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Although Alex was worried for Tracy, she felt fairly certain she would be safe tonight. The women who’d gone out with the UNSUB said he’d treated them well—except for threatening to hurt the rest of the women if she didn’t go along with their so-called date.
Alex was still confused about something. The man who’d abducted the women appeared to be kind to them during their time together. And Andy seemed to be concerned about their captives. Therefore, the threats seemed rather incongruous. So which one was really pulling the strings? Who was the one to worry about? Alex had considered trying to influence Andy to help them, but what if he was the one in charge? Maybe his attitude was just an act to cover his real intentions.
The other thing she couldn’t understand was why the women who’d been on the dates were still here. If he was certain they weren’t the woman he was looking for, why were they alive? She had a hard time figuring this guy out. He didn’t fit any mold she’d encountered before. But it wasn’t always possible to understand everything a psychotic killer did.
She sighed and lay back on her bed, trying to think. Alex hoped their date would be soon—before he removed anyone else. And she wanted a chance to spend time with Andy. If he wasn’t running the show, what was he getting out of this? He didn’t come across as someone caught up in the thralls of hero worship. There were well-known duos who committed crimes together, the most famous being Leopold and Loeb, but they killed for the thrill of it.
Then there was John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad was the puppet master and Malvo his puppet. They shot several people, at least one in Prince William County. Alex couldn’t compare the men holding them to this pair either. Could the UNSUB only think he was in control? Could Andy be the man behind the curtain? Could he be killing women without the other guy knowing about it? Still ... the guy going out on dates didn’t fit the psychopathic personality.
Alex got up and paced the room for a while. When she had her date, should she confront the guy about Andy? Was it possible he might agree to let Alex take the women away from here? But if she was wrong, that could be a deadly mistake too.
Which one was the monster?
One other question kept bothering her. Was the woman he was looking for dead? Had he already killed her? That would mean he was so disconnected from reality that she and the other women were in more danger than they could imagine.
Alex had kept the panel at the top of her door open so she would know when Andy came for Tracy. Now she heard the squeaky cart making its nightly journey, delivering dinner. She watched as her lunch tray was removed and the dinner tray pushed into the room. After all the other rooms had been approached, the cart made its way back, stopping at what had to be Tracy’s room.
“Are you ready?” Andy asked.
“Yes.” Tracy sounded scared, and Alex didn’t blame her. But she needed her to do exactly what Alex had told her to do. Her plan depended on it.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Andy said. “Wait by the door. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes.”
Alex felt so sorry for her. The pressure was intense. She waited until she couldn’t hear the cart anymore, then approached her door and called out.
“Tracy, can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Look, I know you’re afraid. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
“But if I make him think you’re the woman he’s looking for, doesn’t that make me inconsequential? What if he decides to get rid of me, like they did with Sarah and Rhonda?”
Another panel opened. Amy.
“Tracy, those of us who’ve been here longer than you would go first, not you. Try not to worry. Really.”
Alex appreciated Amy’s strength and determination to get out of this place.
“When you get back, I’ll need to know what happened,” Alex said. “I’ve got to understand the man you’ll be with tonight. I have to make sure I approach this the right way when he takes me on a date. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think so. I—”
The sound of the door at the end of the hall opening again cut her off. Panels closed, but Alex kept hers open a crack. She wanted to hear everything.
Keys jangled. “Let’s go,” Andy said. The sound of a metal door opening. Tracy’s. Then two sets of footsteps walking down the hall. Andy began to whistle that song—Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. Again, was he a subservient lapdog or something more? Andy was the wild card.
And therefore the one Alex had come to fear the most.
She wanted to know the truth about him before she confronted the other man, and hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later. Then maybe she could find a way to take him down and find a phone. Although she had no idea where they were, the FBI could track the signal and get help to them.
But most of all, Alex wanted to see the two men together. It was the only way to understand them both so she could determine how best to control them. But, of course, given what she’d already observed, getting them in the same place at the same time would be a challenge.
Tracy was instructed to walk in front of Andy. She pulled open the door at the end of the hall and walked up the stairs. When she reached the top, she stepped into the kitchen. She’d been here before, but this time she could actually take a minute to look around. It was huge.
“Go through those doors,” Andy barked from behind her. “And don’t turn around.”
She pushed open the French doors that led to the large brick patio. “Sit down there,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t move from here, okay? There’s no place to run. This place is a fortress. Of course, you already know that, right?”
Tracy didn’t respond, but it was the truth. There was no way out. How did Alex think she could set them free? She wanted to believe her. Needed to believe her.
Then Tracy thought about her children and decided she would do what Alex told her to do. She was an FBI agent. Surely she knew what she was talking about. She was probably the only chance they had.
“For Matty and Cassie,” she whispered.
