Chapter 13
Thirteen
Erin was just finishing breakfast when Noah came into the kitchen. He was tall, with dark, wavy hair and gray-blue eyes. He smiled when he saw her.
“I finally get to meet my wife’s famous friend,” he said. “We’re glad you’re here, but I wish it were for a better reason.”
“Nice to meet you,” Erin said. “You’re right. It would be nicer if we were just getting together for the fun of it. I really hope you guys catch this UNSUB before anyone else dies.”
“I do too.” He walked over to Kaely and kissed her. “My wife is as good as it gets when it comes to writing a profile. With her help—and yours—I’m praying he’ll be arrested soon.”
“I know you can’t share certain things with us,” Erin said, “but can I ask how your profile is coming along?”
Noah poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
His deep sigh made it clear he was frustrated.
“Well, we’ve determined that he’s male. As you know, most serial killers are.
Since the victims are women and were overpowered, this also points to a man.
But beyond that, this one’s tough. He’s different.
Copying murders from novels? It may have worked well on TV, but in real life, serial killers just don’t do that.
They may get an idea from a book or movie, but their ego forces them to add a signature.
A slightly different MO. Of course, we have the poems, but that’s not really a signature.
What we don’t know is why he’s killing. What is he angry about?
What’s driving him? Unless he just hates authors .
. . or mystery novels.” He shook his head.
“What do our field agents and the police look for?” He smiled at her.
“Any wonderful insight that will blow this case wide open?”
Erin laughed. “No, sorry. Besides, your wife is the one who has the talent. I’m afraid I’m just someone who walks in her shadow, hoping some of her brilliance will infect me.”
It was Kaely’s turn to laugh. “I think you just made me sound like a disease.”
Noah grinned at her and put his hand on his chest. “Sounds about right. You make me sick . . . with love.”
Erin giggled, and Kaely stuck her tongue out at him. “Hush up,” she said. “Now Erin knows how corny you are.” She grabbed a plate from the cabinet and put some food on it. Then she brought it to him.
“Thank you,” he said.
Kaely bent down and kissed him. Then she went back to get his coffee.
Erin was impressed with them. It was obvious they really loved each other.
She could not only see it—she could actually feel it.
She was extremely happy for Kaely, but she couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever experience love like that.
Suddenly, Adrian’s face flashed in her mind, and it startled her.
She liked him, but they were just friends . . . right?
“Erin, while you’re here, I’d love to invite a friend over to meet you,” Kaely said.
“Maybe for lunch. She’s writing a book, and I’ve been helping her some.
She’s not published yet, but when I told her I knew you, she was really excited.
” Kaely held her hand up. “She’s not the type of person to ask you for favors—in fact—Shannon’s just the opposite.
But she really admires you, and I think you’d like her too. Is it okay if I put that together?”
“I guess so,” Erin said. “I suppose if you trust her, I’m okay with it.”
Erin didn’t really want to meet this friend who wanted help getting published. It wasn’t something she could do, and most writers didn’t understand that. But if it mattered to Kaely, she was willing to do it. She owed her so much.
Erin noticed that Kaely wanted to invite Shannon to her house rather than meet her somewhere else.
Kaely had always encouraged Erin to get out of her house as a way to combat her agoraphobia.
Was this another sign that Kaely was worried about Erin’s safety?
She realized investigators weren’t sure if the authors were at risk, but was there something Kaely knew that she wasn’t telling her?
It made her a little nervous. Yet Kaely had always been honest with her.
Maybe she was just feeling a little paranoid.
Knowing that a serial killer had picked her book as a blueprint for murder had turned her life upside down. It was hard to know what to think.
“I need to get dressed,” Kaely said. “Meet you back here in about fifteen minutes? Then we can talk more about the case if you’d like.”
Erin nodded. “Sure. I’ve got to get ready too.
” She got up and started to leave the kitchen, but she stopped before she reached the doorway and turned around to look at Noah.
“Kaely told me once that the first murder a serial killer commits is usually the most important one. I’m sure you’ve considered that. ”
Noah nodded. “We have, but so far, there’s no rhyme or reason to his choices.
We couldn’t find anything or anyone connected to the writer, Dan Harper, that helped us.
