Target disposal.
Death.
“You should’ve told me the truth,” Noelle said, voice sharp. “As soon as I came on with the EOD. You should’ve—”
“I thought the past was dead and buried. Part of it was dead.” Mercer waved toward Thomas. “Thanks to Agent Anthony.”
His back teeth locked. Mercer wasn’t exactly helping the situation.
“We thought the man who’d taken you—”
“Justin Hardin,” Noelle bit out. “His name was Justin Hardin.”
Mercer would know that. The man knew everything.
“We thought he was working alone. Our intel was wrong. We didn’t realize just how mistaken we’d been until you uncovered those photographs at the senator’s place.”
Now he understood why Mercer was in Camden. “You identified those girls.”
“Yes.” Mercer turned sharply on his heel and faced Noelle. “They were taken from different states. Two even from different countries, before you went missing. The geographical area was so wide that we never connected the dots together.” He exhaled. “That was a mistake that we have remedied now.”
Noelle’s arms were crossed over her chest. “Those girls were all taken that long ago? Then they—”
“I don’t believe any of those girls are still alive.”
Noelle’s shoulders sagged.
Thomas narrowed his gaze on Mercer. “Since when does the EOD get involved on a serial’s crime?” They didn’t, not unless...
“The girls were taken from different states and different countries.” It was Aaron who spoke. His voice was low and devoid of accent. “The techs at the EOD matched all of those abductions with ports of call that Senator Lawrence Duncan visited while he was enlisted in the navy.”
Noelle shook her head. “He didn’t do this! He’s dead, and Jenny Tucker was abducted after Duncan’s body had already been found. Her mother saw her leave the house that morning, and we know Duncan was killed during the night.”
“Our mistake before,” Mercer said, cutting through her words but sending a sympathetic glance her way, or at least, as sympathetic as Mercer got, “was thinking there was only one killer involved. Obviously, there were two.”
Red flashed on Noelle’s high cheekbones. “Justin Hardin is dead.”
“Hardin was hunting you,” Aaron said. His gaze slid to Thomas. “We, um, learned that from Agent Anthony. He was the man after you in those Alabama woods.”
He wanted to cross to Noelle’s side. This situation was so messed up.
“But Hardin had a partner.” Aaron’s head inclined toward Noelle. “One we missed.”
“You’re still missing the truth!” The red grew darker on her cheeks. “If there was a second killer, there would be more victims.” She pointed at Mercer. “You said the girls were all taken before me. The killer wouldn’t just stop after my abduction. He wouldn’t simply quit killing. It doesn’t work like that. Killing would be a compulsion for him. He’d keep taking victims because he had to. If we’re dealing with a serial, he’d have a ritual that he followed and—” Noelle broke off as her eyes widened. “Hunting.”
“Yes,” Mercer said softly.
Thomas was lost. His stare drifted between Mercer and Noelle. What was he missing?
“He kept killing, but he changed his prey.” Noelle’s gaze seemed unfocused, and Thomas knew she was trying to profile the man they were after. “He was hunting girls before, teenagers, but... Something changed.”
“Maybe the fact that his partner died?” Aaron tossed out. “Maybe that sent the guy into a tailspin.”
Noelle rubbed her temples. “He’s hunting. Last night, when he lured Thomas and me outside of this place, he was hunting us.”
Mercer frowned. “He was here? What the hell? Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
Because they hadn’t exactly had the chance. Thomas locked gazes with the director. “We pursued him in the storm last night. Noelle shot him, but he got away.”
“He got away because of me.” Noelle’s chin came up. “The attacker threw me onto weak ice and I fell through. Thomas had to pull me to safety.”
Aaron lifted a brow. “Uh, you went through the ice?”
“I survived.” Her voice was cold. Noelle started to pace. “He’s a hunter, and he knows this area.” Noelle’s gaze snapped toward Thomas. “He started by hunting girls—they both did—but... After the partner died, maybe our guy realized he needed more of a challenge. He had to go for tougher game.”
“And that’s precisely what he did.” Mercer nodded grimly. “I got Sydney to pull up every piece of intel we had on the late Senator Duncan.”
Thomas knew Mercer was referring to Sydney Ortez. The woman was a genius with computers and information retrieval.
Mercer continued, “It seems that the senator’s enemies—a few in the U.S. but particularly abroad—had a tendency to vanish.”
“They were hunted,” Thomas surmised. “By the senator?”
Mercer hesitated.
“He didn’t get his hands dirty,” Noelle said, and her words sounded so certain. “Not in the attack in D.C. and not when we were pushed off the road that first night. Duncan was a background guy. A puppeteer...”
Just like Mercer?
“He had others do the bloody work for him,” Aaron said. His hands were loose at his sides.
“Yes.” Noelle licked her lips. “If the earlier abductions all matched up with the senator’s ports, then Duncan probably knew the killer. He knew what he was doing.”
Of course, the senator wouldn’t have stopped the killer.
“I was looking at it all wrong.” Noelle kept pacing. “I thought the pictures we discovered at the senator’s place were trophies. Mementos to remind Duncan of the victims, but they weren’t.”
“So what the hell were they?” Aaron asked. His blue eyes were narrowed and his jaw was locked.
Noelle stopped pacing. “They were blackmail material. He knew the killer’s identity, and Duncan used those images to get the killer to do his dirty work.”
“Like an attack dog on a leash.” Thomas saw the situation perfectly now. “But if that’s true, then something in those photos should tell us our killer’s identity.”