The Botanist (22 page)

“Will anyone be in the van with her?”

Court turned, looking surprised. “Of course. Four SWAT team guys.”

Cody was mollified. A bit. He supposed they were taking every precaution, but he still didn’t like it. He searched until he found Alex again. She was still sitting in the same place, but she was alone. The others had vacated the table.

Cody decided that he had to at least try to talk her out of it.

He walked toward her. She glanced up as he got closer, then got to her feet, an expression of genuine concern on her face.

“Hey, Cody. How are you doing?”

He frowned. It took him several seconds to realize she was referring to the loss of Tom. Despite coming over to her with resolve, her sympathy disoriented him.

“Uh . . . fine. I’m . . . yeah, I’m fine. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

She nodded.

Cody looked around. Honestly, all the activity in the lobby ensured their conversation would be private, but he still preferred to find a quiet place where he could focus.

Court had headed toward the front of the lobby, and Frank was zigzagging continually around the room, his arms full of files, so it was a good bet that their office at the back of the building was empty.

“Come with me.” He took her hand and led her to the room with the four desks clustered together. Cody did his best to ignore Tom’s desk, which was, of course, still full of his stuff: a Styrofoam cup of cold coffee, pictures of Margaret and the kids, a palm tree paperweight from their family trip to Fiji five years ago. Cody pretended not to be affected by any of it.

The door that separated the detectives’ office from the rest of the building was propped open. Actually, it hadn’t been closed in years. Now, with random people Cody had never seen before parading constantly past the door, Cody closed it for privacy.

Then he turned to Alex. He motioned to the nearest chair, which happened to be Court’s. “Want to sit?”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but I’ve been sitting out there for hours now. It feels good to stand. What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

He motioned to indicate the four walls around them and all the activity on the other side of them as well.

Alex sighed. She leaned back to perch on the edge of Court’s desk. “Why do you think?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know that. I want to.”

“But why?”

“Because Tom was trying to protect me.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Alex.”

“Ugh! Why does everyone keep saying that? I know it wasn’t my fault, but anyone trying to protect me might be killed, and that’s not okay with me!”

Cody was taken aback by her sudden frustration, and she moderated her tone when she saw his face.

“Look, I know I can’t have anything to say to you about Tom. I only knew him a few days; he was your partner and best friend. I could tell. But even so, I liked him. He was obviously a decent guy, and he had a family. I want this to be over, Cody. I want to get this guy as much as you do. I really think he’ll come for me if I’m dangled in front of him, no matter the consequence. We can get him this way.”

“And what if it doesn’t go as everyone plans? What if this turns dangerous for you?”

“I’ll be virtually surrounded by cops.”

Cody huffed and turned away, pacing across the room. That wasn’t good enough. He didn’t know why; it just wasn’t.

“What? Cody, they’re
your
colleagues. Don’t you trust them?”

“Of course I trust them. That’s not the point. This man is dangerous, fatally so. I trusted Tom. I would have put my life and yours in his hands without a second thought, and this guy just—”

It was then that his voice broke. He hadn’t expected the emotion to overtake him so completely, but it did, and when it did, he couldn’t recover. He was on the other side of the room from Alex, but facing her. It didn’t occur to him to turn away. He dropped his head, face toward the floor, trying to hide from her until he could regain his composure.

He was vaguely aware of Alex closing the distance between them. She walked up and put a hand on his chest, bending her knees slightly so that she could gaze up into his face, but Cody wasn’t ready, yet. He closed his eyes, refusing to look down at her, until he was sure he could keep his expression tranquil. Then he opened his eyes.

Her face was inches below his, and the concern was back, but it was more than concern. There was something so empathetic, so genuine about the worry in her eyes that he felt like she understood him, and his loss, as no one else could.

Then she did something he didn’t expect. She raised up on her tip toes and kissed him. He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t respond either, taken by surprise. But then he did kiss her back, moving his lips over hers, and as the kiss became deeper, something ignited in him that, despite how impressed he’d been with her over the last few days, was completely unexpected.

He kissed her more deeply still, wrapping his arms around her waist, and her arms threaded up to twine around his neck. He pushed her backward, until the office wall stopped them. Then his lips left hers, wandering down one side of her neck and into the crevice of her shoulder.

She gasped and used her grip on his shoulders to hoist herself up, hooking her knees around his waist. His lips found hers again and his hands roamed down over her sides and legs.

The sound of the doorknob turning and the heavy door being pushed open were only vague impressions, but Frank’s voice pulled Cody instantly out of the moment.

