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Special Agent Dean Silter looked up from his monitor, his eyes narrowing on his boss. “You heard from Brittany?”
Brock nodded and walked over to the white board where he and his team had been posting connections during their investigation. Originally, the suspect that had been stalking Raven hadn’t even been on their radar. But after Raven had received that terse letter, they’d been able to match the fingerprints on the paper to prints found at one of the crime scenes of a man who had been punctured to death. After that connection, Brittany had discovered ten other murders with similar MOs. The pictures that were now pinned up on the white board of the victims were gruesome to describe. Well, most of the victims were on the board. Some were too grisly, so only pictures from their driver’s licenses were on the board.
“She says that Mike Hemmind is just sitting outside Raven’s apartment building, waiting for her to come home.”
“Damn it!” Dean muttered, fisting his hands on his hips. “I just got word that Raven is on her way back to Philly.”
Brock’s irritation intensified. “I thought that she was supposed to be in San Antonio for two more days!”
Dean shrugged. “That was her previous itinerary. I don’t know why she’s booked an earlier flight.”
Brock nodded and the other two members of the team stood up, looking at the board as if trying to find enlightenment in the words scrawled across it.
“Anyone know what time her flight lands in Philly?” Brock asked.
Dean nodded. “She was too late for the two o’clock flight, so she got a seat on the three forty-five flight.”
Brock relaxed ever so slightly. “That’s good,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as frustration at the unanswered questions haunted everyone in the room. “Still, I don’t understand why this guy is after Raven. She hasn’t been on the team for two years now.”
Brock rubbed the scruff on his jaw, shaking his head. “I have no idea either. He hasn’t sent any other letters to her. Just that one that Raven mentioned a few weeks ago.”
“Boss?” Drake called out, lifting his eyes from his phone. “I don’t think that’s right.” He turned his phone around so that Brock could read the message.
Brock muttered another curse, then turned just in time to see Tim Armstrong walking into the office, escorted by another agent.
“Who are you?” Brock snapped, not interested in dealing with a visitor right now. He recognized Armstrong, of course. Everyone who read anything knew about the man who had created an additive that doubled the gas mileage for every gallon of fuel.
“I’m Tim Armstrong,” the guy explained, his blue eyes scanning the room.
Brock looked over his shoulder, grateful that one of his team members had flipped the white board around. No good came of a civilian seeing the evidence they’d gathered about a suspect.
Brock walked over, shaking the man’s hand. “We all know who you are,” he replied, a slight smile on his features. “Hell, everyone who drives a car knows who you are!”
Tim smiled slightly, but the expression quicky faded.
After shaking Brock’s hand, Tim shoved his suit jacket back, fisting his hands on his hips. “I was told that you used to work with Raven Markley. Is that correct?”
Brock’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah. Why?”
Armstrong’s demeanor didn’t change; he still looked like a muscle-bound geek, in Brock’s opinion.
Tim pulled a plastic bag containing several letters. “Because I found these stuck to her door over the past few days,” he explained. “I didn’t think anything of it until I received this one.” He added another envelope to the pile on the table.
Brock looked down at the envelopes. Three were addressed to Raven’s previous home, but the last two were addressed to her current apartment. The one they were watching now. The one that Mike Hemmind was also watching!
The letter, with the envelope stapled to it, had only a few words written on it. “Stay Away from Raven. She’s Mine!”
Brock felt his other team members gather around the desk, all of them staring at the notes.
“When did you get this?” Brock demanded, pulling a pair of tweezers out of his desk and lifting the note up to the light.
“I got that one yesterday. I drove over to Raven’s apartment, hoping to speak with her about a personal issue. That’s when I found the last note.”
“Damn,” Dean hissed beside him.
Chapter 10
Raven stepped off the plane, exhausted and cranky. She wanted a cup of coffee, but knew if she drank anything with caffeine now, she’d never get any sleep. The thought of texting Tim, asking him to meet her somewhere popped into her head, but glancing at the time, she realized it was nearly midnight.
