Cold Silence, page 28
Shane remembered Wayne Stockwell’s bloated body in the bathtub. “And he probably wiped down the room with Clorox.”
“But he might have missed something. We need to find out if he was here. And what he was driving when he left.”
Alex typed something on his laptop then looked at them. “There is no booking for an Owen Froese or Ethan Grice.”
“We need to check with the front desk and see if someone recognizes him. He can’t have killed everyone he came into contact with and he can’t have an unlimited supply of fake identities.”
Shane hoped both things were true.
“Housekeeping might not have cleaned yet or they might have missed something. And my guess is he wouldn’t expect us to figure this out. He’d assume we’d assume he wiped the video because of Laura being here.” Yael looked determined now, which was a whole lot better than beaten.
Right now, they had no physical evidence linking EG to Yael’s shooting or Ethan Grice to that or the other murders. They needed his DNA to connect the crimes on top of any circumstantial or electronic evidence they assembled.
Alex stood up.
“Where are you going?” Yael asked.
“To talk to the desk staff. See if someone remembers our guy.”
Yael followed him out and after a brief hesitation and a look at his teammates so did Shane.
They were in a race against time. If EG stuck to his usual schedule they had three days before Laura Bay became his next online victim. Shane didn’t want Laura or Yael to have to go through that. He didn’t want Ethan Grice to run any more circles around them. He wanted the guy under arrest or bleeding out in the dirt. He wanted Laura Bay rescued alive and unharmed. He wanted Yael happy and his best friend back. One of those things was impossible, but the others…
He would fight to make them happen.
They were watching all the murders in the task force briefing room and there was definitely something more personal about the mutilation and murders of Derek Vincent and Phillipa Laurant.
Yael’s mouth went dry watching the visceral fear in their eyes that said as loud as words that they knew they were about to die.
They both had a pair of nylons tied around their open mouths. The victims could scream and make noise but the words were not discernible to someone who knew how to read lips. The FBI were now paying extra special attention to the victims who were gagged this way but it could have been another method of obfuscating targets who could identify him.
Yael felt sick from watching the violence and cruelty Ethan Grice inflicted on people.
Grice had been incarcerated for two years for hacking into the Defense Intelligence Agency and then trying to sell secrets on the dark web. It was before Cramer, Parker & Gray, Security Consultants had been hired to conduct pen tests on government agencies and identify possible threats in order to figure out how to fix them. It was possible EG held a grudge against people with the same skills he had who were profiting from something that had sent him to prison.
“Dammit.” Alex’s expression was tense.
She’d never seen her boss rattled before and it worried her.
“EG just posted. The next online auction starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. EST.”
“He’s never had that small a gap between abductions and murders before,” Yael protested. She put her hands on her head. That didn’t give them enough time to track him down.
Alex met Yael’s gaze and she had to blink away tears. This wasn’t some unknown victim, which would have been bad enough. This was Laura. Their friend and colleague.
Evi1Geni-us had had twenty hours since shooting up her house to get wherever he was planning to go. It was also possible he hadn’t left the area at all and that he’d follow his usual pattern of killing near the abduction site. The guy had money. He could hire a jet and be out of the country. He could be anywhere in the world by now.
All fifty-six FBI divisions had been put on high alert. Ethan Grice’s image had been circulated to law enforcement and the media and he’d claimed an official spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
They’d found the hotel room where Ethan Grice had stayed but a search had turned up nothing more exciting than the brand of shampoo he preferred. Evidence techs were collecting DNA samples in the hopes of coming up with something tangible.
The task force office was relatively quiet. Most people had headed over to the Academy building to grab something to eat before the canteen closed for the night but Yael couldn’t bear to leave her terminal. She couldn’t stop searching for some clue as to where this guy or Laura might be.
Shane offered her a slice of pizza but her stomach lurched and she shook her head and turned away from him. She knew he was confused by her emotional withdrawal but no matter how often Alex tried to take the blame, this was her fault. She’d spoken to this man. He’d looked her in the eye and smiled.
She had a crick in her neck and her lower back ached from hours in the chair, but she couldn’t leave. She needed to catch him. Needed to put him behind bars. Had to help find Laura before it was too late.
Alex was on the dark web signed in to one of his bad guy personas.
He was typing fast.
“Alex?” Ashley’s voice rose in warning. “What are you doing?” The woman looked pale and tired.
Her boss’s mouth was grim.
“Oh shit.” Ashley closed her eyes and let out a big sigh.
Yael’s mouth parched when she saw what he’d posted into a forum that regularly talked about these and other crimes.
Alex had accused EG of setting up a fake show. That there was no way EG could have escaped the cops last time if it really was live and that the voting system was rigged. EG was stealing his money and he wanted a refund.
Alex looked up and held Ashley’s gaze. “Do you really think he will be any crueler to her simply because I call him out?”
The agent shook her head reluctantly. “Might have been useful to run it past the profilers first.”
