Killer Moves (27 page)

“Remember this?” he asked with a new spark in his eyes. Her fear pleased him. She had to control her fear.

“You’ll never get away with this, Ryan. They’ll know about the rape.” Kara tried to sound calm but inside she was terrified of never seeing her daughter again.

“I’ll figure something out. It won’t be hard. After all, I’ve been able to fool them for years. Maybe another patsy will be in order. Or maybe I’ll just tell them you ran away and I wasn’t able to stop you. The loss of Davis was too much for you. Maybe you can be my patsy. After I’ve had the pleasure of you, it won’t be hard getting rid of your body.”

He held the knife against her throat. “Who’s going to miss you really, Kara? Your daughter? Your grandmother. They’re better off without you, aren’t they, whore?”

He let the knife slide slowly down her body and she couldn’t keep from showing him her fear. “Do you want me to use the scarf, Kara? Or do you want to watch it all.”

A tiny whimper escaped and then she let herself go numb. She wouldn’t struggle. He wanted her to fight him.

Kara tried to let her mind go blank as well. She didn’t want Ava to feel this. She might not be able to stop him from hurting her, but she wouldn’t make it more enjoyable for him.

Inside her thoughts, she could hear her daughter calling out to her. Kara tried to reassure her, but Ava knew.

“It’s okay, baby, I’m okay. Don’t worry.”

Ava continued weeping and calling out to her father.

Something distracted Ryan. A noise drew his attention away from her.

Ava continued crying, but among her helpless tears, Kara heard another familiar voice. Davis! Davis?

Suddenly a shot rang out. Ryan screamed in pain and then his weight left her body. But Kara couldn’t react. She was still thinking of Davis. Davis was still alive.

She became aware of other people and activity around her. The sound of glass exploding close by. A scream. Then silence.

Two sets of eyes, familiar eyes, looked down at her. Judy and Geneva. One of them placed a jacket over her body. She couldn’t stop shivering.

“It’s okay, Kara. You’re all right,” Judy told her then called for help.

“That SOB! Did you see him jump right through that window? I shot him in the shoulder and it didn’t even faze him and he got right up after the fall as if nothing had happened. How’d he do that?”

She turned away and spoke into the phone.

“Did he hurt you?” Geneva gently examined Kara’s body for broken bones.

“No, I’m fine.”

“He didn’t—”

“No. Thank God! But a few more minutes and…” She couldn’t actually bring herself to say the words. Kara clutched at her shirt. The knife had all but shredded it. She slipped the jacket on and buttoned it.

“How did you know where to find me?” she asked.

“We followed him. Judy told me what he’d said to her in the beginning. Something didn’t add up so we tailed him. We would have been here sooner but we were stuck in that jam-up. I’m sorry about that, Kara.”

“God, Geneva, no—thank you! I’m so glad to see both of you. He was going to kill me. Ryan was the real Death Angel all along.”

“Damn! Let’s just see the feds beat what we did here tonight. We stopped the Death Angel,” Judy said with a wicked little grin. “The big guy’s on his way with the cavalry. They’ve called in DC police for backup in canvassing the area. We’ll get the guy."

Kara started to laugh at Judy’s confident words and just couldn’t stop. She was still laughing when the cavalry arrived.

Within minutes, the place filled with Bureau people once more. Someone had called EMS as well.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little bruised.” She dismissed the EMS worker when Ed walked over.

“Kara, I’m so sorry. We’ll get him. I only wished we’d been sooner. But we owe it all to Davis. He tried to leave me a clue. He left his cell phone on during the attack. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear the identity of his attacker, but we found a box in Davis’s car containing evidence linking Ryan to all the original killings. In fact, it pretty much exonerated Frankie Shepard entirely. He was just the innocent patsy all along who’d met up with the wrong person. The poor slob. Ryan killed him a few weeks before he kidnapped you and killed Kim Billings. He had Frankie terrified. Apparently he forced him to watch all the murders. But Frankie was smart. He left evidence that proved Ryan was responsible for all the murders, just in case Ryan did what he ultimately ended up doing, which was killing Frankie and framing him for all them. He killed Rocky too. We found him a little while ago.”

