Killer Moves (25 page)

Davis didn’t dare call out to Ryan, even though the building appeared unoccupied. It was quiet. Unbearably so.

Slowly he made his way up the stairs with weapon drawn. A grayish dust covered every inch of the place, clogging his throat and lungs. It looked like twilight here even though it was still light out.

A step creaked beneath his foot and he froze, waited, and then held his breath as he started up the stairs once more.

Close to the second-floor landing, he stopped for a moment. His hands were shaking. The reality of this moment finally settled in. The Angel killer had used Ryan to lure him there.

For the first time in his career, Davis felt real fear. He wasn’t ready for this. He’d been slipping for days. His public suspension had been the final straw that pushed him over the edge.

Davis’s heart rate increased with each step. He tried to focus on Kara. He needed to stay focused on her because she would be next. He’d have to do something to stop the Angel—whatever it took. Even if it meant his life.

The door to the second-floor apartment stood open slightly. He stopped just outside the door and listened. Nothing. No sound came from inside.

Davis drew a deep breath then pushed the door open completely. It took a full minute for his eyes to adjust to the light. It was even darker in there. Someone had placed black plastic garbage bags over all the windows. As his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he saw something that took his breath away.

The crime scene of the last original Angel killing. He remembered it well even though it had been destroyed in the fire the killer started to flee the scene. Six years ago today. The killer had recreated the scene once more, right down to the mattress and scarf. All that was lacking was the final victim. Kara.

“Davis, there you are.”

Hearing Ryan’s voice, Davis let go of the breath he’d been unconsciously holding. He tucked his weapon behind his back once more then turned to Ryan.

It took a few seconds to make out Ryan’s expression. But when he did, his blood ran cold. He barely recognized him. This wasn’t the man he knew so well. The twisted grin on Ryan’s face made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Instinctively, Davis backed away from the sheer depravity he saw there but Ryan moved closer.

“What took you so long?” Ryan asked, seemingly unaware of Davis’s reaction.

Ryan was his friend. He couldn’t be capable of such evil. But when Ryan chuckled gleefully, spotting Davis’s fear, he knew he’d been wrong all along. This man standing before him now was capable of so much more.

Davis’s left hand went inside his pocket. Did he have time to reach the weapon again? His fingers clasped the cell phone and hit the redial button. He tried to remember the last person he’d called.
Dear God, let it be Ed.

“You figured it out, didn’t you?” Ryan sounded impressed. “Good for you, buddy! I was beginning to think I’d have to spell it out for you but now I see you’re with the program. Good. She had your thoughts muddled for a while, didn’t she? Glad to have you back, Davis.”

“Ryan, why? Why would you do this?”

“Oh, now dammit, Davis, you don’t need to know those things. All you need to know is that this is where it ends. At least for you, buddy. And her. I’ll take care of her too like I took care of Rachel and Jessica. You didn’t deserve any of them. Rachel always was too good for you, but she never stopped loving you, even after the divorce. And Jessica, well, she never stopped hoping right up to the end.”

“Oh my God…” Davis fumbled with the redial button again.

Please God. Let someone answer.

“Why did you kill them, Ryan? They were your friends as well.” He still couldn’t believe it. His thoughts reeled.

“You want to know, don’t you? Well too bad, buddy. I’m not going to tell you. You’re going to your grave not knowing the reason behind any of this.” Ryan laughed hysterically then drew his weapon, aiming at Davis’s chest.

“You were so close to finding out the truth. But you shouldn’t have gotten Rocky involved in this. I couldn’t have Rocky blabbing the truth about me guest instructing at the academy during Frankie’s brief stay.” Davis flinched at the implication. Rocky would be dead. And he’d led Ryan right to him.

“I really wanted to follow through with the whole Angel angle thing in killing you, Davis, even though your initials don’t really match, but unfortunately I can’t. You see, I have to call this in. I figure I’ll tell them you were trying to kill me because I discovered the truth about you at last. Even though I didn’t want to believe it. I’ll tell them I figured out what you had planned for our girl Kara.” Ryan smiled then aimed the weapon at Davis’s head. “Nice try on the vest. It won’t work though. In just a few minutes, you’re going to know what it feels like to die, Davis. Say hello to all the people you’ve hurt along the way when you get there.”

Ryan sighted the weapon between his eyes. In an instant, Davis became aware of things happening quickly around him, even while his reactions felt as if they’d slipped into slow motion.

The phone inside his pocket vibrated, his finger touched the connect button once more, and then he reached for his Glock and lunged for Ryan’s arm that held the weapon.

Their struggle seemed surreal until the sound of a shot fired into the silent room, resembling lightning striking. The burning pain searing through his head held the power of a thousand headaches combined. The last thing Davis remembered was the sound of Ed calling his name, followed by laughter.

The maniacal sound of the Death Angel.

“No.” Kara felt as if something had literally propelled her up from the chair. The cards she held in her hands slipped to the floor. She became aware of two sets of eyes watching her in shock. The sound of her watch ticked off the seconds it took for them to react.

“Kara? What is it?” Geneva stood close to her.

“It’s Davis!” She could feel him leaving her with every tick of the watch. “He’s been shot.”

The world around her exploded into action. Geneva and Judy exchanged a disturbing look before Geneva reached for the phone. Judy drew her weapon, ineptly looking for something solid to fight.

And the watch ticked off more seconds.

“Are you sure?” Geneva shouted, trying to force Kara to focus on what she’d said.

“He’s dying!” She started for the door but Judy stopped her.

“Hold on. Where is he, Kara?”

“I don’t know. It’s dark there. Abandoned. Dusty. Do something!” she screamed at her, but Judy could only shake her head. Kara turned to Geneva.

