Brett raised his glass and a small salute to Alex. "To using whatever methods we can to catch a killer."
They clinked glasses. "Even the zany ones.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I don’t date the pictures.
Paige’s words about her drawings were echoing through Brett’s mind when he woke up the next morning.
What she’d said to him when he’d asked her when she’d drawn the picture of Teresa Cavasos. That she wasn’t sure because she didn’t date them. Plural.
He hadn’t really paid attention to her exact words at the time because he’d been reeling from the drawing she’d shown him. But now his brain was now thinking about it full force.
How many more did she have?
He called her last night after his beer with Alex. He hadn't wanted her to worry that he deliberately wasn't contacting her.
But when the call had gone straight to voicemail he had to admit he was a little relieved. He left a message saying he would call her today, and he would. He hoped she wasn't at her house upset. Worried that she’d never hear from him again.
He couldn't leave her alone now if he wanted to. He had to know what other information she had about murders that were possibly tied together. Especially now that his subconscious was remembering that she had more than one drawing.
Truth was he couldn’t leave her alone even if she had nothing to do with any case for the rest of his career.
But Brett knew he wouldn't truly be able to be with Paige until these cases were sorted out. Not the way he wanted to be with her. Which scared him a little bit.
It scared him more that it didn’t scare him more. When he’d moved back to Portland, he’d known his football past would come into play, at least for some people —like Randal and Terri— who wanted to bask in the glory days their whole lives. Thought he might even date an ex-cheerleader or two once he got here.
He’d never expected Paige Jeffries. She wasn’t a cheerleader. Wasn’t part of the glory days.
She was so, so much more.
But right now, he needed to get back up to her house and see exactly what other pictures she hadn't shown him. Maybe they were just more of Teresa Cavasos, but maybe it was much more than that.
Brett got dressed and went into work. Before he could go back to Paige's house he needed to look into something else she'd alluded to. Paige's sister and the work she did for the FBI. Some sort of profiler, with a special gift. Brett didn't know exactly what he was hoping to gain from the information. Maybe just an affirmation that unorthodox law enforcement methods did exist.
Affirmation that Brett wasn’t crazy for even considering this.
Alex and Brett nodded at one another from across the office, but didn't mention their conversation last night. Right now there wasn't anything more to mention about it. They were both waist deep in details from Teresa Cavasos’ murder, studying the details as they were handed over from missing persons.
It was after lunch before Brett was able to make his call to the San Francisco field office of the FBI. All he knew was the person he should talk to was named Conner Perigo and that he was Paige's brother-in-law.
It took a minute for the call to be routed to the correct desk. Brett wasn't sure what he was going to say at all. He would keep this official. Businesslike. Maybe keep Paige's name out of it all together.
"Conner Perigo." The other man answered the phone without any other greeting.
"Special agent Perigo, this is Detective Brett Wagner, with the Portland PD."
"Detective Wagner, what can I do for you?"
"I'm working on a case of what I think may be connected murders. I haven’t confirmed that they're all related, but I have reason to believe they are."
"Okay,” Agent Perigo said. "Do they have to do with a case I'm working on or someone here in this office?"
"Not exactly." Brett wasn't sure exactly how to start this conversation.
"Then why don't I connect you to someone who has more familiarity with the Portland area. I don't think I'll be very much help to you if this isn’t related to any of my cases."
Brett realized he wasn't going to be able to keep Paige's name out of it. In order to get Agent Perigo to focus on this, he was going to have to use the connection between the man's wife and Paige.
"No, this case isn’t directly related to your caseload, as far as I know. But I believe that the killer I'm tracking has a victim that got away. Her name is Paige Jeffries."
Perigo didn't say anything, but Brett could tell by the way the noise shifted that the other man was moving into a quieter space.
"You're looking into the Paige Jeffries attack?"
"I am."
"I'm assuming you're contacting me because you know the connection between her and me."
"Yes, I know she is your sister-in-law."
Silence met him on the other end for just a moment. "Do you know this because you're good at detecting or because Paige told you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does very much. If you're contacting me because you figured out on your own that I'm related to her by marriage and that the FBI might lend some resources to the case that you may not have, then that's one thing."
"And would that be a problem?"
"Absolutely not. I would use both my own personal resources and resources within the Bureau to help arrest the man who did that to Paige." Another length of silence. "But you're not hunting me down because of your detective skills, are you?"
"No," Brett said. "Paige told me that her sister's husband worked at the FBI."
"Well, I guess actually it doesn't matter because my offer is still the same. I'll do anything to help find Paige's attacker."
"Including using your wife's nontraditional profiling skills?"
"Well, now I know you're the one who's been talking to Paige. You didn't get that from any database search. Adrienne's work at the FBI is pretty classified."
"The one talking to Paige?"
"My wife and her sister are pretty close. Paige mentioned that she'd been spending time with a Portland detective. Someone she knew in high school.”
"Yeah, I guess that would be me."
"Spending time with her about the case or more than that? I didn't pry."
"Both."
"I'll be honest with you, Detective Wagner--"
Brett interrupted him. "Under the circumstances I'd appreciate it if you’d call me Brett. I'm not calling you in any official capacity."
"Likewise, Conner. I looked into this case when it first happened. Did everything I could.”
"Which I'm suspecting wasn't much given its unsolved status. I haven't found much to go on either. At least as an isolated case."
"We looked at it in conjunction with other attacks, but didn't find anything. And, I have to be honest, the Portland PD wasn’t interested in much federal help on what was a local case. What have you found that made you think Paige's case is connected to some other attacks?"
"Not attacks. Murders. I think that Oregon might have a serial killer on the loose.”
“Why?”
Brett explained the payday details as well as the similarity between the women: unmarried, in their twenties, attractive despite having different hair colors. He also explained the problems: different locations, different methods of murder.
“How do you think this ties in with Paige?”
“All the victims were severely beaten in the face and head like Paige. I think Paige was meant to be a murder victim, but got away.”
“Damn,” Conner muttered.
Brett nodded. “And, of course, that picture she drew of herself.”
"The one of herself in the hospital that she drew a long time before the attack."
"You say that with pretty calm assurance. Most people around here found it difficult to believe that she could've drawn that with such eerie accuracy before the assault occurred."
"Well, let's just put it this way. Compared to what my wife can do, Paige's gift seems pretty tame."
"And exactly what can your wife do?"
Conner chuckled. "I could tell you, but you won't believe me. Or at least you won't believe quite as much as when you watch it yourself. I'll send you an electronic file with Adrienne at work. It's a sight to behold."
Brett could feel his eyebrow raise. "Can you at least give me a rundown?"
"Let's just say they used to call her the Bloodhound. Adrienne can sense and track people with evil intents. Get readings, so to speak, from items they've touched. The solving of dozens of cases, more, are directly attributed to her. And she doesn't even work full-time for the FBI."
Brett didn't push why Adrienne Perigo did not work full-time for the FBI, if she had such a gift. That wasn't his business.
"Paige has drawn more pictures. Not of herself, of another woman. A murder victim."
He heard Conner curse under his breath.
"And if I'm not mistaken," Brett continued. "Paige has more drawings that she hasn't shown me. What I'm pretty sure are other victims."
"She didn't have anything to do with the crimes, that much I can tell you. I made the same mistake of suspecting Adrienne as a criminal when I first learned what she could do. Thought she was in on it."
"Yeah, well, I've already rounded that corner. I don't believe Paige had anything to do with these crimes, but I don't believe many of my colleagues are going to support my theory if it comes down to it."