Victim #8, page 8
“Yes.” She stopped pacing and turned to the window, where the skyline of DC was visible in the fading light. “You seemed to think the president would want to know, so Kiera, Jeff, and I sent our initial findings forward early this afternoon.”
“Then it was probably included in the evening brief,” Luke said.
Hoping she could take him at his word that she wasn’t about to be reprimanded or worse, Amberlyn sat back down on the couch. “What time do you get off tonight?”
“I don’t. Because of everything going on, my shift changed. I’ll go through until one o’clock tomorrow.”
Her heart sank. From what she’d experienced with Luke so far, his schedule usually remained the same for the whole week. She’d been so excited about spending her birthday with him, but he didn’t know that. Perhaps that was for the best, even though she had no backup plan. No Chanelle.
She gathered her courage and asked, “Will your schedule change affect us eating together on Friday? If it’s going to be a problem, we can always postpone.”
“No. We’re all set,” Luke said. “Our reservation is for eleven thirty.”
Relief swept through her. “Sounds good. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.”
Chapter 11
After spending the past eighteen hours at work, Luke knew he should go home, but he found himself driving to the FBI headquarters instead. He couldn’t quite explain what drew him to go there. After all, he would see Amberlyn for lunch on Friday, and they’d chatted for a few minutes last night. But the impression to make the short drive to her office hadn’t left his mind, and he’d finally followed his instincts. Surely, with as much as they’d chatted over the past week, Amberlyn would be okay with him popping in to say hi.
He pulled into the visitor parking at FBI headquarters and used his White House credentials to secure a parking spot. He then made his way to Amberlyn’s office, his uniform causing more than one person to glance at him as he passed by.
Once at her unit, he faced the closed door. What was he going to say if someone asked why he was here? He didn’t want to admit to Amberlyn’s coworkers that he’d had an unexplained urge to drop by. He wasn’t even sure what Amberlyn would think about such a confession.
The case. He could say he was stopping by to check on the case.
He opened the door and stopped at the secretary’s desk. He’d met the woman before but didn’t recall her name. “Is Amberlyn Reiner in?”
“Yes. She’s in the conference room.” The woman offered a smile, and a glimmer of recognition flashed in her eyes. “Would you like me to let her know you’re here?”
“I can go on back, if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine.” She nodded. “You remember where it is?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Luke moved past the secretary and through the rows of cubicles until he reached the conference room. Amberlyn sat with her back to him, her concentration on her computer screen. Kiera and Jeff were on opposite ends of the table, and another woman he hadn’t met before sat between Amberlyn and Jeff.
Kiera looked up, and curiosity sparked in her dark eyes. “Captain Steele. What brings you by?”
Before Luke could formulate a response, Amberlyn swiveled in her chair. “Luke. I didn’t think I’d see you today.”
“I just thought I’d stop by on my way home and see how the case is going.”
“Slowly.” Amberlyn let out a little sigh before she gestured to the woman beside her. “But Dilara has been a great help.”
The woman stood. “I’m Dilara Aydin with the State Department.”
“Luke Steele.” Luke shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Dilara reclaimed her seat.
“Dilara has been translating the police files.” Amberlyn gestured to the chair beside her.
Luke hadn’t planned to stay long, but he sat beside her anyway. “What have you found so far?”
“We’ve been uncovering more questions than answers,” Amberlyn said.
“Like what?” Luke asked.
Jeff stood. “Like the murder weapon.” He circled the back of the room and headed toward a large whiteboard pushed against the wall opposite Luke. Magnets held eight photos to it, and notes were written beside each one.
“What about the murder weapon?” Luke asked.
Amberlyn rolled her chair back so she could see him more easily. “As we suspected, the timing of the murders suggests we have two killers.”
“Right.” Luke leaned back in his seat. “We talked about that.”
“Yes, but unfortunately, the physical evidence doesn’t support that theory.” Amberlyn set her hand on one of the thick file folders beside her. “The knife used in the killings has a unique shape. Besides having a thin blade, it also has a slight curvature.”
“You’re saying it’s unique enough that a copycat wouldn’t likely be able to duplicate it?” Luke asked.
“It’s unlikely,” Jeff said before Amberlyn could respond. “Even if one of the Turkish cops was our hired killer, he’d need to know what the original looked like in order to get his own.”
The puzzle pieces of the case intrigued Luke, and he couldn’t keep himself from posing another question. “Is there anything different about the last two victims, something different from the first five?”
Amberlyn furrowed her brow, likely assuming that he had miscounted the number of victims. “The last two were the only ones who weren’t Turkish.”
Surprise flickered over Kiera’s face. “How did you know there was something different about the last two?”
“If your copycat had to know what the original looked like, chances are, he did.” Luke shrugged. “That means he probably found the real killer.” Luke pointed at the board. “Could be victim number six is your serial killer. Whoever figured out who he was then killed him and used his MO to kill Grigoryan and Tate.”
