“Why does it have to be you?” Alice wanted to know. Her lips trembled. “Can’t someone else do it? Chief Burnett said he was going to get him.”
Bless her heart. The braces were only partially removed. Jess wondered if she would ever be able to sit in that chair again for long enough for her orthodontist and his assistant to finish the job.
And damn Burnett for making this harder than it needed to be.
“That’s the tricky part.” If Jess explained the gory details that would only scare them more. If she didn’t. . . well that wasn’t an option. “If he’s intent on getting to me, he might not stop until he makes that happen.”
Tears streamed down Lily’s cheeks as Jess spoke. She wished she could reassure her sister but there were no reassurances in this.
“Unless I find him and stop him, he may keep haunting me. If I follow you guys to Pensacola. He might follow me there. I can’t take that risk.”
A light rap on the door drew their attention as it opened. Burnett stuck his head in. “Blake and Blake Junior are here.”
Jess stood. “I want you guys to get on the road right away. No changing your mind about going back home to pick up your things. It’s just not safe.”
Lily pushed out of her chair. “Alice, you go wait with your brother and father. I need to talk to Jess a minute.”
Alice gave Jess a hug before hurrying out to the safety of her father’s arms. Lily closed the door and turned to her baby sister, as she loved to refer to Jess at moments like this. Jess braced for the older-sister-knows-better talk. Instead, Lily hugged her tight.
They both cried a little more then laughed at each other as they brushed the tears away. Their make-up was a mess.
“I understand that you have to do this,” Lily said finally. She nodded. “I didn’t want to at first, but now I do. I’ll be praying for you.”
Jess squeezed her sister’s hand, grateful for the support. “Thanks, Lil.”
Lily hesitated at the door before joining her family. “You be careful, Jess.”
She nodded. “I will.”
Lily held her gaze a moment longer. “When you find this monster, you make sure he can’t ever hurt you or anyone else again, you hear me?”
Jess managed a shaky smile. “That’s the plan.”
Another group hug waited in the corridor as Jess said her goodbyes. Two officers were escorting them to Pensacola. Part of Jess wished she could go. Just walk away from the whole situation. But she owed it to Lori to stay and try her hardest. And to Agent Miller.
“You okay?” Burnett asked softly.
Jess shrugged. “Yeah.” She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. Having him hug her or something with Prescott and the others around would only make bad matters worse. Her reputation was in sad enough shape without adding something new to the rumor mill. And if she were completely blunt with herself, maybe she didn’t deserve any better. She was single-handedly making as big a mess here as she had last month in Richmond.
“Chief Burnett,” Prescott called from the lobby. “Agent Gant was called away. He asked that you and Deputy Chief Harris meet him at the Bureau office downtown as soon as possible.”
She glanced at Jess as if that, too, was her fault. Jess supposed it was.
“Give me an update when you finish up here,” Burnett instructed the detective.
“Yes, sir.”
Outside, Jess raised her hand to block the sun from her eyes. She didn’t have the wherewithal to dig for her sunglasses.
Two uniforms were keeping the media exiled to a neighboring parking lot. Even from that distance, questions were shouted at her and Burnett. He ignored them. Jess did the same. She’d already made enough of a mess with her last eloquent statement.
She climbed into the passenger seat of Burnett’s SUV and buckled up. The world spun a little so she leaned back and closed her eyes. Spears and/or his accomplice had her cell number. Burnett’s, too. Why didn’t he contact one of them directly?
Why keep taking other people if it was Jess he wanted?
He said he was waiting for her and yet he failed to show her the way. Was she missing the clues to the damned map here?
“Jess, you really need to think about going to Pensacola with Lily.”
She did not want to have that conversation again. “He’ll just follow me there.” Her sister and her family wouldn’t be safe with Jess anywhere near them.
Why didn’t Burnett get that?
The fear started clawing at her from somewhere deep inside. Jess fought hard to slow it but that wasn’t happening. The idea that this monster had gotten close enough to touch her family shattered some part of her that she desperately needed to be strong.
