Free Doom with a View by Victoria Laurie Page A

away. I’m not sure right now where Kyle is,” I admitted, “but I can keep working on it. As far as the person responsible . . .” My voice faded as I tried to focus, and my eyes kept going back to Kyle and how big and athletic he was. It would take a big man to overpower him, but somehow that wasn’t exactly my impression of the killer. I suspected he was average in size, and perhaps he’d used some other method to get Kyle away from campus without making a scene—like move in behind him and point a gun into his back or something.
    “I believe this is the work of one suspect, a male. I believe he is intelligent, concise, and very deliberate with his movements, actions, and thoughts. I also believe he is comfortable, or would fit in easily, in a collegiate environment. He might even look like a student.”
    “Any idea as to why he’s specifically targeting these kids?” asked another agent who’d been quiet until now.
    I paused, considering the motive for a while, and the answer I got was quite puzzling. “It’s the weirdest thing,” I said, trying to feel out the energy. “It’s almost like this is a smoke screen for something else. I can’t help thinking there’s some sort of bait and switch going on here. As if the killer wants us to think one way, but the truth is very different. There’s also something very personal about all this. Like a nerve has been struck and this is the reaction. There’s revenge here too, but the real story is much larger than it would appear.”
    I could tell that my answer both confused and slightly frustrated the group, and for that I felt bad. I didn’t know how this jigsaw puzzle fit together either, but I knew I wasn’t off when I told them that there was a lot more to it than the facts at first revealed.
    “I have a question,” Candice said into the silence that followed.
    “Of course,” Gaston said.
    “I’m pretty amazed that the press hasn’t gotten hold of this story yet,” she said. “I mean, how have you managed to avoid having this story plastered all over every national paper?”
    Gaston’s eyes flickered to Harrison. “We owe a bit of that to Agent Harrison for bringing this task force to Washington and away from any one local bureau, where the press would be more suspicious of such a meeting, as well as sheer luck. Both the Coyle and Newhouse disappearances were reported in the local news in their towns when the press picked up the stories from local police blotters, but Bianca’s father contacted me right away—keeping it out of the press. That’s good for us, because the last thing we need right now is to deal with a bunch of reporters before we know exactly who—or what—we’re dealing with. So far, none of the AP wires has connected the dots between the three teens, which has worked in our favor.”
    “How exactly does that work in our favor?” Candice asked.
    “Because if we are in fact dealing with an antigov ernment serial killer, he’ll be looking for attention, and we believe that if he gets it, the abductions may escalate. That’s why we’re working to keep everyone outside this room in the dark. Even the families have not been told about a possible connection to other missing kids in neighboring states, because the longer we can work this case quietly, the better chance we have to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with without risking an escalation from the unsub.
    “Still,” said Gaston, “we all know it’s only a matter of time before word will leak and some ambitious reporter is going to blow this thing wide open, so I want to reiterate the need to keep the details of this case isolated to members of this group and your own individual SACs. Am I understood?”
    All heads around the table, including mine and Candice’s, nodded.
    “Excellent,” said Gaston as he got to his feet, and started issuing orders.“Agents Albright and McKenzie, we’ll need you to continue to survey the footage at all three campuses