Ruthless (6 page)

Not to mention the fear the child must have felt.

Jess shuddered inside.

She felt bad for Dan that he’d had to face those parents only to tell them basically nothing. And then to do the same in the press conference. But it was the truth. They had nothing, and until those remains were officially
identified there was nothing to tell other than that some freak had decided to play with the department’s newest deputy chief.

Sucked to be popular.

“Why reach out to you, Chief?” Harper thumbed through a file. “After all these years of silence, why now? Why you?”

She considered his questions. They’d talked about this in the briefing, but Harper wanted her gut instinct. Problem was, she didn’t have much of one yet.

Jess hunched her shoulders, let them drop. “I wish I could answer those questions, but I don’t have enough information to create an accurate assessment. Burnett could be right in that the perp is ill and wants to be caught. Sometimes they want someone to stop them but this guy appears to have stopped himself. The one thing I can say with real accuracy at this point is that there’s been some sort of change, more than once, in his life. First, there was a major change that prompted him to stop killing, assuming he has. Something else has occurred more recently to prompt his coming out like this.”

“Maybe he was in prison? Or maybe he lived somewhere else for a while.”

“Prison is a possibility,” Jess agreed. “But if he lived somewhere else and continued his same pattern of abductions, we’d likely know about it. There’d be something in one database or another.”

“Yeah, I did a search on similar cases,” Harper said, sounding as dejected as Jess felt. “I didn’t find anything relevant.”

“Changing an MO isn’t entirely unheard of.” But Jess knew the stats. “It’s highly unlikely unless there’s
a compelling reason. An injury or abrupt change in circumstances can put a killer off his game. Sometimes the change is calculated, more often it’s not.”

“So he didn’t go anywhere, he just went dormant for some reason,” Harper proposed.

“Yes, I believe he’s here.” Jess thought of all the evils she had studied in the past. It never got easier, and she never ceased to be amazed by their relentlessness and their resourcefulness. “He’s always been here. Something just awakened that old urge, that’s all. He may have reached out because he doesn’t want to kill again. But there would have to be a very compelling reason he finds himself in this quandary.”

“A .38 slug to the brain would take care of the problem.”

Jess laughed, though the sound was a little weak and a lot dry. “It takes a certain level of courage to put a muzzle to your head and to pull the trigger to save someone else, Sergeant. The one thing I can guarantee you this very sick individual does not have is that kind of courage. Some of the most evil are the most self-absorbed and the biggest cowards when it comes to personal sacrifice. Their own self-value is far too overinflated to consider harming themselves.”

“Even if he doesn’t want to keep killing, he wouldn’t end it that way?”

“Probably not.”

Harper pushed to his feet. “I’ll never get that.”

Jess wished she could just spring up like that. She was feeling every day of her forty-two years tonight. Thankfully she didn’t have to shame herself since Harper offered his hand. “Don’t bother trying to get it, Sergeant. You’re one of the good guys. Self-sacrifice is in your DNA.”

“I should get back before Lori comes home and wonders where I am.”

Jess stopped him at the door. “Thanks, Chet.” She rarely used his first name, just didn’t feel right. At the moment, it felt exactly right. “It means a lot to me that you were willing to indulge my desperation.”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

The outside alarm sounded again. “Maybe Lori’s already looking for you.”

Harper made a face. “Hope not. She won’t like that we’re keeping secrets from her.”

Something else for Jess to feel guilty about. The less Lori knew the better. Jess didn’t want her dragged back into this any deeper than she already was by just being a part of Jess’s life.

The monitor showed Dan approaching. Irritation niggled Jess. “My surveillance detail must have told him you were here. Dropping off a file I forgot,” Jess added with a hitch of her head toward the piles in the floor.

One quick rap on the door later, she went through the paces, unlocking first one then the next lock. As she opened the door, it occurred to her that there could be a new development. Spears may have struck… or Lily could be in the hospital again. Renewed fear had Jess’s heart ramming against her sternum.

She was definitely putting the wear and tear on the old ticker. Just one more thing to worry about. Her sister’s sudden health issues had been a major wake-up call about mortality for both of them.

“Has there been a breakthrough in your investigation?” Dan asked, looking first at Jess then Harper.

Jess made a frustrated sound and rolled her eyes.
“Harper dropped by the file I left in his car, since he has to drive me everywhere I go.” She heaved a breath. “Thank you again, Sergeant.”

“Any time, ma’am. I’ll see you in the morning.” He gave another nod to Dan. “Chief.”

Still visibly unconvinced, Dan stepped aside. “G’night, Sergeant.”

Jess headed back to her work. Dan’s relentless hovering was making her crazy. She’d thought she could deal with it, because she knew his compulsion came from the heart, but the last couple of days had been too much. But what really bugged her was the idea that he was immediately notified when a member of her own team stopped by.

“Did you have dinner?”

“Didn’t your spy tell you I ordered pizza?” Not that she’d been able to get more than a few bites down. The rest had gone into the fridge. She had no appetite.

“What’re you talking about, Jess?”

“Obviously the cop watching me called to tell you I had company.” She snatched open a folder and stared at the photo of the innocent young girl inside. God, how could she be worrying about Dan and his overprotectiveness when there were nineteen more little girls out there whose families wanted desperately to bring them home again?

Dan peeled off his suit jacket and joined her on the floor. She realized then that he’d apparently just left the office. “You haven’t been home yet?”

