R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights (20 page)

In Rainey’s mind, Ernie and Mackie were part of her family. They were really all she had left, except for Katie, and she wasn’t sure how much more of this Katie would take. She would have to call her mother, which she dreaded immensely, but it was the right thing to do. Her mother and stepfather were in danger, just like the rest of them, even if Rainey never really spent any time with them.

Danny picked up a pen from Rainey’s desk, poised to take notes. He said, “Okay, fair enough. Just tell me what you think and I’ll share it with the team.”

Rainey stood up, walked to the counter, and poured another drink. She offered the bottle to Danny. He put his hand over his still full glass and waited for her to begin.

Rainey didn’t sit back down. She walked over to the window and peered into the darkness at the lake. She watched the tiny lights on a small boat, as it slowly passed the end of the dock, headed to the boat ramp just south of Rainey’s property. The lake closed to boat traffic at nine p.m. She let her mind wander, while it sorted through her encyclopedia of Dalton Chambers knowledge. When she was ready, she turned to Danny and began.

“The differences in the case, here in Durham, and Dalton’s crimes are what sticks out to me. The body was left in the death position for some time, before it and the head were packaged and thrown in the river. Why did he move the body? Was he trying to conceal it, or was he making sure it would be found, or did he panic and lose focus? The kill sight was probably on public land like Dalton’s. There isn’t much privacy here in the triangle, unlike where Dalton committed his murders. In order to have the seclusion he would need, for the amount of time he spends with the victims, he chose a place where he was positive no one would find him. That makes me think of avid hikers, hunters, even farmers in the area around the river, someone who knows the lay of the land.”

Rainey took a drink and began to pace. Her mind focused on the details. Things began to click. “I don’t think this guy is a controlled killer like Dalton. He may develop into one, but right now he is learning. He followed his instructions to create a copycat crime, but somewhere along the way I think he panicked, probably when the head came off. He is not a practiced killer. I think this victim may have been his first. When the next body is found, I think you will see signs of more control. The first kill didn’t turn him off. I’m sure he killed the woman that is still missing. There are too many coincidences in how the victims were taken, who the victims were, and where they were last seen. The most obvious difference in these victims and Dalton’s is they were not virgins, or even attempting to appear that way. From the reports I saw, I gathered these were staunch lesbians. How does a man get that type of woman to go willingly with him? He must use a ruse similar to Bundy. The ‘man in need of help’ con is my bet.”

Danny asked, “This bar where the women were last seen, I am assuming it’s a lesbian or gay bar.”

“Feme Sole, it’s a lesbian bar.”

“Have you been there?”

Rainey thought about her promise to Katie to take her dancing. “No, but I planned to take Katie, Saturday. That’s one more promise I’ll have to break.”

“Yes, you will break that promise,” Danny said. “If he’s hunting you and you show up in his territory, he won’t be able to resist coming after you. He wants to please Dalton and you are all that piece of shit thinks about.”

That didn’t make Rainey feel any better about the situation. She tried to move on. “Physically, I think this guy is like Dalton. Good looking, charming, you know, the boy next door. He gets these women isolated and then he strikes. The victims’ cars were parked, untouched, near the bar. So, he must lie in wait for them near there. Durham police and the Sheriff’s department are patrolling the area now, but I don’t think they will be able to spot him. He will blend in with the crowd. There are several bars in the area, so he could appear to be a young man leaving a bar. He won’t be sporting a flannel shirt and chewing tobacco, that’s for sure.”

Rainey felt as if the years melted away and she was back on the team when Danny jumped in. It was just like old times. “He definitely has a working vehicle. He transports the victims to remote locations, so it’s probably an SUV or truck. After “Silence of the Lambs,” no woman is going to follow a guy to the back of his van to lend a hand. He hunts on the weekends, so he probably has a nine to five job during the week. If he’s in a relationship, he is able to be gone for many hours without suspicion.”

Danny’s phone rang. He answered, “McNally.”

Rainey watched Danny’s facial expressions as he carried on a conversation with someone, apparently a member of the BAU team that accompanied him.