“Oh God. Tell me the truth, Ed. Did he get away with it this time as well?”

He took his time answering. “No. We have people everywhere looking for him. He can’t get far. He’s wounded. The officers got in a good shot before he escaped. We’ll get him.”

“How? You haven’t managed to get him for six years. You ruined countless people’s lives because you couldn’t capture him.”

“Kara, I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else. I promise you. I promised Davis.”

“I don’t care about your stupid promises, Ed! They mean nothing to me!” she told him, literally shaking with anger. She was angry at Ed. Angry with herself.

“Where is Davis, Ed?”

“Kara—”

“Don’t tell me he’s dead! Don’t you dare tell me that. He’s not dead! I still feel him. He’s still alive, Ed. So don’t you dare tell me he’s dead!”

The room around them grew silent. People stared curiously. Ed took her arm and drew her aside.

“I want to see him. I want to see Davis.”

Ed shook his head. “Sorry, Kara, but that’s not going to happen.”

“Ed, I love him. He’s the father of my child. He gave this job everything, and now you’re telling me he gave up his life as well. I want to see him. You owe me that much.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you see him and that’s final. I know you loved him and I know you want to do what’s best for your daughter. Trust me, Davis wouldn’t want you to remember him that way. He’s gone. When the threat is over, I’ll allow you and Davis’s father to organize a small memorial service for him, but Davis specifically told me that in the event he died while on the job, he didn’t want a fuss. He wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread over the Potomac. He asked that no one else be present and I intend to honor his wishes. I know you’re angry with me and you’ve been through a lot, but I’m telling you the truth. Davis is dead. So leave it at that. Ryan is still out there. Until he’s found, I don’t want to leave you alone. I’m sending you, Ava and your grandmother into protective custody for a while.”

“What?”

“Until Ryan is caught. I still believe he might try to come after you and your daughter.”

“My daughter and I aren’t going anywhere but home.”

“No, you’re not,” he insisted quietly. “Even if I have to arrest you, you are not going home.”

“Ed, you can’t force me to do this.”

“I can and I am. Before…this happened,” he shook his head in disgust as he looked around the room, “Davis gave me his father’s number and told me to call should something happen to him.” He motioned behind her to someone standing close. Agent Sean Griffin, the rookie agent, stepped forward. “Take her to where we discussed. I’ll have the others meet you there. Don’t let her out of your sight, Agent Griffin. It’s your responsibility if she gets away.”

“Ed, don’t you dare,” Kara told him even as Agent Griffin reached for her arm and pulled her along with him.

“Please, ma’am, just come with me.”

“Ed! Ed, you can’t do this!”

Ed turned away, ignoring her.

“Ma’am, please.”

Agent Griffin forced her toward the door, but not before Kara managed to catch the eye of Geneva and Judy. They started forward and were met by two agents who prevented them from reaching her in time. Once outside, the agent hurried her inside a black SUV and sped away toward the interstate before Kara could react.

He exited the interstate and headed in the direction of Bolling Air Force Base. The SUV stopped at a section of the base that serviced the White House and non-military personnel.

“Just cooperate, okay?” Agent Griffin told her finally. “The sooner you do, the sooner this will all be over.”

The flight seemed endless. Kara tried to close her eyes and reach out to Davis. Something blocked his presence. But Ryan was there, reaching out to her as always.

Once the flight arrived in a barren airport in what she guessed was Maine, another agent met them at the airport and drove them to a small cabin along the coast.

“Mommie! Mommie!” Ava ran out to meet her mother the second Kara stepped out of the car. Her grandmother and another agent stood close by.

“Where’s Davis’ father?” Kara asked Sean Griffin over the top of her daughter’s head.

