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12
Alex and Logan spent several hours going through the reports on the other missing women in Virginia. They all had long dark hair and resembled the women from Prince William County. Each case had been investigated, friends and family questioned. The police in charge of two of the cases had suspects, but each one was ruled out for good reason. It was as if the women had simply vanished from the face of the earth.
After looking through the last file, Logan closed it and sighed. “Well, I think we have to consider alien abduction, don’t you?”
“Very funny, but it would be nice to have an option.” She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her face. “He’s smooth. Knows what he’s doing. No clues. No clear suspects. No eyewitness reports. And no reason to explain the abductions except that our UNSUB is looking for women who fit a certain description. I guess women with long dark hair should get haircuts. Maybe that will keep them safe.”
“How do you feel about a trim?” Logan chuckled, but Alex could see he was slightly serious.
“Not just yet,” she said with a smile. She shuffled all the files into a stack. “So here’s what we know. The UNSUB took these women without any struggle. No blood, no signs they resisted him. Once they vanished, no one heard from them or saw them again. We have no bodies, but I find it hard to believe he’s holding fourteen women. You’d need a pretty large place for that. Regardless, he had to transport the women to wherever he’s keeping them, which means...”
“He probably sedated them,” Logan finished. “A stun gun wouldn’t do it. He’d definitely have to use a drug he knew would keep them out for a while.”
“Dangerous in the hands of someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Alex said with a frown. “He could accidentally kill one of them.”
“You think he has medical training?”
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, it appears that this guy finds his victims in the media—or at least that’s how he found the last six. It seems like a doctor would hunt in hospitals ... or even choose his targets from his own practice. But nothing in these files links the women to a doctor or medical facility. Since he seems to be comfortable online, he probably read about whatever drug he’s using and is administering doses based on that.”
“But where did he get the drug? Could he be a pharmacist?”
“Maybe.” Alex chewed on her lip as she thought. “Investigators need to look at robberies from pharmacies in Virginia. Especially in the areas where women went missing.”
Logan picked up his cell phone to call Jeff, but before he could click on his number, the phone rang. Logan answered and listened for a moment before saying, “Okay. We’re on our way.” He disconnected the call. “I guess we can tell him in person. He wants to see us again.”
Alex and Logan headed back to Jeff’s office. Alex prayed there wasn’t another missing woman. That would be pretty fast after the last one. The UNSUB would barely have had time to secure his previous victim. Maybe he’d been captured. That would be incredible news.
Alice ushered them into Jeff’s office.
“Just need to know when you think you’ll finish your profile,” Jeff said. “I’m getting pressure from the governor. It seems he knows the Abbotts. Met them through some church group or something. That will make things tougher for us, I’m afraid. But I still want you to do this right. Don’t let me rush you. That’s how we get it wrong.”
“We understand,” Alex said.
Logan explained their conjecture that the UNSUB had used some kind of drug to subdue the women he’d kidnapped. “Can you request that investigators check for robberies of pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals in Virginia over the last six years? Especially in the counties where the women went missing. You know the usual suspects. Propofol, Sodium Pentothal, Xenon, Rohypnol—”
“Yeah, I get it.” Jeff made a note on a pad of paper. “You don’t think we’re looking for someone in the medical field as a possible suspect?”
“The way he finds his victims tells me no,” Alex said. “We can’t rule it out, but I think someone who works with the public wouldn’t be finding his prey online and in the newspapers.”
“Okay. I’ll get back to you. By the way, Chief Dixon mentioned that they followed up on Evan Prescott, Tracy Mendenhall’s ex-boyfriend. He’s been ruled out.” He frowned at Logan. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m leaving right away.” He stood and looked at Alex. “I should be back in a couple of hours.”
“If you need more time, take it,” Jeff said. “I can get someone else to help Alex.”
Logan’s face reddened. “Why do you keep trying to get rid of me? Maybe you should just replace me if that’s what you really want.” He swung around and hurried out the door, sweeping past Alice, who looked at him with her mouth open.
“What just happened?” Jeff asked.
“I don’t know,” Alex said slowly, “but something is obviously wrong. I’m really getting worried.”