She was speaking to someone. Ed. Kara listened to their quiet conversation, peppered with quick glances her way. Geneva knew something but wasn’t prepared to tell Kara.

“What did he say?” Kara demanded when the silence lengthened and the ticks continued.

“He doesn’t know anything yet, Kara. He’s talking to another agent right now. Just calm down.”

“I can’t. I can’t wait here and do nothing. He’s dying.”

“Stop it, Kara. You don’t know that.”

“I do,” she told Geneva. “I do know that. I need to be with him.”

Tick, tick, tick…

“Please!” Two sets of sympathetic glances followed her as she paced the tiny room.

Kara turned away from their pity and tried to reach Davis again. His thoughts were becoming jumbled—distant. He was losing consciousness.

Almost gone.

“Hold on, Davis. Someone’s coming. Please hold on.”

She tried to tell Geneva to call Ryan but no words would come. An uncontrollable darkness seemed to descend upon her with each new tick. Kara felt herself sinking into it. Letting go. Then everything went black and she could no longer feel Davis, or herself, or the world around her anymore.

“Ryan? What in God’s name happened here?” Ed demanded the moment he reached the crime scene.

Ryan had wanted to wait, make sure he was dead, but someone, no doubt that bitch he’d been screwing, reached Ed and called in backup. The EMS team arrived seconds before Ed. They were taking Davis away. But he knew it would all be for protocol.

Davis Martin was dead.

“He went crazy, Ed! He asked me to meet him here. He said he’d figured it all out. When I got here I found this.” Ryan pointed in the direction of the recreated crime scene. “I didn’t recognize him. He came at me—drew his weapon. He confessed everything. Davis confessed to all the Angel murders.”

“Dear God,” Ed managed as he surveyed the scene.

Somehow, Ryan kept his excitement from showing. Ed was such an idiot. The pompous jerk didn’t have a clue how to run a division. He needed him to save his ass. Well, he’d done that. Ed’s time was coming though. Once things settled down, he’d be gone as well.

Maybe suicide. A fitting end.

“Ryan, I can’t believe it’s true. When you first told me, well, I thought you’d lost your mind. Dear God, this is going to be a nightmare when it hits the press.”

“I can handle the press, Ed. I know how hard this is for you.” He put on his best understanding face and forced back the contempt he felt for the idiot.

“Sorry, Ryan, but you know the routine. I’ll need your weapon and you need to leave the scene. We can’t afford any more mistakes here, right?”

Although he knew this would be coming, he still needed time to search Davis’s car. Davis said something earlier to cause him concern. Something about finding a key piece of the puzzle. What exactly had he uncovered? Not that it mattered. He could fix any of Davis’s screw-ups. No one would believe anything he’d found out anymore.

“I know. Ed, someone needs to tell Kara. I think it should be me.”

Ed looked away, pretending to examine the crime scene. “No, I’ll handle it. It’s my job after all.”

Had he been wrong about Ed? Had the fool actually begun to fit the pieces together?

“Besides,” Ed continued, “she knows something’s up. She had a premonition or something. One of the officers watching her called me already. I can’t keep this from her long. I’ll handle it.”

“Ed, don’t be foolish, you’re needed here and with all due respect, it might be better if I were the one to tell Kara. Unless, you want me to stick around here for a bit? I mean, I know procedure and all, but I could check out Davis’s car. See if he left any clues there. Answer any questions the team might have.”

Ed stared at him for a long moment. He was wavering, second-guessing himself. Idiot. “You know I can’t let you do that. You’re right, you go to Kara and tell her Davis has been hurt but don’t give her any more details than that. Stay with her. I’ll call you once we get the official word from the hospital about his death. Dammit, I hate this shit! Davis Martin was like a son to me.”

Ryan placed a comforting hand on Ed’s shoulder. “I know. He had us all fooled, didn’t he?”

“He sure as hell did. I thought Davis Martin was as good as they came.”

“Me too, Ed. Me too.” Ryan turned away and smiled with satisfaction at a job well done. He was so far above this thing. But the time had come to take his next victim. Of course, none of them would be aware of that now. They thought it had ended here with Davis.

Kara.

“I’m coming for you now, Kara. I’ve waited six years to finish this game and now no one is standing in my way. I can’t wait a minute longer.”

Someone tried waking her but she couldn’t go back there just yet. She felt comforted here.

Vaguely she heard his voice.

“I’m coming for you now, Kara.”

But there was no more fear. This place was bright and pleasant. She could see Davis smiling, their daughter laughing. They were together as a family at last. She was happy. No more death. No more Angel. Only happiness. It made him angry. He wanted her fear. She laughed at his anger.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.”

“Davis!”

Slowly, Kara opened her eyes and smiled. The worried faces of Geneva and Judy watched her. And then she remembered.

Davis!

The hotel was one of the more expensive ones. Surprisingly, the Bureau had gone to great expense. But then, this wasn’t any normal case and she wasn’t the usual witness.

She didn’t know Davis was dead just yet. He could feel her trying to reach out to him. Identify him. Let her try. He couldn’t wait to surprise her with the truth.

Ryan didn’t bother with secrecy. After all, the two officers would never suspect a thing. They had the Angel already.

He knocked on the door of her suite and waited for a long time before anyone answered. A tall, thin woman opened the door slightly.

“Are you Agent Anderson?”

“Yes.” He’d perfected the smile. Just the right amount of caring and humility. She opened the door without a second thought, letting him inside.

“She’s in the bedroom. She’s very upset. Has something happened?” the officer who identified herself as Judy Blake asked.

“Yes, we’ve caught the Death Angel at last.”