Apprehended (Amber Alert Series Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter 2

"Tegan Richards from Hollowell, Maine was the last person to be taken, but these girls have been taken from all over the country. We can't find a rhyme nor reason why they were taken aside from physical similarity," Callum stated as he clicked the remote and the twelve missing girls' photos splashed across the screen.

They were all around five foot six with blonde hair, fit physique but with varying eye colors. Since they lived in different states, they'd never made contact with each other. They didn't play any of the same sports, the girls didn't enjoy the same food types, go on trips at the same times to the same places or anything really.

"What made him start? It's been years since Bennett died, why now?" I asked as I looked at each person from Callum's team. There were two girls, one didn't look like she had the stomach for this case, it made me wonder how she handled blood, and the other had a severe case of resting bitch face. Then there were the two boys in the corner, one seemed very shy almost terrified to speak, and the other was the strong, silent type. It was amazing that these people could even be in the same room together, let alone be in on the same team.

"It's the twentieth anniversary of the Bennett kidnappings," the shy one spoke up with a knowing smirk on his face. His fingers pushed back the short brown hair as if he was nervous to speak up about his thoughts, or know if anyone agreed with his suggestion.

"What's the stressor though?" I asked, trying to remember the vocabulary I had heard during the meeting so that I wouldn't be out of place within the group.

"The anniversary of his idols kidnappings isn't good enough for you, Miss Sparks?" Callum asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm saying that there could be something else. How do we know that Bennett is his idol anyway?" I retorted with a steady gaze. I refused to let him dominate or scare me away. I wasn't the same meek girl that had been kidnapped, and now I was even more determined to show my worth to this—and any—man. He clearly didn't think I was good enough to play with the big boys from the way he talked down to me.

"Why else would he kidnap twelve girls then?" Callum questioned, clearly challenging my authority and knowledge.

"I don't know the why, but if you look at these twelve girls you can see a progression," one of the boys stated as he plucked the remote from Callum's hands and clicked through the slides. "Grace Kaiser, taken at night in a secluded alley near a local bar that she probably got into with a fake ID.”
Click-click-click-click, “
While four girls later, Amanda Greene is taken in broad daylight from a busy shopping center parking lot."

"And what does all that mean exactly?

"Having trouble keeping up with Jason’s thought process, Miss Sparks?" Callum asked with a bored tone, and overly exaggerated fake yawn.

"It means he's growing more confident with each girl he kidnaps and doesn't get caught. If he was meek he would still be taking them in secluded areas, but he's changed. His confidence has made him able to take them in public regardless of witnesses," Jason finishing his thought.

"That's a very good theory," Callum said as he flipped through the photos of the girls again. "Now if we can just figure out why he picked these girls."

"What do you mean we?" I asked curiously as my eyes locked on to his and I could feel an echo of a feeling that hadn't graced my body in years. The butterflies were overwhelming, I was nervous, he had called me in and now I had to prove myself.

"I didn't mean we as in you and me. I meant we as in you, this team, and myself. This is Darrell," he said pointing to the silent one. "Jason," he pointed to the shy one that knew more about my past than I did. "Kate," was the one that didn't look like she could handle the kidnapping case. "And this is Abby," he said gesturing to the glaring girl in the corner.

"Nice to meet y'all," I said letting my southern twang seep through my words.

"Now that pleasantries are out of the way, let's get back to the case," Darrell grumbled. "Can you repeat what you were saying earlier, Jason?"

"Sure, well we know he's male from a witness statement, and the ferocity of the attacks correlate with that. While some girls went quietly, others fought. In some cases there was a great deal of blood, but that also shows that he won't hesitate to attack—maybe even kill—due to the severity. He is likely in his late twenties or early thirties, because of the control and efficiency of his attacks. Younger subjects would tend to make more mistakes due to youthful ignorance—they are sloppy and tend to get caught before escalating this far. He could have done more earlier in life, but I think he started recently."

"Wow," was all I could say as I listened to what they had figured out just from the behavioral analysis. "That was impressive. You know all that from little behavior ticks?"

"I can tell you a little bit about yourself too, Jessi. You play with your necklace absentmindedly, that means that someone gave it to you and you're thinking about them. If I had to guess it's more of a charm that means something to the person you are thinking about. A reminder of what you went through together and how it changed you. You also are held up because you can't connect to people emotionally due to the tragedy of your experience. That's why you fight, that's why you prove yourself, because you don't want everyone to see the girl that was kidnapped, but the girl you grew up to be. How was that?"

