Wanting (17 page)

“
Ashleigh, did you find
anything in Elliot’s office?” Carrie asked.

Ashleigh’s eyes widened and
she shivered. She looked between Carrie and Paige. “Yes. But I
don’t know what it is. I tried opening it, but it didn’t make any
sense. I think you have to be a computer genius or something to
understand it.”

“
What did you find? I
happen to know a few computer geniuses who can take a look,” Paige
said.

“
I found this.” Ashleigh
reached under her shirt collar and pulled out a black cord with
something tied to the end. “I made the necklace. I didn’t want to
lose it, whatever it was, so I didn’t put it in my pocket. I had it
in my backpack when Elliot hit me. I grabbed my bag and
ran.”

She handed the necklace to
Carrie. Carrie carefully untied the cord and unwrapped the cloth.
Inside was a memory card. “And where exactly did you find
this?”

“
In Elliot’s laptop. He
usually keeps it in his car but the car was getting worked on. So
he had it in the basement. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it
was important. So I made sure not to lose it. I don’t know what to
do with it.”

Carrie studied the memory
card. It was the standard card you could pretty much buy anywhere.
“We’ll see that it gets processed and will try to figure out what
Elliot has been doing.”

“
And the kid in the
basement? Will you help him, too?”

Chapter 40

*****

Sebastian hit the record
button next to the intercom the minute the advocate said it was ok.
Legally, they couldn’t record a minor conversation without an adult
responsible for the child giving consent. He got that consent when
he’d called Sherry to report having found Ashleigh. The advocate
had also indicated it was ok.

The minute Ashleigh
mentioned the body in the wall, Sebastian grabbed his phone and
placed a call to the legal department of PAVAD, requesting a
warrant to search Sherry’s house, basement specifically.

If something turned up, if
it truly was the body of Marco Galeano in the basement, then this
just went from doing a favor for a friend to a
kidnapping-turned-murder. And that would be well within the
jurisdiction of the CCU.

His next act was to have
his team recalled from stand-by.

One thing he did know for
sure—Elliot Courtney wasn’t going anywhere until they knew what was
on that memory card.

It took an additional half
an hour for the warrant to be issued. The legal department worked
fast because it was a police officer involved search. They
understood that the officer could possess enough forensics
knowledge to remove any evidence before the search team could
arrive at the scene.

Sebastian knocked on the
window of the conference room, knowing Paige would recognize the
signal to join him. She and Carrie immediately stood, Paige
offering reassurances that they would return to Ashleigh
shortly.

“
So what do we do next?”
Carrie asked as Paige shut the door to the conference room behind
her.

“
I’ve got the warrant on
its way. I’m going to search the basement. Carrie, you’re with me.
Paige—you just became Ashleigh’s best friend. Closer than fleas on
a dog, understand? Take her to Dr. Brockman’s, and you and Al keep
Ashleigh there. I’ve already spoken with Al. I want at least two
agents with her at all times. We don’t know how far this goes
yet.”

“
Do you think it’s true?”
Carrie asked, looking at him with wide eyes. “Do you think the body
is still there? This Elliot has had two weeks to remove it and redo
the walls.”

“
But did he? He may have
been counting on Ashleigh not coming back or being found. Or he was
simply getting her out there where she’d be more vulnerable.
Something on that card is valuable enough to him for him to be
looking for her, still,” Paige said.

“
We need to know what it
is.” Sebastian looked at the card in Carrie’s hands. “How fast do
you think you can take a look at it?”

“
Hard to tell. I’ll grab my
bag and get started. I’ll need to copy the card to back it
up.”

“
Do it, as quick as you
can. Bring a copy with you. I want you there when we search the
basement.” He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to let her out of
his sight. Not tonight. Was it because of the break-in, or because
it was late and she’d been with him all day and it just felt right
to keep her with him? They’d started this hunt for Ashleigh
together and they’d finish it side-by-side. “Paige, Al is meeting
you and Ashleigh in the lobby. I’m assigning a detail to you. I’ve
spoken with Malachi Brockman, he’s home for the night and is
willing to help with security detail.”

“
You think three agents
are necessary?” Carrie was watching Ashleigh and the advocate
through the one way mirror. Her face was sad and worried. Sebastian
wrapped his fingers around her arm, his thumb brushing the skin
just under the band of her shirt. She looked at him, but didn’t
pull away.

He took it for the small
victory it was and moved on. She would get used to him touching her
in time. “I do. This Courtney is a police detective with the St.
Louis P.D., and has the means and resources to find her if he digs
deep enough. And she’s terrified of him. Marco Galeano disappeared
from an indoor school function. General consensus is that he was
taken from inside the building. Possibly lured out by a trusted
official. That could have been a police officer.”

“
But why?”

Carrie’s question was the
same one running through Sebastian’s mind. What was on the card
that meant so much that Courtney would threaten the girl, and why
was the body of a thirteen year old boy from Kansas City in
Sherry’s basement walls? Other than Courtney, how were the two
connected? “Carrie, we need that information from the card as soon
as you can get it.”

She rummaged through the
bag she always carried and came out with one of her laptops. She
pulled a memory card of her own from the bag’s side pocket. “I
always carry about a dozen of these. I’ll copy it here, and if you
and Paige can sign off that you witnessed me putting the original
in an evidence bag? Someone can run it down to the Questionable
Documents/ Technological Information department; I can work on the
initial data in the car.”

Chapter 41

*****

Ashleigh shivered when she
walked out of the interview room and down the hall after telling
the FBI everything she knew about Elliot. She still felt sick to
her stomach, but at least now she wasn’t the only good person who
knew about that poor dead kid.

