Love Inspired Suspense July 2015 #2 (11 page)

“Corben doesn't live here?” Drew asked, returning to their reason for the visit.

Sami watched Alec closely to determine if the man was a liar or not.

“Oh, he does, when he's in town,” Alec said.

Deciding Alec was telling the truth, she asked, “May we come in?” She wanted to see Corben's domain. Hopefully, they'd find something to lead them to him.

“Sure.” The man stepped aside to allow them to enter. “What is this about?”

The inside of the house was better maintained than the outside, though the living room was sparsely furnished with only a couch, coffee table and a television. No pictures on the walls, no books on the table. Not even a throw pillow. Not very homey.

“We need to find Corben, Mr. Delany.” Sami looked at the man expectantly. “Do you know where he goes when he's not working?”

Alec shook his head. “I barely know him.”

“But you work with Corben?” Drew asked.

“You could say that, I guess.” Alec frowned. “We work for the same airline, but we don't pull the same shifts. And he has a second job that often takes him out of town.”

Noticing different sizes of shoes on a rack inside the entryway, Sami asked, “How many people live in the house?”

Alec gave her a half smile. “Well, that depends on the day. Several pilots use the house as a crash pad between flights. Corben owns the house, so he has the master bedroom, which is off-limits to the rest of us. I rent one of the upstairs bedrooms. The other two bedrooms have a revolving door.”

“Interesting.” And weird. Sami didn't like the idea of people coming and going. “Is there anyone else on the premises?”

“Nope, just me today. I have a twenty-four-hour layover before I fly back out.”

“So where does Corben stay when he's not here?” Drew asked.

Alec shrugged. “Beats me. Like I said, I don't know him very well.”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Drew asked.

Alec thought for a moment. “Around Mother's Day. Has he done something wrong?”

“We have some questions for him,” Sami hedged, not willing to reveal what they suspected. Who knew, maybe this Alec character was in on the murders. Maybe Birdman did have accomplices. She made a mental note to have Jordon dig into Alec Delany's background. “You wouldn't happen to have a picture of Corben, would you?”

Shaking his head, Alec replied, “No. He's kind of funny about cameras. Gets really upset if anyone tries to take his picture. He's a bit of an odd duck.”

“How so?” Drew asked.

“He doesn't talk much,” Alec said. “Keeps to himself when he's here. And from what I've heard the others say, he's not a joy to work with. No personality, you know. If you're copiloting with him, be prepared to work in silence.”

“Can you show us his room?” Sami asked.

“Uh, sure, I guess.” Uncertainty crossed Alec's face. “Don't you need a search warrant or something?”

Sami ground her teeth but she fought to keep her frustration out of her tone. “Are you refusing? Makes me think you have something to hide.”

Alec tucked in his chin. “Me? No, nothing to hide. Though I should contact Corben and get his permission before letting you into his room.”

“You have a way of contacting him?” Drew asked, his voice sharp. “We need that information.”

“I have his cell phone number.” Alec fished his phone out of a briefcase on the dining room table. He scrolled through and found the number.

Sami placed her hand over Alec's, stopping him before he could push the dial button. “We need that number.”

Alec relinquished the phone. She handed it off to Agent Talbot. “Find out if Kraft's phone is on and get a location on him.”

Talbot nodded and took the phone outside.

“Hey, I need that,” Alec protested.

“You'll get it back,” Sami promised. “Look, we're up against a ticking clock. A man's life is at stake.” At least she hoped James Clark was still alive but she wasn't holding her breath with hope. “It would be so much better for you if you cooperate and let us peek into Corben's room. You wouldn't want to obstruct justice, would you?”

“Of course not.” Alec pointed toward the kitchen. “His suite is on the other side of the kitchen.”

“Thank you,” she said, and slipped past him with Drew on her heels.

They passed through the clean though outdated kitchen with worn linoleum and chipped pea-green laminate countertops. A short hallway led to a closed door. She paused outside the door. Alec said he hadn't seen Corben in months but that didn't mean their suspect couldn't be inside that room.

If it had indeed been Corben who'd tried to push her over the ferry railing, then he could very well have come home and could be waiting for them.

With her hand on the butt of her holstered weapon, Sami turned the knob and swung the door open. The large master bedroom was crowded with boxes stacked in every corner. A queen-size bed was topped with books and art supplies. Clothes were strewn across the floor, making Sami think of what her bedroom had looked like when she was a teenager.

Drew checked the adjacent bathroom. “Clear.”

