Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
Adrian was relieved that Lee and Christine had been caught and charged.
But Eddie was still on the run. He’d just talked to Erin, and she was fine.
Still working with the police and the FBI to catch a serial killer, but she was great at that.
So why couldn’t he get her out of his mind?
He’d actually packed a bag, intending to drive to Virginia.
But now, he wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing.
How could he leave his officers behind on .
. . a whim? Even as he wrestled with himself, he realized that he couldn’t back away from the decision he’d made.
Doc’s pills had vanquished his headache, and he was alert.
Thankfully, the reaction he’d feared hadn’t materialized.
“Boss? Everything okay?” He looked up to see Lonzine standing in his doorway.
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
She smiled at him. “I tried twice to get your attention. You seemed so far away.”
He sighed. “Sorry. Just thinking about Erin.”
Lonzine started to say something, but he held his hand up. “Don’t try to read something into that. I mean . . . I don’t know. I feel like something’s wrong.”
“You talking about your gut? Your cop’s intuition?”
“Hopefully, it’s not just the coffee.” He frowned at her. “Lisa makes it so strong.”
“I heard that,” a voice called out. Lisa stuck her head in the door and grinned at Lonzine. “He used to tell me I made it too weak. Now it’s too strong. I can’t win.”
“He just needs something to complain about,” Lonzine said, rolling her eyes. “We’re so perfect, it makes him feel insecure.”
Adrian shook his head. “Very funny.”
“He’s concerned about Erin,” Lonzine said. “Says his gut tells him something’s wrong.”
“Things are quiet here,” Adrian said. “I’m going to Virginia. I feel as if . . .”
“As if Erin’s in danger?” Lonzine said.
Adrian nodded.
“Then, of course you need to go.”
“See, boss?” Lisa said. “Whatever you need to do, we’re behind you.” She took Lonzine’s arm. “Let’s quit taking up his time and let him get on his way.”
“Good idea,” Lonzine said. “We’ll be praying for you, boss. And for Erin.”
Adrian laughed to himself after the women left. He took a deep breath and grabbed his bag. Jake got up from his place on the floor, and they both headed outside to the Jeep. Time to get on the road.
“I know you talked to Noah,” Herrington said when they were seated at his desk.
“But I want to go over this with you myself. The Virginia State Police are heading up the investigation, and as you know, Noah works for the BAU. I trust him and know he did a good job of interviewing you, but I need to see if there’s anything here that might help us find our UNSUB.
” He opened a file on his computer and began reading through Noah’s interview with her.
Before yesterday, the silence would have intimidated her, but this time it didn’t.
Erin was embracing the freedom she felt.
The peace. It was nothing like the high that alcohol used to bring.
This was something different. Something good.
“Coffee?”
She looked up to find Lucas standing next to her.
“I noticed that you didn’t have time to get something to drink. If you’d rather have a cold drink . . .”
“No, this is great. Thanks, Lucas.”
She took the cup and smiled at him. Frankly, she’d had so much coffee back at Kaely’s she probably didn’t need anymore. But she didn’t want to offend Lucas. He really was a nice man.
“Excuse me,” Herrington said, frowning at Lucas. “Maybe you’d like to get Ms. Delaney a doughnut too?”
His tone was sarcastic, but Lucas didn’t miss a beat. “Would you like a doughnut, Erin?” he asked.
She gave him her biggest smile and said, “Thank you, Lucas, but I’m fine.”
He nodded and winked the eye that Herrington couldn’t see. “If you need anything else, let me know, okay?”
“I will. I appreciate it.”
As Lucas walked away, Erin took a sip from the cup Lucas had given her and turned her attention to Herrington.
If it were possible for a human being to have smoke coming out of his ears, it would be happening now.
What was wrong with this guy? Did he treat everyone like this? Or just the people he interviewed?
“If you’re sure you have everything you need,” he growled, “maybe we can get on with this interview?”
“Certainly,” Erin said as sweetly as she could. She looked at Herrington’s almost empty coffee cup. “Would you like me to get you some coffee? I’m happy to do it.”
Although she wanted to add or a doughnut? that would be sarcasm, and he would know it. This way, it would just seem like kindness—which is what she wanted. You catch more bees with honey . . .
Herrington stared at her with a look of confusion on his face. Finally, he said, “No, thank you. I’ll get some when we’re done.” There was a pause before he said, “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now what can I do to help you?” Erin asked. “I’d really like to see you catch this guy.”
Herrington’s tough guy persona had definitely softened some, and Erin had realized something.
Sometimes the things that scare you were neutralized more with kindness and concern than they were through intimidation.
Although it might not be Herrington’s way of dealing with people, it needed to become hers.
However, it had to be real. Not manipulation or sarcasm.
Truth was, she probably was trying to manipulate him.
In the past, she might not have recognized it.
She sighed inwardly. Okay, lesson learned. Thanks, God.
After being asked to go over the details from her book once again, Erin did so.
“So, the difference is that the body was found in a private lake in Virginia. One open only to military personnel. The lake in your book was in Missouri. Private, but there’s no military connection.”
Erin was confused. When had she told Noah that?
“Yes, that’s true,” she said. “Although the lake in my book doesn’t really exist, I patterned it off a lake in Missouri that is owned by homeowners in a gated community.
I reached out to a woman named Christine Dell who worked for the management company that owned the lake and the development. ”
“This is the Christine Dell who tried to blackmail your publisher?” Herrington said. “I talked to Noah this morning, and he told me about it.”
“Yes, the same woman. I’m certain she and her partners in crime have nothing to do with the murders.”
Herrington frowned at her. “And how do you know that?”
“Well, first of all, it’s pretty clear two of the three weren’t in Virginia when the murders occurred, but honestly?
