“The idea that he could stay under the radar for years,” Charlie observed. “That’s terrifying. Time could be running out, then.”

  Valerie’s pulse quickened. She felt ill through lack of sleep. But now, more than ever, speed was of the essence.

  “We need to play this smart,” she said. “There are too many people on the list from the Wendel Institute, and Jackson sent me a message that we’d have to wait a little for more agents to help cover them. We have to split up and check each name. Will, you can come with me; Charlie, you okay to fly solo?”

  “Always,” he said. “I’ll check up with local law enforcement to see if any police departments recognize the names. I think that might be a good way to narrow it down.”

  “Agreed,” Valerie said.

  Valerie caught the eye of another police officer waiting nearby. He raised his hand.

  “Hi,” Valerie said to him. “You got something for me?”

  “We’ve got a potential ID on the body,” he said. “Michaela Strain, 28, lives here in Midway.”

  “How did you get the ID? She looks like she was out jogging by the way she’s dressed. I’m assuming she didn’t have any identification on her?”

  “We knew her name was Michaela from the 911 call she made before she was killed,” the officer explained. “Two of her friends were expecting to meet her before work. They’ve pretty much confirmed her identity, though we’ll need a formal ID of the body. I thought you should know.”

  “Thank you,” Valerie replied. “Has anyone contacted her next of kin?”

  “Yes,” the officer said. “One of the detectives is doing that right now. Do you want to meet with them?”

  “One of our agents will do that,” Valerie said.

  “You don’t think it’s worth speaking with the family right now?” Will wondered out loud.

  “No,” Valerie said. “Look at this situation. Michaela is jogging up here, she happens to find a man lying on the trail. This isn’t an ambush, it’s a crime of opportunity. Again, our killer didn’t think about killing, not until she tried to help him. We know this from the 911 call. She didn’t recognize him or she would have said so. This isn’t someone connected to her. She’s only dead because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and wanted to help.”

  “Punished for being a good person,” Will said, shaking his head.

  “Yes,” Valerie continued. “She was. But it was more than that. It was being a good person and bad luck, possibly, for looking like the killer’s other victims. My point is that the family won’t know anything about this man because this man didn’t even know he was going to kill Michaela. He didn’t know she even existed. I doubt the family has any knowledge of the killer. But we can chase that up later; for now we’ll let someone else do that interview. We’ve got all these names to get through in the meantime.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking,” Charlie said, thoughtfully. “Why was the killer lying down on the trail? Surely he wasn’t just trying to sleep. There must have been something wrong with him.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Will agreed. “He could have been having some sort of psychotic event, one that was too much for him to handle in that moment. Poor Michaela came along at the wrong time.”

  She turned to Charlie. “Let’s stay in touch, Charlie. You get started on some of these names; Will and I will check some others. And we’ll liaise with the police here in Midway to see if there’s anything worth chasing up with Michaela’s family.”

  “With all due respect,” the officer, who was still standing to the side, said. “I come from Midway. I think the least you can do for the victim’s family is speak with them before you leave.”

  “I will speak with them, officer,” Valerie said. “But the best thing I can do for them right now is bring Michaela’s killer to justice. And that’s what I intend on doing.”

  Valerie moved off with Will by her side. She understood the point, and she knew that cops from local areas were more attuned to people’s feelings, but Valerie had to be economical with her time.

  If their theory was correct, the killer could go dark at any point once his urges had been temporarily fulfilled. Then they would lose track of him. Time was of the essence, and so the team had to keep moving to uncover the killer among Wendel Institute’s ex-patients. That meant heading out again with no sleep or rest.

  Valerie thought for a moment about Tom and the vacation they had planned with his parents. Perhaps she would return there if the case was concluded in time. But she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Not this case, and not her personal life. Not even her own mental health.

  But all of that had to wait for the time being.

  She and her team had to keep searching until they were too exhausted to carry on.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Valerie gripped the steering wheel, the tension in her body fingering down her arms all the way to her hands. She was driving herself and Will to the next name on the Wendel Institute list.

  The skies had opened up, the highway covered in rain. Glowing taillights beamed in front of her through the spray kicked up by the glistening wheels in the dim day. The swish of the water cascading down the windscreen meshed together into an unsettling white noise.

  Will was in the passenger seat looking through his phone. He seemed to be intently invested in something. Valerie was happy with that. Her mind was a torrent of thoughts both personal and professional. Talking about it felt like opening up a wound or collapsing a dam that could never be put back.

  The drive to the next suspect on their list would take about 40 minutes, Valerie was trying her best to think through the case, though her personal issues made themselves known intermittently. Intrusive thoughts that only increased her stress levels.

  She wasn’t in the mood for conversation. If she could have just kept driving through the rain until her life hit a streak of sunshine, she would have.

