Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner [165]
“You had him nailed in the beginning,” Kimberly said. “Why does the Eco-Killer target and murder young women? Because he wants to. Sometimes, it really is as simple as that.”
“The guy did feel some level of guilt,” Mac said with a shrug. “Hence leaving us clues to find the second girl. Hence contacting the police as an anonymous tipster and getting us all into the game. Hence his personal involvement as an FBI agent, keeping us on track. When he analyzed the letters, he described the author as someone who felt compelled to kill, but who also wanted to be stopped. Maybe that was his way of trying to explain himself to us.”
Kimberly, however, vehemently shook her head. “Did he really want to help, Mac, or did he just want more people to hurt? This is the guy who started out hating his father, but actually killed his mother and brother. He targeted young women, but also set up hazardous conditions for the search-and-rescue volunteers. I don’t think he placed those anonymous phone calls because he wanted you to catch him. He was seeking to involve more people in his game. He obviously didn’t mind collateral damage. And if he could have, he would’ve killed us in the swamp that day.”
“You’re probably right.”
“I’m glad he’s dead.”
“Honey, I’m not so sad about it myself.”
“Any sign of the girls’ cars?” she asked.
“Funny you should mention it; we think we’ve found one.”
“Where at?”
“In the Tallulah Gorge, camouflaged with netting, green paint, and a whole lotta leaves. We’re revisiting the other sites now, to see if we’ll find the victims’ vehicles nearby. We also discovered Ennunzio’s home base—he has a cabin in the woods not far from here. Very rustic, like an old hunting shack. In it, we found a cot, gallons of water, boxes of crackers, a tranquilizer gun, and tons of drugs. He really could’ve kept doing this for a very long time.”
“Then I’m doubly glad he’s dead. And Tina?”
“At home in Minnesota with her mom,” Mac reported immediately. “I understand from Nora Ray that Tina had just discovered she was pregnant before the kidnapping. Unfortunately, she lost the baby and is taking it rather hard. But I hear her mother’s been a pillar of strength and Tina’s gonna spend the rest of the summer recuperating at home, then see what she wants to do. She lost her three best friends; I’m not sure exactly how you recover from something like that. She and Nora Ray seem to have grown close, however. Maybe they can help each other out. Nora Ray’s talking of visiting her in a few weeks. Minnesota has cooler summers. Nora Ray likes that. Okay, your turn. How’re your father and Rainie?”
“They’re in Oregon. They’re planning on doing absolutely nothing but stroll on beaches and play a little golf until my graduation in five weeks. I give my father two days, and he’ll be working the first local homicide case he can find. The Oregon cops will never know what hit them.”
“Have dead body, will travel?” Mac teased her.
“Something like that.”
“And you?” His finger traced a slow, gentle line down her cheek. Then both his hands settled on her waist. “What are you going to do in five weeks?”
“I’m a new agent,” Kimberly said quietly. Her hands had come up, resting on the hard curve of his arms. “We don’t have much say in things. You get assigned where you get assigned.”
“Can you list preferences?”
“We can. I said Atlanta might be nice. No reason, of course.”
“No reason?” Mac’s hands stroked up her sides, his thumbs feathering across her breasts.
“Okay, I have a little bit of a reason.”
“When will you know?”
“Yesterday.”
“You mean . . .”
She smiled, feeling a little bit ridiculous now, and ducked her head. “Yeah, I got lucky. Atlanta’s a big field office and they needed a fair amount of agents.