Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Amanda invited Trent to join her in her cubicle for the call to Nadia Webber at the FBI. She made the call on speaker.
The line was answered after two rings. “Nadia Webber, speaking.”
“Nadia, it’s Detective Amanda Steele from the Prince William County PD.”
“I remember you, but if you’re calling me, it’s not with good news.”
“It’s not, but I’ll get to that. I have my partner on the line with us, Detective Trent Stenson.”
“Trent.” The analyst’s voice softened. “It’s been a long time.”
“Hi, Nadia,” Trent said, and his cheeks flushed.
Amanda raised her eyebrows. Was there ever something between the two or was he red because talking to Nadia reminded him of the time he helped the FBI with a serial rape and murder case?
It hadn’t been Trent’s finest hour. He’d been an eager uniformed officer with the Dumfries PD, a much smaller department than the PWCPD, and inserted himself into the investigation.
Hearing it from his side, he put the connections together before the FBI.
Amanda was in no position to dispute his claim.
What she knew was Trent’s instincts had him running ahead of backup and paying the price.
He almost became a victim himself and was left with bullet scars to remember the occasion.
“Whatever it is you need. Hit me,” Nadia told them.
“We need you to look into ViCAP for us.” Amanda ran through the details of the investigation, noting the tarp and rope and how pristine the murder scene was, including the strong cleaner.
She also detailed the kill shots, two to the chest and one to the head, and the circumstances surrounding the failed attempt on Dominique Sharp’s life.
How Blackburn was shot with a nine-mil slug.
Also that the perp had used a silencer and fled the scene, but not before they were able to confirm it was a woman dressed in spandex shorts and a baggy tee, wearing a backpack.
“None of this sounds like an amateur killer to us,” Trent put in.
“Agreed. I would say from what you told me this woman sounds like a standard serial killer, aside from the brazen attempt on Sharp’s life.
She must also love killing. I mean, to wrap up the victim even when she must have known Christine Lane wasn’t her intended target.
She could have just left upon noticing her error, but she didn’t. ”
“We boiled that down to a compulsion,” Amanda said.
“I’d say. Makes sense too because it seems the tarp and rope are her signature. All of this is good news for us because it should make it easier to find similar cases if they exist.”
If… Amanda realized the possibility was there, but found it harder to accept this woman hadn’t left a body count in her wake.
In that vein, Nadia’s summary was bittersweet.
While the method might help them track her down, it had taken more loss of life to get to this point.
Hopefully, no one else would become a statistic before they shut this killer down.
“All right. Let us know what you find out.”
“You know I will.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Good luck in the meantime.” With that, Nadia ended the call, and Amanda was left facing Trent.
“Anything you want to share with me about Nadia? Your cheeks got a little color to them when she said your name.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I’m not letting you off the hook on this. Just tell me.”
“It’s just that whenever I talk to any of the team, that being Brandon’s team, it takes me back to when I helped them on that case. And how I messed up. Running in, nearly getting myself killed.”
“Though without your contributions, it’s possible the killer wouldn’t have been found and stopped.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“And sure, you got ahead of yourself, but I think it’s quite impressive that you were bold enough to insert yourself into an FBI investigation.”
“I saw a pattern of missing women in the area, and I couldn’t just ignore it.”
“Law enforcement needs more officers like you who aren’t afraid to take the initiative. Though don’t let it get back to Malone that I’m encouraging such behavior. He might view it as disregarding authority or going rogue.” She smiled.
“Well, I appreciate you saying that…”
“Hey, it’s the truth. But moving on… What do you suggest we do while we wait for Dominique’s firm to open?”
“I say we look up the principal players in her company and pull their backgrounds. I’m sure we could get their names off the firm’s website.”
“Works for me. At least we’ll be going in familiarized with the players.”