Look Behind You (Kendra Michaels #5)

“Anissa,” the woman replied. Her gaze was clinging frantically to Kendra’s face to avoid staring at the closet. “I can’t … look at him again. I just … wanted to be here. It didn’t seem right to leave Todd alone with people who didn’t know him.” She glanced away. “Sounds kind of stupid, I guess.”

“No,” Kendra said. “Not at all. He was lucky to have someone who cared about him as much as you obviously did.” She motioned toward the living room. “Let’s talk in there, okay?”

Anissa nodded with relief and followed her to the front of the apartment. Kendra studied the open door thoughtfully for a moment before turning back to Anissa. “Did Todd mention seeing anyone watching or following him in the past couple of weeks?”

Anissa shook her head. “What? You think someone was following Todd?”

“I do. And probably you too. This wasn’t just a crime of opportunity. I think this killer spent time gathering information on Todd, his schedule, and the people in his life.”

Anissa frowned in bewilderment. “Why would he do that? You think it’s someone Todd knew?”

“Probably not. But once the killer selected Todd as his victim, he most likely made it his business to study him and his habits, just as he did for his other victims. You haven’t noticed anyone or anything out of the usual?”

“It’s all crazy. Why would anyone—” Anissa drew a deep shaky breath. “Okay, give me a minute.” She thought for a moment, then finally shook her head. Kendra could see she was struggling to hold it together. “I’m sorry, I wish I could, but I can’t think of anything different. Everything was just … ordinary when we were together. No sickos lurking in the shadows. And who the hell would be stalking a great guy like—”

“Just relax,” Kendra said quietly. “Maybe something will come to you.”

Anissa looked at her. “I can’t relax. I’m scared to death. Todd is dead in that closet. And I can’t believe that maniac was just a few feet away from me … Watching, taking my picture…”

“What do you mean?”

Griffin stepped from the back bedroom holding a short stack of papers, each protected in their own clear plastic document protectors. “You haven’t seen these yet, Kendra.”

Kendra took the pages and thumbed through the printed photos.

“I came here last night,” Anissa said jerkily. “Todd and I were supposed to go meet some friends. I looked around but Todd wasn’t here. Or at least I didn’t think he was. When I came back this morning, these pages were spread out on the floor, leading to the back bedroom like a trail of bread crumbs.”

Kendra got a sudden chill when she realized what she was seeing. “These are all the same picture of you, taken from that closet.”

Anissa nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks. “He was probably standing over Todd’s body when he took it. I had no idea…”

“We’re pretty sure he used the ink jet printer in the victim’s bedroom,” Griffin said.

“You’re lucky to be alive, ma’am,” Gina said.

“Yeah, sure.” Anissa shot her a glance that indicated she didn’t feel very lucky. She motioned toward the stack of printed photos in Kendra’s hands. “They’re all the same except the last one. It was in the middle of Todd’s bedroom.”

Kendra found the photo and read the printed scrawl aloud, “LOOK BEHIND YOU.”

Shock. Another sickening chill racked Kendra.

Anissa crossed her arms in front of her almost as a block against the hideous scrawl. “That’s when I turned around and saw Todd in the closet. I ran out of here as fast as I could. Everything else is a blur.”

LOOK BEHIND YOU.

Kendra barely heard her as she stared at the last page. This couldn’t be happening, she thought dazedly.

LOOK BEHIND YOU.

God, no.

Metcalf caught her expression. “What is it, Kendra?”

She pushed the papers back at Griffin. “I have to go to your office and research something. Can someone come with me?”

Griffin’s eyes were narrowed on her face. “What did you see?”

“That message. ‘Look behind you.’ A killer up in Ventura County used this stunt on his victims about ten years ago.”

“One of your other cases?”

She shook her head. “No, I was working another murder up there, and they presented me with details of their unsolved cases of the previous few years. This was just one of several and we quickly realized it had nothing to do with our case. But it stuck with me, the idea of the killer taunting his victims like this.”

Griffin looked down at the paper in his hand. “Yeah, I have a vague recollection of this even though it wasn’t our case. It made some headlines.”

“As far as I know, it’s never been solved. I need to access the NCIC database and get details.”

Griffin nodded. “Take Metcalf with you to the office. We’ll meet you there after the scene is broken down. See what you can find out.”

Normally Kendra would have resented Griffin’s giving her orders as if she was one of his agents, but she was already completely absorbed in the puzzle that had been placed in front of her. At the moment it was hard to tell if this was a copycat, or if the same killer had resurfaced after all this time.

Metcalf cocked his head toward the door. “Ready?”

She took one last long look at the door of Todd Wesley’s bedroom where a young man’s life had been taken for no reason but bloodlust. Yesterday he’d had a future and a woman he loved, but that had all been stolen by that killer who had savagely attacked him. I’m going to find who did this to you, Todd. I’ll make him pay, I promise.

She turned back to Metcalf. “Yes, you bet I’m ready.”

*

A HALF HOUR LATER KENDRA was in the FBI third-floor conference room, pacing in front of the bulletin boards while Metcalf used a laptop to connect to the National Crime Information Center.

“Just a few more seconds,” he said.

Kendra pointed to the flat panel monitor at the end of the room. “Can you mirror your laptop screen over there?”

As if in response, the large screen flickered and the NCIC logo appeared.

“The database is a little sluggish tonight,” he said. “It’s taking me a while to log in.”

“Should I call my friend Sam Zackoff? He can probably hack his way in within a few minutes.”

“… and he’ll get his door kicked in by a squad of federal agents on his way to serving three to five years in prison.” Metcalf grimaced. “The government isn’t wild about its law enforcement databases being breached by unauthorized personnel.”

“Zackoff’s work is too valuable to most of the government agencies to get him into too much trouble. Besides he’s pretty good at covering his tracks.”

“Not necessary. I just got in.”

Kendra watched the large screen as he queried the system for details on the Ventura County murders she’d remembered. Within a minute, they were looking at photos and abstracts of the case.

“Still unsolved,” Metcalf said. “All three victims were men in their late teens and early twenties.” He tabbed forward through more crime scene photos. “They were all stabbing victims, but there—”

“Wait!” she interrupted. “Go back one.”

Metcalf displayed the previous photo and the sight made her gasp.

LOOK BEHIND YOU.

The words were scrawled on a sheet of paper found just inches from one of the victims.

Kendra’s stomach tightened. “The handwriting’s the same.”