Page 82 of Tell Me Your Desires
“I’m not digging into their lives, Kate, not unless I have to. And if that’s the case, you’ll have plenty of probable cause for a court order.” Anya pulled up another database.
“What are you looking up now?” Kate peered over Anya’s shoulder.
“You’re as impatient as ever, Special Agent in Charge Sullivan.” Anya glanced over at Kate. “I’m checking to see if any reports of stalking came in around the same time as themurders.” She switched back to her original task while the search continued in the background. The complete list of kids who resided at the foster home during the murders, including their photos, was ready for viewing. “Co-ed, age ranges from eight to seventeen.”
“They would have aged out of the system at eighteen.” Kate leaned in, muttering an ‘excuse me’ when she accidentally brushed up against Anya.
Anya shifted the laptop so Kate could have a better look without crowding her. She took a moment to acknowledge that Kate’s touch no longer affected her as it once did. With that realization and Kate’s earlier apology, Anya fully closed the door on that part of her past.
“So, are we looking for anything in particular? If you give me a hint, maybe I could help. Right now, I feel sort of like a lame duck looking at the screen with you as though I’m not just some idiot field agent and I know what I’m doing.”
Anya, who had been staring hard at the laptop screen, looked at Kate in disbelief. “Youhavechanged. Humility has never been in your repertoire.”
“Ouch.” Kate held up her hands in surrender. “You’re right. Damn, so that’s what they mean when they say the truth hurts.” She shook her head. “The question remains the same. Please don’t make me repeat all that humility. I’m already itchy.”
Anya scoffed, and the corner of her mouth tugged upward into a reluctant grin. “I’m not even sure what I’m looking for,” she began as she turned her attention back to the screen. “It’s one of those ‘I’ll know when I see it’ things. Though if I’m right aboutanyof this, names and appearances will have been changed multiple times.” She drummed her fingers on the counter as she thought about her limited options. “I’m going to print these out for easier access.”
Kate visibly winced at the suggestion that Anya made. “We’re breaking all kinds of protocol here, Anya.”
Anya finished pairing her printer with Kate’s computer. “You’ll be happy to know my network is very secure, Agent. It was set up by one of our own.” She pushed the laptop to Kate. “If you could print these, I’ll continue with my assessment.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kate began working on her task. “So, um, you didn’t ice out everyone from the team, then?”
“Not the ones who could turn this place into a fortress with all the fun technology.” Kate was too busy with her task to catch Anya’s ‘Lady A’ smirk. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared when Anya turned her attention to the next cold case. “Moving on. Case two happens a little less than a year later, three states over,” Anya explained. “Four girls disappeared from another foster care. Two were found, and two are still missing. The wounds are more confident now, but still a bit unsure.”
Kate paused in her task and looked over. “Why the change in the number of girls?”
Anya shook her head, distracted as she went over the information again. “You’re assuming that’s an important element in their MO, and I don’t believe that it is. At any rate, any number of factors could have forced their decision.” She tapped the next page. “The third case is more than two years later, and they moved on from the foster homes. I imagine they aged out,” Anya spoke the last part so quietly that it was barely a murmur, as she wasn’t quite prepared to share everything with Kate just yet. “Five girls, three found slain, two still missing.” Anya studied the cuts on each girl. They had yet to become the brutality they were today, but these were definitely bolder than the first two cases. In Anya’s opinion, it was too much of a progression. “This isn’t the third case. Not for them. The cuts are overly confident now. He has honed his skills. There are other women out there that we don’t know about.”
Kate stopped what she was doing and gave Anya her full attention. “Are you sure?”
Anya handed her the crime scene photos from the second and third cases. “There was a two-year gap between these cases, yet these cuts were no longer hesitant. He’s angry.” She brought out the photos from the last cold case. “Another year lapses, but you see here? Her tongue is cut out. This is the first evidence of his evolution into mutilation, but I don’t think he went from angry to butcher in that amount of time without killing others in between.”
Kate sank heavily into the chair as she examined the evidence laid out before her. “How did they catch some and miss the others?” she finally asked, seemingly realizing that these cases were indeed related to Anya’s.
“My educated guess? He screwed up. I believe he became fixated on one of the girls in the cases we know about. Perhaps even infatuated. Interviews with those who knew the victims described a couple of the girls as ‘inseparable,’ ‘extremely close,’ ‘the best of friends,’ or ‘fiercely protective of each other.’ Those were all from different cases, Kate. I think he became obsessed with someone he couldn’t have.”
“Shit. Okay, so that gives us an explanation as to why he took at least two of the girls, right? Obsessed with one, angry with the other. But why the rest? Diversions?”
“I wish I could say yes. I think that would be the lesser of the two evils.”
Kate rubbed her arms as though a sudden chill had just swept through the room. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Imagine being in my head.” Anya sighed. “I need to see the photos you printed out.”
Kate retrieved the printouts and handed them over. “You’re not going to tell me?”
Anya glanced up, thanking Kate under her breath. “Of course I will. As soon?—”
“As soon as you’re absolutely 100% sure,” Kate finished for Anya with a slight shake of her head. “That’s one thing that hasn’t changed about you. You take everything on by yourself, regardless of how heavy it is. You don’t trust anyone to help you.”
Anya nearly laughed out loud at Kate’s absurdity about trust, but she didn’t want to regress after the progress they had made. “It’s not about trust, Kate. This case is personal. I don’t have the time or energy to explain how or why I know or believe certain things. So it’s easier for me to find the evidence and then tell you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“This one,”Anya said unexpectedly. Photos were spread out on the table, each labeled with names in Kate’s messy handwriting.
“Hmm?” Kate was busy widening the search for more cases that could potentially be related to the cold cases. Now that Anya was confident there were more victims out there, the net and the manpower were broader. “Right. She’s, um…” She went to the fridge and snatched the sheet of paper from under the magnet. “Ruby Arnold, still missing from the first case.”