Pulling on a pair of gloves, Sami walked to the bed and inspected the paints, brushes and colored pencils. She found a box marked Stamps. She opened the lid to reveal several ink pads and a collection of rubber stamps in various sizes. All of the stamps had the same exact bird image. A label on the lid of one ink pad gave the name of a company.

Obviously, Corben had uploaded his crude drawing and had custom stamps made of it. Another box had custom-made stickers with the same bird image. There was a stack of drawing pads, as well.

Sami knew what she'd find even as she opened the top pad. More images of the same bird.

Why this bird? Why did Corben draw only the same bird over and over again?

The edge of an envelope peeked out from between the stacks of drawing books. Gingerly, she slid the letter-sized plain white envelope out and opened it. Inside was a folded piece of paper. Carefully, she opened the sheet.

The words scrawled across the page in red pencil screamed at her.

“Special Agent Samantha Bennett, how clever are you?”

She gasped as the implications ran through her mind. Corben had known she'd find him and this place eventually.

How long ago had he written it? Had he followed them to his aunt's workplace? To his doctor's?

Or was this a trap? She needed to warn Drew and Talbot. “Drew!”

“Sami, you need to see this,” Drew called from inside the walk-in closet.

Holding the sheet of paper by the edge, Sami hurried to the closet and halted abruptly.

There were no clothes hanging from the rods, no shoes lined up along the floor. Instead the closet was some sort of shrine to Birdman's madness. The sides of the walls in the small tight space were covered with more bird images and photos.

Corben had documented his killing spree.

Though she stood on solid ground, her stomach roiled as if the world had suddenly shifted.

Drew faced her and stepped closer, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Take a deep breath.”

She stared at his concerned face, focusing on him rather than the panic creeping over her, and did as he instructed. Then slowly, he turned her around while still holding on to her shoulders.

Her gaze landed on a collage of photos on the back wall of the closet.

Photos of her.

ELEVEN

S
ami's face stared back at her from a multitude of images. Icy dismay filled her veins. This was not a trap. It was a taunt.

Her hand convulsed, crumpling the note. Her mind reeled as she took in the pictures showing her going into her home, coming out of her home. At the grocery store, at the bank. Going into the FBI building in Portland.

There were pictures of her at the various crime scenes she'd visited during her investigation into Birdman.

Her breath caught when she realized that several of the photos were from before Lisa's death.

Her knees buckled. If Drew hadn't been holding on to her, she'd have gone down for sure. She was grateful for his rock-solid presence.

If she'd had to face this alone... Thankfully, she didn't. She had a partner. And as much as she'd been wary of taking on another partner after what happened to Ian, she was extremely grateful for Drew.

Pointing to one picture, she told Drew, “This was from Thanksgiving of last year.” A shudder worked its way over her. “Lisa wasn't killed until January.”

“How often have you flown on Cloud Jet Airlines?”

Dawning horror flooded through her, filling her lungs and making her gasp for air. “Several times,” she whispered. “Before the recent flights, last November I flew to Atlanta for a symposium on—” Her voice faltered. A deep pain engulfed her, nearly drowning her in its intensity. “Oh, no. Did Corben kill Lisa to get my attention?”

The thought chilled her to the bone. Guilt ate at her insides. Tears burned the back of her eyes.
Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry.

But why would he want her attention? Why her?

“What was the symposium on?” Drew asked gently as his hold on her tightened. She leaned against him, absorbing his strength because at the moment hers had abandoned her.

“Serial murder.” She clamped a hand over her mouth as her stomach heaved but there was nothing in her to expel.

Drew turned her around. The concern etched on his handsome face made her want to slip her arms around him and hang on for dear life. But she didn't. She had to be strong, brave. For Lisa. For all the victims.

“Lisa's death is not your fault,” he said passionately. “None of this is your fault.”

“He must've been there,” she said. “We need to see if there's an unsolved murder in Atlanta. He must have been laughing at us, the big bad FBI agents converging on a hotel to discuss serial killers while he was roaming around free to take lives.”

“You found him,” Drew said.

“But he's still out there.”

“Not for long.” Drew led her out of the closet. “We need to get the crime scene people here.”

“There's more.” She handed him the wrinkled sheet of paper. Her hand shook.

Drew took the note and shook his head. “Smug, isn't he?”

For some reason Drew's reaction made her smile. He wasn't intimidated or freaked out by Birdman. Good. Because they had a battle ahead of them. They'd come so close, failed so many times. They had to find a way to capture him.