“I did.”
Ashley grunted.
“Frazer agreed we have nothing to lose at this stage and, if we get lucky, EG might get angry or be arrogant enough that he makes a mistake.”
“But it’s not you he’ll be angry with,” Yael protested. “It’s Laura.”
“Look.” Ashley put the screen onto a monitor they could all see. “He’s online.”
Yael started tracking where the information was coming from but the guy was using a much more sophisticated VPN this time. One that would take time to hack. But she was good too. She needed to prove it.
* * *
Evi1Geni-us: “Crippen” works for the FBI. His real name is Alex Parker and he has a cybersecurity firm if anyone wants to take a crack at his business. If you’re wondering how I know that, it’s because one of his employees will be my next special guest. And, yes, last time I recorded the fun so I could leave a surprise for the cops—which you all got to watch as a free bonus, so stop complaining motherfuckers. This time I’ll prove it’s live so come with your own ideas for making her scream. She’s a pretty one. I’ll take my time with her. The FBI won’t find me. She’ll die and they’ll watch. You pay and I’ll play.
* * *
The responses varied from people immediately logging off, to support for EG, to users demanding a refund. But EG didn’t stick around to listen to complaints and Yael hadn’t begun to isolate his signal which was bouncing around like a ping-pong ball off three different proxy servers.
Then he was gone.
Alex bowed his head.
“You need to warn the others,” Yael said woodenly. “Every hacker on the dark web will be trying to damage us or our clients tonight.”
Alex sent off a text to whoever was on duty in DC to be on the watch for cyber-attacks. The most obvious one would be a denial-of-service attack. If the company took the website down for a few hours it would take the wind out of their sails and beat them to the punch. It wasn’t as if that’s how they pulled in most of their business anyway. It was just the public facing front.
“Laura knew all the IDs I used that received invites to the auctions. She had to in order to track the crypto. How do we get into the next auction?” Alex was pissed. They were effectively blind when they most needed to see.
“I can get us in,” Ashley said quietly. “I have a dark web persona who’s been invited before and LAPD have a cybercrime unit that’s been posing undercover. I know the detective there. I’ll reach out as a backup.”
Alex nodded. He looked defeated though, which he never did and Yael felt the same way.
“You need to take a break,” Shane said quietly in her ear.
“Don’t tell me what I need to do,” she said sharply.
“You need to eat.”
“I ate earlier.”
“That was hours ago.” Shane dragged her chair out from her desk with her still sitting in it. “Come on.”
Alex shot them a glance. “Might be a good idea to take a quick breather. It’s going to be another long night.”
“Fine.” Yael closed her laptop and stomped out of the room into the dark frigid evening.
28
Outside the building Yael glared at Shane as he waited until he was close enough to open the door of his truck before popping the lock. She climbed inside, hoarding the anger and fury and pain that burned through her being.
“I don’t appreciate being told what to do,” she snapped.
“You think I hadn’t figured that out yet?” Shane’s expression tightened as he slammed the door shut.
Even though she was pushing him away the thought of him going anywhere hurt. How messed up was that? She was falling for him, she realized with a jolt. After all the years of never falling for anyone, of only dating people she didn’t like, she was falling for this man who was everything a younger, more innocent version of herself had ever dreamed of.
They were driving now through the gloom.
“This was a mistake,” she bit out.
He shot her a look.
“What was?” His voice was hard and angry.
“You and me getting involved.”
Now she’d made him furious. She could tell from the way the muscle in his jaw ticked. He veered off the road along a short dirt track, pulling to a stop at the side of a lake.
He got out of the truck and stood outlined in the headlights, staring at the water.
She undid her seatbelt to go to him but hesitated. Looking at him made her mouth water with want. The broad shoulders and narrow waist. Strong legs planted in a wide stance. Had he done it deliberately? Stood there showing her everything she was going to lose?
She knew she couldn’t keep him. Had known it from the moment they’d started this unlikely entanglement. He wouldn’t stay.
After a full minute he turned and looked over the hood at her even though she must be hidden in darkness.
She tensed, her heart rate picking up like some hunted animal.
She killed the lights, not wanting to see what she was going to miss with every beat of her heart.
He came around to the passenger side of the truck and opened her door, pulling her until she stumbled onto him. Shane cupped the back of her head and lowered his lips to hers as he pressed her up against the rear door of the cab.
Immediately her pulse went into overdrive and she kissed him back.
His mouth was hungry and insistent and she wrapped her arms around his neck and strained to get closer. They were alone out here, the night so pitch black he was nothing but a shadow. No one was around. No one could see what they were doing. Thank goodness because she didn’t want to stop.
He smelled like crushed pine needles and a hint of warm spice. His skin was hot and smooth, the muscles beneath bunching.
Lust ripped through her bloodstream like a rocket launch before blastoff.
