“Mentally?”
“You
are
on top of things. The Bureau shrinks cleared me. Seems being shot didn’t bother me that much.”
He smiled. “Not bad yourself.” He gazed another second or two, then turned aw
ay. She was better than not bad in all the right ways.
Josh
motioned for everyone to sit. “Okay. We’ll take off in a few minutes. Before we do
,
I want to go over the file on Eric Hayes, at least what we have. The locals have done a great job of getting pictures and reports to us
,
but
they
are holding the room, and the cruise ship is not going anywhere until
we get there.”
Corner nodded to Max. The CSI sat up straight
and
handed out the plain brown
folders
marked
with the official Bureau logo
.
Max still had that
same asthmatic wheeze and the tiny tremors in his small ebony hand
.
But the smallish, bespectacled agent never allowed his breathing problems, or his internal angst
,
to get in the way of his tenacity
operating
in the forensic world. Nice trait.
Max reached into his pocket, took a hit from his inhaler,
snared
a deep breath, and sat down.
Josh glanced at Manny, then around the table
,
and began. “You all know about Argyle, seen
his work up close
, with the exception of Agent Franson
,
and she has been well versed on his psychotic tendencies and traits. Which had been pretty consistent, up until a few hours ago.”
“You mean because of the way he killed Hayes?” asked
Chloe
.
“Yes,
there’s
that. But there is something else.”
Manny nodded his head. “He was bold before
,
but in a controlled, almost careful way. Like he wasn’t totally 100% confident in what he was doing
, t
hat maybe he could be caught. He’s arrogant, but the fact that he didn’t want to risk close contact with us, instead choosing to leave a video message, meant that he was not totally
self-assured
, no matter what he
tried to portray
i
n the DVD on the
Ocean Duchess
a few months ago.
”
“Do you think that was because he was in
the
restricted
cruise ship environment
?”
asked
Sophie.
“Maybe. Or even that acting out his fantasies was all pretty new to him. Whatever the reason, his methods never involved leaving forensic evidence of any kind. The bleach, the gloves, his shaved body, and the biting were remarkably consistent with victim
s
DA Casnovsky and Lexy Crosby. Controlled mayhem, if you will,” said Agent Tucker.
“He was good at covering his tracks, no debate there,” agreed Alex.
Max took a drink from his bottled water. “The
se new
pictures indicate that he didn’t care about covering his tracks. The blood on his hands, no gloves, his goatee, the knife, and fibers from his clothes could all lead to where he’s been, what he’s been doing.”
“So this attack was almost careless, disorganized. Like his anger was getting the better of him. Even losing control to the point of total rage
,
” added Manny.
The images of how they had found the two women
—
his friends
—
came screaming back like a haunting, re
c
urring nightmare. He dismissed them from his mind. He was getting better at it, but he wondered if they would ever go away completely. Besides, dwelling on Liz and Lexy wouldn’t help find Argyle
; it would
just feed the emotion that could cause him to miss something. Maybe something critical. “It doesn’t really fit for him though. He could be playing mind games again
, t
rying to lead us
astray
when he has a completely different agenda in mind.”
“You mean like leaving the message on the mirror of Detective Castro’s stateroom on the last cruise?” asked Sophie.
Chloe stopped tapping her pencil on the table. “I’m not totally sure
. W
ho could be
?
B
ut he did it once and I don’t think he’ll go down that road
again
, at least not that way. I think he’s evolving, or devolving, if you will. He’s had to lay low. His narcissistic propensities won’t allow him to do that forever. He loves his
‘
watch me
’
moments.
”
She looked around the table and settled on Manny. “And he doesn’t strike me as a patient man.”
Manny returned the look and caught himself staring again. “You’re right about that.”
“So maybe h
e’s
escalating things?” said Josh.
Manny
shrugged
. “That’s a good guess. All psychopaths obsess on some segment of society that represents a means to an end. Sexually or otherwise. The thing about Argyle
that’s been
different is his versatility. He’ll do anything to exact revenge
,
and that makes him dangerous and mostly unpredictable.
Combine that with his intellect,
and
nothing is out of the question.
We do have one advantage, however. We know he’s focusing on anyone
who
caused
him grief
with
in the Lansing law enforcement family
,
and
A
rgyle is compelled to scratch that itch.”
“Some advantage,”
said
Sophie.
Chapter
-14
Argyle leaned against the faded yellow stones
of
Blackbeard’s Castle and stared down
the hills to
the bright lights of Charlotte-Amalie. The sultry Caribbean breeze touched his face and brought a scent of ocean and
flora
that even a man like himself could appreciate. He was such a complex dichotomy, was he not?
