‘Yes, ma’am,’ Bishop said soberly. ‘Don’t forget, they have three homicides too – Gordon Shue, and the mother and son killed in Faith’s old car. They’ve managed to keep the link between their homicides and ours on the QT, but it’s just a matter of time before a reporter connects our Faith with the Faith that was holding Gordon Shue’s shirt when his brains got splattered all over her.’
‘Who’s Vega’s CO?’ Isenberg asked. ‘I’ll give him a call to make sure we’re coordinating information before I go in front of the press.’
‘Lieutenant Neil Davies,’ Bishop said. ‘Vega trusts him. So far, I trust her.’
‘Good.’ Isenberg turned to Tanaka. ‘Vince, run me through everything you’ve found in that basement that isn’t a body. Quickly. I’m due upstairs in ten minutes.’
‘Latent pulled three distinct sets of prints that don’t match any of the bodies. One belongs to Arianna Escobar. The second belongs to a child or an adult with very small hands. The last is a single print and very faint. None of the prints match Peter Combs’s. The child’s prints don’t match any in the Missing Children database.’
‘Can you estimate an age from the print?’ Deacon asked.
Tanaka shrugged. ‘Pre-pubescent? Maybe? It’s hard to say.’
‘In the whole basement you only found three sets of prints? Really?’ Isenberg pressed.
‘The walls and floors were
exceptionally
clean, Lynda,’ Tanaka said. ‘The room with the autopsy table had been hosed down with bleach. The child’s prints were found everywhere. She was evidently allowed freedom in the basement. Everywhere but the handle of the door at the top of the stairs, where we found Arianna Escobar’s prints.’
‘When she escaped,’ Deacon murmured. ‘Where did you find the faint print?’
‘In the little dug-out room,’ Tanaka said. ‘It was on the hairbrush we found in the box on the pallet. Everything else in the room had only the girl’s prints.’
‘The brush could have belonged to one of the other victims,’ Bishop said.
‘God, I hope not,’ Tanaka said fervently. ‘Because if so, we’d have more than ten victims, because that print doesn’t match any of the bodies we’ve found. I’m hoping the girl had it with her when she was abducted. In the brush were hairs belonging to two different people. One hair is short and dark, the other long and blond. We’ll run DNA on both and let you know.’ He glanced at his notes. ‘The blanket found in the dug-out room is a generic camp blanket. It could have been bought anywhere, but it’s been down there a while.’
‘What’s a while?’ Isenberg asked. ‘How long has the girl been there? Weeks, months?’
‘The blanket could have been down there for years. I can’t say how long the girl’s been there. We found a number of cameras inside and outside of the house. Unfortunately, they recorded to a DVR which had been removed.’
‘Damn,’ Deacon muttered. ‘That was too good a lead to pan out.’
Tanaka shrugged. ‘Sorry. The only other thing I have is a summary from Agent Taylor’s forensic team. The shooter didn’t leave anything behind in the hotel room. Oh, and the new crime scene at the grocery store, of course. We’ll have the van towed to the garage and go over every square inch ASAP.’
‘Good work, Vince,’ Isenberg said with a nod. ‘Anything else I need to know?’
Deacon’s phone buzzed with an incoming email. ‘It’s from Faith – the list of places she parked her Jeep since she bought it Saturday morning. At some point this guy stuck her with another tracking device.’
‘I’ll check it out,’ Adam offered. ‘Send me the list.’
‘Thanks,’ Deacon said, wondering if Adam was being truly helpful or trying to find another reason to suspect Faith.
He’d accept her if he knew how she’d worked with that Miami PD Sex Crimes detective to put offenders back in prison.
Perhaps, but whether he should be told wasn’t Deacon’s decision to make. It was Faith’s.
‘What about Combs?’ Isenberg asked. ‘Has our BOLO turned up anything?’
‘No,’ Deacon said, frustrated. ‘It’s like Vega said – he’s dropped off the earth. Crandall ran a check for credit card and bank activity, but Combs truly has gone off the grid. The gunman last night met his physical description, but none of the tapes show his face, so we can’t even be sure it was Combs. He might not be involved at all. It might have been Stone. Or whoever is posing as Maguire and Sons. Or it might be someone we don’t know about yet.’
‘If Combs
is
involved, it hasn’t been for long,’ Bishop said. ‘He’s only been out of prison about a year. Gordon Shue was shot a month ago, so Combs can be a suspect for his murder, but at least some of the victims in the basement went missing while Combs was serving his sentence. It’s possible that he was contacted by the killer of those ten women when he was in prison. I asked Vega to check on his visitors and jailhouse buddies and to pump the girlfriend for information about anyone he met in the last few months. We’re not without leads, Lynda.’
