Vanished (14 page)

“You could go home,” Kyle suggested softly. “Consult from the BAU office.”

She glared at him. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest that.” She tried to get around him again, and when he stayed in front of her, she snapped, “I need to get to the station. You of all people should know what this case means to me!”

Moisture stung her eyes. Blaming it on her emotional talk with her grandma and barely any sleep in the past twenty-four hours, she ducked her head and walked past him.

“Evelyn,” he called after her. “Be careful!”

“I’ll try,” she muttered as she pushed through the hotel door and out into the South Carolina sun.

The sunlight reflecting off the asphalt hurt her eyes, and she felt instantly overheated in the dress pants and short-sleeved button-up she had on. Putting on a pair of sunglasses, she tried to ignore the pounding in her head that told her she needed more sleep.

Her car had been towed last night for forensics, and the rental place had dropped off a new one, same make and model. Glass remnants crunched underfoot as she unlocked the door and she hoped none were big enough to puncture her new car’s tires. But she backed out of the spot without incident.

As she drove, she passed searchers out in force. Noreen waved as Evelyn drove by, giving her hope that Jack hadn’t blabbed all over the station. When she’d made it halfway to the police station and the tires held, she thought her luck was changing. But then her phone rang and a glance at the caller display showed that it was her boss.

Cold shimmied across her skin, raising goose bumps. Jack must have followed through on his threat.

She considered ignoring the call, but that would only postpone Dan’s wrath, so she picked up.

“Evelyn?” Dan barked before she’d even said hello. He managed to make her name sound like a contagious disease.

“Dan, I know why you’re calling—”

“I would guess you do,” Dan interrupted, his tone quietly furious. “You promised me you could handle this, but obviously we were both wrong. This is way beyond a conflict of interest. You’ve put yourself and the Bureau in a very bad position. And you’ve endangered the integrity of the case.”

“He’s not pressing charges,” Evelyn said quickly. “I messed up. I know I did. But—”

“
But?
But nothing. I wouldn’t care if you had a whole wall of silence around you—which you sure as hell don’t, by the way. Your personal connection to this case has turned into a liability for everyone.” When she started to interrupt, he added, “Including Cassie.”

His words halted her argument. Forget the fact that somehow in the past few days Dan had managed to get up to speed on the case, when originally he hadn’t even known about her personal connection. Forget that Jack had had it in for her since she’d arrived back in Rose Bay. They were both right.

Shame sprang to life. Obviously she hadn’t expected to get caught, but besides the legal problems she’d created, she’d also tipped off Darnell. He’d known he was a suspect, but this must have driven it home fast—the fact that he was at the top of the list. It was probably too late for Cassie. But what if Brittany and Lauren were still alive?

Knowing she was closing in on him might have made him try to kill her in the hotel parking lot. It might also have made him kill his victims.

Guilt and self-disgust exploded inside her and she gagged. The street ahead dimmed and Dan’s voice faded into the background until all she could hear was her own heartbeat, pounding in her ears. Yanking the steering wheel to the right, she pulled off onto the side of the road and tried to get her suddenly rapid breathing under control.

Slowly, Dan’s voice penetrated. “Evelyn? Did you hear me? I said get back to Virginia. Now. You’re off this case.”

Thirteen

“W
hat are you doing here?” Jack bellowed as soon as Evelyn walked through the station door.

Evelyn kept her head up and her jaw clamped and walked right past him, toward the CARD command post.

But he followed, practically stepping on her heels as he demanded, “I thought you were being sent back to Virginia?”

A pair of rookie officers stared curiously as they passed. Evelyn wasn’t sure if it was Jack’s fury or her swollen cheek drawing their attention.

She ducked her head and continued to ignore Jack as she walked into the room at the back of the station.

Carly looked up at them as Jack went on. “You’re just a damn consultant! How come your office hasn’t ordered you back home yet?”

She didn’t tell him they already had. Staying when Dan had called her back to BAU meant she probably wouldn’t have a job when she got home.

