“I need a minute,” she said through the door. She gathered her strength and used the bathtub wall for balance as she got to her feet. At the sink, she rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth.
When she exited the bathroom, Jake jumped up from the edge of the bed. He ran to her and took her in his arms. “Are you okay? Is he already back?”
“He’s back,” she said. When he released her, she looked at the clock. They had only been asleep for a few hours. “Why is he back so soon?”
“I don’t know. That should have worked at least for tonight.”
Her stomach cramped again and a jackhammer went to work on her brain. She fell to the ground and grabbed her head, which felt like a book being torn apart by strong hands. Tears sprung to her eyes.
Jake crouched in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. “What is it?”
“I think my brain is splitting in two,” she said.
He touched the back of his hand to her forehead, and then placed his wrist on the back of her neck. “You’re burning up,” he said. “We need to get you in a cool bath.”
Emily shook her head. “It’s not real. It feels like it is, but it’s not. The last time the fever came, my temperature was normal.”
“Nothing about this is normal.”
“Help me to the bed.”
Jake helped her get to her feet and let her lean on him for support. He propped pillows up against the headboard and eased her into the bed.
“Something’s wrong,” she said. “This feels different than the rest of the times.” She heard a woman’s voice in the back of her mind, but she wasn’t calling to Emily like the others. “What time is it again?”
He looked over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. “It’s just after midnight.”
“Can you get my purse? It’s in the living room.”
As soon as Jake left the room, the pain in her head increased. She closed her eyes and fought against him. Usually an unseen mass of energy, the entity that lived inside the darkness pulsated and filled up her mind. The woman’s voice spoke to the entity in a conversational tone, one that she recognized.
Jake returned with her purse and handed it to her. Emily dug out her cell phone and confirmed her suspicions. Cassie hadn’t called after dinner like she promised, but she had missed more than twenty calls from Aunt Barbara and several from Uncle Leo as well.
“Emily, what is it?”
“He has her,” she said. Her chest exploded with pain and she looked up at Jake. “He has Cassie.”
Chapter Fifty-three
David opened the basement door and gazed at his latest prize, the best of the lot. With her hands restrained behind her back, Cassie sat in the corner of the room, the same corner as the other women before her.
But Cassie was different than all the others. She was Emily’s conduit and had been with Emily for many years. Their connection was already in place, and it was stronger than he ever imagined.
Clumps of dried blood matted the blonde hair on the side of her head. The laceration that occurred during their struggle had stopped bleeding hours earlier, but David hadn’t washed the blood away. While she was still asleep from the Ketamine, he had checked the wound to make sure it wasn’t serious.
He could barely contain his excitement, and the urge to rush back upstairs and get his knife overwhelmed him. With Cassie in his basement, Emily would come to him very soon.
“What do you want with me?” she asked.
“Let’s not waste time playing games. You know what I want. You’re going to bring Emily to me.”
“I’ll never help you get to Emily,” she said.
Her loyalty to Emily amused David, and he wondered what it would take to break her of that. “You don’t really have a choice. I can sense her with you just sitting there.”
“Why Emily?”
“Emily’s special,” he said. “We’re meant to be together.”
“If you’re meant to be together, why all the theatrics? Why kill eight women to get to her? You could have just introduced yourself and asked her out.”
Cassie’s naïve questions annoyed him, but he decided to indulge her. “I have to test her first. If she can find her way to me, then she’s worthy.”
“So you use these women to contact her? What would you do if she didn’t find her way to you?”
“I’d kill her,” he said. “But I really don’t want to do that.”
She pondered his words, but appeared unfazed. “You’re quite adept at what you do. Have you done this before?”
“There have been other women like Emily,” he said. “I thought they were the ones, but they never paid much attention to me, not like Emily.”
“So you killed them,” she said.
“You’re starting to understand.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand in the true sense of the word, but I understand why you think you needed to do what you’ve done.”
“I can accept that.” They were starting to come to terms and he found it easy to talk with her. He had spent so much time with women that he couldn’t wait to kill, but Cassie was more intelligent than most. He should have expected as much from Emily’s best friend and business partner. Maybe he’d have to hold off on hurting her for a little while.
“So why take me?” Cassie asked.
“I wasted so much time on all the others. No, that’s unfair to say. I didn’t waste time on all of them because some were necessary to connect with Emily, but you’re her conduit. You are already connected to her, and on a much deeper level than anyone else. You can help me reach out to her and convince her to come.” He decided to give her hope, one of his favorite parts of the kill. “Once she finds me, I will let you go.”
“I’m sure you understand why I’m apprehensive about that arrangement. Maybe I don’t want Emily to come to you. Or maybe I think if she does come, you’ll still kill me.”
David grinned. “You’re different than most of the women I’ve met.”
“I would hope so,” she said. “Since we have a bit of time together, might I ask about your career?”
He had never thought about what he did as a career, but he supposed it could be classified as such. Cassie’s interest in his work perplexed him. She should be more afraid, and while he could sense some of her fear, her behavior and words didn’t exhibit it. “Why do you want to know about my career?” he asked.
