Karen Rose - I Can See You

“Yes,” Olivia said to Ramsey, flatly. “When we find her alive you can arrest her.”

“But you got an address,” Abbott said.

“A PO box in Wisconsin, from the license plate of an SUV that abducted a missing hooker,” Olivia said tautly. “That should expand the good doctor’s psych profile.”

Ramsey looked pained. “It’s not enough. Basically you have Donner’s datebook and Pierce’s wife’s black Beemer. Everything else is fruit of a poisoned search.”

“The plate from Damon isn’t,” Olivia insisted.

“But it only connects to Pierce because of what Eve found in the game,” Ramsey said, frustrated himself. “I wish I could help you, but I can’t. Even if I wrote a warrant based on that information, no judge would sign it.” He rose, sliding the photos back across the table. “Call me when you have more.”

Olivia watched him go, her heart in her throat. “Dammit.”

“Get him back.” The growl came from Noah, whose face was an inch from the TV screen, his body vibrating like a plucked string. “Now. Get Ramsey back now .”

Ramsey waited for the elevator, looking miserable. “Brian,” Olivia called. “Come quick.”

They ran back to find Abbott squinting at the TV screen. Noah had frozen the video to a single frame. Eve was being dragged by a bent-over figure in a tan overcoat. The coat’s lapels were turned up and his fedora was pulled low, hiding his face. The frame was frozen with the man’s gloved hand on the handle of the back door of a black BMW.

“Look at the window,” Noah said urgently, enlarging the picture.

“Stop. Freeze it,” Ramsey commanded. Because there, reflected in the window glass for one frame only, was the face of Carleton Pierce.

Noah looked over his shoulders, his eyes blank. “Is this enough?”

“More than enough,” Ramsey said. “Get moving. I’ll call you when the warrant is signed.”

Abbott was already putting on his coat. “Liv, you’re with me. Noah, you stay here.”

Noah rose. “No. I’m coming. I’ll follow orders once there, but I’m not staying here.”

Abbott took a second to assess, then nodded. “All right. One false move and I’ll have you removed. Clear? Olivia, have Kane track the Wisconsin PO box for Irene Black, then you and Micki meet us at Pierce’s. Thanks, Brian.”

“I’ll follow you in a few,” Olivia said. “I’m expecting Tom Hunter any minute. I need to get Liza Barkley’s description out on the wire.”

Thursday, February 25, 1:50 p.m.

“We have a warrant,” Abbott said as he and Noah got out of the car in front of Pierce’s very expensive home. Micki was already waiting with the CSU team.

“He’s not here,” Micki said, and although Noah had expected it, his heart sank. “A neighbor saw Pierce leave this morning driving his wife’s car, a black BMW. It’s not here, either, just Pierce’s Mercedes.”

“Noah, you take the upstairs,” Abbott said, “I’ll take the main floor and Micki, you have the basement. Let’s go in.”

Pierce’s house was as quiet as a tomb. Abbott announced them loudly, while Noah ran upstairs, heart in his throat, despite the certainty that Eve wasn’t here. She was still alive . He had to believe that, or he’d lose his mind.

He searched two empty bedrooms before he found the master. The bed was tidily made and nothing seemed out of place. But he could smell bleach. He moved to the master bath and gasped a breath. The odor was so strong here, his eyes watered.

Not Eve . He would not let it be Eve. He stepped back, touching nothing, and went downstairs to find Micki. She was in the kitchen, opening cabinets.

“Basement was clear. Nothing but spider webs. These cabinets are arranged by type, each box and can alphabetized. Textbook obsessive personality our good doctor has,” she said, then held up a can of cat food. “I haven’t seen a cat. Have you?”

To hell with the cat . His heart clambered up into his throat. “No, but somebody used extra-concentrated bleach in the master bathroom.”

She grimaced. “Oh, hell. I’ll get up there in a second.” She opened the trash can and dug a minute, coming up with an opened cat food can in one hand and something shiny in another. “Look.”

Noah was losing patience. “I don’t care about the damn cat,” he ground out.

“Look,” she repeated, more forcefully. “This collar has Martha’s cat’s name on it.”

He took the collar and held it up to the light. “Ringo.”

“I saw some old vet records in the trash Olivia and Kane cleared out of the empty apartment next to Martha’s. Pierce took her cat.”

“So he’s an animal lover,” he snarled. “Damn it, Micki, it doesn’t help us find Eve.”

“You’re thinking like a man, Noah. Think like a cop or get out. It’s all important. Like the cat hair Pierce tried to dismiss this morning. Think.”

“You’re right.” He tried to think. “He dismissed Christy’s missing shoes, too.”

“Called them souvenirs,” she said. “Said shoes weren’t special enough. I’d say a cat would make one hell of a special souvenir. Sonofabitch was mocking us. We’ll treat the master bath with Luminol, see what he was trying to hide with the bleach. We’ll also see if we can link it to the bleach he used at Rachel’s.”

“Because it’s all important,” Noah murmured. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Go find Abbott. He’ll keep you focused.”

Abbott sat in Pierce’s study, behind his desk. Noah steeled himself to say the words that were choking him. “I think he killed someone in the master bath. It reeks of bleach.”

Abbott considered. “I don’t think he brought Eve here, Web. Neighbors said he left with the Beemer, and it’s not here. I don’t think he’s been back.”

Noah let the breath he held slide out. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

“It’s okay. I don’t think I’d be holding up so well in your shoes. I’m not finding anything incriminating here in his desk, just a lot of old tax files.”

Noah pushed at the stack of papers. “He’s got copies of his wife’s W-2s, so we know where she works. She’s not here and he took her car this morning.”

“And the bathroom reeks of bleach,” Abbott said grimly. “I’ll call her employer. You keep looking for something we can use.”

Noah took a walk around the office, looking for anything out of place, finding it in a door wallpapered so skillfully that its outline nearly disappeared into the wall. For a moment hope soared. A secret room. Eve . But the door opened easily and the disappointment tasted bitter on his tongue.

Behind the door there was a walk-in closet. Think like a cop . He dropped his eyes to the carpet. There was a deep groove in the carpet a fraction of an inch from the edge of a filing cabinet, as if it had recently been moved.

Noah hefted it to one side, surprised when it moved easily. Behind it in the wall was a small safe. “Now we’re in business,” he murmured. He re-entered the office just as Abbott was hanging up.

“Pierce’s wife didn’t show up for work this morning,” Abbott said.

“If he did kill her,” Noah said, “why now? According to those tax returns they’ve been married for twenty years.”

“I don’t know, but this is interesting. She’s a biologist at an animal research lab. And guess what species they keep there? Timber rattlers.”

Christy Lewis. “Pierce’s wife helped him get the snake, or he got in with her key.”

“Her boss doesn’t think she’d remove an animal from the lab. He says she’s very dedicated. He’s checking key card access. The lab is checking their snake ‘inventory’ now.” Abbott shuddered involuntarily. “God.”