he would sign their marriage license application. When she didn’t show, he tried unsuccessfully to reach her by phone. Finally, he called the police, who seemed to think Rebecca had simply changed her mind about the wedding. But her parents and Weigand wouldn’t give up, insisting she would never run out on her fiancé.
Finally, the police began to search for Rebecca. Then a couple using a metal detector found her body. That led to unearthing even more gruesome discoveries.
The number of bodies discovered wasn’t mentioned in the article, but surely the city, once assaulted with the evil her father brought, wouldn’t have to endure another onslaught. She thought about calling the Des Moines PD, but even if they asked for help from the FBI, it wouldn’t be from the St. Louis field office. The Omaha office covered Des Moines. Besides, if they knew she was Ed Oliphant’s daughter . . . Well, she was sure they wouldn’t want her anywhere near Des Moines. Kaely had changed her name twice, but her story still got out. After being kicked out of Quantico because word of her connection to The Raggedy Man was published in a Virginia newspaper—causing, her superiors said, too much distraction—she’d been transferred to St. Louis.
Everyone here knew about her family connection, but thankfully, the fascination seemed to have waned. Most of the agents kept their distance when she first arrived, but now the majority of them were friendly. A lot of that could be attributed to Special Agent Noah Hunter, a man she’d worked with several times now. He’d done a lot to convince their colleagues that Kaely Quinn was a normal person. Although she didn’t always feel like one, she appreciated his effort.
In the past year Kaely had grown close to Noah—closer than she had to anyone since her father was arrested. But after a case in Nebraska six months ago, he’d suddenly become distant. She’d tried several times to fix that, but although they continued to talk and spend time together, their relationship had never returned to what it had once been. Kaely knew why he was angry. Noah felt she was too reckless, that she put herself in danger when she shouldn’t. There was a lot of truth to what he said, but she didn’t do it on purpose. She was driven to find justice—no matter what she had to do. How could she pull back with so much evil in the world? She wasn’t going to change. Not for Noah. Not for anyone.
For a while, she thought their relationship had finally improved. Two months ago, their boss, Solomon Slattery, special agent in charge of the St. Louis office, had ordered her to take a vacation. He told her she needed to rest. Recharge. Although she didn’t agree, she had no choice. Solomon sent her to stay in his cabin on the Lake of the Ozarks. Right after she arrived, she’d been pulled into helping with a local investigation. Once that was over, Noah joined her for the remainder of the two weeks she was there. They’d had fun, and Noah had seemed more relaxed around her. That was in June. But now, in August, Noah’s aloofness had returned.
Solomon liked to pair them together as much as possible. He saw Noah as a protector, someone who would keep Kaely from going too far—not that it had worked. Her boss was under the delusion that she was his second daughter, a notion she’d tried to dissuade him from more than once.
She realized she’d been chewing on her pen—a bad habit. Her brother, Jason, had given her a set of pens with Scripture on them. This one read I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. She set it next to her keyboard and scrolled down so she could finish reading the article. Then she locked her hands behind her head and leaned back, staring at the computer screen. Part of her wanted to know what was going on in Des Moines. Another part of her wanted nothing to do with it. Her memories were still too raw. Too painful.
When her phone rang, she jumped but then picked it up. Solomon.
“I need to see you in my office,” he said in a flat tone.
Kaely was somewhat taken aback by what she heard in his voice, and she tensed. Could this be about Des Moines? He probably wanted her to hear about those bodies from him. Too late.
“Okay, on my way,” she said before hanging up.