“Uh huh, yeah, I’ll be right there… No, Rainey is not consulting on this case… Yes, I will. See you in about thirty minutes… Yes, send the coordinates to my phone… Yeah, okay and make sure the locals don’t touch anything until I get there.” He hung up and turned his attention back to Rainey. “Glad I didn’t drink that booze. It’s going to be a long night. They found the missing girl.”

Rainey asked, knowing the answer before she did, “Is it him?”

“Looks that way. This one was still tied to the tree. And before I forget, Curtis says hello.”

Curtis joined the BAU four years before Rainey resigned. He was still young and new enough not to be jaded. Rainey had liked him and his young wife. They were such a cute couple. She wondered how their marriage was holding up under the stress of his job. If he had a secret, she wished he’d share. Rainey’s only real friends had been co-workers. She suddenly felt some of the isolation and loneliness Katie must be experiencing.

Danny looked at Rainey with his eyebrows raised. “You’re sure you don’t want in on this?”

Part of Rainey did want to go with Danny, but she knew she couldn’t. She had her own mess to deal with over at the cottage, and besides she was well on her way to getting drunk. Rainey was not an agent anymore; she would never be again, not as long as Katie was in her life.

“No, Danny. I can’t. I need to go home. Keep me informed and call me if you want more of my insights, but no, I can’t work this case. It would be too much to ask of Katie.”

They started for the door, Danny saying as they moved, “Okay, but if you change your mind, you know you are welcome to step in at any time.” He paused, put his arm around her shoulder and said, “I miss you, Rainey. I really do.”

“I miss you, too Danny.”

#

Danny waited while Rainey locked the office, then they walked back up the hill together. They said goodbye at the SUV and then Rainey made her way to the front steps. She watched until his taillights disappeared into the trees covering the road. Her shoulder was pounding again, the ice having long since melted. She approached the door, hoping Katie had calmed down by now. She looked around once more, taking in the property with a trained eye. Nothing looked out of place. Freddie joined her on the deck. She petted him on the head.

“I don’t know if you want to come in here, now. She might still be mad.” Freddie rubbed up against her, purring loudly, and meowed. “Easy for you to say. You have a doggie door to escape out of.” Freddie looked up at Rainey and meowed, louder this time. “Okay, if you think it’s safe, we’ll go in.”

Rainey took a deep breath. Reaching for the handle, she discovered the door was unlocked. A small act of rebellion on Katie’s part, Rainey was sure. Of course, Katie knew Rainey and Danny were only a few feet away, and would come running if anyone approached. Katie did leave the alarm on, which was loudly announcing Rainey’s presence. She peeked in and saw the living room was empty. Rainey locked the door behind her, reset the alarm, and went in search of the fuming little blonde. She found Katie in the bedroom, reading on her Kindle, by the window. Katie looked up for a second and then went right back to the screen. Okay, this was how Katie was going to play this, the silent treatment. Rainey could do that easy enough. She turned around and went to the kitchen in search of food. The alcohol had not landed well in her hollow stomach.

She found Freddie waiting by his empty bowl. “Looks like I’m not the only one being neglected. We’re on our own tonight, Bud.”

Rainey fed Freddie and then opened the refrigerator, looking for something to feed herself. On the top shelf, Katie had placed a sandwich wrapped in cellophane and a glass of milk. So Katie wasn’t so mad she wanted Rainey to starve. She took the sandwich and milk out to the living room. When she lived alone she always ate in front of the TV. Katie insisted on eating at the table. This was Rainey’s little act of rebellion.

She turned on the flat screen and settled into the couch. Katie would come out of the bedroom eventually. Rainey could wait. Right now she was looking for a basketball game to watch. It wasn’t basketball season, to Rainey’s chagrin, but she found a replay of the Duke – Carolina game from this past season, on one of the sports channels. Avoiding the problem wasn’t going to make it go away, but a little food and ACC basketball would make it easier to face. If she were lucky the fight would come and go before the second half.

Her stomach growled as she unwrapped the sandwich. Since Katie had her on a regular eating schedule, when she missed a meal Rainey felt like she was starving. She used to go a whole day on one quickly grabbed hamburger. She took a huge bite out of the sandwich just as Katie came into the room. Oh God, Rainey thought, could she just swallow this before the fighting started?