Burnett kept giving her reasons why she should do the right thing and disappear until this was done. Somewhere, anywhere, he insisted.
She couldn’t listen. Her stomach roiled and the overwhelming sensation of needing to vomit slammed her.
“I have to get out.” She sat up straighter. Looked up ahead for a place to pull over. “I have to get out now, Burnett.” Otherwise the passenger side of his fancy Mercedes was about to be decorated with puke.
“Give me a minute.” He eased over into the right hand lane.
Jess held her hand over her mouth, closed her eyes and fought the dizzying, sickening sensation. Her heart pounded as her chest seemed to close in on itself. She could not let this case get to her like this. She had to stay focused. Objective.
Burnett turned into the parking lot of a strip mall not unlike the one they had just left. As soon as the car stopped, she bailed out.
Deep breaths. She drew in slow, deep breaths. Her belly ached, but the urge to vomit eased. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Her chest constricted tighter and tighter. A panic attack. She’d had a couple when she was younger.
Walk it off
.
She walked back and forth between Burnett’s SUV and the far end of the building. The parking lot was practically deserted. Four of the six shops were for lease and in various stages of disrepair. Reminded her of her life. Falling apart. She was struggling to find her footing again and things just kept tumbling downhill.
The sensations started to fade. She breathed a little easier now. Back and forth. Walk off that adrenalin.
Burnett stayed back. Let her do what she needed to do.
When her respiration and heart rate were normal again, she walked back to where he waited by his SUV. “Sorry.” She shook her head. “I haven’t had that happen in a long time.”
“This has been a tough few weeks for you.”
She nodded. Didn’t trust her voice.
“The good news is your sister and her family will be safe and away from all this insanity.”
“But not Lori. . . or Agent Miller.” Both were her fault.
“We will find them, Jess.”
Another jerky nod. God she was going to cry. She hated crying.
“And we will get whoever is responsible for this, whether it’s Spears or his accomplice or both. He won’t get away this time.”
“I know.” Her voice wobbled.
Burnett stared at her for a moment with those blue eyes that had always seen way too much. She needed to be stronger than this. Showing him this kind of weakness was no way to start off a working relationship.
“Come here.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her close. She wanted to resist. She really did. But she couldn’t. She needed to feel his strength. To inhale his familiar scent. To have those reassuring arms around her.
Surrendering, she wrapped her arms around his waist, closed her eyes and just sank into the warmth and strength he offered. He held her that way for a long time. Neither spoke. It wasn’t necessary. Just the feel of his arms around her was enough. When her pulse started to flutter for reasons she recognized all too well and understood were absolutely unrelated to this case she knew it was time to step back.
“Thank you.” She gave him a real smile, weak though it might be. “I needed that.”
He touched her cheek, just the softest, fleeting touch and she melted a little more.
“Let’s go see what Gant has to say.”
“I can’t wait.”
1000 18th Street, 3:15 p.m.
Gant had fast-tracked their sign-in process so she and Burnett wouldn’t have to wait. The receptionist in the main lobby led them to a conference room where Gant, Wentworth and Manning waited.
When they were seated and offered refreshments, Wentworth kicked off the briefing or whatever the hell it was.
“I’d like you to consider these photos taken at your home last night.” Agent Wentworth pushed the file down the table to Jess.
She opened it and stared at the first of several photos. The message, written in blood like the one at the Howard crime scene, disrupted the rhythm of her heart.
Why did you leave me?
She pushed that one aside. The next two showed pictures of Spears literally covering one wall in her office. A close up of one particular picture showed there were actually two, one of her cropped to match with one of Spears as if they were together.
She passed the folder back across the conference table. “Whoever killed my neighbor and broke into my house put those pictures on the wall.”
“Did you have all these photos of Spears in your home?”
“What? No! I’ve never seen those photos before.” Did Wentworth really think she was that screwed up? “I have the few photos of the scenes of his most recent victims, his official ID photo from when he was brought in for questioning and the one on my cell but all of that is with me. There were no photos related to him or the Player investigation in my house.” She held up her hands to halt any further debate. “Whoever did this brought the photos with him.”
