Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (20 page)

“
Have you got a last
-
known address?
”

“
Yep. An abandoned building downtown.
”

“
Shit. Figures. Okay, I need someone here right away to stay with Anna.
”

Anna
,
who
had been silently listening to the conversation until then
, was ready to protest
.
“
No. I want to be part of this.
”

“
Hang on,
”
John told
his partner
. He turned to Anna.
“
I can
’
t let you. I can
’
t risk anything happening to you. I
’
d never forgive—
”

“
I am part of this. He
wants
me. At least the person he thinks I am. I am part of this.
”

“
Anna, he
’
s insane. A killer who will stop at nothing. I
’
m not putting you in his path
again, so y
ou can forget it.
”

He returned to the call.
“
I need Samson and
Henderson
here right away.
”

“They’re
on their way now. I
’
ll wait for you at the office. I
’
ll see if I can
’
t get in touch with his
Brookhaven psychiatrist
. Maybe he knows something.
”

John glanced Anna
’
s way. She was angry
with him
. She wouldn
’
t go along with the plan easily.
“
Lewis has no family living?
”

“
None that came forward. There are a few on the wife
’
s side though. I
’
ll see what I can find out in the
meantime
.
”

“
Great. Good job, Rick. Thanks.
”
He snapped the phone shut and prepared for the battle to come.
“
It has to be this way, Anna.
”

“
No it doesn
’
t. I
’
m one of you. I
’m
still an agent.
”

“
Who walked away from the job
over
a year ago. Who
’
s emotionally attached to this case—
“

“
So are you! Have you forgotten the partner you lost to this
nightmare
?
”

“
No
,”
h
e said quietly.
“
And I haven
’
t forgotten how much I care about you either. That
’
s why I can
’
t risk getting you further involved in this, Anna. I can
’
t. I won
’
t.
”

She shook her head.
“
You won
’
t have a choice. He
’
s good, John. He
’
s managed to survive this long without us even having a clue about his identity until now. And he wants me. You
’
re not going to have a choice and you know it.
”

Dear God, he hoped she was wrong.
“
Maybe. But for now I
do
. And until I have to make that decision, I
’
m not letting you get involved in this thing.
”

Chapter
Thirteen

He
’
d been so close. He could smell her. She still smelled the same as she did twenty years earlier, only her face had changed. Not that it mattered. It wasn
’
t
her
face he wanted. It was her heart.

N
ow s
he was gone again. He watched them work methodically
and h
is anger gr
ew
. They had no reason to keep her from him. She belonged to him. He
’
d spent years searching for her, survived the dark place to be with her. He needed to ask her forgiveness, tell her he was sorry. It wasn
’
t him
. I
t was the monster
that lived
inside of him. He understood that now.
He knew how to fix the rage. Knew what needed to be done.

He
’
d come close to finding her in all the others
only to
fail. Now he was positive. She was the one and nothing
they
could do would stop him from claiming her as his forever.

* * * * *

“
Any news?
”
John asked the moment he arrived at the
Hoover
Building
.

Both Rick and
the agent working with him, a twenty-something ex Navy seal name
Ryan
Morris's
gaze shot to the doorway. Neither
realized
John
had arrived
until he spoke
. Rick
ha
d been discussing something with Ryan.

Rick nodded to Ryan who left them alone.
“
Nothing good. Lewis
’
psychiatrist
has refused to let us see his notes on the guy. Apparently
,
he
is seeing
a lawsuit and is trying to cover his hide, but I did get someone from the hospital Lewis was incarcerated at to talk to us. I know you just got here, but we need to move on this
now
.
”

“
I
’
m ready.
”
John dodged Rick
’
s attempt at making eye contact as much as possible.
H
is partner wanted to know but he wasn
’
t going to discuss Anna, especially now.

John brought the briefcase carrying the case files and got in the passenger side of
the Crown Vic
.
A move
that
clearly surprised
Rick
.

They were heading out of town toward
Richmond
when Rick finally voiced his curiosity.
“
You going to tell me what happened between you two?
”

John spared Rick a glance.
“
I think you know the answer already.
”

“
Yep, but
it doesn't hurt to try.
I love a good romance
,
you know.
”

“
Then you
’
ve come to the wrong place. Our story has nothing to do with romance.
”

Rick
’
s
dubious snort made his opinion clear,
but he let the subject drop.

“
Where exactly are we going and who
’
s this person we
’
re talking to.
”

Rick hesitated which did little to reassure John.

“
Lewis
’
former doctor.
”

“
Former. Please tell me he quit.
”

Rick grinned at him.
“
I could tell you that, but it wouldn
’
t be the truth. The
guy
was fired, okay
?
He says it was because he didn
’
t go along with what was
being
suggested.
”

“
And that was
…”
John tried to squelch the sinking feeling
in his gut
.

“
Says the board of trustees at the nut house wanted him to medicate, treat
,
and release
, regardless of the inmate's condition, to
allow for more patients, which meant more government funding. He
said he
warned them about
releasing
Lewis. They didn
’
t listen.
”

John nodded as they entered a quiet suburban section of
Richmond
.
“
You
’
re kidding. Can he substantiate any of those accusations?
”

Rick threw him an
'
oh please
'
look.
“
Nope. They covered their tracks too well.
The good doctor
had a long list of grievances against him by the time they fired him, I checked. The worst being he
’
s a drug addict. He
’
d gotten caught prescribing
narcotics
to himself. He
’
s not exactly credible, but he is all we have. I
’
m hoping he can shed some light on Lewis
’
friends, hangouts, anything that might help us capture the creep.
“

“
Great. This case just keeps getting better and better.
”

“
Oh, that
’
s nothing. The AD has been asking questions about you. He
’
s grilling everyone who worked the original case for information.
”

John spun in his seat to focus on Rick. He knew his partner hadn
’
t given anything away, but how much longer before
Warren
turned up the pressure on Rick. John had a decision to make. How badly did he want to keep his job? At the cost of Rick, possibly others, losing theirs
?
As much as he
’
d once loved this job, if he were being honest, since Aaron
’
s death, and especially after losing Anna, well, the job had become more of a burden than anything. How many gruesome killings could any human being witness and not lose parts of their soul
?
He was at the end of it and had been for a while.

Chapter
Fourteen

Doctor Archibald Baldwin lived in an affluent section of
Richmond
known as Tanglewood.

“
Not bad for a fired drug addict.
”
Rick let out a low whistle as he pulled in front of the two-story red brick Georgian.

“
Yeah, was he selling the scripts?
”

“
Not according to what information I could find. But then, that was sketchy at best.
”

John nodded then got out of the car and waited for Rick do the same.
“
Does he know we
’
re
coming
?
”

“
Yep. I phoned ahead. After I struck out with the Brookhaven shrink.
”

They approached the small flagstone porch, Rick rang the doorbell, and they waited in silence. John found himself wondering what Anna would be doing. He hadn
’
t wanted to leave her, but he couldn
’
t make her part of this. Agreeing to let her look at the files had been hard enough, but he needed her help. His gut instinct told him to keep her as far away from the case as possible. He wondered how long it would be before Lewis found her. He couldn
’
t think about that now and not go crazy.

The door opened and a slight
ly
built
,
middle-aged
man with glasses pushed high on his forehead as if they
’
d interrupted an afternoon perusing the paper
. He appeared
puzzled
by their
appearance
.