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He blinked back tears. “I realize this is personal. I wouldn’t have told you except I need to explain my behavior. That’s why I’ve been so upset. It’s not you.” He looked at Logan. “I’ve been angry, but I had no right to take it out on you.” He managed a small smile. “I’m sorry. I hope you’ll all forgive me.”
“I’m sorry for your troubles, Ben,” Kaely said.
His smile widened. “Thank you. And no more attitude. Whatever I can do to help...”
“Sit down, and let’s get to work,” Logan said.
When Ben slipped into his chair, Monty patted him on the back.
“What have you come up with so far?” Ben asked Alex.
Alex quickly brought both him and Logan up to speed.
Logan didn’t say anything right away. Finally he said, “That makes perfect sense. But we still don’t have anything the police can really use. We suspect the UNSUB is older and that Davis was his primary target. But why not stop after Davis? Seems to me that he made his point, so why keep killing? Wouldn’t it be harder on him to carry out this plan? Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of older men are strong and capable of anything, but I think we have to ask ourselves that question.”
“I really am starting to believe someone on the inside is feeding him information,” Monty said. “They have to be.”
Kaely looked at Logan. “You’ve been keeping the other agents in this unit informed as to what’s going on, right?” He nodded. “Maybe that needs to stop,” Kaely said. “We need to be incredibly careful.”
Logan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re new to us, Kaely, but I’d put my life in the hands of any of our people. I understand your concern, but please be careful about casting aspersions on anyone in this unit.”
Kaely’s cheeks flushed pink. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”
Logan held up his hand. “Stop. I guess Ben isn’t the only one who’s under pressure. You’re right to try to figure out any way information could be getting out. I’m sorry. Even though I trust them, I’ll be careful. I was going to bring them in at some point so they could know what we’ve come up with, but I won’t do that.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe any of them would betray us, though.”
“I understand,” Kaely said. “Of course, if the UNSUB is in league with someone else, it would be unusual. Usually serial killers like to work alone.”
Alex nodded. “If he does have a minion, I certainly wouldn’t give a nickel for that person’s life.”
“What do you mean?” Julie asked.
“He’s planned this meticulously, and his world revolves around himself. He won’t leave any open doors. He’ll kill his crony to ensure his own safety,” Alex explained.
“Where’s Reinhardt?” Kaely asked. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.”
“He’s still here,” Logan said. “And before you ask, we don’t think he’s our UNSUB. Nothing points to it. He has alibis for every killing.”
“I’m sure he liked having to defend himself,” Kaely said. “His ego is enormous.”
Logan smiled. “I’ll agree with that.”
“He couldn’t be working with the UNSUB,” Alex said, “because he hasn’t been privy to anything about us. At least not until he arrived here.”
“Right.” Logan sighed. “So we’re still looking for someone connected to Davis.”
“I think so,” Alex said. She tapped her fingers on the table as she turned over everything they knew so far in her mind. “Could these other killings simply be attempts to hide his main target—Davis?”
“But why send us pages from Dark Minds?” Monty said. “He’s not diverting attention away from Davis. He’s drawing us to him.”
Alex leaned back in her chair. “You’re right. Why doesn’t this guy fit any profile we can come up with? His first target is John Davis. So we focus on people who might have a grudge against Davis. But the UNSUB continues to kill. Bayne is next, so we decide he’s angry with the BAU. Because he killed Davis and Bayne, we decide he’s older. But who waits so long to get back at people? And then he murders Monty’s grandmother.”
She looked at Monty. “What was your grandmother’s first name? Calling her ‘Monty’s grandmother’ most of the time feels a little disrespectful, and Mrs. Wong seems rather formal.”
“Her name was Chunhua. It means ‘spring flower.’ As she got older, she used to tell me she was simply losing petals.”
Alex cleared her throat, trying to choke back the emotion that suddenly overcame her. She’d never known her grandmother, but she’d wondered what it would be like to have someone like Chunhua in her life.
“Then he kills ... Chunhua.” She tried to pronounce it the way Monty had but failed rather badly. Monty didn’t seem to notice. “Anyway, that’s a variation. One that shouldn’t be there.” She groaned. “It’s like we’re trying to put together a puzzle, but someone has mixed the pieces with another puzzle’s, and we can’t put together the finished picture.”
“Did the person who killed my grandmother move like an older man?” Monty spoke slowly as if still forming his thought.
Alex turned to look at him. “Do you mind if we look at the video to see?” she said. “You can leave the room.”
Monty looked grim. “Go ahead, but you’re right. I can’t watch that again.”
“That reminds me,” Logan said. “I’ve got video from Georgetown. The police there sent it to Chief Gorman, and when he told me about it, I knew we needed to see it.”
He removed his laptop from his briefcase and put it on the table. “Let’s look at that first, and then we’ll go over the video from Monty’s ... from Chunhua’s house.”
Logan connected his laptop to the video system in the classroom. Alex steeled herself. Would Jeff’s death be caught on this video? The last thing she wanted was to watch Jefferson Cole die, but if they hoped to help find his killer, she had no choice.