Doesn’t mean it’s not there.” He put his coffee cup down.
“Obviously, in the group of victims, there’s one that was targeted for a reason.
The police and the FBI are working hard to find it.
” He frowned. “Investigators want to talk to you. Kaely told you that, right?”
“Yeah. Do you know when?”
“I heard it was today, but I’m not sure.” Noah shook his head. “They know you’re staying with us. I assume they’ll call me to make arrangements.”
As if on cue, Noah’s phone rang. He frowned and took it out of his pocket.
“Hunter,” he said. After listening for a few seconds, he rubbed his forehead and sighed.
“Great. Not that we weren’t expecting this, but I’d hoped it would take longer.
Any idea where the leak came from?” He was silent as he listened to the person on the other end.
“Okay. Thanks. Do you want me to come in now?” Another pause.
Then he said, “See you soon.” He hung up and looked at Kaely.
“Well, we knew the media would get the story eventually, but it’s out now.
A news station in Richmond is reporting on it.
The FBI is wondering if one of the authors leaked it to draw attention to their book. ”
Erin put her hands up in the air. “It wasn’t me. You can check my phone and my laptop.”
Noah smiled at her. “Relax. I know it wasn’t you. Although, don’t be offended if the investigator you talk to at the command center requests those devices.”
“I won’t be offended. They may be a little bored, though. Not much happening in my life that would raise suspicions.” She frowned. “Except my internet searches. When you write edgy suspense . . . Uh, oh.”
Noah laughed. “I get it. Don’t worry. I suspect my wife’s laptop has lots of suspicious searches too.” His face turned pink. “I . . . I mean about murder . . . you know.”
His embarrassed expression made them both laugh.
“Don’t worry, honey,” Kaely said. “The only studs I look up would be horses or dogs. No actual men. You’re the only stud for me.”
As Erin giggled, Noah shook his head. “Not sure why you’d be looking up anything about horses or dogs either.”
Kaely laughed lightly as Noah walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up a remote.
He pointed it at a TV mounted on the wall in the living room.
The open concept made it visible in the kitchen.
He clicked a button, and the TV came on.
A woman stood in front of a large brick building, doors behind her, with three large brick pillars holding up the roof over the entrance.
“That’s the local police station,” Kaely said.
Noah turned up the sound.
“We’ve learned that there may be a serial killer targeting Virginia women,” the reporter said.
“Allegedly, the killer is using plots from popular novels as a guide to carry out these murders. We’ve reached out to the police for clarification, but so far, all we’ve heard back is ‘no comment.’ We’ll report any further information as soon as we receive it. ”
The scene switched back to a game show, and Noah turned off the TV. “Great,” he muttered.
“Well, maybe this will help to make people safer,” Erin said. “Women will be on guard.”
“Or, it will cause the killer to lay low so we can’t catch him,” Noah said, his tone gruff.
“Hopefully, they won’t discover the location of the command center,” Erin said.
“They will, trust me,” Noah said. “It happens quite a bit with high-profile cases. If someone involved in the investigation doesn’t leak it, a reporter will follow one of our officers or agents to the site.
We’ll just start releasing daily updates to the media. That way we can control the dialogue.”
“Control the dialogue?” Erin repeated.
Noah nodded. “We don’t want the wrong information getting out. Trust me, our UNSUB will be watching. The last thing we need is to give him a heads-up as to where we are with the investigation. The other worry is that copycats will try to mimic our UNSUB’s killings.”
“That’s scary.”
“It happens more often than you might think,” Kaely said. “If the task force can control the narrative, they have the chance to save lives.”
“So, will you try to find out how the press got hold of the story?” Erin asked Noah.
“Well, I won’t. That’s not my job. But investigators might.
If they have a leak, they need to find out who it is and plug it up.
Psychopaths are narcissistic and love attention.
” He sighed. “Whoever leaked the story did him a favor. Investigators may need to find out why it happened and make certain our mole isn’t connected to the killer.
They will also have to find out how much they told him.
If he knows what we know, it will make it much harder to stop him. ”
Erin didn’t say anything, but as Noah left the room, his words only added to the apprehension she felt about the killer and his deadly reach.