Killer Moves Read Online Free Page B

aspect of the way the case was handled. Ed needs me to do this.”
    “I need you. Dammit, Davis, I need you more than Ed or his precious Bureau needs you. Please don’t do this. Stay with me.” She held him tighter.
    They were getting nowhere. If he stayed the night, he wouldn’t be strong. Couldn’t do what Ed demanded. He needed to leave.
    He’d untangled her arms. “I’m sorry, Kara, I can’t. It’s only for a little while. We just need to put some distance between us for a bit,” he pleaded with her.
    He looked at her. Tears streamed down her face. Her next words shattered what little hope he had left.
    “Davis, I can’t stay in DC. I won’t. Not like this.” He almost didn’t catch the words. Her voice was little more than a whisper.
    Dear God, it felt like goodbye. “Please, don’t do this, Kara. I promise you this won’t be forever.”
    But she’d needed reassurances from him he couldn’t give her— should have given her.
    He’d gone back to her apartment the next day and found it empty of her personal things. She’d left without so much as a goodbye and he’d let her go, thinking he was doing what was best for her even though for a long time, he wasn’t sure he’d survive her absence from his life. He’d promised himself he’d go after her someday. Days turned to months then years, and he wondered all sorts of crazy things. Had she moved on? Was she married? Did she hate him as much as he hated himself for not following through on that promise?
    This wasn’t the way he’d imagined their reunion.
    When the captain announced the flight’s departure, Davis turned off his cell phone and laptop. The files called out to him but he couldn’t look at them yet.
    Rachel had been the deciding factor for him. He knew with her death it was over. He’d never be the same again. He’d seen too much. Once they’d solved these copycat cases, he’d leave the Bureau once and for all.
    Because of his personal connection to Rachel, Ryan had taken over as lead investigator in her death. Ed didn’t want a repeat of the negative press associated with the Death Angel case. With Ryan in the lead, they were conducting the investigation by the book.
    Unfortunately, Davis had soon discovered he had a personal relationship with all the latest victims. The first vic had been a fellow recruit from his Quantico days. She’d been in the same class as Davis and Ryan. The other was a one-night encounter he’d met at a bar on a night out with Ryan. As much as Davis wanted to believe this might only be some bizarre coincidence, he knew better. And he feared the worst. The Angel had decided to make this thing personal.
    Six years ago everyone but Kara believed Frankie Shepard was the Death Angel. Frankie had died when his car plunged into the Potomac after a high-speed chase, even though his body was never recovered. At the time, Kara had been adamant Frankie was not capable of such violence and that they were, in a sense, framing an innocent man. She’d been alone in her beliefs. Now, Davis had begun to see the holes in that theory.
    If Frankie hadn’t been the Death Angel, then where had he been for the past six years? All of the FBI profilers believed serial killers thrived on attention. They loved hearing about their crimes in the press. So why had it taken him so long to resurface?
    Davis closed his eyes and tried to nap. What awaited him in El Paso would be an emotional tug-of-war. But sleep once again proved elusive.
    When the seatbelt light went off, he pulled out the folders, glancing around briefly before opening them. The gruesome details contained in those folders would shock most normal people.
    The first new victim, Amanda Shelly, bore a striking resemblance to the original Angel death. The most compelling piece of evidence that the Angel might still be alive came from the names of the victims. They correlated with the names of the Angel’s first victims. Whoever was doing this enjoyed taunting them,