by R E Gauthier
“What the…Washburg sent you this, but how?”
Kelsey shook her head. “He’s been stalking me while we have been looking for him. All this time that I’ve been unable to sense him, he’s been right under my nose. He said if we don’t stop our investigation and let Nancy Washburg go, he will go after Nanna and Miranda.”
“He said that? He threatened you over the phone; we can use this.”
“He implied, he inferred, but he never said anything incriminating. I need to arrange to put Miranda and Nanna into protective custody until we can catch this bastard. How soon can we get to Pittsburgh?”
“There is a charter flight awaiting us at the airport. What’s the plan once we land?”
“You drive, and I’m going to make some calls. I need to make sure Miranda and Nanna are somewhere safe as soon as possible. If was close enough to take this picture, he’ll know where to look for them. He gave me twenty-four hours and then he’ll make his move.”
Torres came to stand beside Nikki. “We can set up a trap to catch him. When he makes a move on the house, we can be there to catch him.”
“He won’t let us catch him in a trap. If we’ve learned anything from our experience here, he’s several steps ahead of us.” Kelsey racked her hands through her hair.
“But how? How did he find out what we were doing?” Deb asked.
“I can’t tell you because if I could, we wouldn’t be standing here with an idiot impersonating Paul Washburg, impersonating Kyle Nolan. I need you and Torres to stay here while Nikki and I go back to Pittsburgh. Gather all evidence you can, bag and tag everything we can use to find evidence that Washburg touched anything.”
Torres and Deb nodded.
“Let me know if there is anything else, I can do,” Torres said as she squeezed Kelsey’s hand.
Nikki smiled stiffly. “Mack, we’ll get him. He showed his hand this time, and we’re not about to let him beat us again.”
“Don’t make a promise you cannot keep Nikki. Let’s go, we have twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes, and I’m not wasting any more time.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Driving to Lansing Airport, Mid-Day, March 16, 2012
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Nikki hoped that her best friend could keep it together. Mack had experienced this sort of stress many times over the years but never when it was her loved ones. In Baltimore, Nikki witnessed Mack hold it together to rescue Miranda but then saw the fallout of that day. Months later when Mack thought Robert Smith had taken Miranda and she may have lost her forever, Nikki saw the toll it took on her usual stoic partner. Today, Nikki saw a different Kelsey MacGregor. Along with the steely determination, and unwavering focus, she also saw a disconnection in Mack’s eyes. That look had never been there before.
Driving to the airport, Nikki gave Mack time to make phone calls. She remained silent because she didn’t know what she could say to help or assuage the worry she knew was buried inside the shell Mack had formed around herself. Over the years, Mack had been able to keep her emotions out of her investigations, making her one of the best agents the FBI had. Nikki saw what emotional turmoil had done to the Kelsey MacGregor she knew and loved; she wasn’t about to see that happen again. I need to reach her and keep her with me this time. “Mack, how are the plans coming?”
Mack glanced her way and then turned back to her notebook. “I have two women police officers going to Mitch’s house to collect Nanna and Miranda and take them to the police station in Canonsburg. I have two agents from the Pittsburgh FBI field office going to the police station to pick them up to take them somewhere safe. I need to find somewhere safe.”
From the corner of her eye, Nikki saw Mack bite down on her lower lip and her eyes darted from Nikki to the road. The fidgeting hands and the tension she saw in Mack’s shoulders made Nikki frown. Mack was showing signs of something foreign settling in; that something was desperation. “What sort of place are we looking for Miranda and Nanna to go? Nikki hoped she could get Mack back to where her mind would focus on a solution to the problem and not how difficult it was to solve.
“We need a place where Miranda and Nanna can go that Washburg won’t think of looking. It has to be far enough away, that if he goes looking, he won’t find them easily. I don’t want them held in some FBI safe house or seedy motel.”
“Call Torres, she may know somewhere, or if not, she should know someone who will know of a place.”