She couldn’t dwell on that now, couldn’t think about the empty days ahead of her without BAU. She’d been solely focused on the job for so long. In some ways, it had started before she’d declared her double major in college, planning for a future with the FBI. In some ways, it had started the day Cassie had gone missing.

She would fight for her job when she went home, but it wouldn’t change anything. She’d disobeyed a direct order from her supervisor. There would be an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility and then she’d be kicked out of the Bureau, asked to hand over her gun and her badge. The very things that had defined her for most of her adulthood.

But Cassie had led her to the FBI. And Cassie still held too big a piece of her heart. Right or wrong, Evelyn had to see this through to the end. Unless Tomas threw her in jail, she wasn’t going anywhere.

Jack gaped at her as she stood there silent. “You have nothing to say?
Nothing?
”

Evelyn finally found her voice. “I can’t defend what I did. I screwed up. I know it. You know it.”

Carly lowered her head, looking uncomfortable as Evelyn said, “My entire life—since I was twelve years old—has been leading to this point. To finding out what happened to my best friend.”

She locked her gaze on Jack’s. “This job is all I have. I know this kind of predator. Far better than anyone should. And I can find this guy. The fact that he shot at me proves I’m on the right track and he has something to lose. I can help you get him. And regardless of whether you want me here, I’m not leaving until I find Cassie. And Veronica. And Penelope. And Brittany and Lauren most of all, because there’s still a chance we can bring them home alive.”

As she fell silent, Jack was still scowling, but Carly stood up. “So, what you’re saying is I need to get my agents zeroed in on Darnell Conway and Walter Wiggins exclusively. Am I right?”

Glad not everyone wanted to fry her for her mistake with Darnell, Evelyn turned to her. “Exclusively? No. Because there’s always some small chance I got close to someone else’s secret without realizing it. But putting
most
of your resources there? Yes. Definitely.”

Jack looked back and forth between them, then dropped his arms to his sides. “I can’t believe no one else thinks this is a big deal,” he muttered, but then he added, “I want in on Wiggins. I’ve been saying it from the beginning. That guy is guilty.”

Carly nodded. “He’s at the top of my list, too. I’m going to call my agents back here and we’ll get a new game plan together. Evelyn—”

“Evelyn.” Tomas’s voice, although quieter than Carly’s, cut over her with its authority and fury. “Come to my office, would you?”

Jack’s and Carly’s curious gazes followed her out. When she was in Tomas’s office, he shut the door behind them and nervousness bubbled up.

He didn’t bother to sit at his desk, just told her, “I spoke to Dan Moore.”

Oh, damn. That was a lot sooner than Evelyn had expected.

“He told me he’s sending a different profiler out here to consult on the case.”

Evelyn lifted her chin. “I’m staying on, even if it’s unofficial.”

Tomas’s lips quivered. “Yeah, your boss told me you’d say that.”

He had? Evelyn resisted the impulse to dart a glance behind her. What had Dan told Tomas to do about it?

“Apparently the new guy will be lead and you’ll assist.”

She would? Relief made her sway. Her job was definitely still in question, but she’d worry about that later; right now, all she could focus on was the fact that she was still on the case.

Tomas grabbed her elbow. “You okay?”

“Yes. Sorry. Hardly any sleep.” She steadied herself. “Who’s he sending?”

Tomas shrugged, dropped his hand from her arm. “I have no idea. Someone else from your office.”

Damn. No one at BAU but Greg knew about her history here and she really wanted to keep it that way. She hoped Dan was sending him, but two miracles in one day was too much to hope for, especially from Dan Moore.

“Until then, Evelyn, I need you to stay in line. Understood?”

Evelyn nodded.

“Good. Now get back out there and help Carly figure out whether it’s Darnell or Walter. We got a bloodhound as close to Wiggins’s house as we could this morning, and nothing. But Carly told me he could’ve used countermeasures.”

When Evelyn nodded again, Tomas said, “The two of you figure out if he did. I want someone in handcuffs by the end of the day.”

