Murder 42 - A Thriller (Sarah King Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

could go the other way. Something she’d only learned this past year.
    Sarah hurried past him. He yelled things at her and followed her a few steps before crumpling over in pain again. This was what happened when she let her guard down, when her mind wasn’t completely focused and closed to any impressions she might get. This was why she didn’t like going out anymore.
    She got into her car and looked around to make sure the bouncer hadn’t followed her. Before she could get the key in the ignition, tears streamed down her face, and she rested her head against the steering wheel and wept.

7
     
     
     
     
    The Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office, Beth Mertz, had risen through the ranks of the Bureau’s anti-terrorism division. She had a PhD in Middle East studies and a near-fluent mastery of Arabic and Turkish. Stefan knocked on her door late in the evening and wasn’t surprised when she was still in. Unlike many SACs, she still put in twelve-hour days.
    “Got a minute?” he said.
    “Sure,” she said, not taking her eyes away from her computer monitor.
    Stefan crossed the office. The windows behind her looked down to the city of Phoenix, and the light reflected off the skyscrapers made the surrounding sky a light gold. He sat down across from her with a sigh he couldn’t stifle.
    “It’s that one I caught in Scottsdale. The snuff film.”
    “Uh huh,” she said, still not looking up.
    “I think I need some help.”
    “What kind of help?”
    He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “The detectives have had it for weeks and haven’t turned up anything. There’s nothing on the video, and the people the owner supposedly bought the video from deny its existence.”
    She shrugged. “You’ll catch cases that don’t lead anywhere. Happens to everybody.”
    He shook his head. “Not like this. If you watch the video… I’ve never seen anything like it. The barbarity…”
    She stopped typing and turned to him. “How bad?”
    “There’s nothing at Quantico that prepares us to watch something like this, Beth. The man that did that isn’t human.”
    Beth nodded. “Don’t ever underestimate how cruel people can be. Stick to that, and you’ll never be surprised in this job.” She glanced back at her computer screen. “Gio Adami. He’s an ASAC and one of the assistant directors for the BSU. Call him.”
    “Thanks.”
    He rose to leave before she said, “And Stefan? It’s going to be odd when you finally catch him. He’s not some demon. He’ll just be a man—one you may even get along with and like. Sometimes that’s harder to deal with than their actions.”
    He nodded and left the office.
     
     
    Stefan went back to his office. The Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program was a position as prestigious as any in the Bureau. Behavioral Science used to be the go-to people for serial murder, but that changed after September 11. A lot of things had changed then. The Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI had become a research division, and the ViCAP was born. Stefan preferred the split. There were people who were good at theory and research, and there were people who were good hunters—good out in the field, chasing down their prey. Mixing the two didn’t seem like a good idea to him.
    Too young to know which camp he fell into, a part of him hoped he was a research and theory guy. The hunters didn’t last long. The amount of stress from chasing serial murderers was off the charts. More than one special agent had suffered coronaries and strokes far too soon in their lives.
    Stefan looked up Gio Adami on the Bureau server. A voice message told him to input his party’s extension, and he dialed the number listed on Gio’s profile. It took four rings before he picked up.
    “This is Gio.”
    “Oh, hi. Sorry, I was actually expecting to leave a message. Um, this is Special Agent Stefan Miles with the Phoenix office. Beth Mertz asked that I give you a