***
Nikki had been right; Torres had the perfect place for Miranda and Nanna to go to be safe from Washburg. Kelsey asked Torres to call the Pittsburgh FBI field office and speak to Special Agent in Charge Boswell to arrange the women agents to take Miranda and Nanna to the designated safe location. Kelsey didn’t want to know or arrange anything in case Washburg could track them through her; Torres would handle all of the arrangements.
“I saw a small smile; was Torres any help?”
Nodding, Kelsey said, “yes, thank you Nikki; Torres is handling the specifics. I’m going to have to call and explain everything to Miranda and Nanna without telling them anything.”
“I don’t envy you. We’ll be at the airport in five minutes; you’ll have another ten before we’re in the air. At least you’ll have an excuse to cut it short if they’re unrelenting.”
Drawing in a deep breath and closing her eyes, Kelsey tapped the icon for Kenny’s landline. Her oldest brother answered the phone. “Sis, what is going on?”
Kenny’s hushed tone told Kelsey he didn’t want anyone to hear him talking to her. “I cannot talk long Kenny; I need to talk to Miranda; can you put her on the phone?”
“She told me it was a gas leak, but I didn’t smell gas, neither did Nanna, so I know something is up.”
“Kenny, please. I need to speak to Miranda. I’ll explain everything when I can.”
“Okay, I’ll go get her. She and Nanna are teaching Fiona yoga.”
Thinking about her fiancée practicing yoga sent heated tendrils of pleasure through her, then she felt sadness. It could be days or weeks before she would be able to see and hold Miranda in her arms.
“Kelsey, please say you can tell me what is going on; Nanna isn’t buying my story.”
Miranda’s voice filled with worry, and Kelsey wished she could tell her everything. “I can tell you that you and Nanna are going on a vacation. I’ll tell Nanna that the remediation workers found several pipes needing repair in the house. We’ll send you two somewhere warm and far away.”
“Somewhere warm and far away; sounds like we’ll have to fly. I’m not sure Nanna can fly for very long.”
Kelsey knew Miranda’s anxieties about flying and remembered how her fiancée had to endure the hours of connector flights and layovers on their trip to Fiji. Nanna would not be able to sit for extended periods on a long flight. “You’ll be taking a private jet; it won’t be as long, and the only people on the flight will be you two, the flight staff, and the agents sent to watch over you.”
“This doesn’t sound good; why do we need to be far away and protected?”
“Mo Chridhe, I cannot tell you everything: I wish I could, but I can say that it’s best that you two are not around me right now. I want you safe, and this is the only way I can be sure you will be.” Kelsey explained how two women police officers would take them to the Canonsburg Police Station. There they would be met by two women FBI Agents that would take them to the airport. The agents would stay with them during the flight and when they landed.
“Nanna won’t go easily; she already knows something isn’t right.”
“I’m taking care of that. I’ll have someone call Nanna that will sound official and tell her that she needs to be out of the house for an open-ended period. Put her on the phone, and I’ll do my best to sell the idea of you two going on a vacation. I may not be able to call you for a while. Please promise me that every night at our usual time, you will think of me and I’ll be there with you.”
“I will. I love you an
d Agent MacGregor; you had better be ready to explain all of this when you can. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Mo Chridhe, I promised you my heart and soul; I will tell you when I can, and I’m always careful.”
“Kelsey Laren MacGregor, what have you done? Why did Miranda and I have to get out of the house and what is this I hear about us going on a vacation?” Nanna’s voice dripped with resentment and worry.
“Nanna, I’m sorry, but the gas company called me and told me that they'd need you out of the house for an undisclosed period. Someone will be calling you shortly to explain the situation.”
“I didn’t smell any gas; I told Miranda that, but she insisted she did. What is the problem?”
Relieved that Nanna seemed to have accepted the rouse, Kelsey explained that someone from the gas company would call and tell them when they could go home. “Once they have it all under control, they’ll let me know, and we can all go back home.”
“Why can’t Miranda and I stay here with Kenny and Muriel? We don’t have to go on a trip.”
