Killer Moves (14 page)

“I think we both could use some strong coffee.” Davis nodded toward the restaurant close by.

“Yes. Right now that sounds like heaven.”

From the restaurant, they called Ava together. She still appeared shy with him even though he believed she now trusted him. It was hard to accept that he didn’t really know his own daughter.

“I’m sorry.” Kara had read his thoughts so easily. “I should have told you about Ava. It was wrong, and I know that. I was just so angry.”

He squeezed her hand. “I know. I guess we both made mistakes. You have no idea how many times I wanted to come after you. And I know you don’t believe me now, but I’m serious about leaving the Bureau. I’m done. I want a normal life. I want you.”

She laughed at this. “Sorry, Davis, but I’m not anything close to normal. And it’s looking like your daughter isn’t either.”

“Maybe not, but you’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Kara. You and Ava. You’re all I want.”

In the light of day, outwardly the barn appeared innocent enough. But the evidence of the brutality of the murder that had taken place there was everywhere.

From the road leading to the property, Kara could feel Jessica’s terror again.

“She was here for a while,” she said and saw Davis’s surprise. “He brought her here a few days before he killed her.”

The closer they got to the barn, the harder it became to shut out the terror Jessica Youngtree experienced. Kara could see her, the white scarf around her eyes, naked, cold and shivering. She been frightened and alone, waiting for her fate.

Kara got out of the car and stood with her eyes shut tight. The image of Jessica being dragged from the car into the barn appeared. She’d tried to scream but he had something in her mouth. Kara couldn’t make it out.

Her body was covered in blood. He’d taken his time with her, enjoying every minute of her pain. It excited him. After each attack, he’d raped her, heightening his pleasure.

Inside the barn, Kara knelt where Jessica’s body had lain.

“The last few minutes before her life ended happened quickly. Thank God for that.”

He glanced at Kara and then looked away from the evidence there.

“Yes. But I don’t think that will ease her parents’ pain, do you? It certainly doesn’t help mine.”

“No, I know. I’m sorry.”

“Kara, you said he moved her here a few days before. Do you see anything that might help us figure out where he kept her before here? We need to figure out where he had her. Maybe he left something behind there.”

Once again, Kara closed her eyes and concentrated on the emotions filling her head. Fear. Pain. Cold. She could see Jessica’s body lying there shivering and broken.

Her hands folded neatly around the lilacs as she died.

Then, suddenly, Jessica’s final moments disappeared, but not before she captured a fragmented plea. In the moments before her death, Jessica had tried to connect to Kara! Jessica had known Kara would come for her.

How? Had he told her?

She hadn’t noticed this before because there were too many other distractions in her thoughts. Ava. Davis. The Angel. She hadn’t heard Jessica’s cry for help. Kara tried to focus more closely on what Jessica had tried to tell her.

“I’m sorry, Jessica. But I’m listening to you now. Tell me what you need me to know.” She touched the cold earth where Jessica breathed her last breath.

“What?” Kara barely registered Davis’s question. He grew silent when he saw her expression. He’d seen it a million times in the past.

The barn became quiet again. Slowly Jessica reached out to her once more with one single clear thought.

“She’d trusted him. He would be someone who she felt comfortable talking to about her problems. Someone she considered a friend. No, wait. There’s something else. This is someone she had a secret crush on. Someone she pursued. Someone she slept with.” When Kara opened her eyes again she saw Davis shake his head in frustration.

“Kara, I have no idea. I thought she told me everything about her life, but now I realize there were so many things about Jessica’s life I didn’t know, even though we were friends.” He stopped the second the words were out. “Oh no. No, this isn’t happening. She trusted me, Kara. She had a crush on me. The profile you just gave, with the exception of sleeping together, could fit me. Jessica herself used to tease me about—”

“About what?” Kara prompted finally when he didn’t finish.

“About being hung up on you still. She said I couldn’t see a good thing when it stared me in the face. I ignored her usually, dismissed it as just a crush. But I knew she would have taken it further if I’d only given the word.”

“Who else knew how she felt about you?” Kara forced herself to ask the question. It was hard hearing that another woman had loved him. But Kara could feel Jessica’s love for Davis even now.

“You mean besides everyone at the office? I’m sorry, Kara, I know how this must hurt to hear.” He looked at her for a moment before answering.

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t have told her parents—her friends, maybe. She still kept in touch with most of the kids she hung out with during high school. Everyone loved Jessica. Ryan might know. He and Jessica had become close. They used to go to university football games together. Ryan went to UV as well. I think he helped convince her to go back and pursue her degree.”

“We need to talk to her friends, Davis.” Kara wondered if Jessica ever had anything to do with the Angel case. She wasn’t around when Kara had been in DC, but maybe she had something to do with the filing, or reporting of the case. Or maybe just a morbid curiosity. The case drew all kinds. Maybe she’d unknowingly been the leak.

“Do you think Jessica knew anything about the Angel case? I’m wondering if there’s any connection between her and Frankie even. Something that might tie all the loose ends together.”

“No, at least as far as I know she never handled anything connected with the case. It would have been in storage by the time she came on board. And Jessica wasn’t the kind of girl to think about such things. She hated hearing the details of some of the cases we worked.”

“None of this is making any sense now. I think we need something to clear our heads. Let’s get some fresh air, maybe take a walk around the property.”

They stepped out into the early fall morning. The beauty surrounding them was very different from the horror that took place there the night before.

Densely grown Norwood maples and white mulberry filled the woods ahead of them. The farther into the woods they went, the darker the trail became.

“The agents searched out here?” she asked, knowing the answer already.

