Killer Moves (15 page)

She shook her head. “I’m trying. I want to trust you and believe you when you tell me you’re done with the Bureau, but, Davis, I thought that before. I believed you’d choose me before. It’s not so easy to let go of my doubts now.”

God, he hated that she was right. He could certainly see why it was so hard for her to trust him.

When he didn’t answer, couldn’t give her the assurances she needed, she took his silence as answer enough and walked past him without another word.

Davis closed his eyes. How many times in the past had he experienced this same rejection in his dreams?

He felt as if he were walking in a daze. Slowly he moved back to the spot he’d left and sank down to the floor once more. He picked up the folder he hadn’t been reading before. The words blurred before his eyes. His mind was unable to focus. His thoughts were all for her.

Had he truly lost her? God help him, he’d never felt more helpless than he did at that moment.

Davis wasn’t even aware of her joining him again until she took the folder from him. He picked up another file and forced himself to concentrate on the words in front of him.

For a long time they worked in silence.

“I’ve been thinking,” Kara said at last, her voice far from steady. “My gut tells me Frankie is not the killer. We both know he’s dead. We screwed up, Davis. We need to find out how Frankie got involved with the killer. Was he a willing accomplice or did the Angel coerce his help? Since he’s the only face we can connect to the murders, I think we need to take another look at what we know about him.”

Davis put down the case file and considered this for a moment. He recalled everything about Frankie’s family. The mother died refusing to believe her son capable of such brutality. He’d talked to the uncle several times through the years.

“Maybe it’s time to pay Frankie’s uncle another visit. Perhaps something he remembers might help us find the real killer.”

The neighborhood in which Frankie Shepard lived before the killings began had been old six years ago. Now it showed significant signs of neglect.

“It wasn’t this bad a few years back. I came here to talk to the family before the mother passed away.” He saw Kara’s questioning look. “I don’t know. I just felt sorry for them.”

Davis parked in front of a rundown, two-story house. “This is it. At least this used to be where Herman lived before…”

“It doesn’t look as if anyone lives here now.” Kara took a hesitant step up onto the rickety porch.

“No, maybe he’s moved on. I can’t blame him for wanting to put this nightmare behind him.” Davis looked her way. “Well, as much as humanly possible. I guess you never fully put this in the past, do you?”

Davis pushed the doorbell, and when it didn’t appear to be working he knocked on the door. Someone had spray-painted the paned window black.

They were just about ready to give up when the faint sound of footsteps could be heard from somewhere inside.

The man who opened the door still bore a faint resemblance to Frankie Shepard.

Herman recognized Davis right away. “I’ve been expecting you, Agent Martin.” He stepped aside. “You might as well come in. Thought maybe you were someone from the press.”

He followed the old man into the tiny living room before introducing Kara.

“Herman, this is Kara Bryant. She worked on the Angel case with me.”

Herman Pittman eyed Kara suspiciously. “I remember. You’re the medium.” Kara didn’t bother correcting him. She’d once told Davis how much she hated being referred to as a medium all of her life. She said it made her sound like a freak.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Herman turned to Davis. “What do you want from me now?”

Davis cleared his throat. “I’m wondering if anyone showing any special interest in the case has stopped by lately?”

“You’re kidding right? Every single anniversary some kook comes around asking questions. Usually the press but not always. There are a lot of sick people out there, Agent Martin.”

Davis nodded, aware of Kara glancing around the room. He wondered what she saw.

“Herman, we came here today because we need your help. I’m wondering if perhaps you can think of anyone Frankie might have been involved with before his death that you might not have mentioned before.”

Davis barely got the words out before Herman’s explosive reaction became apparent.

“What kind of crap is this? I told you people everything I knew back then. Me and his mother both told you our Frankie wasn’t capable of such terrible things. You never gave him the chance to defend himself. You were judge, jury and executioner in spite of what everyone who ever knew him better than your so-called experts was telling you—”

Herman was right. They’d been so eager to pin the crimes on Frankie that they’d ignored the obvious flaws in the theory. Now, they needed Herman’s help to fix this mess. The only way to get it would be to be honest with the man.

“Herman, you have a right to be angry because you’re right. At the time, all of our evidence pointed toward Frankie as being the killer, but now, well, that’s changed. We think Frankie might have been forced to participate in the killings by someone, the true Angel.”

Herman couldn’t quite believe what he’d heard. “So you’re saying he wasn’t responsible, like we said.”

Davis looked him square in the eye. He was sick of the shoddy way things had ended before. He wanted to right the wrongs that had been done to this family.

“Yes, that’s right. And I know I have no right to ask you this, but I am. I need to know if you can think of anyone Frankie might have been scared of, or was threatened by.”

“Threatened?” Herman shook his head. “He never gave any indication he was in trouble like that.”

Davis got to his feet along with Kara. “If you think of anything that might help, give me a call.” Davis handed him his card. “My number’s on there. I’m truly sorry, Herman, but I want you to know, we’re going to do everything within our power to bring the true killer to justice and clear Frankie’s name.”

Herman Pittman begrudgingly accepted Davis’s apology, before showing them to the door. “Have you talked to Victoria Anders?”

“Not recently. Why?”

“Victoria would have been the only one from Frankie’s past that he’d keep in touch with. They were good friends, as you know. She never stopped believing Frankie’s innocence either. She’d know if someone was threatening him.”

Kara waited until they were inside the car again. “What did he mean by Victoria never stopped believing Frankie was innocent?”

