Page 32 of Go Under

“Long before you knew of me, I knew of you. You were destined for great things. I could see it in your eyes.”

She shivered, then sipped her coffee, feigning cold. The fever in Cox’s eyes as he said that disturbed her. It was the same light they held when he told her it was God’s plan for them to burn together. Somehow, Elijah Cox had convinced himself that his calling was to die with Kate, a murder-suicide that in his twisted mind would absolve the world of its sins and teach them to observe God’s commandments.

Sometimes she wished she could see inside of his mind, just for a moment, just long enough to know what made him think the things he thought, feel the things he felt. Just long enough to understand what had twisted him.

But what purpose would that serve? To prove he was insane? To prove he was obsessed with her? She knew these things already.

But she didn’t know what his connection with her father was. She didn’t know what had happened between them that caused Cox to decide Kate was the linchpin of his murder spree. She wanted to know. More than anything, she wanted to know why her father had to die. What secrets was he hiding? What secrets was Cox hiding?

Her mind drifted to Darnell’s opinion on Cox’s motives. If Cox was eliminating victims who knew things about him, then what did her father know? And if not, then what in the old photograph of Kate holding a stuffed armadillo at a zoo triggered the evil in Cox’s mind.

Was that what finally sent Cox over the edge? Had he contained his insanity before then? Had something he saw in Kate caused the last dam to burst? If so, then couldn’t it be said that all of this, when you came down to it, was her fault?

Her phone buzzed. She jumped, spilling coffee on her hand. She flinched back and shook the offending liquid off. “Ah! Damn it!”

“Are you all right?” Marcus said, jumping to her side.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. She looked at the phone. “Winters. I’ll take this.”

She answered and was treated to Winters’ usual bluntness. “Report.”

Yeah, nice to see you, too, ma’am. No, don’t worry about my hand, I have a spare.

The pain was calming now, though, and along with it the urge to lash out. “We have three victims,” she informed Winters. “Two are possibly culpable in the falsification of evidence in a thirty-five-year-old murder case and the third so far just appears to be a lying asshole on at least one unrelated occasion.”

Winters took a moment to process that. “I see. Have you confirmed that this is a Commandment Killing?”

Kate debated answering in the affirmative. If she said no, there was a possibility that Winters might take her off the case and have her return home to finish out the eight-week leave on which she was originally placed. Then again, if she said yes, there was the same possibility. The last time Kate and Marcus had gone after Cox, Cox had nearly killed Kate.

So, she might as well tell the truth. “Not yet, ma’am.”

“Really?” Winters seemed surprised.

“There are aspects that seem very much like the Commandment Killings,” Kate said, “and other aspects that seem unlike those killings. It’s possible that we’re dealing with a more sophisticated copycat than the previous one.”

Winters sighed. “In your professional opinion, do you believe that this is the work of Elijah Cox or one of his disciples, or do you believe it is a copycat?”

Kate thought for a long moment. She forced emotion away and weighed all of the evidence they’d collected against all the gaps in that evidence. She didn’t have enough to confirm either way, but…

“I believe this is a work of a disciple of Cox.”

Marcus looked down at his coffee, disappointed, though not necessarily disagreeing. Darnell gave an approving nod. He was an oddball, that Darnell. Kate hoped to have a conversation with him at the end of this to get a better idea of how his mind worked.

“Very well,” Winters said. “In that case, I will allow you and Agent Reid to remain lead on this case. Be aware, Kate, that there are a lot of eyes on this. A lot of people believe that you’ll lose control again. Some of those people are hoping for that.”

Kate swallowed. It was no secret to her that she had enemies in the Bureau. Like all law enforcement organizations, the Bureau hated mavericks. They especially hated mavericks who turned out to be consistently correct. “I understand, ma’am.”

“Good. By the book this time, Kate. I’ve said this before, and you’ve ignored me. Very bluntly, you don’t have the option of ignoring me this time without permanent and unavoidable consequences to your career, even if you’re right. Do you understand?”

Kate swallowed again. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. How are you doing?”

Kate blinked. Winters rarely showed concern for her personal wellbeing. She was a good boss, but she wasn’t exactly a friendly boss. “Um… I’m fine.”

“Your injuries aren’t flaring up?”

She shook her head. “No, so far so good. I haven’t had to get into a firefight yet, so—”