“When I was a cop, I spent a lot of time studying people like you, trying to figure out why it is that you do these sorts of things. Maybe before you kill me, I’d like to find out a little more about you. Who knows? You might end up liking me and decide to keep me around.”
“If you studied people like me in the past, then you must be far more scared than you’re letting on. You might view me as a research project, like I see the women who sat in the very spot where you are now, but if you know I’m going to kill you then I still think you’re afraid of me.”
“I am afraid,” she said. “I’ve been afraid since you grabbed me at my house, and I’m not going to insult you by telling you otherwise. But I’m also curious, and I’d like the opportunity to know more about you.”
Her words fascinated him, far more than any other words spoken by a woman before her. David decided to use his time with Cassie to his advantage. He had many unanswered questions about his life and his desires to kill women, and she might be able to provide those answers he sought.
“If I answer your questions about my life, will you tell me more about myself? Will you tell me why I had fantasies about dark things when I was younger and why I had to act on them? I’ve always wondered why I have to do these things.”
She pursed her lips and studied his face for a moment. “If you tell me enough about your life, then I might be able to explain some things that you’ve wondered about.”
He was never able to speak with someone about his work, and he thought it might be fun to share his life’s details for a change. It wouldn’t hurt
to divulge some of his secrets to her and gain more perspective on his life and work in the process. She wouldn’t be alive later to tell anyone what he said.
David settled down on the floor in front of her, ready for a long and gratifying discussion. “Cassie, you can ask me whatever you want.”
Chapter Fifty-four
The detectives and crime scene unit crawled in and out of Cassie’s house like ants on an anthill. The Chief had called Lionel to pledge the support of every department in the search for Cassie, but it did nothing to help Lionel’s overwhelming helplessness.
When they had arrived at her house and she failed to answer the door, Lionel used his extra key to enter. Her car was still in the garage and there had been a struggle in her bedroom. There was no doubt that someone, presumably the killer, took her from her home against her will.
Lionel sat on the hood of Shawn’s unmarked patrol car, his shoes resting on the bumper. He swung his gaze across the street, toward the neighbors congregating on front lawns to speculate why the cops had taken over the normally sleepy cul-de-sac. He had seen neighbors on front lawns many times before while at a crime scene, but now he wanted to yell at them to mind their own business and stop intruding on his pain.
Shawn jogged down the stone walkway from Cassie’s front porch. He jumped up next to Lionel on the hood of his car and pulled off his latex gloves. “Have you heard from Emily?” Shawn asked.
“Nothing,” Lionel said. “The unit that went to her house said everything appeared to be in order. She wasn’t home, but her doors were locked and intact. They peeked through the garage window on the side of the house and her car was gone. There’s nothing to suspect she had been taken as well.”
“She’s probably at her boyfriend’s house,” Shawn said. “We’ll hear from her in the morning when she wakes up to all your messages.”
“What did I do?” Lionel asked.
“You didn’t cause this,” Shawn said, not for the first time since arriving at Cassie’s house. “There’s no reason to believe the killer knows Cassie is working on the case. Outside of us and the Chief, hardly anyone at the station knew about her involvement. You didn’t put her in this position.”
Shawn was trying to make him feel better, and he was most likely right. The killer probably did not know Cassie was working the case. She just happened to be his next target.
“If this guy had been stalking Cassie like the other victims,” Shawn said, “she would have noticed it and reported it to us. If he followed her at all, it was only for a very short time.”
Lionel turned to Shawn. Out of nowhere, he asked, “Do you really have a thing for Cassie, or is Barbara reaching?”
“This isn’t the right time, Leo.”
“I don’t know what else to talk about. They won’t let me in there and I don’t know what to do. I just don’t want to keep thinking about her being gone.”
Shawn moistened his lips and his eyes studied his shoes. “Cassie’s a beautiful girl,” he said. “She’s smart and damned stubborn. So yeah, maybe I am starting to have a thing for her, but I would never do that to you. It might be weird for all of us.”
Lionel slapped Shawn’s back. “I guess that if someone was to have a thing for her, then you’re not so bad.”
“Not so bad?” Shawn echoed. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for that.”
“If we get her back, maybe we’ll see about that dinner.”
“We’ll get her back, Leo. I swear to you, we’re getting her back.”
Headlights caught Lionel’s attention. A black Jeep pulled up to the crime scene tape perimeter. Emily jumped out of the passenger side, while a man climbed out of the driver’s side. “Uncle Leo!” Emily called, as he walked toward her. She slipped under the crime scene tape and ran over to him.
Lionel gave her a big hug, and Shawn did as well. Lionel noticed the man standing on the other side of the crime scene tape still, and he waved him over. The man dipped under the tape and moved over to them.
“This is Jake Hanley,” Emily said. “Jake, this is Uncle Leo and his partner, Shawn Brandt.”