“Victoria and Frankie’s family were close once—before the breakup of his parents’ marriage. But Victoria and Frankie stayed friends throughout the years. As Herman said, she never believed Frankie was responsible for the killings. I interviewed her shortly after Frankie’s death. She knew the first victim as well as Frankie. She told us none of those things reported about Frankie asking Amy out were true. In fact, Victoria said that Frankie hadn’t seen Amy in years. Not since his family moved away from the old neighborhood.”

“So someone lied. What are you thinking?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I think we definitely need to talk to Victoria again.”

Chapter Eight

Victoria Anders’ home seemed light years away from the rundown houses of Frankie’s former neighborhood. She lived in a townhouse in an upper-class neighborhood in Coral Hills.

Davis called ahead to ask her if she would be willing to speak with him again. From their one-sided conversation, Kara could tell the girl wasn’t looking forward to revisiting the past.

Once Davis parked the car, he turned to Kara.

“She’ll talk to us but I don’t know if she’ll tell us anything new. I’m beginning to think this is a waste of time. We’re chasing the past while the Angel is out there trolling for his next victim.”

“And Ava might just be it,” Kara whispered. “Davis, do you think we made a mistake by not bringing her here with us. I’m so afraid for her.”

“Nothing is going to happen to Ava, she’s well protected. She’s with my father. Dad called in all his old mates from the force. Last count there were more than ten men with a virtual armory of weapons between them. They’ve set up an invisible protective perimeter around Maggie and Ava. My dad trusts these men and I trust him. She’ll be safe. We don’t know what might happen to her here. The best way we can help Ava is to concentrate on identifying the Angel.” He hesitated for a second and then added, “Kara, I really wish you would reconsider going with her.”

“No.”

“You know the way this thing ends. You’ll be safe there.”

“I’m not leaving, Davis. We can figure this out together.”

“Kara, I can’t let you do it. What if I can’t prevent it this time? What if he succeeds? I can’t risk losing you.”

Before she could argue the point, Davis got out of the car and waited. Always a very determined man when he’d made up his mind about something, Kara knew it would be pointless to argue with him at the moment.

Victoria Anders was surprisingly polite considering she categorically distrusted the FBI and earnestly still believed in Frankie’s innocence.

“Come inside, Agent Martin, Ms. Bryant. I guess I’m not really surprised you’re here. I heard on the news tonight there have been some killings. The media seems to want to try to link them to the previous cases. Is that true? If so, doesn’t this prove anything to you people? Clearly, Frankie wasn’t the Death Angel if it’s happening again. You didn’t get the right person.”

“I know you loved your friend but we still have no proof to lead us to believe that Frankie wasn’t involved in those first cases in some way.”

“How can you say that when it’s happening again! You didn’t know him. Frankie was a sweet, caring man. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. You’re wrong, Agent Martin. And if you still believe Frankie did these things, then why are you here now?”

“Because there are some similarities between the two cases, we’re going back through the files and contacting all of the people connected to Frankie’s past.”

“Well, I can’t tell you anything new.”

Kara sensed she was keeping something back.

“Victoria, did you remember something?” Her question caught Victoria off guard.

She seemed torn and then she walked over to the fireplace mantle and took something from a small case.

“There is something. But I don’t know if it will help Frankie or not. I’m not even sure what it is.” She handed a tiny key to Davis.

“After Frankie’s funeral, I went back to the place he and I used to hang out together as teenagers. There’s an old tree on my parents’ ranch outside town. It’s dead—my dad believed lightning struck it years ago. Frankie and I used to hang out there a lot. He told me that’s where he went when he needed to think.”

“This is the place out past Donovan’s Corner, correct?” Davis confirmed.

“That’s right. Anyway, I went there after the funeral because I needed to remember Frankie the way I knew him, not the way the press depicted him. They were everywhere taking pictures at the funeral. It was horrible! So I went there and I found this in an envelope stuffed inside the trunk of the tree. Frankie and I used to leave each other messages that same way when we were kids.”

“Was there anything else? A note maybe?” Davis asked, turning the key over in his hand.

“No, just that. I don’t know what it fits. I’m sorry, I know I probably should have turned it over to you before, but I didn’t think it would serve any purpose at the time. And Frankie was as good as convicted of those crimes. I tried to figure it out on my own but I didn’t have any luck. Do you think it’s important?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Thank you for your candor, Victoria, and for sharing this with us.”

“Will you promise me you’ll try and find out what this means? And if you find out Frankie is…if you find out he didn’t have anything to do with the killings, will you make sure the information gets to the press? Frankie’s mom died trying to prove her son’s innocence, but she didn’t have the money. She even went to Frankie’s father for help, but he just wanted to be left alone. He never cared about Frankie or her.”

“I promise I’ll do my best. And whatever I find, I’ll let you know.”

“Do you think the key’s important?” Kara asked once they were outside.

“Maybe. Right now I think everything is important. And it ‘s our only real lead.”

“What do you think it belongs to?”

“I’m not sure. It looks like a small safety deposit box.”

“Did Frankie have a safety deposit box?”

“None that we found, and we checked every angle. He had very little money in his bank account. It might be to a storage place, but after six years who knows what’s happened to whatever he stored. Besides, we would have heard about it by now. After the case broke, everyone who ever knew Frankie before came forward looking for publicity. I’m thinking this may be something he kept hidden somewhere special. Maybe we should take a drive out to the Anders’ ranch and have a look at that tree.”

“I agree.” Kara nodded. She actually felt a small amount of relief at their discovery.