“Surely you can understand why we felt compelled to look into the situation.”
“Surely.” She shrugged, feigned a smile at Wentworth. “Doesn’t the Bureau always make it a habit to believe the accusations of sociopaths?”
Wentworth ignored her jab. “You remain convinced that this is Spears? That he is here in Birmingham stalking you?”
Was this a trick question? Why were they wasting time having this conversation? And why was Gant just sitting there staring at her?
“Whether Spears is here or not, his accomplice or protégé is. There’s no other explanation.” Jess leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know why we’re arguing the point. We need to be out there trying to find him. Honestly, your concern for the safety of my family and for your missing agent is absolutely underwhelming.”
“That,” Gant came alive and jabbed a finger in her direction “is uncalled for. We are concerned about your family’s safety and for God’s sake you know we’re sick about Agent Miller. We have assets in the field just as you do. We want Miller found quickly and alive just as you do your detective.”
Jess threw up her hands again. “
This
is uncalled for. We’re sitting around here having these ridiculous and redundant conversations when Spears or someone who looks like him, maybe both, is out there with two victims whose lives are at stake.”
“You really do believe it’s him, don’t you?” her ex-boss said, his tone resigned now.
“Jesus Christ, Gant, I honestly don’t know. But if it’s not him, it’s someone he’s associated with.”
“Eric Spears was cleared of suspicion,” he reminded her as if she could have forgotten. “Why would he jeopardize his freedom like this?”
He was asking her this? She wasn’t going to bother regaling him with her theories. Instead, she laughed, the sound dry, brittle. “I can’t fathom his ultimate motive just yet. But he’s not jeopardizing a whole lot. The man is rich. If his fancy lawyers can’t head off trouble, he can take his assets and go to Thailand or wherever. One less member of the big One-Percent Club in our capitalist society.” She took a breath. “The fact is, no one in this room can say for sure whether this is Spears or not.”
“I think you’re going to be interested in watching this feed we just received from Quantico.” Gant picked up the remote on the table and fired up the monitor on the wall.
Jess watched while a local Richmond news anchor hurriedly moved through a minute or two of breaking news.
Suddenly Spears’ face appeared on the screen.
Jess felt herself leaning across the table to get a better view. He was being ushered along by two agents Jess recognized, Taylor and Bedford.
“Is this footage from before?” She asked despite the fact that the newscast had today’s date in the scroll at the bottom of the screen.
Gant sat down the remote. “It’s from today. And, as you can see, it was taken in Richmond shortly before noon. Spears claims his attorney contacted him about the mess going on down here and suggested he make an appearance. That’s the reason I can say with complete certainty that the unsub who took Agent Miller is not Spears. However much he resembles Spears, it is assuredly not him.”
Jess looked from him to the screen and back.
“Unless you found documentation he was out of the country as his assistant claimed, where has he been?” Jess charged. “He could have murdered my neighbor and broken into my house to plant the evidence Wentworth wants to hold against me. And he could have left that message. He may be working in concert with an accomplice here.”
“We can’t dismiss that possibility, that’s true,” Gant agreed. “But our most pressing concern at the moment is the unsub who abducted Detective Wells and Agent Miller. And whoever that unsub is, it is not Eric Spears.”
Jess stared at the screen now frozen on Spears’ face. Her heart rocked against her sternum as the reality settled deep into her bones.
“When he turned himself in, his prints confirmed he’s the real McCoy, Jess,” Gant added, his voice as grim as the expression he wore.
How had her instincts led her so far astray?
“Maybe now we can focus on the real case we have in front of us,” he went on to suggest. “But, to close this quickly, we’re going to need your help, Jess.”
She swung her attention to him fast enough to suffer whiplash.
“You’re the only connection we have to this son of a bitch. We need to use that to reel him in.”
Lori pretended to be asleep.
Spears shuffled across the concrete. His steps sounded unusually heavy. But it was dark so she couldn’t see a damned thing.