Page 17 of The Sinner’s Touch (Manwhore #2)

CHAPTER TEN

The parking lot was crawling with police.

Kade frowned when he pulled in. This place was only a few blocks from the bar where Angel worked.

It made him worry all the more about leaving her at the apartment alone, but there was no help for it.

Two officers had been on their way over when Kade exited the building, but it didn’t stop the dread from twisting his stomach into knots.

Bailey motioned him over as soon as he saw Kade. He was standing in the back of the lot, where an abandoned blue Honda waited, the driver’s side door open. He noticed a purse on the ground when he rolled to a stop beside the detective.

“Well, it goes to reason he’d need to replace his last victim,” a man said. “We just weren’t expecting it to happen this soon.”

Kade peered to the left when he heard the voice and saw one of his team members on his cell. Jeremy Bradford was Kade’s partner at the BAU. He was new to the team, but Kade had faith in the man.

“Bailey.” Kade handed the detective a coffee. He’d stopped at Starbucks on the way to the new crime scene to try to wake up. Sleep had not been his friend last night. He kept dozing off into a world of memories that haunted him. Coffee was his new best friend.

“Thanks.” Bailey took the cup and popped the little plastic flap before blowing into it to cool the liquid. “Name’s Julie Helton. Twenty-four. Looks to have been taken after her shift. Red hair, brown eyes.”

“Shit.”

“She does look a lot like your woman.” He handed Kade the victim’s wallet enclosed in an evidence bag. It was placed so the inside was exposed, and her driver’s license was in full view. The girl did look a lot like Angel, right down to the shape of her face.

“What time did the store close?” Kade asked, the dread tightening in his stomach.

“The store closed at ten, but they were here late doing inventory and stocking, so they didn’t leave until around three.

There were two closers, according to the manager.

My guess is she let the other girl go while she locked up, or perhaps she was texting on her phone while she stood beside the car. It’s hard to say what happened.”

“He took her while we were just a few blocks away?” Anger curled like a snake over every inch of Kade’s body. Bold bastard. Kidnapping a girl with the police combing the streets. “Did we get video footage?”

“I wish.” Jeremy frowned at his phone. “The manager said the camera back here is busted. Happened a few nights ago when some kids were messing around. He reported it to their corporate office, but they haven’t sent anyone to fix it yet. And where’s my coffee?”

“Didn’t know you were here.” Kade searched the ground carefully, looking for clues that might have been missed. “Did forensics find anything?”

“Nothing.” Bailey shook his head. “Why in God’s name would the manager let a young girl walk to her car by herself, knowing there’s a serial killer out hunting?”

“We’ll issue a public safety warning for employers to make sure their employees are escorted to their cars after dark.” Jeremy squatted next to where the purse lay. “Is this where they found the purse? I know they took the wallet out of it.”

“No. Forensics took photos of the scene before they disturbed it, though.” Bailey took another sip of his still steaming coffee. “It was a few feet away.”

Kade wanted nothing more than to smash his fist through something.

He couldn’t get past the fact the unsub had snatched another woman right out from under their noses.

They’d literally been five blocks away. You could even see this parking lot from the street.

Why had none of the patrolmen seen the car?

It was a what-the-fuck moment if there ever was one.

“Kade?”

“What?” he barked, the cold fury in his voice evident to everyone. He needed to dial it back a notch. Neither Jeremy nor Bailey deserved his temper right now. “Sorry. This whole case is just frustrating me.”

“I know.” Bailey’s quiet words echoed the sentiment in Jeremy’s eyes. “It got real for you last night, personal. We understand that.”

“I don’t,” Jeremy said. “How did it get personal for you?”

Kade took a shallow breath. “Angel makes this personal for me.”

“Angel? One of the witnesses? She saw our unsub, didn’t she?”

“Not just any witness.” Bailey’s voice had gone low. “She’s his wife.”

Confused brown eyes burned with curiosity. “Wife?”

Kade nodded, trying to regain control of his temper. Bailey needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.

“I didn’t know you were married.”

“He forgot,” Bailey crowed.

“He forgot?” Jeremy eyeballed Kade with disbelief. “How in the hell do you forget you’re married?”

“It’s complicated and nobody’s damn business.

” He directed this at Bailey, who only grinned wider.

“I’d appreciate some discretion. What do you think our unsub would do if he found out he was targeting the wife of one of the lead investigators?

What would he put her through if he discovered how personal this case just became? ”

“Kincaid’s right.” Jeremy rolled his head from side to side to relieve some of the aching muscles.

“This sicko? He’s impersonal in his choice of victims. That’s evident from the lack of pattern.

Give him a reason to make it personal, and we get all kinds of new depravity.

He’s the type to torment Kincaid for the rest of his life with all the brutal things he did.

And knowing Kincaid, it would eat him alive. ”

“Profiling me now?” he spat out, even though he knew every word Jeremy spoke was true.

“I profiled every person I worked with the first week I was there. You were a little harder than the rest, but now, with this new information, it all clicks into place.”

There was no arrogance, maliciousness, or mirth in the statement, only honesty, but it still rankled. He didn’t like anyone profiling him. He didn’t want anyone to see past the facade he put up. There was a darkness underneath that no one needed to see.

“Is there anything left here we need to see?” Kade turned the conversation back to the case. He’d rather keep his private life private and their concentration on catching this unsub before he had a chance to get near Angel.

Bailey shook his head, and Kade turned on his heel, stalking back to his SUV.

He left the two of them to follow him. Hopefully, a preliminary forensics report would be waiting on them at the station by the time they got back.

They would have gone over the asphalt and what they could see from the inside of the car.

The actual search of the vehicle would take place at the BPD garage.

That would take some time, and he and Bailey had a lot of work to do in the meantime.

They needed to speak with the parents of the woman discovered last night and would need to go interview the parents of the new victim just abducted.

He hated talking to victims’ families. It was hard, but it was the job. His father once told him to never ask someone to do what you weren’t willing to do yourself. Kade applied this to everything in his life, especially tough situations like these.

He would look them in the eye and promise to bring their daughter’s murderer to justice.

And he would.

Even if it was the last thing he did.