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Dana grinned, leading them over to the row labeled, Christian Artifacts. “At the beginning.”
99
A vibrationat Jake’s hip dragged him from his dreams. He sat up, momentarily jarred by the glass encased skull in front of him. The sound of Dana stirring next to him brought him back to his senses. He gently shifted her weight off his shoulder and stood from the too small couch in her office beneath the Smithsonian.
His back popped loudly as he stretched and took in his surroundings. Dana slept, glasses askew, legs tucked under her, book still open in her lap. Claire dozed curled up like a cat in the wingback chair in the corner. The table between them was littered with books, scrolls and manuscripts. The disturbing details they’d researched last night came rushing back with razor clarity.
It started with Papyrus 18—a third century Greek copy of the Book of Revelation; where the Grim Reaper’s story originated, then morphed into studies of each culture’s harbinger of death; their morbid research culminating with the disturbing tale of the Seven Sleepers and religious persecution.
Jake was surprised he’d slept at all thanks to the subject matter surrounding them. Then again, the Army had taught him how to sleep anywhere.
Despite the subject matter, Jake found himself feeling nostalgic. It felt like old times pulling an all-nighter alongside Dana and Claire. Even the faint scent of left-over Thai takeout made him sentimental.
Leave it to Dana and Claire to deliver a slice of normalcy amidst the chaos of the past few days. It made him hopeful that things could be righted, put back on course. Perhaps all he needed to do to right their course was stop trying to steer and give in to the current.
He gazed at Dana, realizing how easy it would be to get swept away by her.
Navigating relationships wasn’t something Jake was good at. In the few he’d managed, he was the alpha. But Dana was his equal in every way. Dedication, determination, strength, loyalty; he admired it all. And her brilliant mind … it was a thing of beauty that never ceased to leave him in awe.
Last night she’d walked the stacks, locating untitled books like she was visiting old friends. With the simple stroke of its spine, each book gave up its secrets to Dana, enabling her to rattle off facts about Reapers, religion, possessions, and rituals that helped shape the profile of a killer.
Claire also chimed in with facts about Reapers, but there was no emotion behind her words. She simply regurgitated facts, like a walking Wikipedia. With Dana, it was different.
Where most saw nothing but death and evil in her work, she found understanding, existence, humanity. On that level, even the most ancient occult beliefs could translate to the world today and beyond.
It was like witnessing magic. And if Jake was honest, it’s why he’d fallen for Dana in the first place. She was a star in the night sky, lighting the way through the darkness, and Jake had existed in darkness for far too long.
It assuaged any doubts he had about where he belonged.
Together they’d compiled a mountain of evidence supporting Dana’s theory. The D.C. Reaper was systematically butchering chosen victims to recreate the legend of the Seven Sleepers and gain the gift of immortality through resurrection. What they’d yet to prove was the who and why?
Whoever it was, Jake now believed like Dana, the killings wouldn’t stop until all seven were dead.
A second buzz from his pocket had Jake pulling out his phone. One missed call. One voice mail. Both from the same number. 202. It was a D.C. area code. He was about to listen to the message when another phone began ringing.
The sound stirred both women awake. Claire, jolted upright, startled. Dana was slower to rouse. “Is that my phone?” she asked, adjusting her glasses.
Jake uncovered it from beneath the mess of papers and books on the table. Handing it to her, they paused, both reading the caller ID at the same time.Hartwell.
“Hello?” Dana answered breathlessly, placing the call on speaker.
“Sorry to call so early …”
“Is there another body?”
“No. Nothing from the Reaper.”
Dana’s gaze met Jake’s. “Then it proves we have the right guy. Dvita is the D.C. Reaper.”
She could hear the frustration in Hartwell’s exhale. “Not finding a body isn’t enough to prove guilt.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“Dvita’s walking in a few hours. We’ll put a tail on him, but there’s not much else we can do. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”
Jake spoke up. “What about the jump drive?”
“His attorney’s turning it over as soon as he’s released. BAU should have it by noon.”
