Chasing Evil (Circle of Evil) (9 page)

The gold flecks in his eyes were alight with interest as he gazed at her. “What was it, then?”

She opened her mouth. Snapped it shut again when she could find no words. Damn the man. Wasn’t that the exact same question she’d been grappling with for weeks?

“I am not late. It’s not late. You guys are just ridiculously early. Why are we up at dawn? Where’d you find the coffee?”

Jenna approached the table, words tumbling from her lips. Sophia shoved her iPad back inside her bag, gathered up her purse and rose to brush by her. “I’m going up to the room to get my suitcase.”

Behind her she heard the female agent say, “What’s the matter with Sophia? She didn’t look happy.”

Her temper spiked to dangerous levels when Cam answered, “Who knows? Maybe she found out she wasn’t a morning person after all.”

Chapter 5

“
You don’t talk about your training much.”

The question was sudden, and completely unexpected. Sophia had suspected that Cam had fallen asleep. His face was buried in a pillow, and she was straddling his bare hips giving him a back rub.

Or at least attempting to. She’d never given one in her life and was only doing so now because she’d lost the bet. First one awake had to give the other a back rub. That’s what they’d agreed to last night.

A slight frown furrowed her brow. She’d suspect him of cheating to win this one, except she couldn’t imagine how he could feign sleep so convincingly. His eyelids hadn’t fluttered once. His heartbeat had remained steady and slow, even when she’d stroked him intimately.

If he had been awake she’d have been a bit disappointed.

But he was awake now. And curious. She dug her thumbs into the muscles along his shoulder blades, got a grunt of approval in response. “You want to know about my schooling?”

“I want to know what it was like to be trained by Louis Frein before he retired from the BSU.”

She resumed her actions, moving to his shoulders. “He was brilliant. Short-tempered, but a wonderful teacher. He addressed my graduate level deviant psychology class one day and we spoke afterwards for quite a long time. He saw something in me I still don’t understand. When his offer came to intern at Quantico, I was stunned. He was persistent.” And impossible to tell no.

“You did some ground-breaking work with him. Not many get a chance like that so young.”

Sophia moved lower and started on the center of his back, alongside his spine. “And you’re wondering why I didn’t springboard from that to BAU?” she guessed shrewdly. The behavioral analysis unit consisted of FBI agents using the type of research generated by the BSU and utilizing it to solve active crimes. She used the heel of her palm to rub at a knot below his shoulder blade, eliciting a grunt of pleasure from him. “Because I’m not like you. At heart I’m an academic, like my parents. And I don’t have a brave bone in my body.”

He lifted his head to peer over his shoulder at her. “Don’t kid yourself. I’ve seen you in interviews. Where you go psychologically is every bit as harrowing as where a cop goes physically chasing these guys.”

“With the distinct advantage of not getting shot at.” Her voice was dry. His unexpected compliment warmed her, but she had no illusions about her capabilities. “My parents were…are academics. They expected me to follow their path.” That had seemed important at the time.

He dropped his head facedown to the pillow again. It was a wonder he could breathe. “It’s a shame to waste talent like yours.”

“I’m not wasting it.” She paused to admire the play of muscles in his back as they quivered and jumped at her ministrations. Redoubling her efforts, Sophia said, “With private practice I get the best of both worlds. A varied client list and the opportunity to consult with law enforcement on fascinating cases.” And wasn’t it odd how that circle had been completed, despite her detour to academia. Louis had predicted it would, eventually.

“I meant your massage technique. You’re so good at it I don’t feel guilty at all for pretending to be asleep when you woke up.”

“You…” It took a moment for his meaning to register. Indignation quickly followed. “You were not. I checked.” She rolled off him, only to have him follow and capture both her legs with one of his.

Laughter lit the gold flecks in his eyes. “You mean when you checked my pulse? Or later when you put your hand between my legs to…”

“You’re shameless,” she huffed. To punctuate her point she gave his chest hair a yank. He grimaced but merely shackled her wrists with one of his hands, stretched them over her head. Raked her nude body with a look that sent quick little bursts of fire through her veins.

