CHAPTER TWO

Ella flicked from the clock to the door and back again. She”d gotten to the coffee shop early, hoping to snag a few minutes of peace before Luca showed up. But now, with each passing second, her nerves were winding tighter than a watch spring.

Was it the Martin situation that had her on edge, or the thought of seeing Luca again? Ella wasn”t sure she wanted to know the answer.

She scanned the room for the hundredth time, taking in the usual assortment of hipsters and hausfraus. She hadn’t ordered herself anything, had to give her excuses to the eager waitress twice already. She didn’t want Luca to think she was the selfish type. The least she could do is buy him a welcome-to-the-freakshow coffee.

Then the door chimed, and in walked a familiar face. Ella was suddenly reminded of the James Bond scene where Daniel Craig emerges from the water, dreamily wet.

Luca was wearing a brown leather jacket that looked like it had been poured onto his frame, the kind of thing that belonged on the cover of GQ. His hair was slicked back, not a strand out of place, and his jaw had just the right amount of stubble to make Ella”s pulse kick up a notch.

Christ, she told herself, Mr. April in the flesh.

Luca sauntered up to the counter, flashing the barista a smile that probably made the lucky woman’s ovaries explode. He ordered something, then turned and headed straight for Ella”s table.

‘Sorry I”m late,’ he said as he gave her a gentle handshake. Ella thought about leaning in and kissing his cheek, but that was probably a tad too far. ‘Traffic was a nightmare.’

Ella waved it off, trying to play it cool. ‘No worries. I appreciate you coming.’

Luca grinned, and Ella felt it like a shot of bourbon straight to the bloodstream. ‘Are you kidding? I”m honored. I”ve heard all about the famous Agent Dark.’

Ella raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. ‘I certainly hope not. My reputation can”t take any more hits.’

Luca laughed, a rich, warm sound that made Ella”s toes curl in her boots. ‘All good things, I promise. So, I’m here to learn. Tell me everything,’ he said.

”You first,” Ella said. ”That”s the downside of being office-famous. Everyone knows you, but you don”t know them.”

Luca shrugged, that easy grin still playing around his lips. But before he could begin, the waitress arrived and sat down two coffees. Ella watched as he thanked her, noting the way the girl”s cheeks flushed pink. Christ, the guy must have been fighting them off with a stick.

He pushed one over to Ella’s side of the table. Ella eyeballed it, taking in the sweet aroma, the way the surface tension kept the white foam slightly north of the lip.

Vanilla latte, no doubt. He’d got it in one.

‘Alright,’ Ella said. ‘How’d you guess?’

‘I got lucky,’ Luca said.

She shot him an eyebrow, then gauged his body language. Defensive, playful. Ella didn’t buy it. She picked up her cup and put her nose to use. ‘Come on. Vanilla latte, no sugar, cinnamon on the rim. You should play the lottery tonight.’

Luca shrugged, then gestured just below his eyeball. ‘Well, I could tell you that the patch of rough skin under your eye means you’re a caffeine freak. And I could tell you that discolored premolar hanging out of your gums means you’ve got a sweet tooth. I could tell you I played the odds. Probability versus possibility.’

Ella withheld a smirk. ‘Oh really?’

‘I could tell you that,’ Luca said, then wiggled his ear. ‘Or I could tell you I was queuing behind you in here a few days ago.’

She couldn’t hold back the grin. ‘Damn it. Great trick. You got me.’

Luca took a sip of whatever caffeine cocktail was in front of him. ‘You never know who’s listening.’

‘I guess your profiling skills are on point.’

‘That’s how I ended up here,’ Luca said. ‘I was a criminal psyche in Massachusetts until last year. Up until a string of dead girls show up in my neck of the woods. I put together a profile, led the local yokels right to the killer”s front door.’

Ella nearly choked on her latte. ‘Wait, hold up. We heard about that case back at the office. That was you?’

Luca shrugged, like it was no big thing. But Ella wasn”t buying the aw-shucks routine. She”d seen the file, heard the rumors. This guy had the gift people spent decades trying to master.

‘Is it true?’ she asked, pinning him with a look. ‘About your profile?’

Luca cocked his head, playing dumb. ‘Is what true?’

