Fragmented (19 page)

She didn’t take
him seriously until she looked into his eyes. “Really? I don’t understand.”

“
We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I can call Dunn back. The FBI can hide you out.”

“
Don’t you have to work?”

“
It’s Saturday.” He grinned at her. “Any ideas on what we could do to pass the time?”

A laugh escaped her.
That wasn’t what she expected to come out of his mouth…the ever serious assistant district attorney.

“
Obviously, you have some ideas.”

“
Believe me, I have plenty, Cameron.” His manner turned serious. “But, honestly, if you want to go somewhere else, if you don’t want to be here, I can make arrangements. Although, to let you know, I won’t be in charge of the case anymore for the city. I told them the case had become too personal. It would be best if I stepped back. I bought us a couple of days. At the moment, it’s the best I can do.”

She didn’t answer immediately. She sat up and pulled the covers with her.
“This is happening so fast. This…you and me…”

He traced the outline of her jaw, down her neck.
“Perhaps. Maybe it’s just the way it’s supposed to be. I’m done fighting it. If you don’t…”

“
Oh, no,” she said. “Darren, it’s only I’m scared. I tried to tell you last night, but the only thing I wanted was you...is you.”

“
Then there isn’t a problem. You have me,” he said genuinely. “So our timing may not be the best, but is there a perfect time?”

He kissed her.
“Are you okay? Trust me?”

She nodded. She felt completely vulnerable
, exposing her feelings. Yet she did trust him. She wanted this and whatever happened after…well, she would deal with it then. Now she would take what he offered.

“
Just one question that has crossed my mind.” She pulled back from him. “Last night, I was lost in the moment and didn’t care. I only wanted you, but…Darren, you didn’t use protection.”

Darren tilted his head to the side with a slight smirk.
“Yeah, that. It was reckless…but I know I’m safe and you…I know you give blood every two months. I saw the pills in your purse…I assumed…”

A sudden irritation flared again. He was so confident he knew everything about her. She pushed back from him
. “You assumed? You
assumed
?”

“
I’m not wrong. Am I?”

She saw a determination in him to alleviate her sudden bad humor. He pressed her back against the pillow and smiled down at her.
“Am I, Cameron?”

“
No, you’re not,” she finally acknowledged. “But you know you’re not. What if I wasn’t on the pill?”

“
Then,” he reached around and scooped her in his arms, swinging her over him, “then we would deal with it.”

“
We would?” She laughed when he leaned over, kissing the sensitive part of her neck.

“
We would,” he said, breaking from her long enough to utter the words.

Cameron fell under his spell. She had no way of knowing what the future held. All she knew was she had a need for this man, an all-consuming need…love was a dangerous emotion with the ability to silence the echoes of the past.

Brophy sat behind his desk, studying his computer screen. He couldn’t dismiss this bad feeling gnawing at him. He glanced over at the picture of his kids. He had seen the girls earlier in the evening. He had taken them out for supper and to the movies. Jake hadn’t come, but at his age, Brophy hadn’t expected Jake to curtail his activities to see his dad. He would catch up with his son at his hockey games. At least he had been able to catch most of his games…not all.

Lauren had been good about him seeing the girls on short notice. He had enjoyed going out with his girls, not that he even paid any attention to the movie. His mind was elsewhere. The case bothered him. There was a restless feeling in the air.

It was why he was back at his desk after dropping the girls off at the house. The case wasn’t theirs anymore. In essence, it was the FBI’s. He served only to help in their investigation.

He looked over and over every bit of information gathered for that missing piece to the puzzle. His instinct drove him. Before him, he stared at his computer screen. He saw more than his reports of Luciano’s suicide, the pictures sent to Dr. Halliday, the computer link to Zachary Quinn, the SUV, Cameron’s attempted abduction…he saw haunting figures. The dead victims.

He never forgot the victims were real people, not a body on a slab. Never a number. Each had their own story cut short. He had dealt with enough murders to understand the devastating loss the family would feel for the years to come. The world would never be the same. He owed it to the victim’s family. The only thing he could give was closure and he would be damned if he didn’t.

Brophy didn’t need a profiler to tell him about this murderer. Somewhere in this monster’s background, Brophy realized he had been abused himself in some manner. Not everyone abused abuses, but it was not unusual for the prey to become the hunter. For some, there was a line they crossed where there was no going back. This killer wouldn’t stop until someone stopped him.

This serial killer was different. His MO…modus operandi…for his murders differed slightly. His method was the same—stabbing through the heart with the knife. The last one, though, the killer had tried to lead suspicion to another, which told of his cunning and his ability to manipulate. Even given the erratic behavior, he had them going in circles. Moreover, the killer was also a stalker.

