Part 22 (1/2)

It was eleven o'clock. Most of the breakfast traffic was gone and it was still too early for the lunch crowd, so it wasn't too busy. In a booth at the rear of the cafe, Autumn spotted a dark-haired man, slightly balding, wearing a navy-blue windbreaker and a pair of khaki slacks. He was sitting by himself and there was something in the set of his jaw, the way he seemed to notice everything and everyone around him, that made him stand out from the other few patrons in the cafe.

”Riker?” Ben asked as they approached.

He stood up from his seat in the pink vinyl booth. ”Burt Riker. I take it you're Ben McKenzie.”

”That's right and this is Autumn Sommers.”

One of his dark eyebrows went up at the name and Autumn smiled. ”That's Sommers with an O,” she said.

She slid into the opposite side of the booth, leaving room for Ben, who slid in beside her. Riker sat back down and Ben pushed the two manila folders he was carrying across the table. Riker pulled a pair of reading gla.s.ses out of his jacket pocket and slipped them on, then began to peruse the information in the files. When the waitress arrived to refill Riker's cup, Ben ordered coffee for himself and Autumn.

It was nearly twenty minutes later when the profiler finally looked up. While he read, neither Autumn or Ben had said a word.

Riker fixed his attention on Ben. ”Your friend, Lee Walker, asked me to talk to you as a personal favor. He didn't say much, just that you have information you can't verify but you believe may be valid. He said I probably didn't want to know where you got the leads you're following, so I won't ask.”

Autumn felt a faint jolt of relief. No questions about the dreams. One less problem they would have to deal with.

”a.s.suming the data we've collected is correct,” Ben said, ”what can you tell us?”

Riker tapped the file. ”According to the information in your folder, the UnSub-that's the term we use for an unknown subject-is blond, fair, late thirties to mid-forties, weight one-hundred sixty to one-hundred eighty pounds.”

”That's right.”

”From the first sketch and your notes, he seems to be a harmless-looking fellow, fairly average. The later sketch gives him a harder appearance, but for the most part his ability to blend in is part of his protection. On the other hand, from the way you believe the abducted child was lured into his car, we can a.s.sume the man can be charming. He was able to win the child's trust in a very short time-though there is a chance he had already started to develop that trust at an earlier point in time. Maybe he spoke to her at school or somewhere else.”

”Recently my ex-wife remembered him approaching her and Molly in front of the sporting-goods store before Molly was taken.”

Riker nodded. ”He may have talked to her at other times as well. Molly was abducted on a weekday after school. The UnSub likely knew her schedule. He had been stalking her, figuring out the best time to take her without getting caught.”

”So he did his homework.”

The profiler gave a nod. ”This is not an impulsive individual.” He sipped his coffee, set the mug back down on the table. ”You believe the girl is currently living with two other women, both of them blond like Molly, so the UnSub's choice wasn't random. He wanted a child with his own fair coloring. It's possible he wanted a girl who appeared to be a child of his own blood, but odds are he is also somewhat of a racist.”

”You mean he's some kind of white supremist?” Ben asked.

”Not necessarily a member of an organization but a person of that mentality. There's an encounter described in your notes where the UnSub interacts with the women in his familial group. It says they seemed frightened of him. That's because he's extremely controlling, particularly with women.”

”A male chauvinist,” Autumn said.

”Carried to the extreme,” said Riker. ”He doesn't like losing control and he doesn't like disobedience-real or imagined. He will likely become angry or sullen, determined to retaliate by punis.h.i.+ng the offender. He rules with an iron hand, but not unfairly. These women are afraid of him, but they are also in awe of him. Women in general are probably attracted to him.”

Autumn glanced at Ben. His eyes were hard, his jaw clenched.

”From the plain sort of clothes the women were wearing in the encounter, I'd say he's socially avoidant, an introvert. He keeps pretty much to himself and he expects his family to do the same. Whatever work he does probably involves cash payments and is something he can do on his own, perhaps in his own home.”

”What else can you tell us?” Ben asked.

”We know the UnSub has three women in his familial group. The oldest is close enough to his own age that we can a.s.sume she was wooed into joining him, not forced. There's a chance he took the fifteen-year-old and got away with it. He took Molly and got away with it. He's arrogant-thinks he's smarter than everyone else. Molly's six years older now, close to her teens, heading into womanhood. There's a chance he'll try to abduct another young child to add to the family unit.”

Autumn glanced at Ben. There was a look of controlled fury on his face unlike anything she had seen.

Riker tapped the file. ”That is, a.s.suming the information in this file is correct,” he added.

”You've left out one piece of pertinent information,”

Ben said softly. ”Do you think Molly and the other girl are being s.e.xually abused?”

Riker leaned back in his seat. ”It might seem the obvious conclusion, but I don't think there's enough information in these files to say for sure. It appears the UnSub has some kind of G.o.dfather complex. I think he wants this family he's constructed to see him that way. Whether that involves s.e.x with the younger girls is difficult to say.”

Riker closed the file and shoved it back to Ben. ”Whatever's going on here, I wish you luck. In the meantime, if I can keep a copy of the latest sketch, I'll have it run through the National Pedophile Registry. If we get a match, I'll let you know.”

”Thank you.”

Riker slid out of the booth and so did Autumn and Ben.

”I appreciate your time,” Ben said.

Riker looked him straight in the face. ”Walker told me the girl is your daughter. I know how hard it must be for you to be objective but you need to do your best.”

It was a subtle warning for Ben not to let his hopes get too high, especially since the information he was using might be completely erroneous. He was right and it made Autumn's stomach tighten.

Ben stretched out a hand. ”Thanks again.”

Riker completed the handshake. ”You come up with some kind of tangible proof, you call me.”

”I'll do that,” Ben said. Autumn heard the bell chime as Riker walked out and the door closed behind him.

Standing next to her, Ben blew out a breath. ”That was even worse than I thought.”

Autumn swallowed against the lump beginning to build in her throat. Everything Riker had said seemed to hold a kernel of truth. If the blond man was anything like the man the profiler described, he was a monster.

And they were no closer to finding him than they had been before.

Nineteen.

They got back to Seattle early in the afternoon. Ben returned to his apartment to change then went down to his office while Autumn went to work at the gym.

She had phoned Josh last night and asked him to take her morning session, then moved a couple of private lessons to later in the day. She walked into the climbing gym and headed straight for Josh, who was working with Ned, Autumn's first private lesson of the day. She reminded herself to stay focused, that she was being paid to do a job.

It wasn't that easy to do. She knew the toll the profiler's words had taken on Ben. He'd been worried before. Now that he knew the sort of man they were dealing with, he was hanging on to his control by a thread.

”I swear if we find this guy,” he had said on the trip home, ”I'm going to tear him to pieces.”

”We're making progress, Ben. You have to believe that. You've got to stay focused on finding Molly.”

His jaw tightened. ”I know.”