Elizabeth Heiter - Vanished

It looked like Jack was going to interrupt, so she said quickly, “It’s also possible he didn’t really stop. If it’s molestation he’s after, he might have had an available victim in his life, like a family member. Or he obtained a position in the community that gave him easy access to children. He could have moved away for a while and still been abducting children without leaving the notes, so the cases weren’t connected. Or he was abducting children who wouldn’t be missed at all.”

“What, like runaways?” Tomas asked.

“Yes,” Evelyn said. “Another possibility, although unlikely, is that this offender’s precipitating stressors—whatever set him off in the first place and made him act on his fantasies—stopped and didn’t start again for eighteen years. Or that he relied on trophies to relive the experience and those satisfied him until recently.”

“Are we talking body parts here?” Carly asked tiredly.

The officers around her looked disgusted.

“No,” Evelyn said. “But this offender would keep something . A necklace or hair bow or other item the victim was wearing. The abductor keeps it as a symbol of what he’s done.” Evelyn took a deep breath and tried not to put faces to the names from the case files, tried not to think about Cassie and what could have been done to her. “Which is kidnapping and most likely killing his victims.”

The room went silent again, but everyone was staring at her tensely.

She knew what they wanted but were afraid to ask. So she just told them. “Whatever his motivation, whatever his reason for stopping and starting up again, time is crucial. I don’t know how long Brittany has. And it is possible that he’s hanging on to these girls long-term. But either way, he’s not finished. Unless we stop him, he will abduct another girl.”

Four

“So that’s Evelyn Baine,” an unfamiliar voice was saying as Evelyn finally broke free of cops’ questions after presenting her profile.

Evelyn’s steps slowed as she headed toward the CARD command post. Whoever was talking was around the bend in the hallway of the station.

“The way you were ranting about her, I was expecting a total disaster at the profile briefing. But she seems smart.”

“Smart?”

Evelyn didn’t recognize the first voice, but she knew who the snarling response belonged to: Jack Bullock. What she didn’t know was why he felt so much animosity toward her. The last time they’d spoken at any length, she’d been twelve years old.

“She’s a liability,” Jack said dismissively. “But if her profile matches my suspect, then why the hell can’t I go harass him? Give me a few hours with him and I guarantee you I can get this bastard to confess.”

“Evelyn?”

Evelyn jumped at the voice behind her, and Jack and whoever he was talking to were instantly silent. She spun around.

Tomas stood behind her, exhaustion hanging off him like an oversize coat. “What are you doing?”

“Spying, apparently,” Jack drawled, coming around the corner, animosity in his eyes.

Next to him was a man about his age, with rapidly receding blond hair, broad shoulders and a gut that strained his uniform. A flush spread out from beneath his neatly trimmed beard, but he held out his hand politely. “I’m T. J. Sutton, ma’am. I joined the force about ten years ago, after you were gone.” His gaze whipped to Jack, then back to her. “Sorry about what you just overheard. We’re glad you’re here.”

Evelyn shook T.J.’s hand, then, ignoring Jack’s frown, asked him, “Who’s your suspect?”

Before he could reply, Tomas sighed. “Not Wiggins again.”

“Yeah, Wiggins. Are you honestly going to tell me he’s not a suspect?”

“Of course he’s a suspect,” Tomas snapped. “But you already questioned him with that CARD agent. You’re not going back. Not now. Not unless we have some new evidence.”

Evelyn’s head moved back and forth between them. With only three hours to review the case evidence and create a profile, she hadn’t had time to look at any suspects—and it was BAU practice not to, until the profile was complete. Knowing the suspects beforehand could taint the profile. She’d hoped to investigate the most promising suspects next.

“Who’s Wiggins? How does he match the profile?”

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it until Tomas clarified, “Walter Wiggins.”

And then a hazy memory of a young man with light brown hair flopping over his forehead and big ears flashed through her mind. “Wasn’t he a teenager eighteen years ago?”

“He’d have been twenty then,” Jack said.

“That’s a little young. How does he match the profile?”

“He’s a weenie wagger,” Jack spat.

Surprised, Evelyn asked, “He exposed himself? To children?”

Jack released a disgusted sigh. “Probably. But he was convicted of child molestation.”

Queasiness rolled in her gut. She’d known this would be part of the investigation. She’d expected it. She’d even profiled it. These days, the majority of nonparental abductions were by sexual offenders. But somehow, talking about a potential suspect with a specific criminal history made her feel sick.

Don’t think about Cassie, she warned herself. But it was too late.

She’d realized for years that Cassie was probably dead. But she’d tried so hard not to imagine what had come before that, after she’d been abducted.

The cops were staring at her expectantly, so Evelyn said, “Tell me about his conviction.”

“It was after he finished college,” Tomas said. “He’d moved out to DC for some lobbyist job. According to the trial notes, he volunteered at his local church, babysat all the neighbors’ kids and was generally well liked until he was arrested for child molestation.”

“And then he came back here?”

“Yeah. Apparently his neighbors in DC started taking baseball bats to his car windows on a regular basis, so Wiggins thought he’d be safer in Rose Bay. He moved back in with his parents, and he’s lived there ever since. Well, just his dad now. His mom died last year and his dad’s in bad health himself. There’s been a lot of pressure over the years to run Walter out of town.”

“They should’ve done it,” Jack said. “Everyone would have been better off.”

Tomas frowned. “Walter’s parents always maintained his innocence.”

“But you said he was convicted, right?” Evelyn asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Tomas replied. “His parents couldn’t stand to believe it, but I read all the trial notes. There’s no question Wiggins was guilty, and he went to jail. Not as long as he should have, if you ask me, but then, I’d lock these guys up for life. Anyway, that’s why the CARD team wanted to talk to him—he’s on the registered sex offender list.”

“Is he a preferential molester?” If he was, it meant he had a specific age and gender he targeted, instead of preying on any easy target.

“He is,” Jack said. “His victims in DC were girls between six and twelve. The sick bastard.”

Cassie’s age. “What does he do now? Something that gives him time to stalk potential victims?”

“Something with computers,” Jack said, looking at Tomas, who shrugged. “I think he works from home, contract stuff.”

“So, no scheduled hours at an office, where he’d be missed,” Evelyn concluded. “Girlfriend?”

Jack snorted. “Hell, no. Far as I know, he’s never had one.”

“Who’s got the notes from today’s interview with Wiggins?”

“The FBI agent,” Jack said. “But we should just go back there. Hell, you can come if you want to. Let me do the talking, though. I can get under this guy’s skin.”