Читать книгу Picture Perfect Murder - Rachel Dylan - Страница 11
ОглавлениеLily went with Rex to the crime scene at Westlake Park while Jackson and Guy were busy at the house boarding up her living room window. Minutes after she received the text, Rex had contacted APD to check out Westlake Park. And unfortunately, her suspicion about the next victim had been right. Rex wasn’t crazy about the idea of her going to the crime scene, but she’d insisted and Rex didn’t feel safe leaving her with anyone else, so he had obtained approval for her to visit the scene. She wanted to be able to help in any way she could.
In the field, she’d seen some pretty heinous things. But nothing could’ve really prepared her for this crime scene. This killer was truly a psychopath. And the damage he’d inflicted on this innocent woman now lying lifeless in front of her was unthinkable.
She tried to push away the emotions bubbling up below the surface and focus on how she could be of help in catching this guy. Thankfully, due to her CIA training, she was able to compartmentalize her emotions.
Rex walked over to her. “The crime scene techs don’t think she was murdered in the park. Just that this is where he dumped her body. But you need to come over here and take a look behind these bushes.”
Following Rex, Lily prepared herself for what she was going to see. The victim’s body had been found on the jogging trail so this had to be something else that lurked behind the bushes. She took a deep breath as he shone his flashlight. And that was when she saw it. Another photo. This time it was in color, and she recognized it as a picture she’d taken of a farmhouse about twenty minutes outside the city.
“I’m assuming this is your photograph?” Rex asked.
“Yes. But I don’t get this, Rex. Why would he lead us to the location through pictures? Now that we know what he’s doing, why wouldn’t we just get an FBI team to stake out the farmhouse and catch him when he goes there? I know exactly where it is.”
Rex shook his head. “Because that’s not how this guy is going to operate. He did this once—using the picture as a means to tell us where the victim was. But he isn’t stupid. He’ll come up with another game. I just don’t know what that is yet. What is clear to me is that he’s formed a very unhealthy connection to you through all of this. The killer doesn’t like missteps or failures. He can’t let it go.”
“Yes, I understand.”
He reached out and touched her arm. “This all comes back to you, Lily. He’s not going to let up, and unfortunately he’s got you front and center.”
“That’s a place I do not want to be.” She was used to being in the crosshairs but in a totally different type of deadly game. In this situation, she currently felt a severe lack of control, and that bothered her. She liked being in charge, not just sitting back and waiting for something bad to happen.
“I’m sorry you were put in this situation. But we need to talk about your personal security.”
That was the last thing she wanted to talk about. She didn’t want APD or the FBI providing her with protection. She could handle it herself. Especially since she knew she was a target. This wasn’t a covert operation. This was an in-your-face threat. He was killing women and using her as a pawn in his game. She wasn’t going to stand idly by and let him continue to use her.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it now, but we will need to at some point,” he said. “We can’t presume to understand how the mind of a sociopath like this operates.”
She nodded. This man was trying to protect her. He was doing his job. It was just difficult for her to relinquish control. To trust someone. To provide full disclosure. After all, her life in the CIA had been all about withholding information. Her instincts told her that he was one of the good guys, but look how wrong she had been about James. How could she ever learn to trust again?
He gently took her arm and guided her away from the scene and back toward his SUV.
On the drive to her house, they rode in silence for a few minutes until he spoke. “You’re from Atlanta, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. It was just me and my mom growing up. Times were tough, as you can imagine. She worked two jobs just to put food on the table. The house that I live in was my grandmother’s. It was the only thing of value we had.”
“Where is your mom now?”
“She died my freshman year of college. She had a lot of issues and got mixed up with the wrong guys. It led to her making bad decisions. But enough of my family drama. What about you?”
“I was born and raised in Georgia. My parents are still together. Not to say there weren’t some really rough patches. But they’re both really solid in their faith and decided to stick it out through the good and the bad.”
Interesting, she thought. “And do you share their beliefs?”
“Yes. My faith is really important to me. Especially in my line of work. Sometimes God is all I have. He’s the only one I can talk to about the awful things I experience.”
Her heart hurt listening to him because there was a time when she’d felt the same way. Then everything had changed. God had taken everything away from her. And she still didn’t know why.
“What about you?” he asked.
“That’s a long story for another time.”
“I get it.” He pulled up in her driveway, and she was relieved that he wasn’t pushing the topic right now.
She stepped out of the SUV and walked up her front porch steps. Guy’s car was in the driveway. The living room window was boarded up. Grace started barking. “She knows we’re home. It looks as if the guys are still here,” she said.
“Good,” he said. “If the killer is watching, it’s good for him to know that you have a tight circle of friends. And you’re about to have the FBI protecting you, as well.”
