Page 96 of The Wolves Come at Night
Forty-Nine
Taylor took her wine upstairs, shut her door, and dialed Baldwin. She needed a distraction. Angelie’s plan was audacious, crazy, and loaded with treachery. There was no way it was going to succeed. Who steals a stolen painting from a 747, for heaven’s sake? Especially off a Royal Air Force base? Clearly, the assassin had lost her mind.
“Everything okay?” he asked without preamble.
“Not even close. How are you?”
His voice warmed. “Missing you, as always. When will you be home?” There was a slight challenge in his tone, which she ignored.
“I’m not sure. We haven’t accomplished our goal. Soon, though. Moving on…have you spoken to the boys?” Baldwin paused as if he wanted to argue, and she said softly, “Tell me. I need the distraction.”
“Marcus shot me the series of murders to profile, ‘just for fun,’ as he says. I’ve leafed through them. In my professional opinion, you certainly have a serial killer in this man. The MOs are similar, the victimologies are similar. All the women had ties to the music industry, all went missing over the past decade. So far, there’s no physical evidence that ties him to any of the women, nor have they found anything digital, though it’s early days there. He’s incredibly organized, but he has patterns—the gravesite at Radnor is clearly a touchstone for him, and I bet there’s a nest of some sort in the LA area, as well. He’s been at this a while, which means he’s good at compartmentalizing—he’s the head of a major music label, with a lot of eyes on him. Which also means he’s the kind of man who panics when he’s found out. The question is whether these are premeditated murders or simply transactional, whether he stalks and kidnaps, or kills impulsively. Georgia Wray’s murder didn’t seem well planned—or it was and the boyfriend just got the better of him and was eliminated later. These might not have a sexual component, but they are all about power. You’ll get him from that angle, I think. My advice to Marcus was to rattle his cage, watch him, and see what he does. Chances are he’ll give us what we need to charge him. Right now, though, it’s all circumstantial.”
“Even with the voice recording from Justin Osborne’s? You don’t think we can’t do voice recognition and match it to him?”
“You can, but you know that’s not enough. That audio could be spun as Justin shot himself just as easily.”
“Damn. I was hoping you’d see it differently. All right. I’ll give Marcus a call, and—”
“Taylor. This isn’t your responsibility. This case isn’t yours. You don’t work with Marcus anymore. You quit. Remember?”
She took a deep breath. Of course she remembered. That didn’t mean she didn’t care, that she didn’t want to see justice done. It was bad enough to lose Georgia and Justin, but that there was more, a murderer hiding behind the veneer of a successful businessman with the means to travel the world and kill indiscriminately? It pissed her off.
That little voice inside her: No different than Game, Taylor. No different…
“I’ve hardly forgotten. I just…maybe I should have waited until we had this case wrapped, you know? I feel responsible.”
“They are more than capable of handling this without you, my dear.”
“Ouch.”
“Taylor, you trained them all. They’re going to take every single step you’d take yourself.” He was silent for a moment. “This is bigger than that, isn’t it? You’re rethinking the decision to leave Metro?”
“No.” She answered so quickly she surprised herself. “No, I’m not. I just want to see this case to its conclusion. Both of them. Carson is starting to lose body parts. We need to make our move, right away, or we’re going to lose her. And I can’t lose her, Baldwin. I can’t.”
“Do I want to know how you’re going to find her?”
“No. God, no. You want to stay as far away from me—from this—as you possibly can.”
“Are you breaking the law?”
“With that woman at the helm? Regularly.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Maybe we should wait to discuss the details until you get home.”
“That would be wise.” She played with the end of her ponytail, wrapping it around her finger. That just made her think of Carson, and the pain she must be in, the coil of blond hair around the delicate fingertip, and she loosened her grip.
“You can come home now, babe.” Baldwin’s voice was soft, and she yearned to be next to him, to have his strength holding her up. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to be responsible for them all.”
If he only knew…
“I do, though. I’ll be home soon. This is almost over. We aren’t playing around anymore. So don’t worry. I’ve got it all under control.”
“That’s what has me worried,” he said. “Just…don’t compromise yourself too much, Taylor. You lose your moral compass, and you’ll have nothing left.”
“I hear you. And I love you. I’ll call you when it’s done.”
She hung up before he could say anything more and dialed Marcus. He answered on the first ring.