"That was impressive to say the least."

"I can also see that you are open-minded to change," he said with a smile as he gave a sideways glance to Callum who was flipping through the files as if to find something they had missed before.

I glared at him, hoping to shut him up, but all he did was laugh. I didn't find his joke funny, and it should remain a joke. Callum just liked to poke my buttons, force me to prove myself, and I wasn't going to get left behind just because I wasn't a part of their team. This is why I joined the FBI; I wanted to keep these guys off the streets, and to prevent more girls from being trapped like I had been.

"I can't tell whether or not it's a good thing no bodies have been found yet," Darrell mused out loud to break my train of thought.

"Maybe it means he's keeping them for something," Jason offered just as an officer burst through the door. His breath was heavy as if he had run a marathon and he hunched over slightly in order to catch his breath.

"Girl thirteen has just been taken, and you'll never guess what her name is." The officer huffed with a sullen face before he turned and shut the door behind him.

Chapter 3

"Who has eyes and ears on Audrey Thomas?" Callum yelled as we ran through the cubicle offices to get to the person that was supposed to be watching her. Ever since they discovered that this person was following Steve Bennett's profile they put surveillance on Anna, Garrett, Audrey, Damien and even my father to protect them. The whole building seemed to be focused on this case, and I couldn't blame them. The last thing this nation needed was another Steve Bennett.

"I did, but the visual cut off ten minutes before the call came in," the officer at the desk said as he tried to regain whatever visual he'd had at one point.

I instinctively reached for my phone and dialed Audrey's number. It rang repeatedly, dragging on the uncertainty, the fear, and driving my mind to the worst case scenario. If this man was like Steve Bennett he could already have her, and the things he was capable of were endless if Steve Bennett was his template. I was about to give up hope of her answering when I heard a familiar male voice.

"Hello?" Damien’s voice asked over speaker phone.

"Damien!" I cried out causing everyone to look at me from the abrupt outburst. "Damien, have you seen Audrey lately?"

"Yeah, she went to the bathroom a few minutes ago with one of her friends," he said with a laugh. He didn't understand why girls had to go to the bathroom in pairs and would bring it up every time someone asked, but I didn't have time to hear his speech on how strange it was.

"Damien, I need to talk to her right now," I emphasized to let him know that I wasn't in the mood for his games. "It's urgent."

"What do you want me to do Jessi?" he asked curiously. "Walk into the girls bathroom and hand her the phone?" he suggested after a few moments when I didn't answer right away.

"Yes, if that's what you have to do! I have to know that she's okay." As soon as the words left my mouth I felt my eyes widen, and I slapped my hand over my mouth in shock, I can’t believe I said that.

"Why wouldn't she be okay, Jessi?"

"Damien, just check on her and then I will tell you. It's urgent if that helps, just go find her!" I ordered as I heard him drop the phone into his pocket and start running. I glanced around at all the eyes on me. Some were nervously waiting to see if Audrey was okay, some were curious if the copycat had taken her, while Callum just looked furious.
I'll hear about this later
, I thought as I heard girls screaming on the other side of the line. "Damien?"

There was no answer.

"Damien, did you find her?" I asked as I heard him start to rustle for the phone in his pocket.

"I found her, she's fine. Her friends aren't too happy that I barreled in, but she's safe. Now do you care to tell me why I just broke into the girl's bathroom?"

I glanced at everyone, unsure of what to say. I caught Callum's glare as he shook his head no, but my boss gave me the okay from behind Callum's shoulder.

"There's a copycat for Steve Bennett, girl number thirteen was just taken and it was reported that her name was Audrey Thomas from Colorado University. There wasn't much of a description other than light hair, about five foot four, and that she was seen being taken from campus." I let a moment pass for them to digest the information until I continued. "I know Audrey moved there for school under the radar, but I'm worried that somehow he found her and tried to take her, now some other girl is gone."

"What do we do, Jessi? We only have a few weeks of classes left, and I can't be with her the whole time," Damien stated as Audrey started insisting she didn't need protecting, her voice slightly distant as she wasn't as close to the phone. I could imagine Damien's smirk as he tried not to laugh and hugged her tightly so she wouldn't see. To him, she would always need protecting especially after he successfully kidnapped her after she spouted that anyone who was kidnapped was dumb. He never let her forget it either. He'd done it to find out where his sister was buried—she was one of the victims never recovered after Bennett was arrested—and he wanted answers. With Anna's help, the search for other bodies went on and they discovered more girls then they'd thought, even the original girl, Steve's wife, Kelly. Damien had watched out for Audrey then, even saved her from Steve in the end, and he would have to do it again.

