Into the Night(46)
“I think it’s safe to assume this killer knows about your past, Macey’s past and everyone’s past on our team.”
His shoulders stiffened.
“He went after Daniel Haddox, a deliberate tie to Macey. He contacted you—and, yes, I agree, he does know what you did to Arnold Shaw. But the way the guy is setting himself up, almost challenging you in these instances, to me, it seems as if he has something to prove.”
Bowen saw the same thing. “The guy wants to prove that he’s better at profiling than we are.”
“Yes.” Her sigh carried over the line. “Our team has gotten a lot of press recently. We’ve taken down some of the worst serial killers and predators out there—and this fellow, he doesn’t like that. He thinks he’s smarter than we are, and an organized killer like this, he would leave nothing to chance.”
“Know your enemy,” Bowen muttered. And we’re the enemy.
“Exactly,” she said. “He knew he was going to battle us. So he’s learned every secret we have. Every strength and every weakness. I think this is less about the victims themselves and more about...well, you. Macey. Our team. Us.”
He considered that as the fog drifted in the distance. “Maybe because we’re his real victims?”
She’d gone silent and he knew she was considering what he’d just said.
“The perp set the fire at the cabin with Patrick inside...set the fire after Macey and I went in.” He forced his back teeth to unclench. “And Curtis Zale had his knife to Macey’s throat. As soon as Curtis realized we were FBI, he lost all control. Curtis meant he wasn’t being taken in. Curtis never saw us as his rescuers. He just saw us as the enemy.”
“And you think that’s what the perp we’re after wanted? That he wanted Curtis to attack you and Macey all along?”
“Yes.” He’d considered this, again and again.
“Then more attacks will come.” Her voice was soft but certain. “And you have to be ready for them. He’s proven that appearances are deceptive on this case. I need you and the other agents to be ready for anything.” There was a pause. “One other thing you should know...”
He waited, knowing it wasn’t going to be good. With this case? Good wasn’t exactly an option.
“I’m launching an internal investigation here at the FBI.”
What? Shock rippled through him.
“I’m concerned the perp has received access to our confidential files. Files about the Doctor’s crimes, his victims...access to the material we had on Patrick Remus.”
His breath rushed out. “Because the guy we’re after knows too much for a civilian.”
“I want to make certain our case files haven’t been hacked. At first, I thought we might just be looking at a crime addict—someone who’d studied the cases carefully, but then when he contacted you specifically...your personal line...well, a hack at the Bureau is a possibility I can’t, won’t, overlook.”
“The guy is good at what he’s doing, Samantha. He spotted a killer who’d gone undetected for years.”
“He looked for patterns,” she said. “Disappearances and abductions. Pattern analysis is a potential gold mine for criminal investigators. That’s one of the reasons I brought Jonah Loxley on board. His background in cyber investigations can help us.”
Something was bothering him. “There’s no cooling-off period with this guy.” Serial killers, well, if there was one particular pattern, they usually built up to their crimes. Planned and plotted and let the need to kill all but overwhelm them. But after they’d made their kill, they had what some termed an emotional cooling-off period—the killers had satisfied their dark desires, and they could almost go back to leading a normal life, for a while. Until the urge to kill became overwhelming for them again. “The timing...it’s more like a spree killing.” Because time was of the most importance with a spree killer—the short time frame was one of the key elements for that type of predator.
“This killer isn’t going to be easily classifiable,” Samantha said, and he knew she’d been thinking the same thing. “It seems like it’s less about the timing of the murders, and more about having a captive audience.” A quick beat of silence, and then she added, “Specifically, I think the audience is you and Macey. He maneuvered you both where he wanted you, and now the crimes are occurring around you.”
He was pulling them into his web. Are we the flies and he’s the big, fat fucking spider?
“Stay vigilant, Bowen. Watch your back and—watch Macey’s.”
Always.
“I know the shooting will come up clean and we’ll get you back in the field with her soon. In the meantime, I am not pulling you in to DC. I need you exactly where you are.”
Because that was where the killer wanted him to be? “Wouldn’t be using me as bait, would you, Samantha?”
“Better to use a trained FBI agent than some innocent civilian who gets caught in this guy’s crosshairs.”
That was the thing, though. “He hasn’t gone after any innocents yet.”
“No,” Samantha said softly. “Not yet...”
*
WHEN MACEY AND Bowen entered the police station at 0700 hours, the area was oddly quiet. Macey glanced at the officer stationed behind the desk, Tanner O’Neil, and he gave her a nod. “Your FBI friends are already in the conference room, Agent Night.”