* * *

“Here’s all the information you asked for.” Noreen Abbott held out a piece of paper covered in tiny, neat script. “I wrote down the dates and times Darnell Conway signed in for search parties. I can’t verify that he stayed with the group, but I checked in with some of the other searchers, so they can vouch for part of it. Those times are marked, near as they could remember, on the sheet.”

“Thanks.” Evelyn looked at the paper, reading it quickly, then raised her eyebrows. “He showed up both yesterday and today, huh?” Even after she’d gone snooping at his house.

If he was flaunting something, he was pretty damn confident she wouldn’t be able to prove it.

“What about Walter Wiggins?”

Noreen looked disgusted. “We wouldn’t let him join a search party if he tried. I wouldn’t have let him get past sign-up, and if I had, someone in one of the search parties probably would’ve gone after him.”

“I didn’t think he’d try. Just double-checking.”

“Is this helpful?” Noreen asked. “And are you okay? Your cheek’s pretty swollen.”

Evelyn held in a sigh. “I’ll be fine. Luckily the guy wasn’t a great shot. But yes, this helps me see behavioral patterns. The fact that Darnell is joining the search parties, even when he knows he’s a suspect, makes him look guilty.”

“Really? I’d think it would make him look innocent. If he was guilty—if he knew where the girls were—why would he bother searching?”

“Because it’s part of the sick thrill for him. He wants to see the faces of the community he’s hurting.” When Noreen didn’t say anything, Evelyn asked, “Do we have the search party lists from eighteen years ago? I know lists were kept, because that’s how the original profiler came up with Darnell as a suspect.”

“There were?” Noreen sounded surprised. “Well, if we do have those lists, I’ve never seen them.”

“They weren’t in the evidence boxes, either.”

“Maybe Jack Bullock would know,” Noreen suggested. “He was on the original case.”

“Right.”

“Oh, you knew that, of course. Sorry.”

“No problem. Hey, Noreen, Jack told me your sister was in my grade at school.”

Shock flashed across Noreen’s face.

“Is that wrong?”

“No, it’s not.”

“She lives in Texas now, he said. But what about anyone else from that class? Do you know?”

“From Cassie’s class? Not that I’m aware of. And my sister, she’s not in Texas.”

“Is she close by? Do you know if she remembers anything about that time?”

Noreen looked at her shoes. “No, she passed away.”

“I’m so sorry. Jack said... She died recently?”

Noreen met Evelyn’s gaze. “She died a long time ago. Drunk driver. In Texas.”

“I’m sorry, Noreen,” Evelyn said, her mind racing. How long ago had it been? A drunk driver wasn’t parental neglect—unless Noreen’s mom had been driving when her daughter was killed. But who in Noreen’s life might want to make up for that loss? Jack had mentioned an uncle, but was that close enough?

Noreen nodded jerkily. “Thanks. Look, Evelyn, I can see what you’re thinking, but this has nothing to do with my sister. She wasn’t even in Rose Bay then. And it’s not like there was anyone in her life who could be doing this now.”

“Of—”

“Anyway, could you keep this between us? No one here knows and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“No one knows she’s gone? Why not?”

Noreen frowned. “My dad...he couldn’t bear the pity. My mom had already bailed on him, taken Margaret with her. To have to tell everyone his daughter was gone, too.” She shook her head and tugged at her dowdy, shapeless skirt. “He made us promise.”

“Us?”

“Me and my uncle Frank. No one else knows. Can you please keep it that way? Like I asked?”

“Sure, Noreen.”

Noreen rolled her eyes. “I can tell from your face. You think my uncle could fit your profile.”

“I need to look into it,” Evelyn admitted.

“Fine. Do what you need to do. Just do it quietly, okay? You’ll find out soon enough that he’s no suspect.”

Noreen seemed about to walk past, so Evelyn grasped her arm. “Your uncle moved in with you when your dad got sick, right?”

“Years ago,” Noreen agreed.

“But your sister was gone by then?”

Noreen frowned. “Yeah.”

