Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Adrian stopped at a convenience store near Roanoke to let Jake out, fill up his tank, and get something to eat.
He bought Jake a cheeseburger, as well as one for himself.
For convenience store food, it was pretty good.
Then he shared his fries with the hungry dog.
As they ate, he wondered once again if he was doing the right thing.
What would Erin think when he showed up?
He’d considered calling her, but every time he started to click on her number, he felt as if he shouldn’t do it.
For now, he was going on instinct, praying it was God leading him.
He’d had these feelings before. One time, he’d avoided a drunk driver, who blew through a stop sign, by just seconds when he’d felt he was supposed to pull over to the side of the road and wait.
Another time, he’d drawn his gun entering a house that was supposed to be abandoned only to find a drunk man with a knife hiding behind a door.
He was able to arrest him and take him out of the house without incident.
And this was in Sanctuary. There were more times than he could count when he’d listened to that still, small voice in Chicago.
He credited God with saving not only his life, but also the life of his partner, more than once.
Today, he was following that voice again.
He sensed that Erin was in danger, and he had to get there.
He scarfed down the rest of his fries except for the few that he gave to an appreciative Jake.
Then he got back on the road and headed toward Fredericksburg.
Erin walked up to the group gathered around the desk and the dry-erase board. Most of the things she and Kaely had talked about were written there.
“Erin,” Kaely said when she walked up. “I’d like to introduce you to Alex Hart and Todd Hunter. Todd is the Special Agent in Charge of our BAU unit.”
Erin said hello to the two special agents. Besides them, Lucas, Noah, and Kaely made up the rest of the group working on a profile for law enforcement.
“We’re trying to finish our profile,” Noah said, “but we feel as if it’s incomplete. Thing is, we have to give the police and FBI something.” His gaze swung over the special agents gathered there. “Anything anyone cares to add?”
“This one’s tough,” Alex said. “I’ve never been faced with an UNSUB who uses the plots of books to kill people. Even when I saw it on that TV show Castle, I thought it was silly. Yet here we are.” She laughed. “I guess truth really is stranger than fiction.”
Erin really liked Alex. She reminded her a lot of Kaely. Smart, insightful, and with a sense of humor.
“What do you think, Erin?” she asked.
“I’m not sure I’m qualified to have an opinion,” Erin said.
“I’m not a trained analyst like all of you are, but I think I agree.
Don’t all serial killers have a reason to do what they do?
I’m pretty sure killing authors isn’t it.
He’s incredibly angry. The poems show us that.
And the twenty-year-old toys say something, but how does that connect to the authors?
So maybe the UNSUB hates authors who have toys?
” She shook her head. “Kaely and I have been over and over this. We agree that this has something to do with the killer’s childhood.
But for the life of me, I haven’t found an explanation that feels right. ”
“I agree that he’s definitely angry about something in his childhood,” Alex said, “but what does that have to do with the authors’ books he’s patterned his killings after? The methods of murder are all different. There’s nothing that connects them. Why did he choose these particular books?”
“I’m not sure, but we’d better figure it out soon,” Lucas said. “Like Noah said, we have to deliver the profile. They should have had it by now.”
“Kaely, what do you think?” Todd asked.
“I think the same way Erin does,” she said. “There’s a reason this guy is killing the way he is. We’re just not seeing it. I feel as if there’s an element missing. One aspect that would tie this all together. But like Erin said, we can’t quite get hold of it.”
“And maybe that’s the reason,” Erin said slowly.
“What do you mean, Erin?” Todd asked.
“Maybe he’s just trying to confuse you. Throw you off track.”
“Then he’d have to know something about our methods,” Todd said, frowning. “And that begs a lot of questions.”
“You mean this person could be . . . one of us?” Lucas asked.
Erin shook her head. “Not necessarily. There are a lot of books about profiling out there. It’s not that difficult to learn about your methods. Maybe not everything, but enough to make it harder for us to find him.”
Kaely stood up. “Look, it’s late. I’m going to take Erin home. We’re just running around in circles here. But if either one of us comes up with something else that could help, I’ll let you know.” She frowned. “His reason for killing is here. I just pray we figure it out before he strikes again.”
“Thanks for sitting in, Kaely,” Todd said. “It was nice to meet you, Erin.”
“You too, Todd,” Erin said. “And nice to meet you, Alex. Kaely has talked about you quite a bit.”
Alex smiled at her. “I’d love to get together for lunch with you two before you leave, Erin. If we can find some time?”
“That would be great,” Erin said. Kaely said her good-byes, and she and Kaely walked toward the exit.
As they walked past Paul Jackson, she smiled at him.
But he just stared at her and then went back to whatever it was he was doing.
