Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (22 page)

The doctor was a more immediate problem. He
’
d served his purpose, even though it had required returning to that hellhole when his first attempts at finding her had failed. The last time had been more successful. The doctor
’
s assistance would no longer be needed.

He
’
d take care of the cop, but all in time.
First, h
e needed the cop to tell him where he
’
d hidden her. She was still fighting him. She hadn
’
t forgiven his past transgressions. He couldn
’
t get a good read on her whereabouts although he
could feel
her. She was close. She
’
d be his soon. First, he
’
d take care of the doctor and then had to decide if he wanted to be merciful to Agent Delaney. Or make him pay dearly for corrupting his beloved.

*
*
*
*
*

“
The doctor mentioned a
possible
boyfriend. Have you found out anything more on him?
”
John couldn
’
t seem to shake the feeling of being watched.
He’d had it
many times over the past few hours. Even after
,
t
he
y
’
d returned to the
F
ederal
B
uilding.

He glanced down at the street below. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The case had his imagination playing tricks.

“
Not so far. I
’
m going to call Brenda
’
s sister. See what she knows. What do you see out there?
”

John turned from the window.
“
Nothing. That
’
s just it. Anything from Ryan yet on the movie search?
”

“
Nope. Apparently D.C. and surrounding areas are not great fans of the Duke.
”
Rick stopped smiling when he caught sight of
the uneasy way John scanned the street below
.
“
Hey, what is it?
”

John shook his head. It was
,
after all
,
just a hunch.
“
Nothing. I don
’
t know. I just have this gut feeling he
’
s close.
”

“
You think? Want me to have the locals canvass the area?
”

John nodded. He knew Warren would have a fit when he
discovered
there was no sound basis for such the search beyond John
’
s gut, but he was already in hot water with Warren. What did one more indiscretion matter?

“
Do it and get the sister on the phone for us. Let
’
s see if we can find out what Jericho Lewis did to his wife
’
s lover.
”

Rick glanced at his watch
.

"I know it's
after
midnight
,
just do it."

His partner
didn
’
t hesitate to follow through with John
’
s request. Within minutes of his call to the local police precinct, a quiet search of the area had begun. And Sarah Templeton was on the phone, confused and angry at being woken from sleep at a quarter of one.

“
Mrs. Templeton, I apologize for calling so late, but I
’
m Agent Garner and with me is Agent Delaney. We need your help desperately.
”

On speakerphone, everything appeared
amplified
. They could hear the sound of a light switched on and voices, more than Sarah
’
s, probably her husband.

“
What
’
s this about? Can
’
t it wait until morning? I have to be at work in six hours.
”
Sarah asked at last.

“
Ma
’
am
,
with all due respect
,
it can
’
t. This is about your sister.
”

The silence following Rick
’
s response was long and filled
with
emotion.

“
What about Brenda? She
’
s dead.
Has been for years now.
Why can
’
t you people just let her be for once?
”

John wondered what she meant by that. For the
time being,
it could wait. They needed to know about Brenda
’
s boyfriend first.

“
Mrs. Templeton, we believe your former brother-in-law may be responsible for more than a half dozen murders that we know of. I apologize for the time, but it can
’
t wait. We need your help now.
”

The fear in her voice was palpable.
“
My
God
, not again
. What do you want to know?
”

“
Anything you might be able to tell us that might help.
”

“
I
’
ve spent most of my life, in recent years, trying to forget the torture she suffered at that monster
’
s hands and now you want me to relive it?
”

“
I know it
’
s hard
,
”
Rick offered.

“
You don
’
t know anything about it.
”
Sarah Templeton breathed the words to life. The weight of a lifetime of pain in them.

A noise followed and then a man
’
s voice came on the line.
“
What do you need from us?
”

John assumed the man was Sarah
’
s husband.
He
took up the questioning from that point.
“
We need to know what you can tell
us
about Brenda
’
s boyfriend. I need to talk to him.
”

The silence that followed was overwhelming.
“
That
’
s impossible. He died
a few days
before Brenda. Don
’
t you people talk to each other?
”

John
’
s gaze collided with Rick.
“
He was murdered? Lewis wasn
’
t charged for the murder.
”

The man
laughed angrily
.
“
No, because the bastard was too smart for the local people. Oh, they knew he did
it
, even the DA prosecuting Brenda
’
s case knew he killed that poor man, but there wasn
’
t enough evidence, and they just wanted to lock him away from society before he could hurt anyone else. You see how well that worked out.
”

“
He hasn
’
t tried to reach you or your wife.
”

“
You think he
’
ll come after us?
”
Fear laced tension through the man
’
s tone with that realization.

“
I don
’
t know. At this point, we know very little about him. For the time being
,
until we
’
re sure, I
’
d like to take you both into protective custody.
”

“
Dammit, we have lives. How much longer are we going to have to surrender them because my sister-in-law made a mistake?
”

John wished he had a definite answer for the man.
“
I don
’
t know. Let
’
s hope it won
’
t be too much longer. I
’
d rather have you in custody
than
out there in plain sight for him to hunt down.
”

“
Fine. Do what you have to do, but this time do us and the world a favor and kill the son
-
of
-
a
-
bitch.
”

After they hung up from the Templeton
’
s
,
Rick voiced his doubts.
“
You think he
’
ll come after them?
”

“
No.
H
e wants Anna. Or at least what Anna has
—
Brenda
’
s heart. And I think he
’
ll stop at nothing to get her.
”

Rick
’
s cell phone buzzed
and he answered it
.
“
Yes. Okay. Thanks.
”

He flipped the phone shut.
“
The search turned up nothing. If he was out there, he
’
s gone now.
”

“
How are Bev and Ed holding up?
”

“
As well as can be expected
,
I guess. They
’
re worried sick about Anna.
”

John nodded.
“
I
’
m assuming the search on Anna
’
s home turned up nothing.
”

“
Not a thing. Why don
’
t you call her
?
”

John didn
’
t need to ask whom he was referring to.
“
And tell her what?
”

“
That you miss her. That you
’
re doing everything you can to solve this thing. That once it
’
s over, you two need to talk.
”

In spite of the gravity of the situation, John smiled at Rick
’
s attempt at matchmaking.
“
You
’
ve got it all worked out.
You
call her.
”

“
Yeah, well, I
’
m not the one in love with her. Why don
’
t you do something even better? Why don
’
t you go there? You know you want to.
”

John shook his head. He didn
’
t need to be reminded. The desire to
be with her now was almost physical.
“
I need to be here. There
’
s too much hinging on us catching this guy and soon.
”

“
Which is why you
should
be there. Go
.
Ryan and I
’
ll keep digging. Go be with her.
”

Chapter
Fifteen

The night
drug
by. With John gone and the two agents protecting
Anna
standing stone-faced in the presence of any of
her
attempts at making conversation,
she
found
her
self with too much time on
her
hands to think.

And a
s always, John
was like
an addiction.
She
couldn
’
t be near him and not act on the attraction
they
’
d shared from the beginning
.
In
her
heart
, Anna
knew
the truth
.
It didn
’
t seem to matter how
she
tried to dress it up, what
she
and
John
had
went much deeper than mere physical attraction.