  The indicator clicked on and off as she moved between the traffic, and the rain battled against the car roof overhead.

  She thought of the thin metal ceiling between her and the elements. That was how she felt about her family’s insanity. That there was a thin dividing line between her and her mother and sister in the psychiatric wards.

  Then her thoughts turned momentarily to her father.

  Where was he? Why hadn’t the search through the FBI thrown up his whereabouts? There was something in the back of her mind about that which needled at her.

  One thing more than any other worried Valerie as she drove towards the next suspect. In previous cases she had been able to push her familial worries to the side in order to maintain her professionalism. She had been able to think clearly about the killer she was chasing and their motivations. Only once she returned to the quiet of her apartment did those intrusive thoughts about her family make themselves truly know.

  But not this time. Since reconnecting with Suzie and her mother, since trying to find her father, she couldn’t go back to that serenity. She was in a storm and nothing could save her but to hold on for dear life and hope that it would pass.

  She was so tired, and so exasperated, with unanswered questions that her frustrations were bleeding into the investigation.

  The wiper blade scraped across the glass, letting out a slight squeak as it did. Each time, the road ahead became slightly more visible, only to then be reclaimed by the cascading rain from above.

  Valerie turned inward again as its rhythmic back and forward almost hypnotized her.

  She knew that her mother had important information for her about her family and her past. Retrieving that information was going to be difficult. She had held out hope that tracking down her father would help. But so far, even with the assistance of her boss Jackson and the FBI, her father was proving particularly difficult to find.

  For a moment, Valerie’s mind drifted so far into her family problems that she didn’t see it before it was too late.

  Up ahead on the road, through the sheets of rain, a red taillight moved erratically. First, it swerved right, then left. The taillight was attached to something huge and lumbering. Then a crack sounded, and an equally large black shape fell off the back of what Valerie now knew was a truck.

  “Look out!” Will screamed.

  Valerie only had the shortest of moments to respond to the object. It was a large piece of sheet metal, and it was hurtling towards the car.

  Thrusting her foot onto the brake pedal, she felt the car lose control. The wheels slid in the rain as the sheet of metal, buffeted by the wind and rain, came ever closer.

  She grabbed the wheel tighter and swung it to the side violently. The sheet metal scraped along the ground kicking up shards of concrete, flipped up, and then barely missed the driver’s side.

  The car swerved all over the road, and Valerie, her training kicking in, lifted her foot from the pedal and then pumped the brake. This allowed her to control the car more tightly, as it finally came to a juddering, screeching halt.

  Valerie looked behind her to make sure everyone else on the road was safe.

  Other cars had stopped and the sheet of metal was now lying motionless in the middle of the road. Thankfully, no one had been hurt. The truck up ahead pulled over and switched on its hazard lights. Valerie did the same.

  “That was close,” Will said, breathing heavily. “That was some driving, Valerie. You saved our lives.”

  But Valerie felt a great deal of shame. Deep down, she had only reacted because Will had shouted. She had been so wrapped up in her own problems, that she had almost driven straight into that piece of sheet metal. Both of them could have been killed.

  I’ve got to wake myself out of this, Valerie thought to herself. I can’t keep losing myself in my own problems. Not while I’m on a case.

  “You okay, Valerie?” Will asked, tenderly.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said. But she did not feel it.

  There was a knock on the rain drenched window. Valerie lowered her window. Standing there in the soaking rain was the truck driver who’d swerved up ahead on the road.

  “You okay?” the driver asked. “I saw that sheet metal nearly hit you in my mirror. This damn weather must have pulled loose one of the safety ropes.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Valerie said. “Doesn’t look like anyone else was hurt. But we need to make sure that sheet metal is taken off the road.”

  Valerie got out and spoke with some of the other drivers, asking them to band together and help her pull the sheet metal off the road to the side. It was hard work, but she, Will, and the other drivers got it done. The driver of the truck said he would wait for assistance and make sure that the rest of the sheet metal on the back of his truck was secured.

  Valerie and Will got back into the car. They were drenched from the rain. Cold and battered by the elements. Valerie looked at the time on the dashboard. It was still morning, and yet the day was as dim as the bleakest of nights.

  “That was quite the experience,” Will said, joking and soaked from head to toe. “Nothing quite like a brush with death to wake you up from your own exhaustion. A renewed appreciation for life is better than any coffee isn’t it?”

  Valerie rubbed her eyes for a moment, pulling the rain away from them. She didn’t say anything. She kept playing what had happened over and over in her mind: That piece of sheet metal moving towards the car like a giant bat in the grim wind.

  “Valerie, it’s not like you to be shaken by such a thing,” Will observed suddenly. “You’re not yourself at the moment, are you?”

  “I’m always myself. Who else should I be?”

  “Normally you’re an unflappable FBI agent, but recently you’ve been completely preoccupied in a way that I’ve never seen. I worry for you.”