“
Ashleigh, your mom is in
the other conference room. Do you want to speak with her?” her
advocate asked. “You don’t have to. Not if you don’t want
to.”

“
Is she alone? Is my dad
with her? Is...Elliot?”

“
Elliot Courtney will not
be leaving this building tonight, Ashleigh. You will be safe.”
Agent Paige had an arm around Ashleigh’s shoulders and it felt good
to know she wasn’t alone anymore. “I swear to you. He will not ever
hurt you or anyone else again. Do you want to talk to your
mom?”

Did she? Her mom hadn’t
believed her when she’d said that Elliot was lying about the school
calling. Elliot had told her mom the school had called because
Ashleigh had skipped four days of school. It hadn’t been true. He
was just trying to get her into trouble. Her mom had believed him,
about everything. What else had Elliot told her while Ashleigh had
been running? Would her mom even believe her? “No. Not
tonight.”

“
Ok. That’s your choice,”
Agent Paige said. “I’ll tell Agent Sebastian, and he can tell your
mom what’s happening, ok?”

Ashleigh nodded. She
couldn’t deal with her mom tonight. Not yet. And not until she was
sure Elliot was in jail and going to be for a very long time. “I
just want to go.”

“
You got it. We have to
wait for our baby-sitters, than you and I are going to go meet my
partner.” Agent Paige hugged her, quick. Ashleigh didn’t mind; it
felt good knowing somebody cared about what happened to her
again.

Chapter 42

*****

Carrie forced herself to
look away from the remains. They couldn’t definitively say it was
Marco Galeano in the wall, but there was no doubt that there was
someone. Someone young and male, and probably of South American
descent. It had taken the forensics team less than two hours to
discover that there was a body behind the cinder blocks that
someone—it was too early to say for certain it was Courtney—had
used to separate the large basement into two smaller
rooms.

It was crude, but anyone
could look at the wall and see that there was a three-foot space
that was unaccounted for. The forensic team followed the warrant to
the letter, removing the blocks with a vacuum and chisel. The
victim’s athletic jersey with the high school logo had been the
first thing Carrie had seen.

It was enough to tell her
that Ashleigh had been telling the truth.

There was a dead kid in the
wall.

***

She waited for Sebastian to
finish giving orders to the tech team, watching him from the window
of the SUV. He’d suggested she work on the data from the memory
card while he handled the minute details of an initial crime scene.
His way of overprotecting her? Probably; although he hadn’t
specifically tried to keep her from seeing the body.

He had shifted in front of
her, but hadn’t touched her. She thought he’d wanted to. Had he not
because of the forensics team that was with them? Dr. Richison was
a stickler for protocol, but Carrie didn’t think the forensics
supervisor would care if Sebastian touched her. The other man
probably wouldn’t even notice.

Still, personal
relationships had no business on the clock. And she strongly
suspected she and Sebastian were headed toward personal.

She wasn’t sure she wanted
that. What if something went wrong? Would it be difficult to work
with him, after? She’d already received comments from Hell and Dan,
not to mention she knew Paige’s opinion on her and Sebastian. What
was she supposed to think? She had all the physical signs of sexual
attraction whenever he was around. She’d certainly heard the
profilers she worked with list the signs often enough to recognize
when she was attracted to someone. And she’d enjoyed—more than
enjoyed—what had happened in his apartment. But did she want to
take it any farther?

Was she the kind of woman
who could handle what others would call an office
romance?

It wasn’t like he was her
direct supervisor, or anything. And if he was, and it did work out
to be something long-term, how would that be any different than
Georgia and Hellbrook from her own team? Or Georgia’s friend Ana
Sorin and Fin McLaughlin? They had gotten together on Fin’s first
case and had been together pretty much ever since.

So it’s not like she and
Sebastian would be breaking any obvious rules, although Bureau
policy frowned on personal relationships. Georgia’s father, Ed
Dennis, director of the division, had said once in Carrie’s hearing
that he would never deny his people the right to find happiness in
their personal lives, even if with their co-workers.

But Georgia and Ana had
found permanent relationships with Hell and Fin. Who was to say
that what she and Sebastian might do would be permanent?

The computer in her lap
beeped, letting her know that the first of the files on the memory
card were open. They’d had very crude encryption throughout.
Obviously Elliot Courtney—or whomever had created the files, Carrie
was making no assumptions—had very little computer skills. It had
been ridiculously easy for her to break the encryption.

The first photo on the
screen had her frowning. It was of a young woman, probably no older
than she was.

Someone tapped on the
window and Carrie jumped, barely suppressing a scream.

Aaron Cavanaugh stared at
her through the glass. Carrie dropped her hand to her weapon. Where
had he come from?

She opened the door and
stepped out of the vehicle, keeping her hand on her gun. “Mr.
Cavanaugh.”

“
Agent Sparks, wasn’t it?
What’s going on? Have you found my daughter? Where’s
Sherry?”

Carrie studied him for a
minute before taking her hand away from her weapon. He was worried.
It was written all over him. He was very easy for her to read.
“Ashleigh has been found and is safe. Would you please come with
me? Unit Chief Lorcan will be able to answer your questions in more
detail.”

“
She’s safe? You found
her?”

“
I’ve talked to her myself
and gave her potato chips and soda. She will be just fine. Right
now she’s probably sleeping in an FBI safe house. Agent Lorcan will
answer any other questions you may have.” Because Carrie didn’t
feel comfortable telling any more of the details than she already
had. This was Sebastian’s case and it was his place to decide what
Ashleigh’s father needed to know.

Chapter 43

*****