“Hey Alex, the captain wants you to—”

Cody pulled back and Alex let go of him, bracing herself against the wall. Cody immediately took two giant steps back from her, but the action came far too late for Frank not to see it.

At first, Frank’s face was a comical mask of shock, and he averted his eyes. Then his expression darkened. The tension in the room was palpable.

After several awkward seconds, Frank spoke again. His voice was ominously controlled, masking a quiet fury below the surface. Cody wondered if Alex knew Frank well enough yet to see his anger for what it really was.

“Alex, the captain wants you to go see Rose. She’ll take you to our electronics guys. They’re going to fit the wire on you and show you how to use it.”

Cody looked over at Alex. She stared at him in an intense way, but her expression was utterly unreadable. Finally, she tore her gaze from him and looked at Frank.

“Okay. Where’s Rose?”

“I’ll take you to her.”

Alex nodded. She shot another strange look at Cody before ducking her head and exiting the room. Frank glared at Cody for five full seconds before following her.

When they were gone, Cody let out his breath, feeling exhausted. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. What just happened?

Chapter 35

An hour later, Frank came back into the room. Cody glanced up, but Frank was ignoring him, so Cody went back to his reports, content to let Frank start the conversation.

It took nearly five minutes.

“You okay, Cody?”

Cody sat back in his chair. “I’m fine.” It was a lie, but he wasn’t going to guilt Frank into not speaking his mind.

“Good.” Frank’s back was to Cody but as he spoke, Frank spun toward him. “‘Cause I just wanted to ask, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Cody heaved a sigh. Here it came, and he completely deserved it.

“What
was
that, Cody?”

“It just happened.”

“It just
hap
pened?
Cody, when I teased you about her a few days ago, it was because I saw you looking at her. I was kidding when I did it; she’s pretty and I figured you thought she was attractive, but never in a million years did I think you would actually
act
on it!”

“I—” Cody cut off. He’d been about to say that he hadn’t, she had, but that was copping out, too. He’d kissed her every bit as much as she’d kissed him. He could have put a stop to it, but instead . . .

“You’re a
detective,
Cody!” Frank’s voice was more irate by the sentence.

“Stating the obvious, Frank—”

“Then start acting like one! Cody, you can’t screw her.”

“I’m not screwing her—”

“She’s part of an active investigation, and we haven’t even cleared her as a suspect yet.”

That brought Cody up short. “You still think she’s lying?”

Frank sighed, the anger draining out of him like a deflating balloon. “No,” he said after a moment, “probably not. I don’t think anyone thinks that anymore. There’s too much going on here, and she seems too . . . sincere. But Cody, we haven’t
officially
cleared her yet, and if anyone in the press gets a hold of the idea that one of us has a relationship with her—”

“But I
don’t
have a relationship with her. I told you, this
just
happened.” Frank’s jaw clenched again, and Cody held his hands up. “And you’re right, Frank. I shouldn’t have let it happen. But with everything that’s going on, and Tom, and . . . and Resputa . . .”

Frank’s attention perked up. “I forgot you spoke with Resputa.”

“I think everyone has.”

“What’d he say? Did he give you any leads?”

“A few, but nothing that will find our guy before tonight. Look, this operation is already underway. We’ll try it, and if he doesn’t show, we can work on what Resputa told me tomorrow. But I
will
insist on staying close to Alex.”

Frank took on a wary look again. “That’s a conflict of interest, Cody. If I told the captain—”

“But you won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” Cody got up and stalked toward his friend. “If it was your wife, or daughter, or sister, or anyone else you cared about being used as bait for a sadistic killer, would you be willing to be sidelined?”

Frank gazed at Cody for a long time, frowning. Then his eyes shifted and he shook his head slowly. “No. I’d insist on being front and center.” But he still looked doubtful. He ran his hands through his hair. “You can’t let your emotions cloud your judgment here, Cody. This guy is too dangerous for that.”

“I hear you, Frank, and if you see me doing any such thing, by all means, pull me back.”

After a moment, Frank nodded. His eyes shifted to Tom’s desk, and a gloom Cody understood all too well came into his face.

“Help! Please, someone, I need help!”

The woman’s cry must have come from the front lobby because it was muffled as it reached their ears. Cody and Frank exchanged glances, then hurried out of the room.

The earlier productivity had come to a halt and people were gathering around someone Cody couldn’t see up near Rose’s desk. He and Frank pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Court and the captain were already there. Alex stood a few rows back, arms crossed over her stomach, looking anxious.