“Smart,” he corrected. “I learned how to control my breathing in the Army. Came in handy in when I was wounded in Afghanistan and trying to convince a Taliban fighter I was dead. As for the other…” She could feel her cheeks heat at the wicked look in his eyes. “I was reciting the Gettysburg Address in my head to distract myself from where your hand was. Although if you’d lingered any longer I wouldn’t have gotten much past four-score-and-seven-years-ago.”

An unwilling smile pulled at her lips. “Devious and smart. A dangerous combination.”

He lowered his mouth to hers. “You forgot charming.”

Against his lips she breathed, “No. I didn’t.”

His head rose. “May I remind you of the vulnerability of your position?” As if to emphasize his words, he shifted his leg to part both of hers. Slid his knee up to where she was damp and aching.

“All right, charmingly abrasive. That’s about the best I can do.”

A slow smiled curved his lips. “Your best has always been good enough for me.”

Walking miles around endless parks to question its patrons went a long way toward helping Sophia regain her composure. Today’s plan had been clear before they retired last night, so she’d dressed in the yoga pants, tee and sneakers she’d brought for lounging in her motel room. She could hardly traipse around the miles of trails in suits and heels, her only other wardrobe options.

“I know this isn’t your field of expertise,” Cam had told her hours earlier, “but you’re welcome to pair up with one of us. Jenna will join several of Boelin’s men, flashing the victim’s picture to park patrons at all the places where Van Wheton liked to run. “Or you can come with me. I’ll be going over the enhanced security footage Boelin just received.”

Although there hadn’t been a trace of the maddening man she’d come so close to choking that morning in his terse, matter-of-fact demeanor, the choice had been a no-brainer.

And despite their singular lack of success so far, there were worst ways to spend a sunny June morning than familiarizing herself with Edina’s lovely outdoor spaces. A dozen uniformed officers were scattered around the Ashton Creek Park loop. It was the fourth of the area’s running trails they’d checked, and although a few people they’d stopped had recognized Van Wheton, none admitted to knowing her or having seen her in the area yesterday.

Jenna walked briskly ahead to stop a young mother strolling a toddler and infant. Sophia lagged behind, scanning the area. It was a given that the offender had stalked the victim. According to Van Wheton’s daughters their mother had varied her route so the subject would have had to be following the woman to make his move. More likely he’d trailed her for days and chose the area he would snatch her from. Another big risk, she thought, bending to retie her shoe, unless his plan to accost Van Wheton depended more on deceit than surprise. None of the places they’d covered so far this morning were especially isolated, although some had trails less traveled than others. Given how security conscious her daughters had said their mother was, it wasn’t surprising that the woman’s caution extended even to her exercise routine.

Rising, Sophia’s gaze traveled past Jenna and the young mother, who was shaking her head and continuing on her way. But even if Sophia were right about how the offender managed to gain his victim’s cooperation initially, he’d still want to keep his exposure to a minimum. Maybe he changed his appearance for each kidnapping. She eyed the scantily clad female jogging at a steady pace toward them. Even the vehicle he drove could be different every time. It would explain the lack of similarities that had emerged so far about the disappearance of their other two victims. Although she imagined that Cam’s first task once they got back to Des Moines would be to compare the security footage taken at the Edina bank with security images contained in the case files for each of the ID’d victims.

The thought broke off as she sighted a figure in the distance. Frowning slightly, she walked rapidly toward Jenna, her gaze still on the man she’d observed. He was too far away for her to recognize his features but something nagged her about the way he stood, tall and lanky with hands shoved deep in the pockets of his baggy shorts, shoulders hunched, head ducked.

Except his head wasn’t ducked now. His attention was fixed on the barely covered woman jogging toward Sophia. Memory clicked and she veered off the trail onto the manicured grass, intent on talking to him.

His hair was sandy colored. Shaggy. He fought a losing battle with the slight breeze by repeatedly raking it back from his face with spread fingers, his focus still fixed on the woman sporting only a neon pink sports bra and spandex tights with running shoes. He maintained a swift gait across the grass in a style that seemed haphazard, as he circled around benches and trees. But ultimately he kept a parallel pace to the jogger on the path.

Sophia had closed half the distance between them before he noticed her. Froze.

“Sir, could you help me?” she called, quickening her step.

Abruptly he angled away, heading toward a wooded area closer to the creek.

She walked faster. “Sir? Please stop for a moment.”

But the stranger had forgotten his fascination with the jogger on the path. He was now intent on reaching the shelter of the trees.