They walked into the house and Grace greeted them warmly. They found Jackson and Guy sitting in the living room. The two of them were polar opposites. Jackson was tall with dark hair and eyes, while Guy was shorter with blond hair and blue eyes. But the one thing they had in common was their loyalty to her. She’d known Guy since eighth grade when he’d moved into town. He was a good man who was currently working his way through school to be an EMT.
“Thank you both for what you did with the window.”
“You’re not safe here by yourself, Lily,” Jackson said. He was always very protective of her. Like the big brother she never had.
“I’m glad you’re concerned,” Rex said. “We are, too, and will be providing Lily with FBI protection.”
“Will you be taking the lead?” Jackson asked.
“If I have it my way, then yes. There are a lot of moving parts, but Lily’s security is my priority.”
“Well, I’m glad she won’t be left alone again for some psycho to attack her,” Guy said, his blue eyes bright with frustration.
“You two should get home,” Lily said. “I’ve already taken too much time out of your night.”
“We’re here for you if you need us,” Jackson said.
“Jackson’s right, Lily. Whatever you need,” Guy added.
She followed them to the door and gave them both hugs. She was fortunate to have them in her life right now.
Grace barked and Lily leaned down and gave her some rubs. “I know, girl. There’s a lot going on around here right now. But everything’s going to be okay.”
“Come on into the kitchen.” She motioned for Rex to take a seat at the kitchen table. “Would you like something to drink? I could make coffee.”
“To be honest, coffee sounds amazing right now. I can’t see sleep in my future anytime soon.”
She took the coffee out of the cabinet and put on a pot before sitting down across from him. “I’ve been thinking about the farmhouse photo.”
“What about it?”
“I wasn’t alone the day I went out there. Alison came with me.”
“What else do you remember about that day? Anything at all, even if it seems like a minute detail, could be important.”
Her head started to pound and the coffee couldn’t brew fast enough. “Just that Alison tagged along. We thought it would be fun and we actually brought Grace, too, and made an afternoon of it. After we got done there, Alison went home so she could get ready for a client meeting and Grace and I went to the dog park.”
“Do you remember talking to anyone at the dog park? Or did you notice anyone on the periphery, watching you play with Grace?” Rex asked, his brows drawn together.
Racking her brain for useful details but coming up empty, she sighed. “No. Nothing stands out in my memory.”
“A killer fitting this profile would like to terrorize. He’s probably been watching you for a while. He has to handpick his victims and make sure they fit his list of characteristics.”
Lily reached down for Grace, who licked her hand. “We’ve got to stop this guy. I don’t like being attacked in my own home.”
“If only it were that simple.”
She stood up and got two large mugs out of the cabinet. “How do you like your coffee?”
“Just sugar, if you have it.”
She poured them both a cup and put his in front of him along with the sugar and a spoon. She drank hers black. “We have to outmaneuver him. Figure out what his next move would be. Isn’t that what guys like you at the FBI do?”
“It is, but like I said, we only have so much to work with. We’ve got video surveillance set up here now, but he has to know that. He probably won’t be so bold as to come back to your house. He knows we’re watching.”
She took a big sip of coffee, letting the warmth flow through her. “You’re giving him a lot of credit.”
“Serial killers are often highly intelligent. Never underestimate the enemy, Lily. I know this is a totally different world for you.”
Actually, he had no idea who she really was or what she was capable of. But her CIA past had nothing to do with the serial killer, and thinking about it brought her down. It was a dark hole that threatened to consume her if she let it. It was better to face this issue as Lily Parker, photographer, rather than Lily Parker, CIA operative. “I’m not underestimating, but I think we have to try to get out ahead of him.”
He crossed his arms. “I’m sorry, but I just have to say something.”
“All right.” She eyed him warily.
“Something is off with you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Maybe it’s the fact that I was attacked in my home and then someone threw a brick through my window.”
“But that’s just it. You’ve been through some terribly traumatic events, but you don’t act like how I would think someone in your position should act under the circumstances.”
She laughed. “And how exactly is that? What am I doing wrong?”
“It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong, but like I said before, you’re holding back on me. The guns, the strategies, your reaction. You need to tell me what it is that I don’t know. Because even if you think it has nothing to do with the attacks, you could be wrong.”
“Believe me, I’m not withholding anything from you that could be helpful for the investigation.”
“Which means you are withholding something.”
“Don’t we all have secrets in our past?”
He didn’t respond immediately. “Yes, but some secrets are much more dangerous than others. I did a little digging on you. You haven’t lived in Atlanta your whole life.”
“No. I went away for college and then worked a few years in Virginia before coming back home. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“And what kind of work did you do after you graduated college?”
It was time to try to deflect. “What does this have to do with the case?”
“It’s not meant to be a trick question.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
He frowned. “But you still haven’t answered the question.”