She kissed him as if she was starved—starved of attention, starved of affection, starved of love. The possessive curl of his fingers against her face and angle of his mouth fed that hunger. Made her want to sink into him and never let go.
Why did he make her feel like this? Every time he touched her, she ignited and no matter how much she knew it was a mistake to let him get closer, she didn’t want it to stop. Even though she knew he would break her heart in the end.
He tugged her t-shirt over her head. The metal of the door was shockingly cold against her back. She didn’t care. All she cared about was the fact this man was devouring her and she was devouring him right back and right now it beat everything else going on in her life.
His hand closed over her breast and he lowered his mouth and kissed his way down her body, sucking her nipple until her hands clenched in his hair. His fingers were busy with the snap of her jeans and then he was peeling them down her legs along with her panties, careful of her bandaged feet.
“Hurry,” she urged him as she kicked them off.
But he surprised her by dropping to his knees and draping her one leg over his shoulder and forcing her thighs wider with his shoulders before leaning forward to taste her hot center.
Her hands sank into his shoulders and she let her head drop back against the hardness of the cab while his mouth softly kissed along her folds until settling with determined pressure against her clit. His good arm reached up and tweaked her nipple and she felt the clench of reaction arrow from her breast to her core as a shudder worked through her. She shattered in a rush of sensation.
He climbed to his feet, pulled a condom from his back pocket and handed it to her. Her hands shook as she ripped it open. He undid his belt, shoving his jeans off as she slid the condom over his rigid flesh.
“Hang on to my neck,” he growled.
She did as he told her. “What about your arm?”
“My arm is fine.” He hoisted her legs around his hips and she clung to him as he positioned himself against her. Then he pushed inside and they were both shaking as he started driving in and out of her. He cushioned her head as best he could but she didn’t care. She wanted that unrestrained passion, that mindless lust that seemed to consume him as much as it consumed her.
He shifted her and she felt small and delicate even though she was anything but. She was writhing and thrusting against him and her hands absorbed the strength of him as he pistoned in and out, stimulating her clit over and over until she teetered on the brink of another climax.
“Let go, dammit.” His voice was rough but the kisses he placed on her lips and throat were so gentle they fluttered over her skin like butterflies then turned into dragons as the avalanche of sensation crashed over her again and her nails dug into his back as she cried out. She felt him stiffen as he ground against her, pulsing between her legs before they both held themselves completely still as they gradually floated back down to earth.
He withdrew carefully and placed her feet gently on the ground, dealing with the condom while her world slowly stopped spinning.
He stared down at her for a long, silent moment, his expression only faintly visible in the moon and starlight. “You going to tell me that was another mistake?”
Her brain screamed that, yes, this was a mistake but her pounding heart would do it over and over a million times with this man. And that was the problem.
I seem to date women who want more from me than I am willing to give.
His words echoed through her mind. She grabbed her t-shirt off the ground and pulled it on, snatching her jeans off the dew-laden grass. She snorted out a laugh, knowing the sex solved nothing. It couldn’t fix the thing that was most broken about her. And would only hold him until the next thing came along to challenge his adrenaline-junkie heart. Or until he found out the truth.
When she was dressed again, she said quietly, “Are you really going to tell me it wasn’t?”
He took his time righting his clothes. She went to climb back in the truck when he grabbed her wrist and turned her gently around to face him.
“You know, Yael, one day you’re going to have to stop running.”
She froze, then jerked away. “This from a man who doesn’t like commitment?”
He stood back even though she could tell he wanted to touch her. “I want you to trust me, to confide in me.”
“And I want you to trust me enough not to have to.” Her heart squeezed painfully and she lowered her head.
“I do trust you.” He frowned. “I know at first I was a little suspicious—”
“What do you mean?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
He hesitated, dragging his hand through his thick hair in a way that made her want to melt. “Just, you know, I wanted to make sure you weren’t somehow in league with, erm, you know.”
Shock lanced through her. “What?”
“It was a possibility I couldn’t ignore.”
She stiffened. “Wait. You suspected I might be working with that monster?” The knowledge lashed at her, reminiscent of the pain of the worst days of her life. “You actually thought I might be involved in the torture and murder of all those people?”
He shook his head as if to deny his own words. “I was fucked up after Scotty died, and then losing Montana…”
“When did you figure out for sure that I wasn’t part of EG’s evil scheme?”
He didn’t say anything.
“When?” Her voice carried across the lake.
She heard him swallow.
“I checked your phone when you were in the shower that day after we found Zenko.”
She was stunned. She hadn’t suspected anything and yet, after all these years of being disappointed by people, it shouldn’t hurt quite so much. The moonlight skimmed his profile. The man was absolute perfection and he’d made her want him more than she’d ever imagined wanting anyone. And it was all a lie. “Was that the reason you insisted on staying close to me?”
“At first,” he admitted. “A small part of it, anyway. The other was to make sure you were safe, and also because I don’t have any computing skills and you obviously do.” He raised his face to look at the sky.