A sliver of caution filtered through her, although Sophia didn’t break stride. Reaching into her bag, she brought out her cell phone. Thumbed in Jenna’s number.

“What are you doing?” was the agent’s greeting. Sophia tossed a look over her shoulder. Already Jenna was crossing the blanket of grass toward her.

“There’s a man here. I’m positive I saw him this morning at Centennial Park.” She’d reached the tree line now, and her step faltered. Although the area didn’t look particularly threatening, she couldn’t be sure what awaited her in there. Most likely the stranger was using the wooded area to slip away from her.

It was the possibility that he remained near, hidden, waiting for her to follow that gave her pause.

“You’re sure?” The agent had broken into a run now, and was gesturing to one of the officers across the park to join her.

“I think…” Sophia saw a flash through the trees. The man was only yards away. “I’m going in after him. You’ve got this, right?”

“No, wait for me. Dammit, don’t you…”

But Sophia had already lowered the phone and plunged in the grove of trees after the man.

The space was cooler than the open expanse of lawn she’d left. The tree growth wasn’t especially dense, but the vegetation was mature. The canopy stretched as far ahead as she could see. Sunlight dappled the ground, filtering through leaves and branches. Under other circumstances Sophia would find it charming.

She scanned the space carefully. As anxious as the man had seemed to avoid talking to her, he was probably long gone. There was a picturesque bridge over an equally scenic creek nearby, according to the park map she’d grabbed on the way from the parking lot. Ordinarily the scene would strike her as peaceful and secluded.

But ‘secluded’ took on an ominous tone if the man were hiding in the area. She continued walking forward, looking around her carefully. Only then did she become aware of the voice, an annoyed edge to it, coming from the cell phone she still held.

She grinned, finally remembering Jenna on the other end. The knowledge that the female agent would reach her in minutes propelled her forward. If the stranger were still in the vicinity, she wanted to talk to him. Sophia pushed through some undergrowth, belatedly hoping it didn’t contain any poison ivy. The cell was halfway to her ear when the man stepped out from behind a large oak in front of her. Stood motionless.

She stopped and blinked. A moment stretched by. Two.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said in a calm voice. “I wanted to talk to you.” The man’s loose fitting shorts were around his ankles. He gave a little hop, as if to draw her attention to the area he’d bared for her attention. She kept her gaze squarely on his face. “I think you want to shock me,” Sophia said conversationally, staying put. “What reaction do you like best? When women scream? When they run?” The stranger’s manhood, previously fully erect, began a slow descent. “It gives you a sense of control, doesn’t it, when you surprise women this way?”

He gathered himself up in one hand, waved his genitalia at her. Again she kept her attention trained firmly on his face. But mentally she urged Jenna to move faster. While it was true that pure exhibitionists were harmless, there was plenty of exhibitionist criminals, as well. Many of the serial offenders she’d interviewed had demonstrated multiple paraphilias, beginning with flashing and window peeking before they had escalated to sadistic sexual assault. If she hadn’t been certain backup was arriving momentarily, she would have sprinted away at the first glimpse of him.

“I saw you this morning, didn’t I?” Without taking her gaze from him, she cut Jenna’s call off. With a single quick glance at her phone’s screen, she found the camera application while she continued speaking. “I’ll bet you come to the parks a lot, especially when the weather is nice. You like to look at the women, don’t you? And you like them to look at you.” Slowly, with no sudden movements, she brought the phone up to snap a picture. They may need a reason to arrest him, and he hadn’t yet shown a predisposition to answer any questions.

“I’ve talked to men like you. Treated them.” A look of consternation crossed the man’s face and he bent to yank up his shorts. “You use this behavior to seek control in your life. Others have overlooked you. Not taken you seriously. But being seen like this…now people have to pay attention.” Fully clothed now, the man looked on the verge of flight.

“You don’t know. You don’t!”

“I do,” she continued calmly, taking a step forward. Where the heck was Jenna? The stranger seemed more sad than dangerous, but the possible danger wasn’t far from her mind. The serial killer Westley Allen Dodd had started out with flashing. So had Albert Fish. “But there are other ways to seek attention. More socially appropriate ways that won’t get you in trouble. I’m certain you’ve been in trouble before, haven’t you?”