The woman who called out was a plump, twenty-something brunette. Cody recognized her. She was Melissa’s best friend. He was totally blanking on her name, but she, her husband, Melissa, and Cody had double dated a few weeks ago.

“I’m looking for Cody Oliver. Is he here somewhere?” Even as she said it, Cody walked into her line of sight, and she turned fully to him.

He cleared his throat. “Hi, uh . . .”

“Jillian.”

“Jillian, right. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Melissa’s not. Something’s happened to her.”

Cody frowned. “What?”

“The guy you’ve all been looking for—the killer from the desert? He took her.”

A cold stone came to rest at the base of Cody’s stomach.

“Who’s Melissa?” Court asked.

“She’s, um, a woman I’ve been dating. Here.” He took Jillian’s hand and guided her toward a chair. She was trembling. “Sit.” He crouched down in front of her. “Jillian, why do you think he took Melissa?”

The crowd followed them to the seat and was listening for Jillian’s reply with rapt attention.

“I saw him.”

The crowd broke into murmurs, which the captain quickly silenced.

“What happened, Jillian?” Cody asked.

Jillian took a deep breath before starting. “Melissa’s car is in the shop until tomorrow, so I told her if she needed to go anywhere, to call me and I’d take her. Today I had to run to the market for an emergency pack of diapers, and I ran out of the house without my cell phone. When I got back, there was a message from her. She was frantic. I haven’t watched the news in days, but she told me that a detective was killed, and she couldn’t get a hold of you. She said she didn’t know where I was but that she was going to walk down to the safe house—you know, the old Harrison place?—and try and find you since no one could get into the hospital.”

“Whoa,” the captain stopped her. “The safe house?” He turned accusingly to Cody. “You told your girlfriend where the safe house was?”

“No! I didn’t.” Cody looked at Jillian. “How’d she know where the safe house was?”

“She just figured it out. She used to live in that neighborhood. I think a lot of the neighbors have figured it out, but they’re upstanding citizens so they don’t publicize it.”

“But why did she think I was there?” Cody was still incredulous.

“You aren’t answering your cell phone,” Jillian said. “She kept calling the station and was just told you were out. She said on a hunch she called old Mrs. Jones, who lives across the street from the safe house. Jillian was discreet, but Mrs. Jones reported seeing your car there. I think Melissa was at a loss, so she just decided to walk down and see if she could find you.”

“So, she went down to the safe house looking for me . . . and then what?”

“I got back and got her message, so I changed my kid, put her in the car, and went to find Melissa. I figured, even if she was already there, I could at least give her a ride back. I took the route she would have walked from her place, looking for her. By the time I saw her, she was a block up from the safe house. I could see her a hundred yards ahead of me, but I got stuck at a red light.

“Then a police cruiser pulled up next to her. She walked out into the road to talk to whoever it was. I didn’t think anything of it. I figured she was asking the cop who was driving where she could find you, or if he knew who’d been killed. She stepped away from the car, like she was afraid or something.

“The next thing I know, the tallest man I’ve ever seen gets out of the car, grabs her wrist, and wrestles her into the back seat. I’m sure she was screaming, but I couldn’t hear her from so far away. If I hadn’t been there specifically looking for Melissa, I don’t think I’d have noticed the abduction at all. It happened so fast, and there was no one else out on that street.”

“No one?” Cody asked, incredulous. “But it was the middle of the day.”

“I know, but a lot of the people in that area are elderly. Most of them were probably napping in their sun chairs by that time. I’m telling you, I’m the only one who saw it.”

“Did you see which way he went?” Frank asked at Cody’s shoulder.

“He drove away from me. I would’ve had no problem running the red light to help her, but by then there was tons of cross traffic. My two-year-old was in the car. When the light turned green, I sped after him, but he’d already turned several times, and I drove around for a while looking for him, but I couldn’t tell where he went. So I dropped my daughter off with my husband and came here.”

Cody ran his hand through his hair. This situation was getting worse and worse. He hadn’t seen Melissa—or even thought about her—since she’d come to see him two nights before. His head was way too tightly wound around this case. Now, because he hadn’t thought to call her, she’d been dragged into it. Literally.

“What does this mean?” Jillian asked. “Cody, is he going to kill her?”

Cody came out of his thoughts to look into Jillian’s frightened eyes. He shook his head slowly, but firmly. “Not if I can help it.”