To his left, a mile away from the city
,
the glowing, colorful outlines of
two
cruise ships
shined
in the St. Thomas port. Each mammoth vessel originated from a different cruise line,
and
each with a different story to tell. He smiled at that. There would be no tale like the one saturating the staff of the
Ocean Empress
. He was sure they hadn’t seen anything like the calling card he’d left. Ever. They should be honored. He didn’t show his genius to just anyone. And it
was
genius. Maybe Eric Hayes and his lovely wife would
n’t
think so
. P
erhaps Detective Manny Williams, his slut partner, and the
worthless
morons from the FBI would disagree
.
E
veryone’s a critic these days.
The doctor wiped at the perspiration that was as natural to the Caribbean as
teal
waters
and swaying palm trees.
Leveling
the score with Eric had been
all that
he’d expected
.
Not to mention, it had been a hell of a way to announce his return from his
self
-
imposed sabbatical. Hiding was for cowards, for the weak. He was many things, but weak was not on the menu. Men like him were prudent. He
’d
had to hole up because people knew him, maybe even saw him through the different color
ed
hair and beard merry-go-round
.
It was difficult to mask his height and his strong build, but there were ways to make one’s self invisible
, e
ven for gods. But no longer.
As ironic as it sounded, his patient, Eli Jenkins
,
had helped
to
show him the Way, the truth about himself
, and h
ow special
he
was going to be. He had learned his lessons well and had become the Master. He grinned. He wondered what the deceased Eli Jenkins would think about th
e
passing of th
at
torch.
He focused on the Carousel Cruise Line ship and wondered when Williams would show with his cronies. He guessed they would be there in another three hours or so and
,
predictably, run right to the suite to see his hand
i
work. They were thinking that he had become sloppy, careless, and was out of control. Fools. Besides, if you wanted to find someone, why look where they
weren’t
? No problem, however. They would all enjoy a “family” reunion soon enough. He could hardly wait.
“Beautiful view. It really captures the imagination, doesn’t it?”
Argyle glanced
in the direction of
the young, dark-haired woman standing a few feet to his left.
“I
believe
you’re
correct
. Well said.”
T
hey were alone. She wasn’t exactly what he liked, what made his whistle blow, but not bad. She would do
,
and he did have a little time before the real party started. Not to mention,
it had been awhile.
What a night this
will
be for her.
“Listen, at the risk of sounding bold, I have a
few
hours to kill and wonder if I could buy you a drink?”
Argyle felt her size him up through the shadowy lights careening from the castle walls, and then
the quick
smile. “Sure. Why not? It’s not like you’re a serial killer or anything, right?”
He held out his arm
,
and she looped hers though
.
He feigned a horrible look
.
“
What
a totally awful
thought.”
Chapter
-15
“He’s watching us.”
Alex Downs and Agent Tucker had already progressed through the ship’s security station, hurrying to get to the suite
where
Eric
was murdered
before any more evidence could be compromised
.
Manny stopped at the foot of the gangplank and laid his shoulder bag on the tepid concrete of the pier.
Josh backed down the steps
,
and Manny felt him touch his shoulder.
“Argyle?”
He nodded.
“How do you know? It’s dark, it’s late
,
and you can’t see him.”
Manny turned his head to the left, looking through the ten-foot
,
chain
-
link security fence and catching the colorful lights of the St. Thomas Cable Car Sky
R
ide as it stepped up the island’s hillside toward Paradise Point.
“I can feel him, Josh. This is too good for him to pass up.”
By then, Sophie and Chloe had joined them.
Sophie touched his arm. “Are you going into spooky mode again?”
Agent Corner grinned. “It’s not like we haven’t seen it before.
”
“Yeah, true enough. At least he’s not in one of those trance things,” said Sophie.
“He does trances?” questioned Chloe. “Can I watch?”
“Funny. If you guys would pay attention
,
you’d get it too
,” explained Sophie. “
It’s all about his profile, what he gets off on, and how he
has
to be involved. He has no choice, even though he thinks he does.”
Chloe shifted her feet
and
looked Manny squarely in the eyes.
He felt her intensity, maybe perhaps anger, even through the oblique illumination of the pier
’
s mercury lights. Was this personal with her? They’d have to talk later. He found himself looking forward to talking to her alone.
“What’s too good? The crime scene?” Chloe questioned.
She was direct, no doubt about that. Another first-class trait. “Me. Maybe us. Maybe anyone who wants him stopped. He thinks he’s won again. But he has to
take part
in the victory
,
or it would be like it never happened. The
deranged animal
has to control everything. But I think this could be about me, my family. When we got home from the cruise in June, he had somehow put a note with three black rose petals in my wife’s purse.
The note
said
‘
one never knows.
’
”