Page 5 of All He Takes
The grim expression on his face made Nicky's heart drop.
"Unfortunately," the chief said, "we didn't call you all in to share good news. One of the missing girls on the list has been found... but she's not alive."
All at once, the room froze. Nicky's pulse pounded against her eardrums. No--that can't be happening...
Another girl was dead, and Nicky hadn't even had the chance to save her? How was she supposed to reconcile with that? She was still reeling with guilt over seeing Amara Gregory in person and thinking about Maisie—and now this, too?
She really needed a drink.
"She was found dead?" Ken asked when Nicky didn’t, but Nicky was at a loss for words. Part of her didn’t even want to know where this was going, unsure if her stomach could take it.
No—snap out of it, she told herself. She was an agent. She was trained for this. She could handle it.
"Yes," Franco said. "We're sorry to break the news so bluntly, but it's the truth." Franco was pacing the front of the room again, and Nicky heard the clack of his heels against the tile floor, but all she could think about was how it was too late. Too late for the girl who died. Too late for Nicky to save her.
She'd already lost too many.
Without another word, the chief tossed two print-outs on the table--photocopies of what looked to be Polaroid photos.
In one photo, a brown-haired girl was lying in a white dress with her throat slit. In the other, a girl slouched in a chair, also with her throat slit. The images made Nicky’s gut churn with nausea—there was something old about them, something vintage, like they were pulled straight from the ‘70s.
Nicky looked closer at the first photo... she had seen this girl before…
It was her.
Paris Conner.
One of the girls from the list.
Nicky's mind raced, and anxiety tore through her. She couldn't lose it in front of the chief or the senator. She couldn't break down. But it was too much.
"It shocked us too," the chief said solemnly. "Like I said, you are a fine team of fine agents, but the reality is, we always knew not every girl could be recovered." He cleared his throat and glanced at Amara. "But we are starting to lose more than expected, and we really can't afford to lose any more."
Nicky's stomach bottomed out. She knew they were being professional about it, but it was clear: Nicky's task force was starting to fail.
She'd lost the most recent girl on the list.
And Paris Conner was gone before Nicky even got to look into her.
This was bad. Really bad. Forget Nicky’s personal feelings, her own guilt and demons—this was bad for her team, for the FBI. It looked bad on her professionally, as an agent, and as the leader of this team.
"We want you to keep looking at the other girls on the list," Franco said, "but given the unique circumstances here, with Paris Conner's fate, we need you to do this first. We suspect more women are being taken by the sicko taking these photos."
"Where'd they come from?" Nicky asked.
"The one of Paris was found by a civilian in an antique store. The one of the other woman, who we're still working to identify, was found by police later in the same store."
Nicky looked closer at each photo. Paris was a brunette with pale skin and doe-like eyes.
The other girl... she fit the same description.
In fact, those girls looked so alike, they could be sisters.
"We're waiting on more details," the chief said, "but we're hoping to know more about the second victim soon."
"Do we have any idea where the bodies are?" Grace asked.
"Not at all," Franco said. "We're scouring the area and trying to get experts to see if they can track down where exactly these photos were taken, but... no hits yet. It looks like a basement of some kind."