“Good to meet you both,” Jake said, and shook their hands. “I just wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Same here,” Shawn said.
“Did you get my messages?” Lionel asked.
Emily nodded. “What happened?”
“It looks like he took her from her house, most likely in her bedroom,” Shawn said.
Emily lifted her hands to the back of her neck. “This can’t be happening.”
“Is there any way the killer knew you and Cassie were working on the case?” Shawn asked. “I know you were both being discreet, but did you possibly run across someone who could have been the suspect?”
“No,” Emily said. “In fact, all of the people we spoke to are women, except maybe a few people at Diane Murphy’s memorial and Sam.”
“Sam isn’t our guy,” Shawn said.
“Uncle Leo, I know there are detectives and the crime scene unit in there, but I have to go in.”
“I’m sorry, Emily,” Lionel said, “but that’s not a good idea. You don’t want to expose yourself to that and you have no police training like Cassie does. You might accidentally contaminate the crime scene.”
“I have to go in, and Jake needs to come with me. We’ll wear shoe covers, hair nets, latex gloves, lab coats, whatever you tell us to wear. We’ll follow someone exactly as we’re told, and we won’t touch a thing. I’m at her house a lot more than you are and I might see something that can help.”
“And why does Jake need to go in?” Shawn asked.
Emily took Jake’s hand. “I need him for support. I can’t do it alone. He’s a jury consultant and has investigating experience, so he may be able to help me.”
Lionel looked at Shawn for an answer, but he just shrugged.
Emily walked up to Lionel and locked eyes with him. “We need to go in,” she said in a low tone. “We’ll be able to find things none of your guys can find. You know that’s true.”
Lionel did know. He had thought it for a long time. Even though he didn’t understand it, Emily could help in ways no one else could. That’s why he had wanted her and Cassie on the case to begin with. They were both good detectives, but Emily was different.
He shifted his gaze to Jake. He had never met the man before, but something was different about him, in the same way Emily was different. She didn’t want Jake in there just for support, but because he possessed the same kind of detective skills. Cassie needed both of them in her house right now.
“Okay,” he said. “You guys can go in. Because she’s my niece, I’m not allowed inside the crime scene. You can be my eyes and ears. I want to know everything you can tell me. If you see anything that can help, let Shawn know when you’re inside so he can get a crime scene tech on it immediately.”
“When we get to the front door, I need you both to sign into the crime scene with the officer standing there,” Shawn said. “I’ll get approval from the Chief for you both when I go into to the station later. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, or so they say. I’m in charge of this crime scene, so if anyone asks, you’re with me.”
“Forget this,” Lionel said. “I’m going in, too.”
“Leo, there’s no way the Chief will okay it,” Shawn said.
“You just said it. Forgiveness later, right?”
Shawn threw up his hands. “Sure, let’s break all the rules tonight. But the same thing goes for you. You’re not touching a single piece of evidence.”
“Okay, boss.” Lionel followed them to the front door.
Shawn checked them in with the officer at the front door and directed them in putting on necessary protective gear. He asked Emily to put her hair in a tight bun to minimize the risk of hairs falling out. “I know you’re here all the time,” he said, “and your hair is probably all over her house, but we’re doing this the right way.”
After they entered the house,
Shawn said, “The front door locks were picked, but Cassie wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong because she parked in the garage and came in through the door attached to the laundry room. He surprised her in the bedroom and attacked her in there.”
“Can we start at the laundry room?” Emily asked.
They followed Shawn through the kitchen. Emily walked into the laundry room, while Shawn, Lionel, and Jake stood in the kitchen near the doorway. Emily turned around and walked toward them, much as Cassie would have when she first entered the house. “After she came home, she set her purse down on the kitchen counter and went straight for the bathroom.”
“How do you know she went to the restroom?” Lionel asked.
“We were together all day. She dropped me off at Jake’s house after we were done at work. She hadn’t used the bathroom since lunch, and she didn’t use it at Jake’s house.”
“That makes sense,” Shawn said. “Let’s retrace her steps.”
They walked back through the kitchen, and Lionel noticed Cassie’s purse on the kitchen counter, just as Emily said. He normally would have noticed it when they first walked into the kitchen, but he was thinking like the uncle of a missing girl, not as a veteran homicide detective.
Stopping in the hallway by the guest bathroom, Emily closed her eyes. “She used this bathroom because it was closest,” Emily said, with her eyes still shut. “Before she left Jake’s, she said she wanted to take a nap and a shower before going to your house. She would have gone back into the kitchen to get her purse before taking a nap since she always keeps her cell phone close to her.”
“But her purse is still in the kitchen,” Shawn said.
“That’s because he grabbed her when she came out of the bathroom and not in her bedroom,” Emily said. She pointed to the carpet below her feet. “Right here is where he grabbed her.”
“But the struggle is in her bedroom,” Shawn said.
“Trust me, her cell phone is never more than a few inches from her at all times. She would have gone back for it after using the bathroom,” Emily said.