Brophy hated dealing with stalkers. Frustrating
ly, the system worked against the victims. The problem was, even given signals of the perp’s disturbing behavior, it usually took a violent act for the problem to be addressed. At times, deadly acts. He had seen it.

Suddenly, Brophy sat up. It hit him—the
missing piece of the puzzle. He had been looking at it all wrong. He had put the murders front and center. But it was never about the murders. The murders were the perp’s frustration because he couldn’t have Cameron!

His main objective had always been Cameron. Dr. Levy had suggested that but it didn’t sink into Brophy until this moment. He needed to think of Cameron as a victim of a stalker. He had to think
of what he knew of stalkers: obsessive personality, delusional thinking, sociopath, usually above average intelligence…this one at times seemed to be a fucking genius…

Who…who…
? Someone on the fringe of Cameron’s life… What was the catalyst that began the killer’s murdering spree…and why? If Cameron was the key…who…

His phone rang. At first, Brophy ignored it. His eyes fixed on the board and the pictures of the suspects. His phone rang again and again. The caller
ID flashed. He took it.

* * * *

Fucking idiot!
One would think a doctor would be intelligent, especially a surgeon…but Brophy supposed it had little to do with common sense. If his caller had been correct, the good doctor had been led blindly into a trap! Brophy could only imagine how this killer taunted the good doctor to get him to respond the way he wanted.
Damn!

The tires of his car screeched to a halt in front of Beth
Israel.
Freaking different campuses to this damn hospital…

Blue lights flashed from the two squad cars that had been dispatched to the scene, more coming in behind him. Brophy exited his car, gun drawn. Schuster, a uniform
ed officer, waiting for him at the door, nodded toward the right.

“
Security has already begun a search. They checked the cameras. They think they saw Dr. Halliday down at the morgue.”

Brophy nodded.
“Let’s go.”

Brophy hurriedly followed. There was no time to lose. He almost dropped his phone when the call came in from Dr. Matthew Halliday’s cell phone. But it wasn’t Halliday…it was
him
.

For a time, he didn’t speak. He only breathed over the phone, but Brophy knew. He raced to Carpenter, the night detective, who walked into the room and signaled him for a trace. He needed only to locate the phone…

“For every time, there is a season. You are afraid of me, but it’s not me you need to fear. Dr. Halliday
had
reason to fear. A trusting soul, it seemed. Didn’t even question my request. Thought he would be a hero and came running…he won’t run anymore…”

“
What have you done?” Brophy questioned.

“
I am only protecting my own. For every sin, there is a punishment. I deliver that punishment. Dr. Halliday has paid for his crime…yours is keeping her from my family…yours, Detective Brophy…”

The phone went dead but not before he got a location. Beth
Israel!

Eight minutes. It took eight minutes to get to the hospital, but immediately the campus police had been alerted. The cruisers were on
site in less than five. Maybe…maybe they had him!

The elevators had been shut down. The group took to the stairs. This part of the hospital was old and eerily quiet, Brophy noted
, easing out of the stairwell. The corridors were long and endless.

Not another soul seemed to be around, only the other officers exiting from another stairwell. But Brophy sensed an evil presence. He had been here.

Easing down the hallway, Brophy detected no movement. Through the corner mirrors, he looked around the corner. Only a gurney sat alone in the hallway, one of those gurneys used to move the dead bodies to the morgue. Covered by a white sheet, the body would lie in the inset…only, underneath this one was a puddle of liquid, red watery fluid…

Brophy put his gun in his holster and swung back the cover. Dr. Matthew Halliday laid still, stabbed, blood oozing out of his body. White faced, struggling to breathe…he looked pained. His wide eyes expressed a fear
—a validated fear with a knife sticking out of his chest.

“
He’s here!” Brophy called out, reaching across and feeling Halliday’s neck. “He’s alive!”

Brophy stepped back. Immediately, attendants appeared
. Never had he seen such a fast response…never had he seen a victim attacked in a hospital.

Shouts
and calls ensued, clearing a path. Brophy watched. Much as his instincts kicked in, in pursuing a perp, medical personal surrounded Halliday.

“
Get him upstairs. Stat!”

The wheels of the death gurney rolled away
, taking a man on the verge of his own death. Brophy watched until the gurney disappeared and turned back to what was left of the crime scene.

“
He called this time. Why?”

Brophy watched Dunn walk down the corridor. Brophy grimaced, rubbing his stubble
chin. “He’s off his game. He doesn’t know where the girl is. He wants her. He reacted impulsively, contrary to his other killings. Reminds me of a bratty child falling down and beating his feet against the ground. Temper tantrum.”