“But . . . but you couldn’t help the other victims, either. Melissa said there were twelve bodies in the desert.”

Cody took Jillian’s hands. Her chin trembled and tears squeezed themselves from the corners of her almond-shaped eyes. “We didn’t know about them,” he said. “We found their bodies a long time after they were killed. We know about Melissa, and have an idea of where to look for her. We also have a plan to try and draw him out. At the very least, it will be some time before he tries to . . . do anything to her. We’ll find her before then, okay?”

“You have a plan? What is it?”

That was something they couldn’t discuss with Jillian. Cody looked at the captain for help.

“Jillian, why don’t you go with this detective,” the captain said gently. “We need to take an official statement and see if we can download a picture of Melissa to distribute. Then we’ll get you set up with a sketch artist.”

Jillian nodded and allowed herself to be led out of the lobby by Court. “All right, everyone.” The captain addressed the entire room. “Back to work.”

Cody got slowly to his feet. The captain and Frank clustered around him.

“Cody, look at me,” the captain said, his voice more serious than Cody had ever heard it. “Could this have something to do with you?”

Cody understood why the captain was asking him that. He was the lead detective on the case, and a woman he’d been dating had been targeted. The captain needed to know whether his own family, as well as Frank’s and Court’s, needed to be put under police protection. But it was simpler than that, so Cody shook his head.

“This isn’t about me; it’s about Alex.”

The captain frowned. “I don’t understand. Did she know Melissa?”

“No. But she
looks
like Melissa.”

Both Frank’s and the Captain’s eyebrows jumped. “They look alike?”

“You wouldn’t mistake one for the other if they were side by side or anything, but general features, height, weight, coloring . . . yeah, they look alike.”

Frank was giving Cody a knowing look, but Cody ignored him. The last thing he needed was some psychoanalytic discussion about the fact that the woman he was dating and the woman he was falling for looked alike.

“So,” the captain said quietly, for Cody and Frank’s ears only, “they look alike in the way that serial killers often choose similar victims who look alike.”

Cody nodded.

The Captain sighed. “So Alex got away from him, but he stumbles upon a woman who looks a lot like her, who’s in the vicinity of the safe house—”

“And who was probably asking him about the case,” Frank put in.

“So he snatches her instead. It makes sense.”

Maybe it made sense, but the situation was so revolting, Cody turned his back to the captain. He needed to think about something else—anything else—just for a few minutes. He found Alex standing six feet away, observing their little powwow. Her arms were folded tight against her stomach, and her face had a green hue to it.

Cody crossed to her.

Alex’s gaze wandered around the room of now-busy people. Even when he stood right in front of her, she continued to run her eyes around the perimeter of the lobby before finally coming to rest on his face. She looked frightened. And vulnerable.

Cody turned her around, put his hands on her shoulders, and guided her firmly through the lobby. He aimed for his office, but upon seeing Frank’s gaze go from curious to suspicious, he made a sharp turn and steered her into the captain’s office. It was closer, empty, and had a couch.

Cody sat Alex down and crossed the room to where a water cooler sat in the corner. He filled a small Dixie cup and brought it to her. Alex accepted it, but didn’t drink.

Squatting down so he was looking up at her, he put a hand on her knee. “This isn’t your fault, Alex. We don’t even know if this is the same guy.”

Her voice was wooden. “He took Melissa because I got away from him.”

“We don’t know that.”

She met his gaze very directly, then. “Don’t we?”

He didn’t answer her. They both believed the same thing in this matter, and he wouldn’t lie to her about it.

“And she’s your . . . she’s your . . .”

Cody shook his head. “She and I have dated off and on over the last few weeks, but we don’t know each other that well. It’s not a very serious relationship.”

“Yes but you know her. You’ve spent time with her. That’s got to mess with your head.”

Cody frowned. “It does, but that’s not your fault either. I don’t want you blaming yourself for this.”

“You keep losing people, Cody. First Tom, now her.”

“Alex.” He took her hands and sat beside her on the couch. “First of all, no one’s lost her yet. I don’t intend to let this bastard kill her. And second, the reason so many people I know are caught up in this is because this is a small town. If I’m caught up in it, others I know will be, too. I can’t afford to let my personal feelings cloud my judgment. If I do, I’ll miss something.”

“If Melissa dies, I’ll know for the rest of my life that it was because
I
didn’t.”

“Don’t apologize for fighting for your right to not be victimized by a psychopath—and for winning. We’ll figure this out.”