Amberlyn’s face lit up. “That would make so much more sense. A copycat wouldn’t work if the real killer could potentially strike at the same time.”
“That’s a long shot,” Jeff said skeptically.
“But it’s worth looking at,” Amberlyn said.
Dilara motioned to the evidence board. “Who is victim number six?”
“Ozan Demerci. He’s also the only victim who fell outside the normal age range,” Amberlyn said. “Can you translate his file next?”
Dilara nodded.
Not wanting to overstay his welcome, Luke stood. He started to say goodbye, but his attention caught on the photo beside the one of Kevin Tate.
Luke moved closer to the board. He’d seen that man before. He racked through his memory until he fished out the moment victim number seven had crossed his path. Ankara, Turkey. The man on the board had accompanied the president of Armenia to the meeting with President Frazier.
Luke pointed to the photo. “Is that the other guy who was killed by the assassin?”
“If our theory is right, yes,” Amberlyn said.
Luke turned to Dilara. “Have you already translated his case file?”
“Yes. I finished it about an hour ago.”
“Can I get a copy of that?” Luke asked.
“Luke, what’s this all about?” Amberlyn asked.
“Just playing a hunch.”
Amberlyn stared at him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to elaborate. But Luke couldn’t elaborate. Even he was outside the need-to-know circle of what happened in Ankara, but if he was right, the man who was murdered had been privy to sensitive information with enough value to push the president to fly all the way to Turkey on a whirlwind trip.
When Luke remained silent, Amberlyn finally said, “I’ll send the file over. Do you want the one on Kevin Tate too?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” Luke gestured to the door. “I should probably get going.”
Amberlyn stood. “I’ll walk you out.”
Luke led the way out of the conference room.
As soon as they were out of earshot of her coworkers, Amberlyn whispered, “Can you tell me who victim number seven really is?”
“I don’t know who he is.”
“But you think he might be important.”
“As soon as I know anything I can share, I’ll let you know.” Luke stopped by the door leading from her office. “But if you can forward those files to me right now, that would be good.”
“You’ll have them before you get back to the White House,” she said as he reached for the door handle.
Luke dropped his hand and turned to face her. “How did you know I was going back to the White House?”
Amberlyn tilted her head to the left. “Because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t care about when I send you the file.”
Luke opened the door. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Amberlyn nodded. “Thanks for stopping by.”
Luke left Amberlyn’s office, his mind still whirling. Maybe the president already knew the identity of the Armenian victim, but Luke couldn’t take the chance that he didn’t. Amberlyn was right. He was going back to the White House.
Chapter 12
When Amberlyn returned to the conference room, Jeff, Kiera, and Dilara all looked up and stared.
Jeff waved in the general direction of the exit. “What was that all about?” Jeff asked.
“I don’t know,” Amberlyn admitted. “Have we found out anything else about who Grigoryan works for?”
Kiera knotted her hair on top of her head as though preparing to do battle. “I’ll go call my contact at the CIA to see if they have anything new.”
“While you do that, we’ll take a closer look at Demerci,” Jeff said.
Kiera left the room, and Amberlyn took a step closer to the evidence board.
Demerci. Victim number six or a serial killer who got caught by someone more interested in profit than justice. Or perhaps if Demerci really was a serial killer, the person who murdered him was executing his own brand of justice.
Dilara looked up, her eyes dark and wary. “Do you really think a police officer could be behind three of these murders?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad you’re here to help us determine what facts were left out of the summaries the police shared with us,” Amberlyn said.
She read through the information on the evidence board. The date of the first murder occurred eighteen months ago. Then each subsequent one occurred approximately four months apart. The sixth victim, Demerci, had been the first to break that pattern, his murder taking place two months after victim number five. Then Grigoryan had been killed only a few weeks later in October, with Tate’s murder two weeks after that in November.
“I think Luke might be on to something with victim number six.” Amberlyn pointed at the first two victim’s photos. “The first five murders all occurred at regular intervals. It wasn’t until Demerci that the pattern deviated.”
“We have to consider the possibility that our killer is escalating,” Jeff insisted. “If that’s the case, we really do only have one killer.”
Which was exactly what Amberlyn had told Luke, but something about that premise didn’t feel right. “We can’t discount the other alternative—that the serial killer is dead.” Amberlyn grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the table and jotted down the death dates. “I’m going to dive into this pattern and the background on Demerci. Maybe I can see if there’s something that will tie him to the other victims and the logic behind who was killed.”
“Go for it,” Jeff said. “Kiera’s already doing a deep dive on Grigoryan’s background, and I’ll keep working on our suspect list.”
Amberlyn returned to her seat. “Dilara, how long will it take you to translate Demerci’s file?”
“I hope to finish it by the end of the day.”
“Thanks,” Amberlyn said. “Maybe by tomorrow, we’ll finally start getting some answers.”
