Page 48 of Mine to Share

Why these particular men?

How did they cross paths with our unsub?

A frustrated, heavy sigh rushed between my pursed lips as I swiveled the chair to study the files strewn along the desk. Resting my elbows on the top, I pressed the heel of both hands against my eyes and counted to ten, attempting to calm the swirling unanswered questions and constant intruding thoughts of her. It was a feeble, desperate attempt to keep any thoughts of Rain out and everything focused on nailing down the profile. But how could I not constantly think about her when she was entangled in this? Her name on all the reports drew my gaze every time, like a blinking neon sign.

This was my first solo assignment as a profiler, and I refused to fuck it up by being distracted.

Fingers wrapped around the slim device, I slid my cell from my pocket and pressed my boss’s number, hitting the speaker icon before dropping it to the desk. The sharp ringing echoed through the quiet and desolate office three times before Rhyan’s voice poured through the phone.

“Riggs.”

“Hey, it’s me.” The chair let out a squeak as I leaned back, bouncing a little with nervous energy. “You got a few seconds?”

“For you? Always. How’s the case going?”

With a huff, I let my head tip back until I gazed at the square ceiling tiles.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I’m any closer on a profile than I was on the plane coming here. It’s confusing as fuck. I haven’t even narrowed down the gender because of a few inconsistencies that normally point one direction or another. One second, I’m leaning toward a male unsub, then the next, something new catches my attention and I swing back to female.”

Rhyan hummed, but another voice came through the speaker. “What’s keeping you from identifying the unsub as female?” Special Agent Charlie Bekham cleared his throat before continuing. “I made the same mistake once, and it almost cost Rhyan her life.”

I swallowed hard and swiveled the chair to face the wall lined with pictures. Leaning forward, I balanced both elbows on the top of my thighs.

“The bodies are left on display, no signs of remorse or attempting to cover them up, which we normally don’t see with a female unsub. Then there’s the way the unsub kills. The amount of blood at the scene makes even some of the crime scene techs squeamish. It’s a colossal mess, and—”

“How about the ME?” Rhyan questioned, cutting me off.

“Well, no, it doesn’t bother her, but—”

“She is a woman, isn’t she?” she continued.

“Yeah, but Rain is different—”

“Ohhhh, it’sRainnow, is it?” I rolled my eyes at Charlie’s teasing. “Not Dr. Evans? I’m guessing you were excited to see her again?”

I jerked around and grabbed the phone, glaring at the time ticking on the screen like I could force my annoyance down the line all the way to Dallas. “How do you know I knew her from before?”

Charlie scoffed. “It’s me, and I’m fucking good at my job. No stone unturned and all that shit. When I searched for online connections between the victims, I might have sniffed around her background too.”

“Why?” I gritted out, the edge of the phone digging into my palm beneath my death grip. The responding silence shifted my annoyance to trepidation. “Tell me what the fuck is going on, Charlie.” Shoving out of the chair, I clenched the edge of the desk until all color bled from my knuckles. “Why the hell were you looking into Rain’s background? Looking into her, period?”

“That was my call.” At least Rhyan sounded the tiniest bit sorry for having her partner investigate Rain. “I’ll explain why later, but it isn’t negative, so don’t worry. Let’s just say I wanted to know more about this brilliant ME who caught that these cases were committed by one unsub. I’m intrigued.”

My thoughts spun on hyperdrive around the implications of what Rhyan said. My Rain intrigued Rhyan. Was that a good or bad thing?

No. Fuck. Not my Rain. Not mine at all.

Except the more time I spent in Rain’s orbit, the more I wanted that to be true.

The only explanation for Rhyan’s request slammed into me like a punch in the gut. I straightened and ran a hand through my hair, pulling at the ends.

“You’re considering her for the team.”

“Hmm.” I rolled my eyes at the noncommittal hum. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Now, let’s focus on the reason you called. You’ve laid out the reasons you think a woman didn’t commit these crimes, which are valid. Weak but valid based on what we’ve learned from other female serial killers. Now tell me why you think it’s a female.”

“The blitz attacks to subdue them, the fact that there aren’t any hilt bruises around the stab wounds, and from what I can tell, there aren’t any souvenirs taken from the bodies or scenes. The point of entry in all the home cases are narrow windows and even a doggy door.”

Stepping up to the wall of pictures, I leaned a shoulder against an empty spot and stared down the row of gruesome photos, hoping the angle would help me see something new.

---