Daddy's Adorable Assassin (Daddy's Little Deviants)

“I said no one really cares who he’s been offing. They’ve all been on our watch list anyway, and we never could make a charge stick, so good riddance if you ask me.”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that.” I fiddled with the radio, and country music blasted from the speakers. “And stop changing my goddamn station.”

We rode back to the police station with a talk show between us, but I didn’t hear a word. I was pissed. Maybe later, I would need to apologize for blowing up on Barney, but for now, I had to hold on to my anger for a little longer. It’d been five fucking years already. Nightmares of Petra being angry that I still hadn’t solved her murder kept me up.

Every night I went to bed with no lead and that bastard not behind bars, I was a failure. No wonder my son barely spoke to me. Because of me and my job, he’d lost his mother.

At the police station, I parked in my designated spot but made no effort to leave the car. Neither did Barney.

“Look, man, I’m sorry,” he said in a rare Barney apologetic moment. “You’re right. I was an asshole about this case, and it’s one thing that he killed all those criminals, but it’s another that he took Petra away from us—from you. I know you’re doing this as much for justice as to find some closure for your wife, but I hate seeing you getting your hopes up and putting all your faith in the FBI. We’re damn good detectives, and we’ve spent years trying to figure this out. It doesn’t mean they’ll discover who the serial killer is, Hunter, and I wouldn’t want you to end up disappointed.”

“You’re right.” I looked at him. “This isn’t just about bringing them to justice. Do you know how much it haunts me every night that my wife’s body is out there rotting somewhere and I have no idea where it is? I can’t bear to go to the cemetery, Barney, because I know she’s not there. I just need her body.”

He gripped my hand and squeezed. “We will find her, even if it takes us another decade. We will.”

Just like that, Barney and I were good again, but I couldn’t shrug off the somber air around me. We walked into the police station. Barney continued to his desk, but I stopped at the cooler to refill my water bottle, then made my way to the captain’s office and knocked.

While we were out questioning Jones’s wife, he’d sent me a message to see him when I got back.

“You wanted to see me, Captain,” I said.

The man smiled. “Shut the door behind you, Neely. I have important news.”

I closed the door and approached his desk. “Please tell me this is about the double murders. I could use some good luck on this one. Why does this killer always seem to be one step ahead of us?”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Excuse me?” Had he noticed the strain I had been under this past month since the FBI task force came together? I bounced back and forth from our precinct and the black site, which was so classified not even the captain knew its location. Outside the bureau, I was the only one in the know.

“You heard what I said, Neely. You go home and grab yourself a stiff drink because the FBI just apprehended the man they suspect to be the Handkerchief Murderer.”

The room faded away, and my vision blurred as if the captain was sitting at the other end of the room instead of right in front of me. After a second, he came back into focus.

“That’s impossible.”

“I assure you it’s not. He’s at the black site right now. They picked him up, driving Webb’s car, and they even have the weapon we’ve been searching for all this time.”

I put a hand out and steadied myself against the desk. My heart hammered in my chest, and my ears were ringing.

“But how?”

“I just told you, Neely. The dumb son of a bitch was driving around in Webb’s car. Their tech guy dinged him on one of the traffic cams. They arrested him about”—he checked his watch—“half an hour ago.”

I couldn’t believe it. Not until I saw it with my own eyes.

“I should go.”

“I should tell you to let the FBI handle the rest, Neely. You’ve done a good job over the years, and with your thorough investigation and details, they were able to nab the guy, but I know you better than that. You’re about to get into the thick of things.”

“That’s a given, Captain. I’ve been in the thick of things since this started ten years ago, and I’m going to be there to the end.”

***

The task force operated from a state-owned former mental institution that had been abandoned in the seventies. The location of the site was genius, really. People avoided the building because of rumors of paranormal activities happening there. Since the FBI had taken over, they had beefed the security up, restored the fence, and put up a private property sign outside. Whispers that the building was being renovated into a haunted hotel further served its purpose of keeping people at bay.

I drove up to the facility and showed my badge to the security personnel, but I had to wait to be let inside the building. I couldn’t get beyond the first floor. The freight elevator came to a halt, the door opening, and Knight walked out. Like always, he wore a black suit, today with a lavender shirt and matching tie. His black dress shoes had the shine of a pair that came straight from the box.

“Neely, your captain told you the good news.”