Ella leaned forward, her elbows on the table. ‘That it was so dead-on, you predicted what he’d be wearing when you caught him.’

A smile twitched at the corner of Luca”s mouth. He took another sip of coffee, drawing out the suspense. Then, finally, he gave a slow nod.

‘Blue shorts,’ he said. ‘Black socks. Had a lisp, facial scarring and worked as a chef.’

Ella let out a low whistle. ‘Christ on a bike. How the hell did you know?’

Luca shrugged, like it was nothing. But Ella could see the glint of pride in his eyes. ‘The vics all had fancy stuff in their stomach contents. Truffles, saffron, that kind of thing. Way too high-class for the shithole where our boy lived. And I knew that town well. It’s full of grifters. Ain’t no one hoarding saffron and not trying to make money off ‘em. That suggested he worked as a chef.’

Ella nodded, the pieces falling into place. ‘So you figured he was wining and dining them first. Cooking them a gourmet meal before he snuffed them out.’

‘Bingo. You know what they say. Fastest way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.’

‘And the lisp? Scars?’

‘Projection and rejection. Tell me if I’m talking crap, but I find modern serial killers fall into one category or the other. I don’t buy into the whole organized versus disorganized debate. They either project their insecurities onto their victims, whether that falls under the banner of revenge killings, mission-orientation or power-control dynamics. Or they’re hedonistic or lust-motivated, which ultimately comes down to fear of rejection.’

‘And which one was your unsub?’

‘Both,’ Luca said. ‘He wined and dined his victims to elevate his status, get that dopamine high. , put him one rung above the objects of his affection. Then he killed them before they could reject him. He obliterated his victims’ tongues and cheeks, because those were his deepest insecurities. Lisp, facial scarring.’

Ella sat back, taking it all in. It seemed Luca was much more than just a pretty face. He had the goods to back it up.

‘And the black socks?’

Luca glanced around the coffee shop. ‘Probability versus possibility.’ He placed his foot on the chair and hiked up his trouser leg. ‘I’ve never met a man that doesn’t wear black socks.’

Ella let out a low chuckle, shaking her head. ‘You”re like a regular Houdini, you know that? All smoke and mirrors. But I gotta say, I”m impressed.’

Luca ducked his head, a humble grin playing at his lips. ‘Hey, I”m just happy to be here. Never thought I”d make it to the big leagues.’

‘Well, consider this your official welcome to the freak show,’ Ella said, raising her coffee cup in a mock toast. ‘Hope you”re ready for long nights, cold coffee, and a return ticket to hell.’

Luca”s grin turned rueful. ”Sounds like a ride. Hell, six months ago, I”d never even held a gun. Now I”m here.”

Ella cocked an eyebrow, sizing him up. ‘I”ll show you the ropes if you want. Shooting’s easy with the right teacher.’

‘Let’s hope. The director’s signing off my Glock 21 today. Meeting him in an hour for the fabled badge and gun handover.’

’Twenty-one? Nice piece.’

Luca bit his lip. ‘Been a while since I heard that. But tell me about you. All I know about you is what I saw on that TV show about the Executioner case.’

Apparently a few months ago there’d been a low-budget retelling of Ella and Ripley’s battle with a certain old nemesis on Lifetime or Real TV or something. Ella hadn’t got round to watching it, and she had no doubt that most of the details would be sensationalized.

‘Started out as a desk jockey down in Virginia, then I got lucky and landed a gig in Intelligence here at HQ. I did seven years, then Mia came along, fairy godmother that she is.’

”Ah, Ripley,” Luca said. ”Now, her I do know. Apparently, she”s on the way out, right?”

She took a sip of her coffee, letting the bitter liquid scald her tongue. It was a familiar pain, a welcome one.

‘Yup. Two months until she retires.’

‘Why’d she single you out?’ Luca asked.

‘She heard about my party trick. There was a perp in Iowa, killing women in their own homes. Unsub was breaking in, no signs of forced entry.’

‘Picked locks? Windows? Vents?’ Luca asked.

”Other entry points would be the first port of call, but I”d seen it before. There have been similar cases in Brazil and Japan. I told the investigators to check the keyholes for traces of nylon and viola, there it was. The perp was using guitar strings to manipulate the tumblers and unlock the doors. Then he”d do the same on the way out.”