‘What about this newest victim?’ Deacon asked. ‘The one at the grocery store? He shot the woman presumably for her vehicle. Since her purse wasn’t found with her, we can only assume he kept it. He’d have her keys and her address from her license. He could be hiding out there – maybe with two live victims.’
Isenberg gave him a long look. ‘You really think Corinne is still alive?’
‘Yes,’ he said firmly. ‘Until we know otherwise, I have to. And even if he has killed her, there’s still the girl. Arianna believes he’ll kill the girl for helping her escape, but until we understand more about the relationship between them, we can’t know what he intends to do. We need to find out where our main suspects’ hidey-holes are – Jeremy, Stone, Combs, Henson the Third, Maguire.’
‘Have Crandall run a search for all their real estate,’ Isenberg said, then grimaced when Tanaka tapped his wrist. ‘I know it’s time for me to go. I hate these things. Goddamn vultures.’
‘What do you plan to disclose?’ Deacon asked.
She stood up, gave the coat of her uniform a tug. ‘That we’ve found victims buried in the basement, but not how many. That there is a commonality of age, race, coloring and educational status. But not the Plexiglas, nor that he embalmed them.’
‘And don’t mention the autopsy stitching,’ Bishop added.
‘That too will remain undisclosed.’
‘What about the child?’ Adam asked. ‘Will you disclose her existence?’
‘Yes, along with her description and her name. Adam, have Crandall coordinate a call center. We’re about to get a flood of calls from desperate parents. I want anyone who is outside or doing any fieldwork wearing vests. Vince, that includes your teams. Go. Track down the leads we have and get some new ones. Keep me up to date.’
When she was gone, Deacon took out his phone. ‘Okay, let’s divvy up the work here. I’ll make the list and email it to all of you. Adam, we need an ID on the grocery store woman ASAP. Her killer could be hiding in her house right now. Also, as soon as she is conscious, find out what she saw.’
‘Will do. And when I’m done there, I’ll find out where Corcoran was when the tracker was placed under her Jeep.’
‘I’m going back to the O’Bannion house,’ Tanaka said. ‘I want to watch Johannsen operate the ground-penetrating radar. Maybe pick up a few tricks. Although I hope never to need them again. We’re also going to X-ray the walls. We still haven’t found his stash of souvenirs.’
‘The organs he removed from his victims,’ Bishop said. ‘Shit.’
‘If Faith remembers the layout of the house from before,’ Adam said, ‘maybe she can help Vince locate the hidey-holes.’
Ask her to go back into that house? No fucking way
. ‘No. She’s not able to do that.’
Bishop’s eyes narrowed. ‘Says who?’
‘Says me. She nearly passed out the last time I forced her to go down there.’
Adam and Bishop shared a glance. ‘Shouldn’t we ask her what
she
wants?’ Bishop asked.
No, because she’ll say yes
. But he knew Bishop was right. ‘Fine. I’ll ask her, okay?’ He stood up, needing to get his blood moving so he could stay awake. ‘Scarlett, will you drive us to Jeremy’s house? I’ll catch some z’s on the way.’ He hesitated as he passed Adam’s chair. They couldn’t function as a team with the way they’d been behaving. ‘Thanks.’
‘I still think you’re crazy,’ Adam said under his breath. ‘But Dani said I should trust you.’
That the two of them had talked about him didn’t surprise Deacon a bit. It actually made him feel a little better. ‘You might stop by later and speak to Greg.’
Adam’s dark brows went up. ‘How much trouble is he in?’
‘A whole helluva lot. He’s at my house. He was afraid to put Tammy under any more stress. She could use a visit from you too. Scarlett, let’s go see Uncle Jeremy.’
Cincinnati, Ohio, Tuesday 4 November, 7.35
P.M.
‘You can come out now,’ Agent Pope said, holding out his hand to help her up from the floor, where she’d been hiding for the last mile of the journey back to Novak’s house.
Faith groaned quietly as she climbed out of the car. ‘This is getting a little old.’
‘Better old than dead,’ Pope said soberly. The man had not cracked a smile since his arrival that morning. Not waiting for her reply, he went into the house to check for invaders.
Someone screamed and Faith rushed inside to see Dani Novak backed up against the dishwasher, a frying pan held tightly in a two-fisted grip.