“Yes, they’ll be back again today. I don’t think they missed anything though. They’re the best.”

Davis brought out a small flashlight from his pocket and shone it on the trail in front of them. Nothing seemed out of place.

“He didn’t come this way,” she said at last.

“Then how did he get past us? He was there just minutes before. This is the only way out of here without running right into us.”

Kara closed her eyes and tried to feel him there but she couldn’t.

“I don’t know, but he didn’t come this way.”

The woods emptied out into an open field. After an extensive search produced nothing, they returned to the car.

“It’s useless. We’ll leave it to the experts, but there’s nothing here. How can he not leave even a single piece of evidence behind? No footprints, no tire tracks unaccounted for. It’s impossible.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Kara’s gaze met his. She knew he was thinking the same thing.

“Where has he been all these years? It’s almost like he’s been orchestrating this whole thing for years. Even when you and I were apart. It’s like he knew this day was coming. And how was Frankie Shepard connected to all this?” Before he looked away, Kara saw the fear and helplessness Davis hadn’t been able to disguise.

“Frankie Shepard grew up in an affluent section of Virginia. Until the age of twelve, his family had been one of the wealthiest around. And then the summer of his twelfth birthday, everything changed. Why?” Kara asked.

“According to our file, Frankie’s father divorced his mother and married another woman soon after. He left Frankie’s mother with a young son and little else, forcing Marilyn Shepard to go to work for the same people with whom she’d once socialized. After Frankie’s death, the mother told us she first noticed a change in her son around this time. Frankie became very shy, made few friends. He seemed to retreat within himself.”

“Maybe, if she’ll talk with us, we can find out more about what happened during that time.”

Davis shook his head. “No, she passed away shortly after Frankie.”

“Did something else happen? Did he meet the Angel by accident? Knowing what we do now, Frankie certainly made a fitting patsy,” Kara said.

“Let’s go someplace where we’re not surrounded by the current killings.” Davis told her. He glanced at his watch. Almost midday. They’d been at it nonstop for more than twenty-four hours.

“In fact, let’s go home for a little bit. I, for one, could use a shower.”

He spread the case files out on the coffee table of his living room and sat on the floor reading them while waiting for Kara. He could hear the shower running. All of the old need returned to remind him it had been six years since he’d touched her. He’d buried that part of his life when she left him. Now, every nerve in his body felt as if it were coiled tightly, ready to spring to life whenever she was close. His body craved her to the point of desperation, but he didn’t want to screw things up again. He needed her to trust him. To give herself to him willingly.

“Anything?” she asked as she joined him on the floor. Kara wore faded jeans, a worn, gray tee, and she’d never looked more beautiful or more tempting. He wanted her more than he needed his next breath.

“Hmm? Oh, no, nothing yet.” With difficulty he forced himself to meet her gaze. For an eternity, time ceased to exist. He became aware of something changing within her. She drew in a labored breath, shutting her eyes against the raw desire in his. When she looked at him again it was all there. All of the same emotions he knew were mirrored in him.

He waited for her to come to him. She couldn’t. Davis took her hands and brought them up against his chest so that she could feel his reaction to her nearness.

“It’s your move now,” he said softly. “It has to be your decision.”

Breathe.
He forced out a shaky breath. Only a whisper separated them. Slowly she closed the space. His arms circled her, bringing her the rest of the way to him. He lifted her and sat her in his lap and then waited.

Her fingers brushed across his jaw. Her touch promising the world and yet creating unbearable tension within him. And then slowly, exquisitely, her lips found his. Her touch at first tentative, exploring. Soft as a whisper. His arms tightened around her body in response. She tasted like no other woman he’d ever known. Like forever wrapped up in a single kiss. He wanted to believe that was possible. At last he let go of the control he still held on to and showered her with kisses, revealing all the emotion that lay hidden in his heart. His lips parted hers, gentle but demanding. A soft little cry escaped against his mouth the moment his tongue dipped inside her to taste her for the first time. After only a moment’s hesitation, Kara met him kiss for kiss. Stroke for stroke. When kissing her wasn’t enough, his lips left hers, moving across her cheek and down to the pulse point at the base of her throat. Her head rolled back to allow him access to her. His lips ravaged her throat. She moved closer, her body pressing against his.

“No!”

The word intruded unwelcome between them. For a moment he thought he’d only imagined it. Then through the pounding of his heart, he felt her push softly against his chest. With willpower he didn’t know he possessed, Davis released her.

Kara scrambled to her feet and away from him, her breathing coming in ragged gasps, matching his. The pain in her eyes hurt like hell.

“Sweetheart, what is it?” Davis went after her but she moved farther out of his reach. “Did I hurt you?” he asked and prayed that wasn’t the case.

“No. No, you didn’t hurt me.” She took a deep breath and said, “Davis, I can’t…just dismiss the past or my feelings.”

He got to his feet and faced her. This again. He’d thought… “Kara, dammit, I thought we were moving past that. I know I hurt you, I screwed up. It won’t happen again, but you’re not exactly blameless either. You just took off, you didn’t even give me a chance to make things right between us.”

She held up her hand. There were tears falling from her eyes, but she brushed them angrily away. “No. You had a chance. You could have stood up to Ed, told him how you felt about me, about his ridiculous orders. You didn’t do any of those things. You didn’t give me any hope that we’d end up together, and I certainly couldn’t bear the prospect of snatching a few moments here and there with you. I deserved better than that. I wanted us to be together, Davis. I thought you wanted the same.”

He was angry as well, but smart enough to realize they were at a fragile place right now. He held back his resentment with difficulty. “I did. I do. I screwed up, I admit that. I need you to forgive and give me another chance.”