Page 9 of Catching Fire

The number was unknown, but she couldn’t afford to alienate anyone from the university. So she hit the button with a frown on her face. “Hello?”

“Is this Seline Marchand? This is FBI agent Melissa Watson.”

Seline blinked. “It is.”

Was there anything else she could say?Maggie had warned her that the FBI would let her know if something came up. But Seline had thought it was a ridiculous concern that Maggie had because of her own trouble. Then again, maybe her friend wasn’t over-reacting. The FBI was on the phone.

Wasn’t Watson one of the agents that had worked Maggie’s case?

“What is this regarding?” Seline blurted out.

“We'd like to come and meet with you. We’ll explain everything.”

Dear God, she thought, followed by a quick sigh. There would be no catching up on work today.

“Dr. Marchand?”

She must have paused for too long. “When?”

“As soon as possible.”

Merde. “I need thirty minutes. Where shall we meet?”

“We can be at your place then. Thank you.” Agent Watson hung up before she could protest.

As Seline stared at the now silent device in her hand, she realized she'd not given them her address. Of course, they already knew it. They were the FBI. Her nerves were overtaking her and she reminded herself that she didn't have to dress up for them. It was Saturday, after all.

She wound up in jeans and a button-down white shirt, her hair still damp as she opened the door to them. She’d swallowed the last few bites of oatmeal just a moment before she'd seen them pull up.

Letting them in, she checked each of their badges as they introduced themselves. It was good to have names to put with the faces, she thought, though the whole thing was making her uneasy. Watson at least tried to help her stay calm, but there wasn't much she could do.

Seline sat on the couch, trying to relax, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Do you know why we're here?” Decker asked.

Seline found her attention pulled to the man for just a moment. “I'm assuming it's because of my friend Maggie Willis. She messaged me and told me she was worried because the Blue River Killer victims look like me.”

When both agents nodded, Seline continued with what she learned, hoping they would stop her. They didn’t. “He takes both men and women, but always blonde hair and usually blue eyes, almost always with a slight build.” No one had corrected her yet, so she kept going. “He takes them at night, often on the weekends, from clubs and parties and bars.”

The two agents only stared at her as if to ask what she was doing to protect her blond-haired, blue-eyed self.

“I don't do that.”

“We're aware of that,” Watson replied calmly, once again concerning Seline with the knowledge that they already had about her.

“Is this visit because of the incident with Maggie Willis?”

“Which one?” Decker again.

But Seline shrugged. She had no idea how they had categorized what happened to Maggie.

“We got Merrit Geller. He is confirmed as the La Vista Rapist and he is now deceased. However, in that incident, he took Magdalyn Willis to William Sanders’ safehouse. We found copious evidence that the cabin was where Sanders tortured and killed his victims. So he now has to find a new place to carry out his plans and, so far, we haven’t found him.”

Seline nodded, but none of that made her more likely to become a victim.

“We're concerned that he wants revenge on Ms. Willis. And that he might try to get it through you.”

“Serieusement?” The word tumbled out of her mouth and she went cold, for the first time considering that Maggie's warning may have been more than just unfounded worry. “You truly think this?”

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