seven men, and raped and murder the five women and raped and attempted to kill Jeanette Willsgate. He used masks to impersonate the dead men. That’s why the press called him the Chameleon.”

  “What the press didn’t know was that Robert Smith had most likely, died five years ago and was kept under cold storage in a chest freezer found in the storage unit. Angela Backman’s death was no accident either; our suspect killed her before he dumped Robert Smith’s body on top of hers and set an explosion. In the middle of the chaos, the real killer got away.”

  “Who is our suspect?”

  “Paul Washburg.” Kelsey and Nikki said at the same time.

  “The man who was presumed dead for over five years? But how could that be?”

  Kelsey indicated to the file Deb held in her hands. “Go read the file and keep an eye on Ashley. Nikki and I will go over our plan and when you’re up-to-speed, come and tell us if you still want in.”

  Deb nodded and exited the room with the file.

  In a hushed tone, Nikki said, “I’m still not so sure she’s ready for this. I mean some undercover cases with narcotics aren’t the same as a life or death one involving a serial rapist and killer.”

  “Nikki, I think we have to give her the chance to prove herself. I’m sure she can handle herself. What alternative do we have?”

  “I’m about Ashley’s build; I could do it with a wig.”

  “I’m going to need you to do more deep-diving into Kyle Nolan’s life. If we want to nail Paul Washburg, we need to build a case of murder against him. To do that, we need to prove Kyle is dead and then that Paul Washburg killed him. We’re not going to rely on catching him in the act of attempting to kill Deb; we need to build a solid case to put him away for a long time.”

  Nikki whispered, “but what if Deb isn’t ready for this? We cannot make a mistake. We need to catch Washburg before he kills again.”

  “That’s where the other part of my plan comes into play. If Washburg doesn’t act on his next move soon, we’ll have Torres’s private investigator friends in New York close in on Nancy Washburg and take her from the senior home.”

  “But we haven’t even determined if Nancy Washburg is in New York yet. If we do and we launch this scheme of yours, how will that help us? We did it before, and it only angered him.” Nikki paused and smiled. “Oh, you aim to make him make a mistake or step up his plan. Don’t you think it could tip him off to us being onto him?”

  “I’m sure Washburg has no idea we’re looking for his mother. Torres was certain her friends would find where he stashed his mother. Paul Washburg won’t miss a chance to contact me, and when he does, we can play into his hands. We’ll make him believe we don’t have anything on him, when he comes looking for his mother, we’ll have what we need to arrest him for murder.”

  “Your plan hinges on a whole lot of ‘if’s’ and ‘maybe’s
.’ Do you have a plan B?”

  “No, I don’t, because I know that Paul Washburg moved here and went right to work finding a woman, stalking her and killing her boyfriend before he assumed his identity. He didn’t expect that Kyle’s parents would report him missing so quickly. He thought he had more time to put his plan into action, but he doesn’t. So, if he wants to finish what he started, he’ll be making his move sooner than he’d like. Acting quicker is bound to cause him to make mistakes, and then we’ll have him.”

  “Do you think he used the same means to find Ashley as he did in the other cases?”

  Kelsey had thought about that possibility since they arrived in Lansing. Paul Washburg had a relationship with a man who worked at the Rape Crisis Center in D. C. He had used that man to gain access to call records from young rape victims. Spending five years, Paul Washburg had planned for his victims and methodically stalked and raped them; blaming their dead boyfriends before he killed the women, making it look like they had committed suicide. This time, Washburg wasn’t wasting time on planning, he also wouldn’t have had time to find a person he could manipulate to give him information on potential women rape victims. “I think he may have had to step up his game and get his hands dirty. That’s where your tech-savvy skills come into play; I need you to hack into the local Rape Crisis Center and find out if Paul Washburg may have found a job working there. My theory is: he works at the center as a counselor, and if so, then we can follow his steps when he first arrived here.”

  “Then by us investigating Kyle’s murder, we can find his body.”

  “Yes, and when we find his body, we can look for clues that Washburg may have left behind…clues that would prove he killed Kyle Nolan.” Kelsey finished Nikki’s train of thought.

  “Do you think working faster this time around means he wouldn’t have taken the same precautions?”

  “I’m relying on Paul Washburg’s enormous ego, that he cannot resist leaving something behind to lead us to him. Narcissists, like him, want to draw attention to themselves, he’ll think we’ll be running around trying to find him, but we’ll have him, right where we want him. He’ll think he has time to leave Lansing before we get notified about Ashley’s death. We’ll be right here, find Kyle’s body, and then we either wait for his move on Ashley, or we’ll grab his mother. Either way, when he plays his hand, we’ll be here to get him.”

  Nikki smiled and rocked back on her heels. “I better get right on hacking the local rape centers.”

  “And I’ll call Torres to see if she’s heard from her PI buddies in New York. We need to find Nancy Washburg for my plan to work.”

  “Maybe we should have Torres go to New York herself to make sure we can locate Washburg’s mother as quickly as possible.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you read my mind.” Kelsey winked.

  “No, I don’t need to read your mind. I know you so well, Mack.”

  “I also know you and before you look into the rape center, go over and check on Deb. Your thoughts keep coming back to her, and you’re not going to be able to focus until you find out how she’s doing.”

  Nikki’s face reddened into a deep blush. “No, fair. But I’m wondering what is taking her so long. The file isn’t all that long. Do you think she may have changed her mind?”