  Valerie turned to Will. He looked rather comical, his hair a mess from the rain. His usual carefully crafted academic demeanor, swept away by the water and wind.

  But despite his appearance, Valerie couldn’t find anything comical about his words. She felt defensive. A need to protect herself even though she was not under attack.

  “I’m getting sick and tired of you and Charlie questioning my mental state!” She let that statement sit for a moment before continuing. “I’ve opened up to both of you about what’s going on. Yes, I’m having problems with my family at the moment. But that doesn’t change my efficacy as an agent. I’m dedicated to the task ahead. I won’t endanger myself, you, or the public. I don’t want this mentioned again, do you understand?”

  “That’s your choice,” Will said. “But maybe you should talk to Tom, if you can’t talk to us.”

  “Tom is fine with everything,” she said, knowing it was a lie. She thought about how things had ended on their vacation. He had been so disappointed, and who knew what his family now thought of her. First impressions were important, and she’d hardly made a stellar impact.

  “And he was fine with you dropping your vacation to come here? You had told me all about the trip before you left. How it was so important to Tom. How you were nervous about it. Then you left his family home at the drop of a hat when it was such a big deal that you were finally there?” Will asked.

  He had cut to the core of it. Sometimes she felt Will’s psychological talents were so keen that they bordered on telepathic.

  “Tom is fine. I’m fine. I’m asking you as my friend, can you drop this topic of conversation?”

  “I trust you, Valerie,” Will said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop worrying about you.”

  Valerie started the car. It grumbled underneath a bed of rain.

  “I can focus on the case, despite what’s going on,” Valerie said. “All I’m asking is that you and Charlie do the same. Don’t focus on me or my state of mind. I’ll take care of that myself.”

  “As you wish,” Will said. “But you know I’m here if you change your mind or need to talk. About Tom, about the case… About your family.”

  “I know,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, Will. I just don’t have it in me to go over it. But I do have the strength to catch this killer.”

  Valerie gently pushed the gas pedal and drove down the highway. The rain continued to fall in sheets, following them like a curse.

  Valerie was perturbed by the conversation she’d just had with her friend. Being defensive every time people asked how she was doing was only going to lead to conflict. If Jackson had seen how she had been acting, he’d have had serious issues with putting her back in the field.

  She tried to take some of her own advice.

  She had to focus purely on the case. Not on her family. That meant sticking to the road ahead, through the rain, through the gray, not stopping until they were face-to-face with the next suspect on the list.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Valerie didn’t like the look of the apartment building in front of them. It looked like most of it was empty, the windows covered up with sheet metal. She noted that it looked like the same metal that had fallen off the truck and rushed towards them in the rain.

  Inside, she felt that was an omen.

  The building was a square block of apartments, the gray long since covered in thick blankets of damp mold.

  “Someone actually lives here?” Will asked almost rhetorically.

  “People live in all sorts of places,” Valerie said. In the back of her mind she wondered where her own father lived, if she could ever track him down. Was he, too, hiding in some run down place where people feared to tread?

  She shook that thought.

  This was about the case, not her.

  Valerie looked down at the name on the piece of paper in her hand. “Owen Edgerton,” she said. “That’s who lives here.”

  “Any information about his time at the Wendel Institute?” Will asked.

  “No, not yet. I’m still waiting on the background checks from HQ. Charlie has contacted local PDs as well.”

  She looked at the place in front of her. It looked so damp, she could almost taste it. The building was five stories high, and it looked like it had been thrown up during the 1970s. It was once new and filled with possibilities, but now it had succumbed to neglect and age.

  The neighborhood was pretty empty as far as Valerie could see. It was a bit of a ghost town, sitting just south of Indianapolis, far enough away from the metropolis to have an isolation of sorts. It was one of those outskirt projects where developers tried to turn an almost rural area into an up and coming market for young professional couples.

  It hadn’t worked. Now it was being used by people who couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. Valerie hated thinking of that. Everyone deserved not just a home, but a place that was safe and clean in which to rest. Whoever still lived inside that apartment had not been given the dignity of that.

  “Let’s go in,” Valerie said putting the piece of paper back in her pocket. “Keep your eyes open, Will.”

  As they wandered through the front door of the apartment building, Valerie could feel Will tensing up. For all his many months of experience working at the unit, and his countless years of academic study into the minds of violent killers, he was still green enough to be affected by an insidious apprehension.

  The shadows were more fearful to him than they were for Valerie. But even she had an oppressive intuition about that building, and it put her on edge.

  The inside of the building smelled as damp as she had imagined. There was a sound of dripping water somewhere, but the water itself remained unseen. Valerie imagined that it was pouring into the building from a hole in the roof, but it could just have easily come from a broken pipe that no one wanted to mend.