She also hoped she would find out what caused Luke to leave so abruptly. Pushing that thought aside, she opened her calendar and got to work.
* * *
Luke entered the West Wing from the parking area between the White House and the Eisenhower building. No need to swing by his office since he’d already checked out for the day.
He made it only as far as the reception area when he spotted Parker chatting with one of the Secret Service agents.
“What are you doing back here?” Parker crossed the carpeted area until he reached Luke. “I thought you went home.”
“I didn’t get that far.” Luke glanced at his watch. Nearly two o’clock. “Where’s the president?”
“He’s in the residence having a late lunch.”
The last thing Luke wanted to do was interrupt what little time the president had to spend with his wife. He considered his other options. The president’s chief of staff had been with him in Turkey. Maybe he could help.
“What about Mr. Ellis?” Luke asked. “Have you seen him lately?”
“I think he’s in his office.”
“Thanks.” Luke started across the reception area.
Parker called after him. “Luke, is everything okay?”
Luke glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not sure yet.” He continued down the hall and entered the outer office for the chief of staff.
Mr. Ellis’s secretary, a woman in her forties with short brown hair and a perpetual scowl, looked up from her massive desk. “May I help you?”
“I hope so,” Luke said. “Is there any way I could speak with Mr. Ellis for a minute? It’s important.”
“He’s quite busy.” She motioned to the clock on the wall. “And he’s already running behind schedule.”
Luke didn’t doubt that. Chief of Staff Ellis packed more work into a day than anyone Luke had ever seen. Luke also recognized the gatekeeping tactics used frequently by the people charged with keeping the high-level officials on track.
“I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important,” Luke said.
“I can probably schedule you for five minutes on Friday,” the secretary said.
“This can’t wait that long.”
“I’m sorry—”
The chief of staff’s office door opened, and Secretary Castillo emerged, Mr. Ellis right behind her.
“Thanks again, Maria.”
Secretary Castillo nodded, then spotted Luke. “Did your friend at the FBI get the help she needed?”
“Yes, thank you. They’re still working on some of it, but Dilara has already been a huge help,” Luke said. He turned to Mr. Ellis. “That’s actually why I’m here. Mr. Ellis, I have some information I need to bring to the president’s attention.”
Mr. Ellis lifted his eyebrows. “I see.”
Mr. Ellis’s secretary stood. “Sir, you were expected in the Roosevelt Room five minutes ago.”
“The senator can wait a few minutes longer,” Mr. Ellis said.
Secretary Castillo stepped past Luke and spoke to Mr. Ellis. “I’ll get those reports sent over.”
“Thanks.” Mr. Ellis motioned Luke inside. “Captain, let’s talk in my office.”
Relieved that he would no longer have to debate with the secretary, he stepped inside and ignored the woman’s glare.
Mr. Ellis closed the door. “What’s this about?”
“It’s about the president’s trip to Ankara,” Luke said.
Mr. Ellis circled behind his desk and motioned for Luke to sit. “What about it?”
“I don’t know what was discussed in his meeting, but I did see who went into the conference room.” Luke took the offered seat across from the chief of staff. “Today, I learned that one of the men with the Armenian president was murdered, likely by the same person who killed Kevin Tate.”
Mr. Ellis sat forward in his chair, the concern evident on his face matching the anxiety Luke had experienced from the moment he’d seen the photo in Amberlyn’s office. “How do you know this?”
“I stopped by FBI headquarters after work today. I saw the evidence board for the serial killer and recognized Grigoryan’s photo,” Luke said. He hoped Mr. Ellis wouldn’t ask why he’d taken the time to visit the FBI today. “The behavioral analysis unit believes it’s possible that he and Tate were both killed by an assassin, their deaths set up to appear to be the work of a serial killer.”
“I did read that report, but I never received any intel that connected Grigoryan to the trip in Turkey,” Mr. Ellis said.
“That’s what I thought,” Luke said. “I don’t know if it’s important, but it might be.”
“Yes, it might.” Mr. Ellis stood. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll be sure the president is informed.”
Luke rose to his feet. “Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Ellis escorted Luke to the door. Before Mr. Ellis opened it, he asked, “Can you tell me who you’ve been working with at the FBI?”
Luke hesitated. He didn’t want to share Amberlyn’s name but knew it was inevitable. “I spoke with several people at the office, but the person I stopped by to visit was Amberlyn Reiner.”
“The woman who posed as your girlfriend for your reunion?”
“Yes, sir.”
Mr. Ellis opened the door. “I appreciate your sharing this with me.”
Luke nodded. Even though the man’s secretary had done nothing but throw obstacles in his path, he turned to her. “Thank you. Have a nice day.”
Luke made it only as far as the outer door when Mr. Ellis called to his secretary, “Tell the senator I need to reschedule. And get the president on the phone. I need to speak with him now.”