Drew slipped an arm around her shoulders. She put her arm about his waist and allowed herself a moment to lean on him. She was so tired she didn't know how much longer she could go on.

After a moment she disengaged and they stepped into the living room, where Agent Talbot had kept an eye on Alec in case the man decided to run.

“This is officially a crime scene,” Drew announced briskly. “Mr. Delany, you'll need to step outside.”

They went out of the house and Sami searched for any sign of Corben watching her. As he apparently had been doing for some time now. She shuddered with revulsion. She couldn't wait to see the menace put behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.

“Agent Talbot, anything on Kraft's cell phone?” Drew asked.

“He must have turned it off. Our tech is monitoring the number in case he turns it back on,” Talbot said. “The last incoming call was from the airline. No outgoing calls at all.”

“Too bad,” Drew said. “We need a CSI team to process the house.”

“Also contact the airlines and something called The Smithen Group,” Sami added. “We need Corben's flight schedules for both entities going back to when he first was hired by both the airline and the private corporation.”

Talbot nodded, then stepped aside to make the necessary arrangements.

Sami phoned Special Agent in Charge Granger to fill him in on what they'd found in Corben's house. As she spoke, she sank down on the curb, her legs no longer willing to hold her up.

“A closet full of photos of you?” Granger growled. She could picture his jaw hardening and his eyes narrowing to slits as they always did when he was angry. “Okay, that's it. I'm pulling you off this case. You need to return here where we can protect you.”

Her stomach dropped. “No, sir, please. I'm so close to catching him.”

“He's obviously obsessed with you.”

She couldn't deny that fact. “I can't stop now. I have to see this through.”

After a moment of tense silence, Granger said, “I want you formally under protection, Agent Bennett.”

Though the words chafed, she wouldn't argue, not if it meant she could stay active on the case. She sought out Drew, who stood a few paces away on his phone, no doubt talking to his boss or the IBETs team.

She thought of the many ways Drew had been there for her. He'd comforted her, strengthened her, even sacrificed his own body to shield her from the flying shrapnel that had once been her house. Affection for the man spread through her chest. She was glad to have him on her side, and in her life. “I know the perfect person for the job. Inspector Kelley is a tough man to shake.”

Granger grunted. Sami took that as approval.

“Find out when Kraft's next flight is,” Granger instructed. “Have airport security be on the lookout for him, too. Get the local police involved, as well. If they can detain him before he gets to the plane, that would be optimum. And the less the public knows about this, the better. We don't need to stir up a media circus.”

“On it, sir.”

“And, Samantha...” Granger's voice took on a harsh note.

“Sir?”

“Be careful. I don't want to lose one of my best agents.”

Warmed by his concern and the compliment, she promised she'd be cautious. She clicked off and immediately the phone rang. “Agent Bennett.”

“Jordon here,” came the tech's deep voice. “I found something interesting on Becca Kraft.”

“Tell me.”

“Her name is listed on the deed to a house in Michigan, just outside Detroit.”

Sami's pulse jumped. Detroit. The city where Corben Kraft had killed for the first time. Twenty-eight years after his mother's unsolved murder.

Something niggled at the back of Sami's mind, like a shadow that disappeared every time she attempted to look at it.

“And get this,” Jordon said, drawing her attention back to the conversation. “The house was never sold. The same corporation that originally purchased the house in Becca's name all those years ago still owns the house. It's been empty all these years.”

Sami doubted that Corben hadn't visited the home he'd shared with his mother. “Text me the address.”

Why hadn't Lonnie told them about the house in Michigan?

“Just did.”

Within seconds a text came through with the address for Corben's childhood home.

Drew sat next to her, so close she could easily rest her head on his shoulder. His leg brushed hers when he stretched. Awareness rippled over her.

“Corben has another potential hideout,” she told Drew, and tilted the phone so Drew could hear Jordon.

“And it gets better,” Jordon continued. “The property taxes have been paid through a corporation. I'm working on tracking down the responsible party, but whoever set this up knew what they were doing. Plus, when the house was bought thirty-eight years ago, there were no computers, so I'm having to do some old-school investigating.”

“I appreciate your effort. Hey, Jordon, can you check with Atlanta PD's cold case division? See if they have any similar crimes to our current ones dating back to November of last year?” She was checking on the location of the symposium.

“Will do. Anything else?”

“Not yet. Let me know when you find who owns the corporation.” She clicked off.

“A dummy corporation,” Drew mused. “Hmm. Curious. Who had been in Becca's life and would have provided for her?”

“Corben's father?” Sami suggested. “Lonnie had suspected Becca didn't know who fathered Corben. But maybe Becca had known.”

