“Who was there, Olivia?”
“That … killer. The one you’re looking for. You need to get over here right now. He left you a message.”
CHAPTER
6
KENDRA, METCALF, AND GINA bolted out of the FBI office and raced to Olivia’s condo, paying only passing deference to the rules of the road. Kendra frantically rapped on the door before using her own key to unlock it and enter.
“Olivia?”
“Over here.” Olivia was in her kitchen, leaning against the counter. She was pale and shaken as she turned to face Kendra. “God, I’m glad you’re here.”
Kendra ran toward her. “We broke every speed limit. This is crazy.” She grabbed Olivia’s arms. “I’m so sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Well, I’m no longer freaked,” she said unsteadily. “I’ve made a graceful transition to royally pissed off.”
Kendra felt a surge of relief. “That’s the Olivia I know.”
“That’s perfectly natural, ma’am. Shock can do that to you.” Gina was already in full investigative mode as she moved into the condo and glanced around. “I’m FBI Special Agent Gina Carson and I’m here with Special Agent Roland Metcalf.”
“Hi. And yes, I recognized his footsteps. Hi, Metcalf.”
Gina paused for a moment as she realized that Olivia was blind. Kendra hadn’t mentioned it to her.
Metcalf smiled. “Hi, Olivia. You’ve created quite a stir. Do you want to tell us what happened?”
“Sure.” Olivia took a deep breath as she stepped from the kitchen into the living area. “I was out during the morning and early afternoon, but when I got home, I noticed that my desk chair was slightly out of place.”
Gina moved toward the U-shaped desk. “Like how?”
“I always slide it in when I walk away from the desk. Otherwise it gets in the way if I want to look for something in one of the drawers. When I came home, the chair was pulled out and angled slightly to the right. Then I noticed my keyboard was tilted in a way I would never use it. I realized someone had moved it.”
“You said he left you a message?” Kendra said.
“I said he left you a message.” Olivia moved closer to her monitor and keyboard. “There was a Word file open. I knew it wasn’t one of mine. So I used a text-to-speech app to read it to me. It sounded like … this.
Kendra pressed her keyboard’s spacebar and the vaguely robotic voice spoke.
“Hello, Sweet Capable Olivia … Please pass this along to your friend Kendra. My name is Zachary and I’m under the distinct impression that she would very much like to meet me…”
Kendra couldn’t breathe. Although the text-to-speech app did a decent job bringing words to life, the slight mechanized quality was making the message even creepier than it already was.
It continued, “All in good time, dear Kendra. But you’re no doubt wondering what brought me to your fair city. The answer is you, my dear. I’ve spent years weaving yards of beautiful ribbon and I needed the right person to help me pull it all together in a perfect bow. And that person is you. Flattered? You should be. It’s been a long search…”
Kendra mouth went dry. This couldn’t be happening …
“To celebrate our new partnership, please accept these few tokens of my esteem … Good luck, Kendra. I look forward to meeting you.”
The message ended.
Kendra looked down to Olivia’s desk. Neatly lined up along the top edge of her keyboard were four driver’s licenses.
Metcalf leaned over to examine them. “One from Connecticut, one from California, one from Virginia, one from Florida.”
“More souvenirs from the victims?” Gina asked.
“Yes,” Kendra said with a shudder. “I recognize the faces from your crime scene photos.”
Olivia crossed her arms in front of her. “He was here.”
Kendra put a hand on Olivia’s forearm and felt her trembling. “Olivia…”
“Sitting on my chair, typing on my keyboard,” Olivia said shakily. “I feel … violated. This is my place, my world. I can’t believe it.”
“At least you weren’t here,” Metcalf said quietly.
“No? That’s just it,” Olivia said. “I think I was.”
Shock on shock. Kendra looked at her. “What?”
“I’m pretty sure I was here when he was.” Olivia didn’t look quite as defiant as she had before. Fear had clearly returned. “I stopped by to get some materials for a presentation. Something didn’t feel right.” She turned to Kendra. “You know how it is in a place you’re really familiar with, like your own home? When something—or somebody—is out of place, or there when they shouldn’t be, you can feel it. The acoustics are different, the air moves differently. I had a strange feeling when I was in here before, but I talked myself into believing that the TV crew had rearranged something I didn’t catch, and that’s what it was.” Olivia shook her head. “But now I don’t think so. He was here, watching me. He could have killed me just as easily as he killed those three other people…”
Kendra decided not to tell her that the count was now at least twenty-six. “That’s not what he wanted to do,” she said. “He wanted to make me afraid. Afraid for you and all the other people in my life. I’m the one he’s targeted.”
“No,” Olivia said harshly. “He needs you alive to play his sick game. Everyone else is expendable.”
Kendra couldn’t argue with that. She was too confused and terrified to be able to analyze anything to do with what had happened today. She was terribly afraid that Olivia might be right.
“We need to clear out of here,” Metcalf said. “I have an Evidence Response Team on the way.”
Kendra shook her head. “The ERT won’t find anything. He’s too careful. He didn’t leave a single fingerprint or DNA sample at any of his murder scenes.”
“We have to make sure,” Gina said. “He only has to slip up once.”
“Of course.” Kendra turned toward Olivia. “You’re staying with me tonight. Pack a bag, grab your laptop and anything else you might need to work.”
“No way.” Olivia had bounced back and was wearing her defiant face again. “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let him chase me out of my home.”
Kendra knew exactly how she felt. She adjusted her appeal. “You won’t get a moment’s peace or any work done with the FBI agents who will be powdering and photographing this place in the next few hours. Trust me, you’ll be happier at my place. And you’ll be close enough that they can talk to you if they need you for anything.”
Olivia thought about this for a long moment. “Okay, but just for a few hours.”
“We’ll see.”
“I’m sleeping here tonight,” she said firmly.