“No. I’ve been at the morgue.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” If there was news he should have called. Damn it. Those frustrating feelings of desperation and helplessness warred with her determination
to stay focused and strong. How was she supposed to do this if he kept treating her like she was a porcelain doll instead of a cop?

“That’s what I’m here to do, Jess. Somehow I thought it was important to tell the parents first.”

“Oh my God.” The few bites of pizza did a somersault in her belly, and she felt like a total ass for feeling sorry for herself. “Then it is Dorie Myers?”

He nodded. “It was pretty simple. We already have dental records on file for all the missing children in that case. Over the years when we had unidentified remains we checked for these kids.” He stared at the piles of folders. “Sylvia stayed late to do the confirmation.”

Sylvia Baron was a new and unexpected friend… sort of. She was also the associate coroner. And Dan’s ex-sister-in-law. More small-town coincidences.

“I’m sorry. I know that was difficult.” No one wanted to have to tell a parent their child was dead.

He shrugged those broad shoulders of his. “It’s been thirteen years. This outcome was what they were expecting. They just want to bring her home.”

Somehow Jess had to make sure this Man in the Moon never got the chance to take another child ever again. “Did you figure out how word got out to the parents who showed up at your office?” The last they spoke about it he was still furious with Gina Coleman.

“The receptionist at Channel Six. She went to school with the mother of one of the missing kids. She made the call.” He heaved a weary breath. “I had to apologize to Gina.”

A hint of jealousy pricked Jess. Gina and Dan’s sort of relationship had never been a big deal, he insisted, just
recreational sex between two consenting adults. Still… she was another of his exes. The man seemed to have one on every corner.
God, Jess, get over it.

Men who looked like Dan Burnett and had the kind of financial and public power he wielded were always highly sought after. Not to mention he was kind and a gentleman and sweet… and charming as hell.

Unlike frumpy ex–special agents who were persnickety and grouchy and thought they knew everything.

“She wants to be more closely involved in this case,” Dan said. “Maybe do a special on the Man in the Moon mystery.”

Jess’s hackles rose hard and fast. “Who?” He’d better not say what she thought he was going to say.

“Gina.” He shrugged, trying to play it off. “She could be a useful resource, Jess.”

Jess opened her mouth to lower the boom but quickly snapped it shut. Allowing any trickle of jealousy to get between her and a possible
resource
was just dumb. She was tired. She needed to sleep. Otherwise she would never be slipping down such a petty path. And she wouldn’t be half as mad about him showing up when Harper was here if she hadn’t felt guilty. He would blow a fuse if he found out she’d sent those texts to Spears.

“Gina seems to be okay after what happened with her sister,” Jess ventured, feeling contrite. Last week’s big case revolving around a tight-knit little group of Birmingham elitists who called themselves the Five had left the city’s upper crust a little ragged around the edges. The best part was that an old case involving bullying and murder had been solved.

What was happening to this world? Where were all the normal people?

Never mind. Considering she was a little south of normal herself, she wasn’t about to start throwing any stones.

“She’s dealing with it.”

“Gina might need a strong shoulder to lean on.” God! There it was! The green monster making a midnight appearance. She resisted the urge to chew off her tongue.

“Well, she didn’t ask for mine—if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

Jess busied herself with the file on Sierra Campbell, the little girl abducted two years before Dorie Myers, to prevent saying something totally ridiculous about how his shoulders were only for her. “I wasn’t suggesting anything, just feeling bad for a friend.” She glanced up at him and smiled innocently.

“So the two of you are friends now.”

That his tone suggested he doubted it prompted her to tug at his tie. “That’s right. You have a problem with me befriending one of your old girlfriends?”

He moved his head side to side, a grin sliding across those tempting lips.

Time to pull the plug on this simmering moment before it reached a boil and she dragged him straight to her bed. “You look tired, Dan. You should go home and get some sleep.”

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.” He reached out, nudged her chin up with his forefinger. “You should get some sleep yourself.”

For a whole five seconds he stared at her lips and she ached for him to kiss her. But they had rules… this was a work night and there was a cop outside keeping watch.

“You’re right.” She leaned away from him, closed the file she’d been reviewing and somehow got to her feet
without assistance and fairly gracefully. “I’ll see you out.” She went to the door and waited for him to follow, every part of her screaming for him to stay.

Just watching him move toward her stole her breath. It didn’t matter how tired he looked or how many exes he had, she just wanted to lean into him and have him hold her. To forget about serial monsters and innocent little children who’d had their lives stolen…

But that would have to wait until another day.

“I wish you’d change your mind and come home with me.”

The worry in her eyes almost finished undoing her resolve. “The whole department, the Bureau, the media—they’re all watching us right now, Dan. We have to be professional about this. My apartment is secure. There’s a cop outside and I’ve got my Glock. I’ll be okay.” Deep down, where she wouldn’t let him see just now, she wasn’t nearly so certain, but this was the right thing to do. For him. For her.

“If you change your mind I can be here in fifteen minutes.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“Night, Jess.”

She managed a smile. “Night.”

He stood there staring at her for another long moment. Part of her hoped he would just do it—sweep her into his arms and stalk back to that big old bed waiting across the room. To hell with rules and the cop keeping watch outside.

Then he brushed a swift kiss across her cheek, opened the door, and walked out.

She closed and secured the door before collapsing against it.

She was so tired but that brief kiss would help her sleep better tonight.

Her cell vibrated on the wood floor.

She jumped. Had Harper gotten home to find Lori waiting for an explanation?

Jess hurried to snatch up her phone.

Not Harper.

The room shifted around her.