“That’s one reason, of course.” Beck nodded. “But both the mayor and council and I think the residents have the right to know what’s going on. They need to know how to protect themselves.”
“One way of doing that is by finding the common thread amongst the victims,” Annie told him. “What did they have in common?”
“Well, we know they were all in their early twenties and lived within about six miles of each other,” Lisa said. “They were all reportedly fun-loving, pretty, girls-”
“There are probably hundreds of pretty girls who like to have a good time in the area. What was it about these girls that attracted the killer?” Annie leaned on the end of the table.
“They all liked the beach.”
“Why do you say that, Lisa?” Beck asked.
“I was going to get into it when we talked about Mindy Kenneher. Whose background, incidently, is very similar to Colleen Preston’s in terms of her family life, education, job, that sort of thing.”
“Get back to the beach.” Beck gestured with his right hand for her to get on with it.
“Well, you know how Colleen was planning on a weekend at the beach with a friend?”
“Are you telling me Mindy was going in on a condo in Ocean City?”
“ Rehoboth Beach,” Lisa told him. “She and two of her friends.”
“Tell me you have the name of the person who owned the beach house.” Beck stared at her.
“No. Mindy was handling the arrangements. The other girls don’t even know what street the house is on.”
“And you were going to tell me this when?”
“Actually, I was trying to right before the meeting but you were on the phone. I only just talked to the girlfriends this morning. Unfortunately, no one seems to know who the property owner is.” Lisa paused, then added, “Including her parents. I already asked. And I called the Prestons. They don’t know who Colleen was renting from.”
“We need those cell phone records,” Beck told her. “If you don’t have them in your hand by ten tomorrow morning, call the companies again. There’s a good chance the victims may have been in contact with the so-called property owners by phone.”
“So we need to find out who owned the place in Dewey and the place in Rehoboth from those two older cases Agent Shields mentioned earlier.”
“I’ll do the follow-up.” Lisa nodded. “And I’ll contact Ballard and Cameron PDs and see if anything showed up on the victims’ computers.”
“When shall we have this town-hall meeting?” the mayor asked.
“The sooner the better,” Beck told her. “I’d like to do it tomorrow night, if we can get the word out.”
“I’ll call the local radio stations as soon as I get back to my office.” Christina Pratt stood to her full five feet ten inches. “I’ll also have a flyer made up immediately and ask the local shops and restaurants to hand it out to their customers. You think maybe seven, seven thirty, Beck?”
“Seven thirty is good,” he agreed.
“Fine.” She stepped away from the table and pushed in her chair. “I trust I’ll see you all then.”
“That should do it,” Beck told the others as the mayor left the room, “unless someone has a question.”
“I have a question.” Sue directed her question to the two FBI agents at the opposite end of the table. “If you’re right and the killer is from St. Dennis and he’s at the meeting, how will we know who he is? I mean, we know everyone in town. How are we supposed to know who we’re supposed to be watching, or what we’re watching for?”
“Well, that’s a good question,” Beck replied. “I guess the best we can do is keep our eyes open and hope that he somehow does or says something that makes him stand out.”
“What are the chances of that?” Hal asked.
Beck shrugged.
“Pretty much what I thought.” Hal nodded. “Slim to none…”
Mia shrunk back from the bright sunlight as she stepped outside the municipal building.
“Should have brought my shades.” She raised her hand to shield her eyes.
“You don’t have to walk me to the car,” Annie told her. “Go on back inside.”
“It’s okay.” Mia joined Annie on the sidewalk. “I want to. It’s the least I can do, after you pulled yourself off another case to look at this one, especially on a weekend. I owe you big time, and I’m sure Beck appreciated it.”
“And you’ll pay up, one of these days. But what’s with Pratt?” Annie frowned. “I sensed hostility there.”
“I don’t know. I’m guessing she’s a mama who resents her kids’ problems being foisted back onto her.” Mia shrugged. “And she probably watches too much TV. Thinks the profiler should be able to show up and pull a list of names out of her butt.”
“Don’t I wish I could,” Annie said. “Damn, but that would make all our jobs easier, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, no more long, drawn-out, boring investigations. Just, ‘Hey, it’s either Tom, Dick, or Harry. Let’s get DNA and see which of them did it.’ Sorry she seemed to be picking at you.”
“Not the first time, won’t be the last.” The two women reached Annie’s car. She unlocked it and dropped her briefcase onto the backseat and her handbag onto the front passenger seat. “Thanks for the hospitality last night. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to visit with one another. It was good to have some time to chat.”
“It was. Let’s not wait so long between visits.” Mia gave Annie a hug.
Annie got into her car and slammed the door, then rolled down the window. “Mia, if there’s something bothering you-”
“There isn’t.”
“…or if you just want to talk about anything, you know I’m always here for you, right?”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Mia pushed back the lump that was beginning to form in her throat.
“Just don’t ever hesitate, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Annie, but I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Then take some time off. When was your last vacation, anyway?”
Mia shrugged.
“That’s how agents burn out, Mia. I’ve seen it happen too many times. Don’t let it happen to you. You love your job too much, honey.”
“I know. I’m fine, really.” Mia backed up so that Annie could turn the car around.
Mia waved good-bye, then stood in the parking lot and watched Annie leave. When the car had disappeared, she stuck her hands in the pockets of her light jacket and walked back into the building, her head down. She could talk to Annie if she had to, she knew that. But what could she say? Forgive me for not knowing that my brother was going to kill your fiancé? The fact that Dylan hadn’t been the intended target really didn’t matter. Brendan had set out to murder his own flesh and blood. How do you get past that?
And why, she asked herself for the thousandth time, why hadn’t she seen it coming?
15
Mia spent Monday morning in the conference room making calls. So far, she’d requested that her boss send agents from Columbus and Boston to interview the victims of the rape-abductions from 2000 and 2001, faxed copies of the reports she had to the office, and discussed the cases with the agents who’d been assigned. The first time she glanced at her watch, it was almost one in the afternoon and Beck was standing in the doorway, “Want to run up to Charles Street and grab some lunch?”