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Tears filled her eyes. She’d missed getting together with her special women’s group at church. She loved her church. Besides her charity work there, she went every Sunday with Matty, Cassie, and her parents. The kids had their own service, so Tracy sat in the sanctuary with her mother and father. She loved sharing church with them. Although she’d planned to start looking for a house for her and the kids soon, she knew she’d really miss them. They’d been so good to her and their grandkids.
My parents. What are they thinking? Do they think I’m dead?
Tracy wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. She had to stay strong. Be on her guard. If she was going to get out of this, she had to be at her best. She lay down on the bed and tried to think of some way to escape.
Before long she started drifting off again. She fought it as long as she could, then finally gave in.
Alex finished her soup and decided she’d like some hot tea. She was pleased to find Logan had some of her favorites. After making some Earl Grey and adding a little milk, she made her way into the living room and placed her mug on a coaster on the small table between the two chairs. After retrieving her laptop from its bag, she put her feet up on the ottoman and began to work on the profile.
So far, the UNSUB had abducted five women—all Caucasian, all around the same age, with long dark hair and about the same color eyes. They couldn’t yet prove that all the cases were related, but for now they had to move forward with this as the prevailing theory.
She grabbed the file she’d brought with her. All the women had different jobs and interests, but nothing that intersected. A single mom who’d just graduated from nursing school. A waitress. A self-published author. Someone who volunteered for a dog rescue group. A teacher. At least two of them appeared to care about children, but their concern manifested in different ways.
Alex thumbed through all five reports more than once, looking for something, anything that would help them with the profile. Three of the abductees went to church, but not the same ones. Two were married. Three weren’t. The only thing she could find to link them was a brief mention in the media. He was probably hunting his prey online since not many people read hard copies of newspapers anymore. Three of the women had been on television while the others hadn’t.
She closed the file and sighed, then leaned her head back and shut her eyes. There had to be something about this guy that would help the police find him and the missing women. Targeting them only because of their age and looks would mean he had no access to their personal information, the kind that might help him be more selective about whom he took. Of course, that didn’t leave many people out. People in law enforcement, those who worked at banks or at the IRS—although Alex doubted the IRS was kidnapping people.
She chuckled quietly. She was really getting off course. She needed to concentrate. So what was this guy looking for? The women probably reminded him of someone, but without knowing what he was doing to them, they couldn’t figure out if he was taking them out of some kind of twisted revenge or because of some other kind of obsession.
Her cell phone buzzed. She’d put it on vibrate so its ringing wouldn’t wake Logan.
“Yes,” she answered quietly.
Jeff’s voice came over the receiver. “How’s he doing?”
“Better, I think.” She spoke almost in a whisper. “He’s been sleeping awhile. He hasn’t eaten anything yet. When he wakes up I’ll try to get some soup down him.”
“Okay, good. I thought you’d want to know we have another abduction. Same physical characteristics.”
Alex’s heart fell. “Oh no. Any details yet?”
“Some. I’ll have everything ready for you in the morning, but I think Logan needs to take a few days off. When is he getting that MRI?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll tell him you think it’s best to stay home until after the doctors have had time to figure out what’s going on. I’ll try to talk him into waiting until at least Monday to come in.”
“All right. If he fights you, let me know. I can read him the riot act.”
Alex laughed lightly. “Yes, I know how effective that is. I’ve been on the receiving end a few times.”
Jeff chuckled. “I’m sure it was for good reasons.”
“It was.”
Alex said good-bye and then ended the call. Another one? That made six missing women—that they knew of. How many were still alive? And how many were dead?
They had to get this profile right. The authorities needed to find this man before they started discovering bodies.
