See No Evil

Dammit, why was he looking at her so intently? What was he thinking? What were they thinking? Dillon Kincaid with his quiet, studious manner pondering the profile of a vicious murderer; Connor Kincaid, the younger brother, with his hard, dark eyes on her. Analyzing, probing, judging.

Five minutes later, Dillon spoke. It might as well have been five hours.

“The leader is the oldest and able to convince others of the rightness of what they’re doing. Completely in control, focused, methodical. A planner. Thinks about the details. Thinks ahead. Does not fear being caught. Might even enjoy the limelight of being caught. Enjoys irony. Plays on people’s emotions and is able to turn emotions on and off at will. Has little empathy for others.”

“You said he’s a teenager or young adult,” Connor said. “Are you thinking college student? Maybe underachiever-smart but not living up to his potential?”

“I never said ‘he.’”

“A teenage girl?” Julia asked in disbelief. “Andrew Stanton is not going to buy that.”

“I don’t know if I buy it,” Connor said. “You said yourself that the leaders in killing pairs are men.”

Dillon countered, “The leader could be male or female. Either way, this person was abused as a child by a male authority figure. It may or may not have been sexual abuse. Penile amputation-even if they were going off Emily’s fantasy of killing her stepfather-is still a sexual and incredibly personal crime. It would be difficult to accomplish such a gruesome murder without additional motivation.”

“But the other crime-Judson’s shooting-wasn’t sexual.”

“The eyes-it was Billy Thompson who said that Judson needed to get his eyes checked. But why did that draw out the killer or killers?”

“Maybe because the victim was easy to identify. Billy Thompson gave a personal connection to the victim, called him Jackass Judson, that maybe the other e-mails didn’t do.”

“Made it easy for them,” Julia said.

“We need to learn more about this group,” Dillon continued. “That’s the key. And I don’t think Dr. Bowen’s involvement is a coincidence. I’m going to play a little give-and-take with Patrick and see if I can get any other information if we give up what we know. Patrick needs to dig deeper online. I can almost guarantee that they have more than two murders under their belt.”

“You said the killers were young. Bowen must be in his forties,” Julia said.

“The leader himself may be young or not, but it’s definitely someone older than the others and in complete control. The killers themselves are under thirty. The leader’s the key. Without him-or her-these murders would never have happened.”

“Going through all the unsolved cases in the county will take hundreds of hours of manpower,” Connor said.

“I’m going to write up an informal profile for Chief Causey to give them a direction, but I don’t know if they’ll use it, considering they don’t have me on their team.”

“They’d be foolish not to,” Julia said, “but is this going to jeopardize Emily?”

Dillon shook his head. “The police need to look at every angle, and I’m sure that they will. But there are only a handful of psychiatrists who consult with the police department, myself and Bowen are among them. They need to know that they have to stay away from Bowen. I talked to him today. I didn’t like what he had to say.”

“How far back in the files do we need to look for similar crimes?” Connor asked.

“Eighteen months. Two years, to be on the safe side. They have a taste for killing, so they’re going to continue. They see themselves as meting out justice. Vengeance. They may have started with people identified on Wishlist, but they’ll find their victims in the newspaper, anywhere. They’ve gotten away with at least two murders; they feel invincible.”

“What else? Two years of unsolved crimes? That’s a lot of man-hours.”

“Look at unsolved violent crimes. Stabbings, shootings. Male victims. All ages.”

“I’ll do it. I have the time and I’m still a member of the bar, so I have access,” Julia said. “I’m on leave, remember?”

Connor caught her eye and for the first time Julia felt something like protection from his gaze. “Don’t do anything stupid, Julia. If this gets hairy, let me handle it.”

Spoken like a true Neanderthal. Why had Julia even thought for one minute that Connor had changed?

“Come in, Cami.”

His dark eyes pierced her, held hers, drew her toward him like a bitch to her master. Her breath hitched as she glided over to him. He took her hand, kissed it. So elegant, so refined.

“Tell me everything. Again.”

She crawled into his lap and he stroked her hair. “Everything went exactly according to the plan.”

“I want details. Leave nothing out.”

“You were right about the judge.”

“I’m always right, Cami.”

“He protested at first, but not for long.”

“Sex addicts never do.”

“I turned his chair around so his back was to the door. I showed him my tits, and then I had him completely.”

“You have beautiful breasts, Cami.” He stroked them softly, then squeezed her nipples hard. Twisted them. It hurt but she pushed her breasts into his hand.

Pain meant she was alive.

“I got down on my knees and took out his cock. Sucked him long and hard. The others came in quietly. I slowly moved the chair into position and as he was about to come in my mouth, I pulled back and Faye cut off his erection.”

“How did she do?”

“She didn’t hesitate. Just one hard snap. The shears were really sharp.”

“You did good recruiting her.” He ran his hand up her skirt. She wasn’t wearing panties, as he ordered. She spread her legs to allow access. His fingers played with her and she grew hot.

“Who put his penis down his throat?”

“I did.”

“How did it feel?”

“Powerful. He was screaming when Faye cut it off. Blood shot everywhere.”

“You changed shoes like I told you?”

“Yes. We threw everything in garbage bags, got out fast. Just like you said. We all wore gloves. I didn’t touch anything until…after. We wiped down to be sure.”

“You’re not in the system.”

“No, but Faye-”

“She won’t talk if she gets caught, would she?”

Cami shook her head, enjoying his talented fingers, the line between pleasure and pain, the sensations that poured through her body, making colors brighter and sounds sharper. “Faye would never talk.” Her breath was rushed, rapid.

“Do we have a problem with Robbie?”

“No.”

He withdrew his hand.

“Please,” she begged.

“Tell the truth, Cami.”

“I don’t know. He was high today.”

“Take care of him.”

“I told Faye if he used again she would have to take care of him.”

A long silence. Then his hand returned between her legs. He shoved three fingers up her vagina while his thumb probed her anus and then he pinched hard. Her vision faded as the pain took over, every cell in her body alive