Understanding dawned on Luca’s face. ‘Sheesh. Neat little trick. And that’s how they found him?’

”Bingo. Ripley was leading the case. She checked out a local music store, and that”s where she found the guy working behind the counter.”

Ella leaned back in her chair, sizing Luca up with a critical eye. He was good, no doubt about it. Had the chops to hang with the big dogs. She could definitely see herself spending some more time with this guy, but she couldn”t let herself get too close. Not while Ben’s absence was still fresh in her heart, and besides, she’d tried inter-offices romances before and it had ended up with a dead agent on her sofa.

She scrambled back to the present. Who was she to even consider such a thing, anyway? This was only the second time she’d met Luca in the flesh, and she doubted a guy with a jaw this chiseled would look at her twice. Chances are he was already spoken for, anyway.

No, she couldn”t make that mistake again. Especially not with Martin still out there, lurking in the shadows like a bad penny.

But damn if Luca didn”t make it tempting. With his easy smile and his razor-sharp mind, he was like a breath of fresh air in the stale, stuffy halls of the Bureau.

‘So, what do you make of this whole Carter thing?’ Luca asked. ‘Pretty wild, huh?’

Ella grimaced, bile rising in her throat. ‘Awful stuff. Poor guy. He didn’t deserve it.’

”Apparently, they”re still no closer to finding out who did it. The guy that trained me – Byford – he”s assigned to the case.”

Ella wanted to scream, wanted to spill everything to an unbiased ear. It was Martin Godfrey. I know it was. He”s been picking off our enemies one by one, like some kind of murderous angel.

But she swallowed the words. Luca didn’t need this burden. He hadn’t even gotten his badge yet, so the last thing he needed was to be guilty of having working ears.

Then her phone buzzed. She went to pull it out but thought better of it. It was rude to check your messages in company.

Luca must have picked up on it. ‘Please, get it,’ he said. ‘Might be important.’

‘You sure?’

‘Might be the big man. Lives could be at stake.’

Ella nodded her thanks, pulled out her phone and jabbed at the screen.

One new message.

From Mia.

Dark, call me. Please.

Ella’s blood ran cold. Mia, the woman who thought manners were for weaklings and politicians. Nearly two years together and Ella couldn’t remember the last time she’d said please.

‘Can I just make a call real quick?’ she asked.

‘Go ahead.’

Ella slid back from the table and made her way out of the coffee shop. Her heart kicked into overdrive, palms suddenly glossy with sweat. The morning air slapped her in the face like a wet towel.

She made the call and Mia picked up on the second ring.

‘Dark,’ Mia said. ‘Can you get to my place?’

The questions came in crushing waves. Had Mia figured out the truth too? Did she know Martin wasn’t the charming middle-aged man he appeared to be?

‘What’s wrong?’ Ella asked.

‘It’s Martin. He’s missing.’

Ella”s stomach dropped to her toes, knees weak, vision swirling like a kaleidoscope. She braced herself against the wall.

‘What do you mean, missing?’ she croaked.

”Gone,” Mia snapped. ”Vanished into thin air. No note, no nothing.”

Ella closed her eyes. This was it. The other shoe, dropping like a goddamn anvil.

Martin was on the move.

‘I’ll be there in thirty minutes,’ Ella said. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’

She hung up before Mia could respond. She had to get to her, had to figure out their next move. Before Martin did something they couldn”t come back from.

But first, she had to deal with Luca. Sweet, clueless Luca. She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. Time to put on her game face, to be the badass FBI agent everyone thought she was.

Ella turned on her heel and marched back into the coffee shop, her jaw set and her eyes hard as flint. Luca looked up as she approached.

‘Duty calls?’ he asked.

Ella forced a smile. ‘You’ll get used to moments like these.’

‘Ha. Rain check on the shooting lesson, then.’ Luca rose from his seat. ‘I should get back. Thank you for the chat.’

‘And thank you for the coffee. I’m sure I’ll see you around the office,’ Ella said.

‘I certainly hope so.’

Ella didn”t prolong the pleasantries as much as she wanted to. She gave him her best smile, turned and made for the door.

Then she was gone, pushing through the door and out into the cruel, unforgiving world. A world where the monsters wore human skin, and the heroes were just as broken as the rest of them.