Agent Dunn halted in front
of Brophy. This was the first time he had seen Dunn dressed casually in jeans and a sweater. Must have jumped right out of bed when he got the call.

“
We’re getting closer. We almost had him,” Dunn offered, looking around the scene.

“
But we don’t have him, Dunn. Instead, this insane lunatic has gone off the deep end. This game you’re playing…”

“
It’s not a game, Detective. It was calculated to force his hand. It did.”

“
And could cost a man his life.”

“
If we don’t catch this killer, you don’t think he will take more victims? I know you’ve never liked this plan, but we didn’t have a choice. He will kill again and again until we stop him. He has to make a mistake…”

Brophy took a deep breath, trying to control his anger.
“That’s just it, Dunn. I think I may have been on to something until I got interrupted by this…this attack. Now he’s turned his attention to me.”

“
You? I don’t understand. What did he say?”

“
He blames me for Cameron disappearing.”

“
He threatened you?”

“
I don’t give a damn about me…it’s my family I’m concerned about!”

Dunn shook his head.
“We’ll get a detail on them.” Dunn turned and talked to an agent beside him. Then he continued with Brophy. “Got someone going now. They’ll be okay. Now what did he say?”

Brophy calmed himself. He would be no good if he didn’t control his own emotions. He had to catch the bastard. He took a deep breath.

“He talked about to everything there is a season. Sins have to be punished. It’s what he’s doing, punishing those who have sinned against his family. He used the doctor’s phone. I located it and here’s where we are…standing in the middle of the goddamn morgue!”

“
The doctor’s phone?”

Brophy looked up at Dunn. The phone…where was it?

* * * *

Standing outside of the crowded waiting room, Brophy watched Dunn huddled with a doctor. Breaking from him, Dunn walked back to Brophy.

“It’s touch and go. Unlike the previous victims, the knife missed the heart. Halliday must have struggled, probably saw it coming at the last minute. But our killer thought he had completed his job. He left another baseball card. It was under the body.”

Brophy nodded.
“Going to interview whoever he was with this evening and try to figure out how the bastard lured the doctor down to the morgue.”

“
And where did the phone go to? It wasn’t on the gurney either,” Dunn added, sighing deeply. “I’ll have the boys comb every inch of the hospital for it.”

“
I suspect he has already destroyed it,” Brophy said. “Gawd! Wish I could make some sense out of his actions. There is no pattern. Some of his actions seem extremely intelligent in movements, no forensic evidence, nothing to go on; the next minute he’s chaotic; then another brilliant maneuver. Now this, which seems impulsive.”

“
At least the girl’s safe at Kennedy’s.”

“
But not for long. It’s going to be hard to keep her under wraps much longer.”

“
Going to have to put her in witness protection. Won’t be another way.”

“
That won’t make Darren happy…”

Brophy’s phone went off. Looking at it
, he saw the ID.
Centrello again
.
Thought he was coming down to the hospital.
Holding up his index figure to Dunn, he said, “Give me a minute.”

The next moment, Brophy slammed his phone into his pocket and gripped tight to Dunn’s sleeve.
“Gotta go. The phone’s signal just came on again. Got a location. We have him…”

* * * *

Brophy sped down Jamaica Way, not easy to navigate swiftly with its tight turns and narrow lanes. Lights flashed. Sirens blared. He didn’t need to be told the location twice. He knew it well…it was his house. Lauren and the kids.

Dunn cautioned Brophy as he squealed out of Beth
Israel. “I just talked to my agents. They are there. Everyone’s safe. I’m going to pull them out with a team…”

Brophy didn’t give Dunn a chance to finish. He didn’t want to hear they were safe. He wanted to see them safe. The fucking psychopath targeted his family!

Brophy slowed only when he came to his street to turn. He saw the flashing lights and the cars filling his driveway. Lauren…he saw Lauren walking out the door with the kids behind her…thank God!

From the corner of his eyes, he caught movement, a vehicle coming straight toward him. A fucking Hummer! Too late to avoid
it, Brophy slammed on his brakes…he was rammed, sideswiped…and then bounced off and headed back down the street.

Brophy felt an impact. The air bag deployed. His car slammed into a parked car. The last he saw of the Hummer was its rear lights fading in the distance.

* * * *

Darren woke with a start.
It took him a moment to realize his phone was ringing. The phone rang again. He caught it on the third ring. An ominous feeling overcame him before he answered. Reluctantly, he untangled his arms from around Cameron. The realization that their brief escape from reality was coming to a crashing halt hit him. God, he wished he could make this work. Looking at the caller ID, he grasped quickly he would have to worry about that later.