Free Killer Moves by Mary Eason

at him again as she turned and left him standing alone.
    For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
    Davis sat alone in the living room with the files spread out before him on the coffee table. There were the new cases as well as the files of the Angel’s past victims. Without looking up he knew Kara had joined him again.
    “We’ve missed something. I’ve missed something,” he amended as she handed him another cup of coffee. “I’ve been over this stuff a thousand times but I can’t see it.” His glance found her reluctant one. “You’ve been away from the case for a while. Maybe you can find what I’m missing.”
    Kara sat down on the floor next to him but not too close. He figured he deserved that.
    He handed her the oldest case files and studied her silently. The voices—she could hear them. It felt like old times again. This was how they’d worked the original cases. Usually at her small Westminster apartment. They’d always ended up in each other’s arms, consumed by the passion they couldn’t control. No matter how much she wanted to deny that passion now, she still felt it. Just the way he did.
    The Angel’s first victim had been the only one he’d had any known connection with. Frankie’s mother worked for Amy Sinclair’s parents as their housekeeper. Amy had reportedly spurned his advances, leading to what the Bureau profilers believed had been the final straw in the making of a serial killer.
    Kara picked up the photo from the crime scene. They’d discovered Amy’s nude body in an abandoned warehouse twenty miles away from her family home. The Angel hadn’t quite perfected his technique with Amy. He didn’t leave his legendary calling card of white lilacs or the biblical scripture. That came later. With Carrie Olson—victim number two.
    Davis watched Kara’s familiar routine as she touched the photo of Amy. He saw it in her eyes before she shut them tight. She could feel the victim’s terror. Even now after all these years, it would be just as real and raw to her as it had been all those years ago. The photo slipped from her fingers. She reached for the pages of documentation instead.
    Amy’s parents reported her missing after she didn’t return home from a date with her boyfriend. Most of the local police who were good friends of the Sinclair family suspected the boyfriend right away, because of the family’s dislike of him. Unfortunately, all the time wasted in pursuing what turned out to be a dead end also cost them precious time. The locals dismissed obvious clues early on in the investigation, which might have yielded valuable leads. It took longer than it should to connect Amy’s death with the other Angel murders.
    Davis got to his feet and refilled both their coffee cups without Kara being aware of his absence. She’d become lost in the dark shadows of the past.
    He watched her pick up the second victim’s folder, careful not to touch Carrie’s photo. Carrie’s abduction and murder happened a short time later. The horror she suffered at the hands of Angel would have been indescribable. He’d gone over the top with her.
    “Are you okay?” Davis asked when he returned from refilling their coffee cups. Her eyes appeared slightly glazed when they met his. He could only describe this look as someone emerging from a trance. She took the mug he offered gratefully before shaking her head.
    “It doesn’t get easier. Even after all these years. Even knowing we did everything we could for them. It’s still hard.”
    “I know they’re hard to take. Don’t look at the photos, Kara. Just concentrate on the evidence.”
    Davis sifted through the files and found the first new case. “Here, you start with Amy and I’ll start with Amanda, the Angel’s first new victim. The DC police found Amanda on the anniversary of Amy’s murder at a similar location. An abandoned warehouse.”
    She looked at him strangely before asking, “Do you realize what you just