Page 71 of Facing the Enemy
“But now you do?”
“I ... I found Luke’s head in my bathtub on a blue baby blanket.”
My face grew hot. My stomach rolled. The crime ring had sent a powerful message—bold, gruesome. “Risa, are you okay? Of course you’re not. I’ll let the SAC and ASAC know immediately.”
“SAC is aware.” The distant tone of her voice said she needed someone with her. We were trained for macabre situations, and we’d seen plenty of those in investigating kidnappings. Hard things. Horrible things done to children and adults. But nothing prepared us for the gruesome sight of one of our own brutally murdered.
A baby blanket?As though mocking the victims and those investigating the crimes.
“I’ll finish up what I’m doing and be right there.” The rest of the afternoon could take a hike into nowhere.
“I’m all right. You have responsibilities there,” she said weakly. “Gage, where is the rest of Luke’s body?”
“It will turn up. Those responsible will make sure we receive the whole message.”
I called the SAC. Normally everything we did went through the ASAC to minimize the workload for SAC Dunkin. But Risa’s recent status negated protocol.
“I don’t think she should be alone,” I said. “Have agents been sent to her address?”
“Yes. They should be there shortly. We’ve formed a task force with HPD for the investigation. ASAC Kendall and I are leaving within the hour to inform Luke’s wife.”
“As soon as I’m finished here with Ethan Mercury, I’d like to see Risa.”
“I need you to conduct the interview with the two gang members first and get a statement. I want this crime ring stopped.”
I swallowed. I had a job to do. “I’m on it. A request here—would you send agents to my house? It’s a Mercury alarm but not on Ethan’s list. In the meantime, I’ll go online and change my account’s passwordand forward that to you. I’ve requested Ethan change all the password information on the accounts in the hands of John Smith before he leaves the building.”
“Smith will be after Mercury with both barrels. Make sure he’s on 24-7 protection detail.”
I stood in the empty interview room and digested the repulsive news about Luke. His poor wife. I prayed she had family and friends to comfort her.
Risa was one of the strongest women I’d ever met, one of the many things about her I respected. This all led back to the night her brother had given his life for her. Jack and Luke must have been on the hit list too. What had the two discovered? Why not me? How soon before Smith and his thugs came after Risa again?
38
RISA
I fought the urge to scream at the brutal savagery in my home. Standing in my living room and gazing out the window to the street below decorated in festive Christmas decorations nearly sent me crumpling to my knees.Why, God?
I’d learned in dealing with tragic cases how to compartmentalize my emotions until I had privacy to process rage and grief. Horrific images of what a victim suffered at the hands of a brutal killer were not unfamiliar. Yet blood, the pinnacle of violence, never got easier to face. Blood ... liquid life. When necessary, I sought counseling to rid my mind of terrible images and often blame.
Trenton’s and Luke’s deaths shouted as one of those times I’d need professional and spiritual help. And always prayer. Forgiveness of myself came hard for me, especially when my personality thrived on perfectionism, and I held myself responsible for not finding a way to end a crime sooner.
While God and I were on much better terms, He refused to answer why. Was it just last week that I poured out my heart to God? And now I needed Him even more.
“Agent Jacobs,” a male voice called.
I turned to a police officer who’d arrived first on the scene with his partner. “Two FBI agents are here asking for you.”
I hadn’t heard a knock or the doorbell. My muddled mental state held me in emotional shock. I longed to see Gage. His words about my strength were almost laughable—more like cry-able.
Help me. I can’t help others without You.
Two agents approached me, Darlene, a dear woman who’d mailed thoughtful cards to my apartment ever since Trenton’s funeral, and a young male agent I didn’t recognize. The same numbness threatened to take over now. With seemingly every breath, I saw Luke’s head and Trenton’s battered body. Each superimposing the other. Further contemplation—possibly overthinking—that guilt had nested in my head and my heart. I shuddered at how low I’d sunk in the past, when placing one foot in front of the other took monumental effort. Would I ever be the woman from the past ... Special Agent Risa Jacobs? I wanted to believe I could move on, but Luke’s severed head in my bathtub—
My stomach revolted. I rushed into the kitchen and vomited in the sink. Impossible to venture into the bathroom with Luke ... I hated my inability to master my body’s responses.
Trenton died in my place.