“And once you turned eighteen...”

“He told me he’d wasted enough of his life being my father’s caretaker. Not that he really did much of that, but he did pay my dad’s bills, whatever disability insurance didn’t cover. And there were a lot of them. He tried. He just couldn’t deal with it.”

“Can I ask what your father had?”

“CADASIL. It’s kind of like MS. My dad had bad migraines, then strokes and pretty quickly his motor functions were in bad shape. And then came the dementia.” She sniffed, wiped her eyes, shuffled her feet. “Look, I get it. You need to do your job. You want to talk to my uncle, go for it. I’ll tell you right now that you’re wasting your time, but do what you need to do. Please don’t spread it around, okay? My uncle may not be the easiest person in the world to get along with, but he’s the only family I’ve got left.”

Evelyn nodded. “I can do that. As long as I can cross him off my list.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Noreen said, with such confidence in her voice it made Frank fall even lower on Evelyn’s list. “Please keep quiet about Margaret, too, okay?”

“With your father gone...”

“I really don’t want to have to explain to everyone why I kept it secret even after he died,” Noreen cut in. “I grieved for her a long time ago. I don’t want to have to do it all over again in public.”

Like Evelyn would probably have to do once they found the Nursery Rhyme Killer. Because as much as she hoped to find Cassie alive, chances were close to zero.

Even the idea of having all those eyes on her, watching her mourn Cassie, made her uncomfortable. And she didn’t have to live in Rose Bay, like Noreen did. “I promise.”

Noreen’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.”

As Noreen continued through the police station, Evelyn stared after her, thinking. Regardless of Noreen’s certainty and Evelyn’s own feeling that she was probably right, her uncle had to be checked out. But since Evelyn had been shot at after she’d talked to Darnell and Walter, they were still her top suspects.

Evelyn rubbed at her eyes, which felt heavy and strained. She’d been at the station for five hours, giving Carly and her CARD agents as much information as she could on Walter and Darnell. Right now, the agents were digging deeper into both men’s histories, to see if they could come up with anything new.

The second profiler was due to arrive soon. Evelyn should have been anticipating another set of eyes on the case, but instead she dreaded sharing her secrets with anyone from Aquia.

There wasn’t anything she could do about it, so she went in search of Jack. She found him holed up alone in the break room, copies of the old case files spread out around him, crumpled chip bags, cans of energy drinks and half-empty coffee cups holding down the edges.

When she shut the door behind her, Jack looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes. The smell of coffee practically seeped from his pores. “What?”

“I want to ask you about Frank Abbott.”

Jack rolled his eyes, picked up his pen and returned his attention to the case files. “Frowning Frank? Give me a break, Evelyn.”

“Frowning Frank?”

“Noreen’s nickname for him. But it fits. I somehow doubt kids would hop in his van.”

Evelyn stepped closer. “He owns a van?”

Jack’s pupils lifted. “It was a joke.”

“Well, look, what can you tell me about him?”

Jack set his pen down with an exaggerated sigh. “You want to tell me what’s put Frank on your radar?”

“How close was he to Noreen’s sister?”

“How the hell should I know? She moved away—must’ve been twenty-odd years ago now.”

“Think about it, okay? It seems like you and Noreen are friends. Besides, you know this town better than anyone.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose, his lips pressing together. She could tell he thought she was trying to flatter him for information, but what she’d said was true. His father had been the chief of police in Rose Bay for almost thirty years. Rose Bay had a lot of residents who liked to brag how many generations they could claim, but the Bullocks went further back than most.

“Yeah, I guess Frank and Margaret were close. He never married, never had any kids, and Earl was his only brother. Frank really resented him—and I think, by proxy, Noreen, too—after he had to move in with them. But Margaret was his first niece and I guess he did used to dote on her, way back before Earl and his wife divorced.”

“So if Noreen’s sister had died, he would’ve taken it hard?”

“Well, sure. Anyone would have.” Jack crossed his arms over the papers in front of him, narrowing his eyes. “Why do you ask?”