The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)
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“THE KILLER JUST made contact with Gabrielle Harper,” Bruce Mercer said as he lowered the phone back onto his desk. His gaze lifted and locked on Noelle Evers.
The FBI profiler had arrived less than an hour ago. She’d come right to him so that he could begin briefing her on the hell they faced.
Outsiders didn’t normally get this close to the EOD. Noelle Evers had pa
ssed one very thorough background check in order to get her insider access.
But he trusted Noelle—mostly because he knew her secrets.
Behind her glasses, Noelle’s eyes widened. She’d pulled the glasses out a few moments before to begin reading the files that he’d gathered for her.
“That’s a very dangerous sign,” she said.
He didn’t need to be told that.
“But...that’s also something we can use,” Noelle continued. “If the reporter can draw the killer out, then the authorities will have a better chance of catching him—”
“The local cops aren’t catching him. The EOD is containing him.”
Her head cocked. “He is the EOD.” Her fingers curled around the files in her lap. Files on Lockwood and McAdams. And on the other two agents who’d been killed—Frank Malone and Jessica Flintwood. “These agents were highly trained. They could kill in an instant, yet they never had the chance to fight back against their attacker. He’s a man they trust implicitly.” She squared her shoulders. “I know you told me that my access would be limited, but I need to see the files of every agent they worked with on their missions.”
He was already shaking his head before she finished speaking.
Her delicate jaw hardened even as her hazel eyes narrowed on him. “Lockwood and McAdams let the killer in because they trusted him. You trust a man or a woman who has protected your back in the field. They let him in, just as Malone and Flintwood did.”
“I can’t give you access to the files of existing agents.”
“You are tying my hands!”
He rose. “Then find a way to untie them. You’re here to work up the profile so that I can see which of my agents might best fit it. You can build the profile without digging into confidential records.”
Noelle rose, too. She was a tall woman, skirting close to five foot nine, and she had on high heels that gave her an additional two inches. “If I can’t talk to the agents, what about the reporter?”
He smiled. “Of course, but don’t let her know about us.”
“Of course,” she muttered right back.
Mercer headed for the door. Noelle wasn’t the only one who wanted to question that reporter. He needed to find out exactly what the rogue had said to her.
“He may have made similar contact with the other victims,” Noelle said, her words making him pause near the door.
Mercer glanced back at her.
“I figure we have two options with him. Either this is part of his MO—he calls his victims, he taunts them, and then he kills them...”
Mercer waited.
“Or else he’s contacting Gabrielle Harper because she’s a reporter. He wants the attention that she can give him.”
“He wants to expose the EOD.”
Noelle nodded. The light glinted off the lenses of her glasses. “He’s killing agents—”
“Punishing the EOD,” Mercer said. He’d done his share of profiling over the years, too.
“So why not take it one step further? Show the world just how dangerous the EOD truly is.”