“And that man could have set Becca and Corben up with a house. That's plausible.” Drew gestured to his phone. “My people obtained a sample of James Clark's DNA. They're working with Portland Forensics to see if he's a match to the body part we found in your house.”

“Good.” Her mind turned over the possibilities. “If they are a match, then we'll have our answer as to whether James Clark is still alive.”

Talbot joined them. “Corben deadheaded on a flight bound for JFK Airport in New York. Apparently airline employees can use unsold seats on their off time.”

“He's running,” Sami said. “We need to alert airport security and the New York field agents.”

“Already done,” Talbot said.

Sami rose. Holding out her hand to Drew, she said, “We need to find out why Lonnie forgot to mention the house in Michigan.”

His hand clasped hers. The warmth of his palm and the pressure of his fingers curling overs hers sent delicious little sparks shooting up her arm. He stood but didn't release her hand.

“Seems odd that she'd let the house sit for so long unoccupied.”

“Right.” She stared at their joined hands. His was so much bigger, stronger. “Remind me what your people found out about James Clark.”

“Married. Business owner. Two adult offspring. What are you thinking?”

“This is a long shot, but I can't stop thinking about the fact that Birdman switched gears. Going from all female victims to one random man. Maybe he wasn't so random?” She tugged on her bottom lip for a second, her mind working through the niggling detail that wanted her attention.

“You think Clark has some connection to Corben?” Drew stroked his chin with his free hand as he mulled that over. “Okay, I'll buy in. What's the connection?”

“I don't know yet. But think about it,” Sami said. “Twenty-eight years after the murder of his mother, Corben kills his first victim.”

“You're supposing he didn't kill his mother,” Drew pointed out.

“True. I don't think he did. The brutal nature of the crime and the force necessary seems far beyond the capability of an eight-year-old boy. Even an abused boy who might have acted out of rage.”

“Then what? You think James Clark murdered Becca Kraft and Corben exacted revenge on him thirty years later?”

“Why not?” The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

“If that's the case, then why not start with Clark? Why kill so many women?”

“Practice? He wanted to make sure he could do it?” Sami said, grasping at possible motivations. “Though we won't know for sure until we have Corben in custody.” She withdrew her hand from Drew's and pushed the button to call back Jordon. “I'll have my tech guy see what he can dig up on Clark. Maybe we can find out what he was really doing in the States.”

Drew took out his phone, as well. “And I'll have my people check to see if Clark was in Victoria thirty years ago.”

After hanging up with their respective teams, they joined Talbot as he hung up with the New York FBI field office. “Security has been alerted in New York City and in the airport. When the plane lands, they'll nab Corben Kraft.”

“Good.” Tension drained from Sami's body. Though she was still alert, she didn't think she needed a bodyguard. Neither was she ready to let Drew go. They still had work to do, a case to solve. “Let's go talk to Lonnie again.”

When they arrived at the hospital, they were told Lonnie had gone home sick. Getting her address took another ten minutes. Lonnie lived in an apartment in Redmond, Washington, beneath the shadow of Microsoft, Nintendo and over three hundred other technology companies. A tech fanatic's paradise.

After a half hour of working their way through Seattle's commuter traffic to the suburb east of the metropolitan area, they drove into downtown Redmond and quickly found the apartment complex. It was a four-story eighteen-unit boxy building set back in a wooded area off the main road. Sami led the way to Lonnie's apartment on the third floor.

The door was ajar. She halted, holding up her clenched fist to clue Drew and Talbot to stop. The fine hairs at the back of her neck rose and caution blanketed her like a mist. With one hand on the butt of her holstered weapon, she approached the door and toed it open to reveal a narrow hallway.

“Lonnie?” she called out. “It's Agent Bennett.”

No answer. Dread slithered across her skin. She met Drew's grim gaze.

She withdrew her sidearm and eased over the threshold into the dimly lit passageway. Leading with her gun, she checked the first open door and the large bathroom. Empty. She continued until she came to the end of the hall, which opened to a large living space with floor-to-ceiling windows letting in the setting sun's rays. To her left a kitchen with standard appliances ran along one wall, while the right side of the studio held a futon situated in front of a television set.

With a start, Sami realized Lonnie was sitting on the futon, her back to them. Drew moved past Sami to open the sliding doors to the closet. No one was hiding inside.

“Lonnie.” Keeping her weapon at the ready, Sami stepped around the end of the futon until she could face Lonnie. She sucked in a harsh breath.