This guy was FBI. If he put in the right calls and pulled a few strings her past would be revealed. When she’d been working for the CIA, her cover was as a state department employee. Even if that was all he found out, he’d have questions about any government work she may have done. If he was persistent enough, he’d discover the truth one way or the other. The question was whether she wanted him to hear it from her or get the Agency’s version of events.
He didn’t break eye contact with her. “Because what if there’s a missing piece of your past that somehow relates to the killer or potential future victims?”
“It’s just not so cut-and-dried.”
He leaned forward in his seat. “Lily, if you were doing something that might not have been on the proper side of the law, then it’s even more important that you come clean. I’m not asking any of these questions to get you in trouble. I’m only trying to protect you and other potential targets out there.”
She fought to keep any reaction from her face. “It’s not illegal. I can promise you that.”
“Well, if it’s not illegal, then why can’t you just tell me so we can move forward?” He took a breath. “Is it a profession that you’re embarrassed of?”
She hesitated for a moment, and he latched on to it, mistakenly thinking that he’d stumbled onto something.
“Believe me, Lily, there’s no shame in working odd jobs to make ends meet after college.”
“I think I’ve led you down a completely wrong path here.” What should she do?
“You need to come clean with me, Lily. Please.”
It was the please that got her, along with his sincere brown eyes. She took a deep breath. He was right. If there was even a small chance that there was a CIA connection to all of this, she had to tell him. Lives were literally on the line. “Are you really sure you need to know?”
He nodded. “Yes, I really need to know everything you can tell me.”
“Okay, then. There’s a reason I didn’t want the news to put out a story connecting me to the killer. I don’t want anyone to know I live here and what I do now.”
“Why?”
“Because I used to work for the CIA.”
* * *
Rex must be delusional because he thought that Lily had just said something that wasn’t possible. “Say that again?”
“The Central Intelligence Agency. I’m sure you’re very familiar with it.”
He had known some things about her didn’t add up, but being a spy wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. Or maybe she wasn’t a spy. Maybe she’d had a desk job. “And what did you do for the CIA?”
Her blue eyes were bright as she fixed her gaze on him. “My missions were classified. As a special agent with the FBI, I’m sure you can very well appreciate the sensitivity here. But I worked in the field.”
“How could you not think your career as a CIA agent was relevant to this investigation?”
“The guy clearly isn’t going after me because of my CIA background. My CIA life is over. It’s been over.”
“I didn’t say that the killer was someone in the CIA, but that expands the circle of connections you have in a unique way that we have to consider. How long have you been out?”
“Nine months.”
“That’s not that long, Lily. Why did you leave?”
“I’ve already said enough for now. I really don’t want to talk about the past anymore. I want to figure out how to catch this guy. If we can leverage my skills to do it, then I’m all for it. But what I’m not going to do is give you a play-by-play of my career at the CIA, not to mention the fact that I can’t.”
Lily was hiding even more than he had imagined. And he noticed something else. For the first time he saw pain in her eyes. Something bad had happened to her while she was at the CIA, and she didn’t want to talk about it or perhaps couldn’t. “Can you at least tell me what geographic regions of the world you worked?”
“Primarily Europe. I’m fluent in both French and German.”
He was impressed. This woman was not only smart, beautiful and tenacious—she was dangerous. He’d heard many stories about field operatives with the CIA. They were tough and even deadly when they had to be. “We can’t rule out that the killer is somehow connected to someone you knew while at the CIA, or that there’s a possible link between someone in your CIA past and the other victims.”
“Do you realize how many people I came into contact with at the Agency? That would be quite an expansive list spanning the entire world. I realize you want to be thorough, but I doubt that anyone I dealt with knows any of the victims.” She let out a breath.
“You’re probably right about that point, but we can’t discount the possibility that there could be a common link between the victims. So I’m still going to need names of people you associated with.”
“All right. I’ll make a list.”
“And you aren’t going to like my next question, either, but I have to ask it.”
“Go ahead.”
“Are you currently seeing anyone?”
“You mean like a boyfriend?”
“Yes,” he replied.
She looked down at her coffee cup. “No. There’s no one.”
“What about your exes? I’ll need to run them down, starting with the most recent.”
“The list is pretty short.”
“Still, I’ll need it.”
“Well, there’s only been one boyfriend of any significance.”
He nodded. “And what’s his name?”
“James Dexter.” She stood up, poured more coffee and handed him back his cup.
“I’ll run him down just to make sure he’s in the clear and isn’t connected in any way to the other victims.”
“I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.”
“Why not?”
“He’s dead,” she said quietly.
He wasn’t expecting that answer. He reached out and touched her hand. “I’m so sorry, Lily. What happened?”
Lily looked up at him as a single tear fell down her cheek. “I killed him.”