“Nanna, I wanted to surprise you with a trip somewhere warm this Winter, but the timing hasn’t been right; now it’s the perfect time to send you somewhere warm.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” Kelsey couldn’t tell Nanna the whole truth, but at least this wasn’t a total lie; it was a surprise.
Nanna’s more relaxed tone turned to excitement as she talked about wanting to see the ocean and sit on a beach.
Kelsey hoped that when Torres said she’d found a warm place for Miranda and Nanna, she meant a location with a beach. Saying she would call when she could; which wasn’t a lie, Kelsey said her goodbye to Nanna.
Nikki pulled the van into a parking spot at the entrance to the charter flight gates. “That sounded like it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t hear too much pleading or crying on your part, so they must have taken it well.”
Kelsey closed her eyes and blew out a breath she had been holding and hadn’t realized she had been until she felt light-headed. “It went better than I expected. They weren’t happy with me not telling them the truth, but at least Nanna believed the gas leak explanation. Please, tell me we will find what we need to nail Washburg to the wall and this will be over soon.”
Upon entering the building, they were whisked by a security guard, to a kiosk where a charter flight staff member informed them that their plane would be ready for take-off as soon as they were boarded and seated.
Nikki thanked the young man and took Kelsey’s hand. “I wish I could tell you we’ll find what we need. I do have a team of forensic experts going over every bit of evidence from the storage unit and retirement home fires. They’re also looking through the evidence from the bodies found on the Washburg Estates. They’re looking for anything at all that we can link to Paul Washburg. We have a possible DNA sample from him and now that we also have a sample from Nancy Washburg; we can compare them to verify if that sample is, in fact, Washburg’s.”
Kelsey knew the uphill battle they faced, but she needed to know that she wouldn’t be kept away from the two most important women in her life any longer than necessary. “Our search warrants are still valid too. So, if we can find Washburg, we can search his car and his person for anything to arrest him.”
Nikki leaned over and looked up. “That’s right, and Torres and Deb won’t stop until they break Anthony Churchill; he could know something that would help us find Washburg. He’s made a huge mistake threatening you as he has and we’ll find the other mistakes he’s made too. When we do; we’ll put him away for a very long time.”
Kelsey and Nikki took their seats on the small charter jet. Nikki took out her laptop and began making notes about things they needed to do when they landed. Kelsey closed her eyes and put on the headphones that the flight attendant provided for them. The pilot informed them it would be a five hour and forty-five-minute flight. By the time they were on the ground in Pittsburgh, Nanna and Miranda would be on their way to a sunny, warm destination. Washburg’s threat to move on Nanna and Miranda wouldn’t have any bite with the two women far away. Kelsey could then concentrate on finding and putting away the sick bastard, who had been getting away with his diabolical plans for over a year.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Pittsburgh, Afternoon, March 16, 2012
Upon landing, Nikki and Kelsey took a car directly to their office in Pittsburgh. Torres called Kelsey to inform her that Miranda and Nanna had landed safely at their destination. Kelsey wouldn’t be able to call either her fiancée or grandmother directly but could speak to them by calling the FBI agents’ numbers Torres gave her. Deciding to wait until she could call using a secure line, Kelsey told Nikki to drive as fast as legally possible to get to their office.
Arriving at the old historic building that housed the FBI Cold Case Behavioral Unit, Kelsey fidgeted until she climbed out of the elevator on their floor. Immediately, she looked for evidence that could explain how Washburg had gained access to her office. Nothing appeared out of place, the door to their offices stood locked. They couldn’t find signs someone picked or tampered with the locks.
“I’ll check our security footage for earlier today,” Nikki said as she walked to her office.
Kelsey stood outside her own office and stared at the door. Washburg had been here only hours ago. Walking through the door, she turned on the light and immediately saw the opened journal on her desk. She had left it in the top drawer of her desk. Washburg wanted to taunt her that he had been here.
