Hunter nodded at the SWAT agents to his left. ‘You can take him now.’
One Hundred and Thirteen
Despite his insomnia and the carnival of thoughts dancing around in his head, Hunter was so exhausted that he finally managed to sleep for a total of four hours.
After Lucien’s arrest, he had flown back to Quantico. As Kennedy had put it before, he was still officially ‘on loan’ to the FBI and, as such, he needed to fill in his last report. That was done late last night.
Hunter had woken up before dawn. Kennedy had arranged for an FBI jet to fly him back to Los Angeles early in the morning, and Hunter couldn’t wait to get out of that place. Everything still felt too surreal in his mind. Only a few days ago, he was supposed to be boarding a plane to Hawaii, his first vacation in so long, he couldn’t even remember the last time he had one. Instead, he was whisked away to the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, and into something that could only be described as a hellish nightmare. So much was revealed in so little time, his head seemed like it would never stop spinning.
Hunter was all ready to go. His few belongings were already packed into his rucksack, and he had nothing else to do but wait for the driver to come pick him up. He walked over to the window on the east wall and placed his cup of coffee on the ledge. Outside, still under the cover of the night, several FBI recruits had already started their grueling exercise and running routines.
Hunter looked up at the star-filled sky as he reached for his wallet. From it he retrieved a twenty-year-old photograph. The colors had partially faded, but other than that, the picture was still in pretty good condition.
Hunter had taken that photo himself, a day after he and Jessica had got engaged. She was standing on Santa Monica pier, smiling at the camera, her eyes glistening with an overwhelming happiness. Staring at the photograph, Hunter’s heart was filled with a barrage of old and brand new emotions. He felt a knot coming to his throat, but then he remembered the words Director Kennedy had told him in the early hours of the morning.
‘Before you go, Robert, I want to make sure you understand something. I’m not going to pretend I know, because I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on inside your mind right now. But I can tell you this, no matter what; you must stand proud, because thanks to you, we estimate that we’ll be able to bring closure and final peace of mind to at least eighty families around the USA. Lucien’s twenty-five-year murderous spree is finally over. You ended it. Don’t ever forget that.’
Hunter knew he never would.
Acknowledgements
It’s a well-known fact that writing is regarded as a solitary occupation, but I have found out that though authored by a single individual, a novel is never the achievement of one alone.
My most sincere thanks go to all the incredible people at Simon & Schuster UK and to my editor, Jo Dickinson, whose great input and valuable suggestions made the story and the characters in this thriller come alive. Also, to my copy editor, Ian Allen, for his incredible work and attention to detail all throughout the manuscript.
Words can’t express how thankful I am to the most passionate and extraordinary agent any author could ever hope for — Darley Anderson.
To the fantastic team of extremely hard-working people at The Darley Anderson Literary Agency, I owe my eternal gratitude.
Thank you also to all the readers and everyone out there who has so fantastically supported me and my novels from the start. Without your support, I wouldn’t be writing.