  Kelsey smiled, she saw what Deb thought of Nikki and what Nikki thought of Deborah Norman. For the first time since she met Nikki, she would be able to watch her best friend squirm under the attention of a woman, who knew what she wanted and knew how to get it. Nikki had no idea how formidable the petite, blonde Deborah Norman could be. “Go over there and find out. I’ll call Torres and then check in with Miranda to see how she and Nanna are doing.”

  Nikki straightened and left the room.

  Kelsey watched and listened as Nikki knocked lightly on the door to the next room. She could feel the apprehension and excitement emanating from the redhead as she waited for Deb to open the door. Poor Nikki had no idea what was in store for her.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Village Inn Motel, Holt, Late Evening, March 13, 2012

  Nikki and Kelsey explained to Ashley the danger she was in and convinced her to let them protect her from Kyle. They didn’t think it was time to tell her that Kyle was most likely dead and a madman had assumed his identity to rape and kill her. The young woman’s mental state was frail enough without adding to her stress. Deb and Nikki went to buy a wig that closely matched Ashley’s hairstyle. They planned to look for clothes that matched Ashley’s and buy some clothes and toiletries for Ashley, for her stay at the motel. Ashley was locked in the room, next door, watching a movie. Kelsey could hear the music playing and the talking of a man and woman telling each other they loved one another; it was apparent, Ashley liked romantic movies.

  While she was alone, Kelsey called Miranda to check on how she and Nanna were doing. Miranda explained that Nanna left a few hours ago to stay at Lynn and Rory’s place for a few days.

  “So, you have the house all to yourself. I wish I were there with you instead of here sharing a couple of motel rooms with three other women.”

  Miranda snorted. “If I were not so confident in your love for me, I’d be threatened. Why are three women there with you now? Torres arrived and who else is there with you?”

  “No, Torres hasn’t arrived yet, she’s still en route; she decided to make a few stops on her way from D. C., so she’s driving. We have a woman who needs protection, and we hired a new member for our unit.”

  “Are there no safehouses in the area for the woman to stay? I’m not jealous, but it cannot be easy running an investigation while babysitting a woman. Tell me about this new member of your unit; is she pretty?”

  Kelsey chuckled. “We hoped not to have the woman here long. If all goes well, we’ll be arresting this bastard and back home in a few days. As for our new member, I thought you weren’t jealous.”

  “I’m not. I’m only asking because I’m thinking about Nikki. I know how lonely she is since Jess; If this woman is pretty, she could be a distraction for Nikki.”

  Kelsey laughed heartily. Miranda was always romantic. “You can stop thinking about a way to hook Nikki up. I have already warned Nikki about causing drama in the unit by getting romantically involved with Deb.”

  “You haven’t answered the question; is Deb pretty?”

  Smiling and thinking about the tension between Deb and Nikki before they left earlier, Kelsey said, “Oh yeah she’s a knockout. I mean not like you’re beautiful, but she’s Nikki’s type. The two of them are in for a bumpy ride. I’ve warned Deb about my concerns with working in the unit and my zero tolerance for fraternizing with unit members. I give it a few days, and those two will either explode or break my rules.”

  “Speaking about exploding, how are you doing? I miss you.”

  Feeling the familiar rush of pleasurable tingles twirling through her middle, Kelsey frowned. She heard the tremble in Miranda’s voice. “You’re not playing fair. I miss you too. Knowing you’re there all alone. Makes me want to get the next flight out of here to spend the night in your arms.”

  Miranda moaned. “Are you alone? We could do something that could help you feel better. There is a fun thing called phone sex; have you heard of it?”

  The tendrils of pleasure spread out further to curl around Kelsey’s belly and move upwards. “I am alone. Nikki and Deb are out shopping and won’t be back for another hour or so. Phone sex, how does that work? How will talking about sex, help me feel better? I can only imagine being more frustrated than I am right now. Will we have the time?”

  Miranda giggled.

  The sound made Kelsey’s toes curl.

  “It will depend on how much tension you have built up inside since you left home.”

  “How will it affect the time frame?”

  “The more tension, the shorter the time frame.”

  “Well, in that case; it won’t take long. How do we start?”

&nb
sp; Miranda explained how Kelsey needed to lie down on the bed and get comfortable.

  Kelsey took off her boots and lay down on the bed; stretching out her long legs. “I’m lying in bed, and I’m as comfortable as I can be.

  “Okay, I want to get you in the mood. Imagine me lying on our bed with your favorite sexy underwear on.”

  Kelsey closed her eyes and saw the red bra, panties and garter belt hugging Miranda’s succulent curves and edges. Her fiancée’s silky, black stockings covered her legs. Those luscious limbs bent at the knees. “Mmmm, okay I think I can do that.”

  “This may help; open the attachment I just sent you.”

  Kelsey tapped the attachment icon and a photo of Miranda wearing the exact red underwear, lying on their bed. The mischievous look in Miranda’s eyes caused a stab of heat and Kelsey drew in a sharp breath. “Oh my, how did you do that?”

  “I know what you like and how you would be thinking about me.”

  “You had this planned all along.”

  Miranda giggled. “I knew you would be calling me because you said you would. I had hoped you’d be alone and that we could have some time for us.”

  “What did I do to deserve you?”

  “I’ve no idea, but right now I want you here with me. I’m lying in our bed imagining your fingers are playing with the straps on my bra.”

  Kelsey’s mind filled with erotic images. Closing her eyes, she imagined the feel of the silky material between her fingers. She could almost smell the distinct odor that she recognized as Miranda’s; lilac mixed with vanilla permeated the air. Taking a deep breath, Kelsey could also make out the warm scent of Miranda’s arousal. Licking her lips, Kelsey moaned and asked, “did you just come out of the shower? I can smell your soap and shampoo.”