She noticed that her book was no longer on his desk.
Had she offended him in some way? She would have been happy to sign his book if he’d asked.
She almost went back to say something to him but dismissed the thought.
She wasn’t responsible for his attitude.
She had too many thoughts in her mind right now.
She didn’t have time to worry about his ego.
When they reached the back door, the guy guarding it looked irritated. He was talking on his phone and hung up right before they reached him.
“Everything all right, officer?” Kaely asked.
“More reporters trying to get past me,” he said, sounding disgusted.
“We have regular media updates scheduled now. I’ve asked them more than once to just wait for them.
This afternoon, the FBI found a woman out in the parking lot, just wandering around.
When they questioned her, she admitted she was a reporter.
She runs a podcast, for crying out loud.
I just hope this doesn’t get any worse.”
“Do you have cameras watching the parking lot?” Erin asked.
“Normally, no. They’re usually not necessary.
But since the media found us, the FBI mounted one out there.
It will be connected this evening. After that, we’ll be able to monitor everything out there.
Reporters will be aware that we’re not only keeping an eye on them, but we’re also recording their actions.
Not something they’ll like, but it will sure make me feel a lot better. ”
“Thanks for all your hard work, officer,” Kaely said. “We appreciate it.”
He smiled at them for the first time. “Just doing my job, but it’s nice to hear you say that. You ladies have a good rest of your day.”
They thanked him again and walked out the back door. Erin was surprised to find that it was already dark when they stepped outside. The day had gone by quickly.
They were both silent on the drive back to the house. Finally, Erin said, “We’re both trying to figure out what’s going on, aren’t we?”
Kaely laughed. “We know each other so well.”
“If you get any sudden inspiration, will you share it with me?”
“Of course. It goes both ways, though.”
Erin nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Erin kept going over everything about the killings she could think of but felt as if she was only regurgitating the same information over and over. She sighed. “I’ve got a headache.”
“When we get home, I’ll give you some aspirin. Then we can have dinner. We could pick up something if you want.”
It was at that moment that they heard a crack of thunder, and it started to rain really hard.
“Or maybe not,” Kaely said, chuckling. “It was cloudy when we left, but did I put my umbrella in the car? Of course not. If we want to stay dry, our best bet is to go home and park in the garage. I’ve got some ground beef. How about tacos?”
“I love tacos, but only if you let me help.” She frowned. “Wasn’t Nick coming over for dinner?”
Kaely shook her head. “I forgot to tell you. He called while we were at the command center. He can’t come. The sheriff’s department figures they’ll be kept busy because of the weather. We’ll have him over another night.” She smiled. “Now, do you really want to help?”
“Of course,” Erin said. “As long as I don’t have to actually cook anything. Trust me, you don’t want that.”
Another sudden clap of thunder made her jump. The heavy rain had turned into a torrential downpour.
“April showers bring May flowers,” Kaely mumbled. She’d slowed down to a crawl so she could see the road. The other cars around them had done the same thing.
“Then there should be flowers everywhere.”
Kaely sighed. “That would be nice.”
It took them quite a while to get back to Kaely’s house. Erin breathed a sigh of relief when they finally pulled into the garage. Kaely parked the car, lowered the garage door, and got out. “Noah said he’d be a little late, but he should be home in time to have tacos. He loves them.”
Erin and Kaely went inside the house through the door that led from the garage into the kitchen.
After taking off her jacket and hanging it up, Kaely went to the refrigerator and took out some hamburger. Then she took a head of lettuce out of the crisper and brought it over to Erin.
“Get a plate out of the cabinet and shred the lettuce, okay?” Kaely said. “We should be ready to eat in about twenty minutes.”
Erin got the plate, washed the lettuce, and then began to tear it into smaller pieces.
It seemed like such a normal thing to do, but things weren’t normal.
There was a serial killer on the loose who didn’t make sense to the world’s best profilers—and Pat, someone she’d grown to care about, might be dead—or waiting to die.
Adrian didn’t realize he was grasping the steering wheel so tightly until he felt pain in his fingers.
It had started to rain, making it necessary to slow down and drive carefully.
He sighed and loosened his grip. Would Erin think it was weird when he just showed up?
Was this ridiculous? Should he turn around and go back?
But the truth was, he couldn’t. He felt a strong urge to keep driving.
He had to see her. He looked at the GPS.
Not much longer. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
He prayed that God would help him—give him the right words.
Something that wouldn’t make her feel pressured, but that would also let her know that he really cared for her.
Were there any words in existence like that?
He couldn’t be certain, but no matter what, he wasn’t going home.
He would have to trust God that everything would turn out all right.