Pope’s hands immediately lifted, palms out. ‘Easy, Dr Novak.’
‘It’s okay, Dani,’ Faith said quickly. ‘He’s a Fed.’
Dani relaxed, as did Pope. ‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I thought you were expecting us.’
‘Colby, sure.’ Dani spread her hand over her heart. ‘I didn’t know about you.’
‘I was on outside duty when you came in before. I’m going back out there now. As soon as I can hear again,’ he added in a mutter, making Faith laugh.
‘He never jokes,’ Faith explained to Dani. ‘I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were on shift.’
‘Greg woke up and found he was the only one here, except for the Feds. He was nervous with Agent Colby in the house, even though I told him it was to guard you. Between you and me, I think he’s still rattled about the trouble at school and just wanted the company, so I got someone to cover the rest of my shift. I made Greg and Colby grilled cheese sandwiches for supper. Are you hungry? There are a few left.’
‘Sure.’ Faith sat at the center island while Dani fixed her a plate, then leaned in and looked at Faith’s forehead with a frown.
‘You popped your superglue.’
‘Last night,’ Faith admitted. ‘Deacon tackled me to keep me from getting hit with a bullet. I bandaged it up and figured I’d tend to it later.’
‘This is later,’ Dani said. ‘I’ll fix you up, but eat first.’
She did, silently realizing how hungry she was. ‘That was delicious,’ she said, pushing the plate away. ‘I haven’t had grilled cheese in a long time. It was always my go-to comfort food when times got stressful. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in weeks. I’ve been living on takeout food.’
‘Sounds like the past several years have been stressful, Faith. And based on what I’m seeing in the news, it doesn’t look like it’s about to get better any time soon. I checked on the results of the blood I drew last night in the ER. You’re low in iron and vitamin D. You need to eat better and take vitamins.’
Faith sighed. ‘I always mean to take vitamins, but then I forget. I’ll add it to the list of all the things I’ve got to do.’ On her phone she opened the list she’d composed while waiting to talk to Jordan and typed a few new lines. ‘Eat better, take vitamins, schedule a physical, get a new phone and a new car. Find someplace to live and get a big dog for protection.’
‘A dog?’ Dani grinned. ‘I love dogs. I’ve wanted one forever, but I haven’t lived in a house of my own since Mom and Bruce died. I was either in a dorm or an apartment. Where will you go to get one? Maybe I’ll go with you and pick one out for us – for me and Greg and Deacon.’
‘I’ll definitely go to the pound.’ Faith frowned as a thought occurred. ‘But I won’t be able to afford to buy a house for a while. If I get an apartment, I can’t get a dog after all.’
‘Don’t you already have a house? That big house on the news – that’s yours, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, but . . . I don’t know if I can live in it after all this. I mean, Arianna was tortured there. How can I live there?’
‘I don’t know the answer to that. But if you don’t live there, what will you do with it?’
‘Sell it, I guess. I don’t know anything anymore.’
Dani patted her hand. ‘Don’t worry about it now. We’ll still go to the pound together and you can help me pick out my dog.’ Her gaze became unapologetically curious. ‘Besides, if you start seeing a lot of Deacon, you’ll be here all the time anyway.’
Seeing a lot of Deacon
. Faith’s cheeks superheated as her mind replayed the memory of a boldly nude Deacon Novak striding toward her. Yeah, she’d seen quite a lot of Deacon this afternoon. And she planned to see even more of him later.
Dani cleared her throat. ‘Okay, that’s enough of that. I guess that answers my question. I think my face is turning red just from watching your face turn red. He’s my brother. There are some images that simply should not be in a sister’s head. No more details, please.’
Faith rolled her eyes, embarrassed. ‘I didn’t give you any details.’
‘You didn’t have to. Your face told me plenty.’
‘My face is saying all kinds of things today,’ she muttered. ‘Of course it’s your fault.’
Dani’s eyes – one brown, one blue – opened wide. ‘My fault? How?’
‘“He’s a good man, Faith”,’ Faith mimicked. ‘I was doing all right with being angry with him last night. But then you sang his praises.’
Dani’s smile was affectionately proud. ‘He
is
a good man. He’s always been my rock. My mother wasn’t home that much after our biological dad died. She had to work two jobs to make ends meet, but Deacon took care of me while she was working, even though he was only ten years old. He made my school lunch, helped me with my homework, fixed dinner. Made sure I had clean clothes and that my hair was brushed. Even took my temperature when I was sick.’