“DC, ma’am. The director flew him back earlier, as soon as it was…confirmed.” Agent Griffin glanced Ava’s way. She understood he was trying to save Ava any further pain.

“Why?” Kara pressed.

Sean Griffin looked even more ill at ease. “Don’t know, ma’am. I’m assuming it has to do with making the final arrangements for his son.”

She didn’t believe it for a minute. The Bureau and Ed had begun spinning a tale for Davis’s father to try and stay ahead of the fallout that was sure to follow. None of that mattered anymore. Kara’s only concern was for Ava. Her daughter needed her. Let the Bureau sort out its own mess.

“Mommie, Daddy’s dead, Daddy’s dead!” Her daughter wept inconsolably in her arms.

“Baby, we don’t know that yet.” Kara couldn’t accept that he was gone either. She wouldn’t until she saw his body.

“It’s true.”

Kara lifted her distraught child into her arms and carried her inside.

“Ava, don’t say that. We don’t know anything yet.”

“It’s true and you know it! I can’t feel him anymore, Mommie.”

“Baby, hush, you’ll make yourself sick if you keep this up.” Kara struggled to control her own tears. She couldn’t fall apart in front of Ava. There would be plenty of time for that after she’d comforted her daughter.

“Mommie, I never got to know him. I just met him. It’s not fair!” For the rest of the evening, Ava wept despondently in her mother’s arms. When she finally slept, it was almost the dawn of another day.

Once Ava was in bed, Kara could finally talk to her grandmother.

“Do you think she saw it, Gran?” Kara poured coffee into a cup and stood staring out the window. She felt as if she were going through the motions of living.

Maggie placed a hand on her granddaughter’s arm. “Of course she did, child. She has the gift, after all.”

“I don’t ever want to hear that word again.” She didn’t have to look at Maggie to know her reaction.

“It’s not a gift, Gran. I’m sorry. It couldn’t be further from a gift and I won’t have Ava going through that.”

Maggie knew her granddaughter too well to respond.

“God, I don’t know what to do, Gran. I still feel him. How can he be gone if I feel connected to him?”

“I don’t know. You’re strong Kara. Be strong for Ava.”

“I don’t want to be strong. I don’t want Ava having the gift. I want Davis!”

“I know, but you can’t stop it. I know you’ve tried her whole life, but it doesn’t work that way. Look at your mom. It destroyed her because she couldn’t make peace with it. You have to find a way to make peace with it, child. You have to accept it and learn to live with it. And so does Ava.”

“How can I accept it? Look what’s it’s done to us. It’s brought so much evil into our lives. How can I accept it as a gift?”

“You have to, child, otherwise it will tear you apart. You have so much anger inside you, Kara. You have to let it go, before it eats you up inside. Use the gifts you have, Kara. And learn to make peace with it.”

Chapter Fifteen

Two days later, Ryan Anderson died. By the time the news broke over the major networks, Kara had known about his death for hours. Not through the Bureau but through the gift.

Since her arrival at the cabin, Ava hadn’t let her out of her sight for a moment. She slept in Kara’s bed and spent each day quietly watching her mother. Maggie believed she just needed a little time and reassurances from Kara that she wouldn’t disappear from her life like her father had.

Kara hadn’t felt Ryan in her thoughts or dreams in those days. But that final night, she sensed his presence in her dream in the most unusual way. This time there wasn’t any fear on her part. After all, she knew the Angel’s identity now. As she watched Ryan Anderson, she could feel his power growing weaker even as he reached out to her in the last moments of his life. She couldn’t see the person who shot him, but in her heart, she wanted to believe in some strange form of justice it would be Davis.

In that second before his final death, she witnessed the blackness of Ryan’s heart. He felt no remorse for his crimes. Only an immense feeling of superiority to those around him, including his victims.

And then there was nothing.

The next morning, Agent Griffin told Kara that she, Ava and Maggie would be going home to Texas in a few days.