Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (10 page)

“
You okay?
”
Bev
,
the constant big sister
,
had been keeping
a
motherly eye on
her little sister
for some time.

Anna
tried to smile to ease Bev
’
s fears.
“
I
’
m fine, just tired.
Nothing like being woken up in the middle of the night to gunfire.
”

“
Why don
’
t you try and get some rest?
”
She pointed to an uncomfortable
-
looking sofa someone had shoved in the corner of the room.

Anna
shook
her
head.
“I’ll be okay.”

Before Bev could
answer
, E
d arrived
and Bev’s attention was distracted.

Ed
scanned the room until he spotted his wife.
“
Are you okay? I
’
ve been so worried.
”
He drew her into his arms.
The tenderness in his eyes made
Anna
want to turn away. This was a private moment not meant to be witnessed by anyone both those two.

“
Yes, I
’
m fine, we
’
re both fine. Just shaken.
”
Bev kissed her husband then turned to
Anna
.

Ed released his wife and took
Anna
in his arms. Ed was the big brother
she’
d always wanted. When he and Bev married,
she’
d gone to live with them in their small house near the
campus of the
University
of
Virginia
where Ed had first started out his career.

As usual,
Ed tried to lighten the moment for
everyone
.
“
You look like any strong wind could blow you over. Is the dog eating all your food?
”
He tickled
Gemma
’
s ears.
Anna
could almost swear she remembered him although it had been more than
six months
since he
’
d doted on her.

Anna
squeezed him tighter.
“
It
’
s good to have you here. Thank you.
”

“
For what?
”

“
For sending Bev. For letting her stay. For coming.
”

Ed wasn
’
t accustomed to this softer side
of Anna
.
“
As if I could have stopped her. Not when it comes to you. She
’
d move mountains to get to you if she thought you needed her.
”
He winked at his wife.

“
Yes, I know.
”

“
What happens next?
”
Ed addressed this question to Agent
s
Brady and Hays.
“
My two companions on the ride over weren
’
t very informative.
”

Agent Hays was quick to assert his meager authority.
“
You
’
ll all be placed into protective custody until the killer is caught, which means a safe house. But you shouldn
’
t worry. It
’
s only a matter of time.
”

Ed accepted the agent
’
s answer without question.

“
Want some coffee, hon?
”
Bev tried to smile, but there was no masking her worry. Bev
wanted
time alone with her husband. Ed followed his wife over to the coffeepot and they spoke quietly to each other.

Anna
picked up
her
cup
in one hand while clutching
Gemma
close with the other and headed for one of the conference room chairs away from everyone else.
She
hated brin
g
ing
her
family into this thing once more.
She hated being part of it. Reliving the past and its mistakes was like ripping the scab off a wound. The pain at times was unbearable. 

Chapter
Seven

“
So.
”

John
ha
d been ticking off the seconds
in his head
,
wondering how long it would take his
partner to ask the first question. They
’
d barely cleared the
curb
.

John tossed Rick a warning glance.
“
So what?
”

Rick blew out an exaggerated breath.
“
Oh come on. You
’
re gonna play dumb with me? Give me a break
.
The village idiot could pick up on all the tension between you two.
“

John decided to give it one last try.
“
She blames me for Aaron
’
s death
—”

“
You know what I mean. I want to know how long you and
she
were—
”

“
Watch it…
”

“
An item.
”
Rick amended.
“
How long were you and
Anna
sleeping together?
”

The judgment in Rick
’
s tone was easy to pick up on. John glanced over at him. He never would have pictured Rick being conservative.
“
Look, it
’
s complicated.
”

“
By that you mean you have feelings for her. Oh, I get that. Still.
”

“
You don
’
t approve
,
”
John answered for him.
"Does it help you to know she was divorced at the time?" 

Rick
shrugged
in an effort to convey neutrality but John caught the hardening around his mouth.
“
Can
’
t say that I
approve
. But then, I don
’
t know the circumstances
,
do I?
”

“
No you don
’
t.
”

“
And you
’
re not going to talk about it are you?
”

“
Nope.
”

“
Al
l
right, then maybe you
’
d care to tell me what the AD had to say. You know it
’
s my butt in the sling along with yours
,
buddy.
”

John slanted another assessing glance Rick
’
s way.
“
You
’
re right.
About everything.
I screwed
things
up with her,
should have done things differently,
but I love her.
”

Rick
was at a loss for words for a moment.
“
I see. And does she…
”

“
I don
’
t know. She
’
s still so angry with me, with the world. Herself.
" He shook his head. "
I
d
on
’
t know.
”

“
Well, if it
’
s any consolation, all that anger has to be masking something more.
What lead
were
you talking about
back there
?
Where are we going?
”

“
I think we should re-interview some of the victims’ families. See if perhaps they remember something they didn’t in the past.
And
to answer your previous question,
the AD is pissed, but with what happened last night, well, let’s just say we have a job, at least for the time being.
”

John spotted a coffee shop and whipped into a vacant parking spot. Rick cocked an eyebrow at
his partner's
motives
.

"I think I owe you
something in the way of
an explanation. You deserve to know the truth. Everything that led up to Aaron's death."

They ordered coffee and found an empty booth away from the few patrons
in the place
.

R
ick drummed his fingers and whistled under breath to get his point across.

“
Al
l
right, give me a second. This is hard
,”
John
finally
told him. “
Look, Aaron Sorenson was not only my mentor
,
he was my friend. I respected
the hell out of
him. I was just a cocky rookie who thought he knew everything when Aaron recruited me. He made me
into
the agent I am today. I owe him everything
.
”
That certainly was true
enough
.
It
was the way he
’
d repaid his friend that stuck in his head, torturing him every single day that he lived and his partner didn
’
t.

“
I get that. Sorenson was a legend at the academy and around the Bureau halls. Everything I heard about him spoke of a stellar reputation. So why all the secrecy?
”

John couldn
’
t hold onto the intensity in Rick
’
s gaze. He suspected his partner had figured out a whole lot more than he was letting on.
“
Aaron
let th
e
case
get personal.
He was having an affair with Cheryl
Larsen
.
”

Rick
didn’t seem surprised.
“
I guessed as much. Why else would he go after Peterson the way he did. What I don’t understand is w
hy?
Did Peterson catch him with Cheryl
Larsen
? Was he worried about how it would look if the Bureau found out he was screwing a witness
?
It wouldn’t be good, but I doubt he’s the first person to have an affair with a witness.
He and Anna
were divorced
by then
, right.
”

John gave him a “bingo” look
.
“
Aaron had gotten involved with Cheryl long before the divorce.
”

R
ick sucked in a breath. “How’d Sorenson let
that
happen?”

At Rick’s naïve question, John actually smirked. Had the man never been in love, or at least lust, for God’s sake? “I guess Aaron was thinking with other parts of his body when it came to Cheryl Larsen.” John certainly understood the concept. He’d thrown every sense of training and caution to the wind when it came to his own
relationship
with Anna, telling himself it was okay. After all
,
she was divorced and
Aaron had
cheated on her.

He shook his head. “Look, I’m
not going to try and defend his actions or mine for that matter. A
aron was having an affair with Cheryl long before the first Rock Creek killer emerged. Years maybe. That’s why he took such a personal interest in Cheryl’s stalking case.”

Rick’s gaze never left his. “Damn.” He breathed out the word, his tone coming as close to astonishment as it got for Rick. “Still,
I don
’
t buy it.
He
obviously
framed an innocent man.
”