“I see your basic needs are being met,” Katie said, sarcasm dripping from her words.

“wthawnk yuuu fo thw san wooch,” Rainey tried to say, the sandwich hanging out both sides of her mouth. She swallowed and tried again. “Thank you for the sandwich.”

“I made it before you ran off with Danny for your secret meeting.”

“I didn’t run off with Danny to have a secret meeting. You were slamming pots around, so I thought you needed some space.” That sounded like a plausible answer. Rainey didn’t want to admit that she was afraid of Katie’s anger, and ran like a scared little girl to the safety of her office. She thought about taking another bite of the sandwich, but that might send Katie over the edge.

“You don’t think I need to know what’s going on, here? Is this something I don’t,” Katie made quotation marks in the air around her next words, “need to know?”

“No, you should know everything, but Danny didn’t have much on this guy, yet. I know Dalton, but he’s locked up. They found the missing girl. That’s why Danny left. I’m sure we’ll know more tomorrow.”

“You could have included me in the conversation with Danny. I have a right to know who’s trying to kill me,” Katie argued.

“You didn’t give me a chance.” Rainey threw the sandwich down on the plate and stood up. “Jesus Katie, what the hell is wrong with you? First you tell me you can’t live with my job, which is the reason we met in the first place, and now you’re accusing me of keeping something important from you. You were angry and not in a talking mood, from what I could tell. I’m sure the dishwasher can testify to that.”

“You weren’t exactly in a cheerful mood yourself.” Katie hesitated and then said, “I don’t know why you insist on chasing down criminals. This isn’t any safer than your FBI job, maybe even worse. You said you stayed at Quantico doing research most of the time, and at least you weren’t the first to go in when you were in the field. Haven’t you faced enough life and death situations to last a lifetime? What is it Rainey? Do you need the thrill?”

“I resigned to be with you.”

Katie shouted, “Then be with me! Not out risking your life on a daily basis.”

Rainey was angry, Katie was angry, and this conversation was going nowhere unless they figured out what they were angry about. Rainey knew anger was usually a symptom of a deeper emotion, like fear. The analyst in Rainey watched Katie’s body language. She listened to the tone of Katie’s voice. Rainey needed to be calm and rational, in response. As long as they remained standing and confrontational, nothing would be accomplished.

“Katie, sit down,” Rainey said, in her best soothing voice.

Rainey learned something at that moment about women, for which her behavioral analyst job did not prepare her. Never tell an angry woman to sit down. She had faced off men twice her size and told them to sit their asses down, she had taken control of drug crazed bond skippers, but she would never again tell Katie to sit down during an argument. It had the same effect as throwing water on a grease fire. Katie stood on her tiptoes and let fly with everything that had been bothering her since they met. Rainey could only stand by and watch.

“I will not sit down! I have a few things to say and I intend to stand here and say them. First of all, yes, I did know what you did for a living and I have done my best to accept the fact that every time you walk out that door could be the last, but you take unnecessary risks and that is selfish. Do you ever think about how I feel? You walk around fully armed and alarmed, but you put yourself in situations that are dangerous for no reason. Do you have a death wish? If you do, tell me now, so I can try to fall out of love with you.”

“Katie, I…” Rainey tried to say something, but it was no use.

“Second, if you think for one minute I’m going to live the rest of my life in fear, you are sadly mistaken. I will not live like that and you don’t have to, either.”

Rainey saw her opportunity to respond. “I don’t take unnecessary risks and I don’t want you to live in fear. I just want you to be cautious and aware.”

“Bull shit, Rainey. You want me in this cottage where you think you can protect me. I see the apprehension in your eyes every time I get in the car. I have accommodated your fears and stayed close to home, most of the time, but I have been alone about as much as I intend to be. I’m re-entering my life and I won’t be looking at every person I meet as a potential threat.”

“So, this really isn’t about me, is it?” Rainey shot back. She could remain calm in the worst of situations, but Katie could make her crazy. Like now, when Rainey should have shut up, but didn’t. “Now that the fog of your trauma is lifting, you can see the future, and you don’t like what you see. Is that it?”