The page the journal stood open at was the last time she had written in it a few days after learning of Aisling, Aunt Cat, and Uncle Ethan’s deaths. On the adjacent page, a sizeable sad face emoji and the word: Tick-tock were drawn in pen. Blood pounded in Kelsey’s ears; her body felt as if it were on fire. Then as if someone threw ice-cold water on her, she felt shivers run through her body. The thought of someone violating her personal belongings caused a cascade of feelings she thought she had in check. Tears burned as they fell from her eyes and slid down her face. All the emotions from worrying about Nanna and Miranda and the stress of chasing Washburg hit Kelsey all at once.
Nikki cleared her throat.
Kelsey looked up to see her best friend through the hot tears. Wiping the wetness off of her face she took a tissue and blew her nose. “Nikki, I…” Words failed her, and she hung her head.
Nikki was next to her with her hands on her shoulders. “You don’t have to say anything. You have a right to be upset. I’m surprised you were able to hold it in as long as you did.”
“I was fine until I saw my journal open and defiled by him. He was here; he read my inner thoughts. If something were to happen to Nanna or Miranda, please, tell me we have him on the security cameras.”
Nikki shook her head. “I’m afraid he disguised himself as a building cleaner. He wore a cap, coveralls, gloves and no way to identify him from any other of the three or four men who come here to clean our offices.”
Kelsey cursed a string of expletives that would have made a sailor blush. “Will we ever get ahead of this bastard?”
Squeezing Kelsey’s shoulders. “I know it’s looking bleak but he’s made mistakes this time, we have to find the one that will lead us to the evidence needed to put him away.”
“When he threatened Miranda and Nanna, I saw red and wanted to kill him with my bare hands. Putting him in jail is too good for him. I want to squeeze the life out of his body with my hands around his neck, watching the life slip from his body. I’ve never felt this much rage in my life; it scares me, Nikki.”
“I cannot imagine how it felt to hear him talk about Nanna and Miranda, but I know you. This anger is normal; we’ll get him, even if it takes some time, we’ll get him.”
Shaking her head, Kelsey closed her eyes. The thought of Miranda and Nanna being in danger while Washburg walked loose ate at her heart. “This cannot last too long; I won’t have them in danger while he walks free. Have yo
u put out an APB on his car?”
“Yes, and also a BOLO out on any of the known aliases he may use. He can’t walk anywhere, rent a car, buy gas, or fart without us being there to find him.”
“You don’t think he had a contingency plan in place if this were to happen? He could have a place already nearby, a new car, cash so we cannot trace him. How about the phone he used to call the burner phone; any sign of it?”
“No, sorry it’s been turned off or thrown away. But we have Washburg’s mother, and he’ll do anything to get her back; we can use her to get to him.”
“Speaking of which, has Torres called to give us an update on how Nancy Washburg is faring with the FBI in New York?”
Nikki explained that Torres informed the FBI agents to treat Nancy Washburg gently and all reports suggested that the woman was comfortable and enjoying her stay in the hotel. “Torres retold the experience of the agents as being the easiest assignment they’ve had in a long time. Nancy Washburg is acting like a socialite on vacation.”
Kelsey thought of the sweet, gentle woman they met months ago in the retirement home. Nancy Washburg’s mind may not be sharp at all times, but she had delightful stories to tell. Feeling bad that they had to use this vulnerable woman to get to her psychologically-damaged son pained her, but if doing so was the only way she could assure catching Paul Washburg before he could hurt anyone else, then so be it.
“Mack, if you want to call them; I have secured a phone line. Hearing their voices may help to reassure you that you’re doing the right thing.”
Nodding Kelsey wiped away the last tears on her face and drew in a deep breath. “I’d like that. While I do, can you call and see if there is any progress in the forensic analyses at the Lab?”
“Yes, I will and after I do that: I’m going to speak to the building manager about beefing up better security checks on the people who clean this building. Maybe we should look at buying an entire building to house our unit.”
“We have to solve our first cold case before we can ask for more money for our unit. We can hire our security or cleaning people until then.”