“Stop. Please.”
Jordan’s face seemed to turn green. He turned his head away from the photos.
“Look, Jordan. I don’t think you could hurt a fly, much less these women. Okay? Don't you want to help give their families justice? Help me help you,” Shaun said, keeping his tone compassionate.
This had always been Aidan's favorite part in breaking a suspect.
“How?” Jordan said after a long pause. His voice was low and hoarse.
“I want you to get on the air.”
Aidan watched Jordan carefully. After hesitating, he slowly turned his head to gape at Shaun.
“You want me to what?”
“I want you to get on the air, and I want you to tell the public The Carnations Killer’s latest victim, Carol Rider is alive, and although she can’t do much talking, we expect her to make a full recovery. And say she will remain at Georgia Regents Medical Center until the end of next week.”
Narrowing his eyes curiously, Jordan said, “Why would you want me to do that? He would only go after her and finish killing her.”
“Exactly.” Shaun slapped a large hand on the table with enthusiasm.
Jordan’s eyes grew round. “You want to try and draw him out.”
“See? You aren’t as dumb as you act. So? What do you say?”
“And you won’t arrest me?”
“If you help us, then we’ll forget everything you lied about. You can go your way, we’ll go ours.”
Jordan took the chance to look at the photos of the women on the table. He frowned and asked, “You’ll protect Carol, right?”
“Nothing will happen to her.”
Another pause.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
59
THEY TOLD JORDAN to go on the air at six o’clock that night. Before he left the office, Shaun and Aidan told him what they wanted him to say to the camera.
Aidan sent up a prayer that the reporter wouldn’t manage to screw up. It was their one good chance to catching the offender. Shaun had thought of it, and at first, Aidan dismissed the idea. He wasn’t sure he wanted to chance Carol’s life. However, Aidan decided it could be their best chance at getting him.
There was a reason the offender wanted the public to know Carol was alive. They believed the offender was hoping Jordan Blake would be his nosy, self-righteous self and do the work for him.
In telling Jordan to announce the news on air, they hoped the offender would go after Carol in an attempt to finish the job.
Well.
If their plan in drawing out the offender worked, it’d be a very good plan.
If it worked.
Undercover men were stationed nearby the room, inside, and by the elevators, as well as the stairway. The sentries knew who was authorized to enter Carol’s room and who wasn't.
Aidan stopped off at Laura’s house to have supper with Cheyenne and watch Jordan report his story.
Then in the morning, Shaun and Aidan planned to meet at the hospital to see how things were going with Carol’s recovery. Aidan had informed Cheyenne he may be sleeping in the hospital for the remainder of the week.
“Aidan, honey,” Cheyenne called from the living room. “It’s on.”
Grabbing two beers from the fridge, he made a beeline for the living room and sat next to Cheyenne on the couch. Aidan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him.
“Earlier today,” Jordan reported, standing in front of a blue backdrop, “I gave a report that The Carnations Killer had abducted a woman, but according to a text I recently received from him, she managed to escape. Being naturally curious, I wanted to gather further information. Well, here you are, folks. The latest Carnations Killer victim is Carol Rider. She is being held at Georgia Regents Medical Center until the end of the week. According to the doctors, her eyes have extensive damage, and her voice is injured due to the amount of torture she received. However, she’s expected to make a full recovery, in which case the FBI hopes she can identify her abductor. You heard it here first. This is Jordan Blake reporting live at WJFX News.”
It went to commercial, so Aidan pressed the mute button on the remote.
“I have to hand it to him,” Aidan said. “He put on a show that was convincing enough, if I didn’t already know it was staged, I’d have him in handcuffs.”
“You think he’ll fall for it?” Cheyenne asked.
“I don’t know,” Aidan said between sips of his beer. “I sure hope so. We’re out of options.”
She sat upright and cupped her hand under his chin.
“I know I don’t say this enough, Agent O’Reilly,” she began, “But I’m proud of you. Everything you are, everything you do. I’m lucky to be yours.”
She kissed him.
“I’m the one who's lucky,” Aidan said earnestly. “After all, you’ve put up with me for five years. All you know is my obsession with this investigation.”
“He murdered someone you cared about,” Cheyenne replied. She frowned. “I think you deserve a little leeway as far obsessions go. You haven’t let it beat you. I mean, it’s come close, but you’re still standing. That’s something to be proud of. And you’re so much more than this investigation. I know that.”
She leaned in to kiss his cheek before rising.
“I’m going to go take a bath.”
As she left, Aidan received a text from Shaun telling him Jordan did a compelling job on his report. Aidan replied that he agreed, and then called his sister.
He hadn’t spoken to her since they had the argument earlier, and he wanted to clear the air.
60
JORDAN HOPED his segment of the news tonight was satisfactory. Earlier in the day when the agent held him in the
