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Agent Phelp’s presence had put paidto his plan of approaching her, trying to see how close he could get withoutbeing spotted. It didn’t count if Simon Phelps spotted him before he got withinten feet.
Amber had so many helpers aroundher, and maybe that was a part of the problem with their game. Colm had assumedthat it would be just him and her, pitting their wits against one another. Instead,there had been the lumbering bulk of the FBI getting in the way, slowing Amberdown at every turn. From what Colm understood, Amber had had to steal back herdiary before she could solve the problem he'd set with her aunt. Then, insteadof getting assigned to the case, she'd been pushed aside, and the oh-so-dullAgent Mallory had kept her from the information she needed to save Sinead.
In that sense, the failures weren’tAmber’s fault. In another, she should have been more ruthless. Colm would havebeen. Of course, Colm wouldn’t have let himself be pulled into a game likethis, because he would simply have let the victims die. He didn’t care enoughabout anyone to be used like that.
Colm started to walk away from therestaurant, still thinking. A couple of people gave him looks as he walked, butnot for long, and certainly not with any hint of recognition. If there hadbeen, he would have had to kill them. Better to leave no traces and nowitnesses.
When all of this was done, he wouldmove on. He would find somewhere else in the world to play bigger and moreinteresting games. For now, though, there was still this to finish.
Colm considered Amber. She’d shownsome moments of promise. She had solved his puzzles when she had theinformation she needed. She’d been ruthless enough to go steal back her diary,rather than sitting there and letting the police waste time with it. An alertto one of Colm’s computers, bounced around until there was little chance of theFBI tracking it, had told him that Amber solved his little chess problem,finding his website.
When she worked alone, Amber wasquite impressive. Colm had followed her cases with interest. The anguishedrunning around, the moments of insight, the final capture of so many killers.He’d been impressed by the way Amber had managed to cut through the puzzlesthey’d set to find answers when it was obvious that most normal FBI agentswouldn’t.
Her problem was other people. Itwas being slowed down by the vast machine of an agency that required her to actin particular ways. Even now, she was probably thinking about talking towitnesses, following the trail of evidence. Not the puzzle, not the part thatwas interesting in all of this.
Well, when the time came, Colmwould ensure that it was just the two of them. Her wits against his, withoutany interference to slow Amber down. It was the only way to make this a truecontest.
He wondered if she knew yet whereColm planned to strike next. No, clearly not, or she wouldn’t be trying toprotect so many people at once. Just the one who mattered.
For now, Colm needed to go makepreparations for that. He needed to be in the right place at the right time. Heneeded to choose his moment carefully.
When he did act, of course, hewould make sure that everything was set up in his favor. Colm wasn’t a fool. Hewanted a contest, but it was a contest he intended to win.
Colm would set Amber Young onefinal problem, one final game between them. Then he would kill her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Damn it,” Amber said, as she andSimon made their way back to the car. “I don’t know where to go with thisnext.”
The second section of the killer’scode was still proving impossible for Amber to crack. No matter how she lookedat it, there didn’t seem to be a way into the wheel design.
“Amber, it’s okay,” Simon said,obviously trying to reassure her. “You already got the first part of themessage. It’s given us something to go on.”
Amber shook her head. “It’s notenough, though. The first part wasn’t specific enough. A warrior Aries? Can youimagine how many people born between March 21st and April 19thmight fit that description? How are we even meant to start looking for them?”
“We can try,” Simon said.
They got into the car, and Ambersaw Simon searching on his phone.
“You’re seriously going to try tofind every possible person who might fit the definition of a warrior inKeystone, then try to find out when they were born to see if they fit the cluethe killer left?” Amber asked.
“If it’s all we have to go on, thenthe killer must think that it’s enough,” Simon said.
Amber shook her head. “I thinkthat’s what the second part of this is about. I think it’s meant to give moredetails, but I can’t work out how to read it.”
That was more frustrating thanAmber could put into words, and not just because of the thought that a killerwas out there somewhere, possibly already stalking his next victim when he’dtaunted the police that he wouldn’t stop killing this time.
No, she was thinking of the timesshe’d failed before. When she hadn’t been able to find the answers to ColmO’Rafferty’s puzzles quickly enough to save her friend Casey, her aunt,Harriet, or her fellow puzzler, Sinead.
Amber thought about all of them,then about the two victims in the case so far. “I guess we’d be looking forwomen, since the killer has only targeted women so far. Young women. He thinkshe’s picking them according to the stars, but so far, he’s focused on a classicserial killer victim type.”
Simon nodded. “You see, you’rethinking about this now. And it will narrow it down. There are a lot more guysout there who fit that ‘warrior’ stereotype than women.”
Amber still wasn’t convinced. “It’sstill going to be a large number. Too many to try to protect. What are we goingto do? Give protection to every female soldier, martial arts expert and copwith the wrong birthday?”
“So we narrow it down more,” Simonsaid.
“And the puzzle continues to be thebest way to do that,” Amber replied. “I just don’t know what it means.”