"You watch each other's backs, call Anna and Garrett to warn them, and I will call my dad. Maybe bring him down here so that he's closer to me instead of in Wilmington."

"Just leave him with Anna and Garrett, Jessi. They can handle themselves, and something tells me that if he went after Audrey instead of Anna that they may be fine down there. Steve would have gone after Anna. We all know that. He would do anything to get her back, but he's dead and gone. This person's new, just try to remember that. He isn't Steve; he's someone different, even if he does know about the Steve Bennett kidnappings. We will watch each other's backs, call us if there's anything we need to know."

"I will, please let Anna and Garrett know right away, just in case," I said as I felt tears prickle in my eyes. It felt like I was saying goodbye forever. I was basically letting them loose into the world, and praying that this man didn't find them and take them or worse.

"I will. Keep yourself safe, Jessi," he said as the phone clicked off to signal he had ended the call.

I quickly blinked away my tears as I turned back around to face the crowd. They were looking at me as if expecting an order, but I didn't know what to do.

"Why did you do that?" Callum asked as he pushed out of the throng of people that had collected around me.

"I had to know she was safe."

"You just put her in more danger!"

"You don't know who you're dealing with," I cried out suddenly. I was taken aback by my anger as I stepped away from Callum and tried to take a moment, but Callum didn't care.

"It's you that doesn't know who you're dealing with, Ms. Sparks," he growled as he took a few steps toward me to tower of me as if I would quake in fear like a little girl.

"Were you in Steve Bennett's house? Were you a six year old, forced to be a part of a scene that he created? Did you almost get your friends killed due to childish arrogance? Do you even know what it was like in that house?" I asked rhetorically as his face became rigid. "You don't know anything about who you're up against. You couldn't catch him the first time with Anna, you caught the wrong man with Audrey, and now you're up against a new person. You don't know anything, and that's why you called me in. I just saved their lives, because now that they know this man can find them they will expect him and they will put up one hell of a fight. Can you say that for anyone else?"

"I can, and I can say that you just gave him another reason to fight. He's going to realize that he has the wrong girl if he wanted Audrey Thomas. Now he has to plan even harder to have her and for all you know it could just mean that the other girl gets killed," he spat as he turned around and walked back to his office. The crowd immediately parted and let him through before all returning to their offices.

I watched silently, unsure what to do. There was nowhere for me to really go here except back downstairs to my office and work on the files. It was clear, thanks to Callum, that I wasn't really welcome here—even though he invited me in—I thought sourly as I walk through the cubicle offices.

I had hoped somehow the kidnappings were random, but now there was no denying the connection, and I had to make sure that it didn't get worse. There were thirteen girls now, so if he was playing the role of Steve Bennett we would soon find out what he was up to. If his idol was what he wanted to be like that would be the worst was going to be coming our way, but I couldn't help but wonder why he was doing this. What did he get out of it? What was the reason? I'm not sure I want to know, but I need to in order to solve this case.

My phone vibrated violently in my hand as I started to walk toward to the boardroom, "Hello?" I asked.

"Jessi, are you okay? Anna just told me what happened," my father was frantic as he probably started to pace around the room.

"I'm fine, Dad, I promise. Just be safe and I will be too," I said knowing exactly what he wanted to hear, and what would make him feel better.

"Thank you, Jessi. Please though, be safe. I know this is your job but you know what a man like this is capable of. Please, Jessi," he pleaded.

"I will, I promise. I will call you later," I said with a smile as I clicked off the phone.

With a huff I walked into the boardroom, ignoring Callum sitting at the table looking over the files of the missing girls. He was raking his fingers through his brown hair, frustrated the answer wasn’t jumping out to him. I took the files he wasn't reading and stacked them into a pile before walking off with them toward the elevator. He didn't move, flinch, or even twitch. My movement and presence completely unfazed him as he looked over the file from the latest missing girl.

As I walked out of the room I heard him speak, "Those files stay here Jessi. You are now a part of this team, and no matter how hard I come down on you, you work with me now. Please sit and let’s see if we can find another connection between these girls, and hopefully predict where he will strike next or where he is.

I only nodded my head before sitting across from him at the table. I could only hope that we would find the link soon—we needed a lead before the bodies started to pile up wither with him taking more girls, or him starting to eliminate them.