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“Unless her assailant stole my stalker’s phone, which I doubt, yes. And I don’t get it either.” Sloane sipped at her cappuccino, as unsettled by all this as Derek was. “The parallels between Cynthia’s disappearance and Tina’s near abduction are straightforward. They’re both college students. They’re both athletes. They were both attacked on their respective campuses when the grounds were virtually deserted. The timing of the two attacks is only several weeks apart. And now the blood on both their hair fasteners—it all fits the pattern of a repeat performance by the same criminal. But why would he be stalking me? When we thought the harassment was tied to Penny’s case, it made sense. I grew up with Penny, and I knew a lot about her. That made me a potential threat. But now—where do I fit into the equation?”
“You also knew Tina,” Derek pointed out.
“Casually, yes. We both worked at the same martial-arts academy. She took a few
of my Krav classes. Oh, and we planned a few tae kwon do parties for the kids together. But I don’t know the first thing about her private life, her friends, her family—anything that would make me a threat to whoever attacked her.”
“What if he’s not viewing you as a threat? What if he’s viewing you as a target?”
Sloane grimaced. “Derek, I know you think this guy is after me in some way, and I admit his weird behavior has me on edge. But Tina’s attack makes your theory weaker, not stronger. This assailant grabs his victims when they’re isolated. If he wanted me, he’s had tons of opportunity to attack me. I might not go to college, but I do go for a several mile run with the hounds every morning. Most of my route is all woods and no civilization. I know he’s been watching me at home. I sense it. Which means he’s well aware of when I go out running. So why hasn’t he acted?”
“Maybe he’s waiting.”
“For what—a formal invitation?”
Derek’s grip on his coffee cup tightened. “I don’t know. That’s what’s driving me crazy. My gut tells me there’s something we’re missing.” The crease between Derek’s brows deepened. “Even without considering where you fit into all this, we’ve got to face the prospect that we’re dealing with a serial killer.”
“I agree. Either a serial rapist and killer, or a serial killer—one who’s done a hell of a job of getting rid of his victims’ bodies so they’re never found.”
“There are a bunch of ways to make that happen. Some we’ve come up against, some we haven’t. I hope Erwin will let me join him when he interviews Tina. The details she remembers may help us establish a profile on this guy.” Derek clearly had thought this through. “If Tina delivers, I’m putting a call in to one of my colleagues at the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. He and I have worked together in the past. He’ll do me the favor of putting this at the top of his list.”
“Good. And I’ll call Larry Clark. He’s retired now, but he was an SSA at the BAU. He’s served on panels with me at John Jay. He’s sharp as a tack, and he’s got twenty-five years of Bureau experience. I’m sure he can help us.”
“Works for me. Between your contacts and mine, we’ll get our criminal profile.” Derek took a bite of his scone, chewed it with a vengeance. “Now let’s get back to you. Finding that cell phone in the woods clinches it. I’m arranging for you to have round-the-clock protection. So pick your poison—FBI, the police, or a PI. I’ve got lots of friends who owe me favors. So don’t bother arguing. It won’t work.”
“I wasn’t going to argue. And I’ll let you decide who the lucky candidates are. But under one condition. Get that same level of protection for Tina, too. You know as well as I do that this sicko is going to come back for her. She outsmarted him, beat the crap out of him, and got away. He’s not going to be satisfied until he’s gotten even and gotten rid of her.”
“Agreed. And already taken care of. When I met with The College of New Jersey campus police, they were more than happy to assign several rotating officers to Tina. They’ll watch her twenty-four/seven. The only stipulation is that she’s got to stay on or around campus. No drives to the academy, not till her assailant is caught.”
Sloane blew out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Tina’s a really great girl. She shouldn’t have had to go through this trauma at all, much less prolong it by walking around campus glancing over her shoulder in fear.”
“Police protection only goes so far. Tina won’t be safe until we’ve caught this psycho.” Derek glanced at his watch. “Time for our meeting. Let’s see what Sergeant Erwin can tell us.”
Midtown North Precinct
308 West Fifty-fourth Street
New York City
Bob Erwin carried a file folder and three bottles of springwater into the large interrogation room—now doubling as a conference room—and shoved the door closed behind him.
“Here you go.” He distributed the bottles to Sloane and Derek, then took a seat at the table, placing the file in front of him. “Trust me, you’re better off with the springwater than with the coffee,” he pronounced. “I had a cup this morning. It tastes like sludge—as usual.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Sloane uncapped her bottle and took a swig. “It’s just as well. I’m flying on caffeine as it is.”
“Ditto.” Derek settled himself in the chair beside Sloane and across the table from Erwin. “I lost count of how many cups of coffee I’ve downed since five A.M.” He put the bottle of water down, rolling it between his palms. “I appreciate your including me in this meeting and bypassing all the bureaucratic crap.”
“No arguments there,” Bob agreed. “Although I am curious about your interest in this. You’re with C-6, not violent crimes. I’m aware that you and Sloane worked in the Bureau’s Cleveland field office at the same time, but you worked two different units. Is this all about your friendship with her, or does the FBI have other reasons for assigning you to this case?”
It was a fair question, one that Derek answered as honestly as possible.
“The Bureau knows I’m here, although I’m not here at their request. And you’re right; I am with C-6. But before that I was with Violent Crimes. I’m still the agent of record on a few of those cases, one of which I’m heavily involved in bringing to closure. I’m actually temporarily stationed in the Atlantic City area in order to make this case top priority. Sloane happens to be consulting on that case. I’m sure you’re familiar with it; it’s been in all the newspapers.”
“The Truman case.” Sergeant Erwin nodded. “I remember when Penelope Truman first disappeared. It was a high-profile kidnapping. Bizarre that a year later, her body hasn’t been found.” A questioning look at Sloane. “Any reason the Trumans called you in?”
“Penny and I were friends since kindergarten. The Trumans are grasping at straws, and they saw me as their last hope,” Sloane supplied simply. “So I started working that case a few days before Cynthia was kidnapped from John Jay. To further complicate things, I started getting harassing phone calls at the same time as I got involved with both cases. I had no idea which one was prompting the calls. We traced the cell number of my caller. It was a disposable cell phone. No way to know who or where he was, until he used the phone again. The next call that was made from that number came from the campus police at TCNJ.”
“The cell phone that was found at the crime scene where Tina Carroll was attacked.” Bob steepled his fingers, resting his chin on top of them. “This is a strange can of worms. The connection between that attack and the physical evidence and circumstances surrounding Cynthia Alexander’s disappearance are too close to be circumstantial.”