Your UNSUB is clever, organized, and highly intelligent.
Dell, Johnson, and Pilcher are just petty crooks who could never put something like this together.
They couldn’t even manage a basic blackmail scheme. ”
Herrington raised an eyebrow and stared at her for a moment. “You got that from Noah?”
Erin shook her head. “As you know, I used to be a cop. And in writing my books, Kaely has taught me quite a bit about profiling. Of course, I’m not Kaely . . . or Noah. But realizing that those three aren’t smart enough—or methodical enough—to pull off these murders is obvious even to me.”
Herrington seemed to study her for a bit before saying, “I totally agree with you. The police in Tennessee and here in Virginia are looking for Eddie Pilcher. I’m sorry these people tried to use you for their own gain.”
“Th . . . thank you, Detective. That means a lot to me.” The phrase you could have knocked me over with a feather popped into her mind. She smiled at him, and surprisingly, he returned her smile.
“Detective, may I ask you a question?” Erin said.
He nodded.
“How did you know about the lake in Missouri? I mean, the details.”
He looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. “I read your book, Miss Delaney. And . . . I liked it.”
Okay, here comes that feather again. “Thank you,” she said. She wanted to say something more, but she couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound . . . weird. So, she just waited for the interview to begin again.
“Let’s get back to our interview,” he said, straightening up in his chair and gazing at his screen. “I don’t want to keep you too long. It looks as if Noah did a thorough job.” He turned to look at her. “This must be difficult for you.”
“It makes me sick to think that this guy used something I wrote to kill a human being. I’m sure all the other authors feel the same way. I know Pat Long did.”
Herrington frowned. “I know you talked to her before she went missing. Are you surprised that she’s disappeared?”
“My friend Kaely asked me the same thing,” Erin said.
“It’s almost impossible for me to answer your question since our time together was so brief, but I’d have to say yes.
She was upset, like I am, that the killer used her book, but she seemed to want to help.
” Erin met the detective’s eyes. “If I had to guess, Detective, I’d say someone wanted her to disappear.
I was told that her daughter doesn’t believe her mother left on her own.
And I’m certain Pat really loves her daughter and would never put her through something like this. ”
Herrington leaned back in his chair and stared at her for a moment before saying, “But who would take her? Why would our UNSUB do that? He hasn’t tried to abduct any of the other authors.”
“But Pat was here. In his territory. And Pat was alone.”
“You’re in his territory,” Herrington said.
“But I’m not alone,” Erin replied. “I have Noah and Kaely. And I’m an ex-cop. I’m armed, just like they are. It would be a lot harder to get to me than Patricia.”
“But if our UNSUB actually does want to get to you, it means you could be in danger.”
“We’ve talked about that,” Erin said, “but what sense does that make? This UNSUB has to have a signature—a reason for killing that should show up in his murders. Sure, authors have critics. Some of the comments we get are a little strange, but I really don’t think your UNSUB would go to all this trouble because he doesn’t like our books. ”
For the first time since she’d met him, Herrington laughed. “I have to agree. If critics exchanged murder for nasty reviews, there would probably be a lot less books out there.”
He actually made a joke. Erin smiled at him.
“Look, Detective, this UNSUB is unusual. When I was a cop, I only came across a serial killer once that I know of, and the case was handed over to our detectives. I’m aware that there are thousands of serial killers out there.
Most don’t get caught, and most are not in the news.
But in all the research I did for my books, I never stumbled across anyone like this.
” Erin paused, wondering if she should go any further.
She didn’t want to offend the man by making it look as if she was schooling him on serial killers, but since his tone had changed with her, she decided to take a chance.
She told him what she and Kaely had been talking about.
She took several minutes to share their thoughts.
To her surprise, Herrington began to type notes while she talked.
When she was done, she said, “I’m not sure if any of that was helpful.
Like I said, these days I’m just a writer, not a cop.
Not in law enforcement. No one, except those on the front lines, completely understand the mind of a criminal.
But that’s everything I’ve been thinking.
I hope it helps, but even if it doesn’t, I’m praying you catch this guy before anyone else dies. ”
Herrington put the pen down. “The truth, Miss Delaney?”
She nodded, waiting for the dressing down that could be coming.
“I wish I had you on my team,” he said, sounding sincere. “This is more than helpful. Until we catch this guy, please be careful. And keep that gun of yours close by.”
“Thank you, Detective. I will,” she said. “Are you through with me?”
He nodded. “I am.” He looked to his right. “I think your friend Kaely might like your help. I understand you were deputized?”
She nodded. “That’s right.”
“Then perhaps your insight can assist the BAU in stopping our UNSUB.”
“Before I go, Detective, is anyone actively looking for Patricia Long?”
“As I’m sure you understand, most of our resources are dedicated to finding our UNSUB.
But we’ve asked the local police department to look into her disappearance.
So far, they haven’t found anything. Cameras at the hotel show her walking away from the front entrance, but we have no idea what happened to her after that. ”
That was exactly what Noah had said, but Erin didn’t tell Herrington that. Even though she’d been deputized, she wasn’t certain how Herrington would feel about Noah sharing details about the search for Pat.
She stood. “Thank you, Detective. And if there’s anything else I can do to help . . .”
Herrington stood as well and held out his hand, which Erin took. “I appreciate your time, Miss Delaney.”
Erin smiled, shook his hand, and then headed over to where Kaely and Noah were gathered with others from the BAU. On the way, she ran into Brad, who smiled and held out his book. She gladly signed it and was gratified to see how much it meant to him.
Yesterday, she’d wanted out of this place so badly. But today, she was actually enjoying herself. Her life had certainly changed. And she knew why. It was because she wasn’t the same person. She was becoming the person she was always meant to be.