“But he didn't kill any of the victims directly, except Mable White,” Rylla reminded her. “And he sees himself as some sort of God. Emmanuel isn’t his real name, he chose it for a reason, testing these women and teaching them lessons that mean something only to him. He let the women die as a result of his games, in his mind that’s not killing him. My guess would be that Natalie Potter was his first violent kill. Not that he’s not absolutely and completely one hundred percent responsible for every one of his victims’ deaths.”
Matthew agreed with his partner’s assessment, especially since he knew Emmanuel had forced Grace to shoot the women who lost their test but didn't die as a result of it. It seemed Emmanuel hadn't been comfortable being hands on with the killing. While he’d told Rylla about Grace’s admission—only after letting Grace know he had to tell his partner—he didn't know if Grace had told her family yet, and didn't want to spill her secrets in front of her sister-in-law if she wasn’t ready for them to know.
“Then how are we going to find him?” Heidi asked in frustration.
“Rylla and I were able to link some of the victims together but none of them can be linked to one location,” Matthew explained. “So, we started looking at Natalie’s death. Since we believe she was killed in frustration after Emmanuel’s attempts at getting Grace back failed, we assumed that he wouldn’t have had time to find her and therefore he already knew her.”
Heidi’s eyes lit up. “So, we need to look into Natalie’s life, find someone in her circle who could fit the profile of our kidnapper.”
Matthew nodded. “Rylla and I have been doing that, but there are a lot of people, and we haven’t found anyone yet who we think could be Emmanuel.”
Rylla glanced hesitantly at him and then over at Ali, who had been sitting quietly beside her partner Jonathon, listening but so far not saying anything. Then his partner dragged in a deep breath and announced to the room. “I do have one idea on how we can find Emmanuel.”
No one said anything for a moment, but Matthew knew just from the look on Rylla’s face that he wasn’t going to like her plan. From the looks on Ali and Jonathon’s faces they felt the same way.
“Well?” Heidi prompted.
“Well,” Rylla started slowly, “we know that Emmanuel is fixated on Grace. He’s made his intentions clear, he’s not going to stop making attempts at getting her back.” She held up a hand when Ali opened her mouth to speak, halting the other woman. “We can use that to our advantage.”
Matthew’s body had a visceral reaction to the very idea of putting Grace in danger like that. “Bait,” he choked out. “You want to use her as bait?”
“Absolutely not,” Ali said, almost springing out of her chair. Jonathon’s hand on her shoulder was the only thing that stopped her.
“Ali,” Heidi started.
“No,” Ali cut off their boss. Even though they weren’t biologically related, Grace looked a lot like her sister-in-law. They were both petite, both had wild blonde curls, and blue eyes. Both were fierce and determined, and both were stronger than they looked if you were only looking at the packaging and not what was inside. “Grace is barely holding it together, she seems strong and tough, and I'm not saying she’s not, but inside she’s vulnerable and fragile, and she’s not really dealing with anything she’s just pretending it never happened. She has no training and isn’t equipped for what you're suggesting.”
Righteous anger wiped away some of the fear. “You’re not giving her the credit she deserves,” he told Ali. “Look at everything she survived without any so-called training. Yes, she is avoiding for now, but she’s doing it for a reason. To feel safe, to begin moving on, she has to feel like she’s in control of her actions, that’s why she’s focused right now on her future not the past. Does she need to deal with it, absolutely, and she will when she’s ready. The idea of using Grace as bait makes me feel sick, but I believe that she’ll want to do it.”
“Grace is vulnerable right now, we won't allow her to be used,” Ali said, fire practically shooting from her eyes.
“She’ll want to do it. You know I'm right. And if you try to pull rank and stop her from doing it, she’s going to feel like you're no better than Emmanuel.” At the hurt that flashed across Ali’s face he softened his tone. “You know I'm right, Ali. She knows you love her, but she’s made it clear what she needs right now is freedom, autonomy. After so long being kept prisoner, she needs to be in control of her own life. She’ll want to do this,” he said again.
Defeated, Ali sighed and nodded. “I don’t like it, but unfortunately, I think you’re right. What did you have in mind, Rylla.”
“Trust me, I know what I'm asking of your whole family. I know how terrified I was when my sister was taken, but I believe this will be the safest option for Grace,” Rylla said. “I was thinking we move her to a safe house, play that up, allow it to leak to the media. We’ll have someone stay in the house with her and then a couple of cops watching the house. Then all we have to do it wait for Emmanuel to turn up and arrest him. End of story, Grace will be safe, won't have to be constantly looking over her shoulder, and all those other families will get closure.”
As much as he hated this idea, Matthew also knew it held merit. Emmanuel wouldn’t stop to wonder why a safehouse location had been leaked, he would be too focused on his chance to get to Grace. There was no way he would be able to pass up an opportunity to get to her.
No way.
Just like there was no way he wasn’t going to be the cop staying with Grace in the house. He didn't care who was watching over them from outside, but he needed to be there with Grace. She’d say yes to this in a heartbeat, she’d want to do it as penance for being forced to kill some of Emmanuel’s victims, but that didn't mean it wouldn’t be hard for her. Being stuck in a house was bound to give her flashbacks and having to put her moving forward plan on hold would force her to confront the memories and emotions she was running from.
She’d need him, and he needed to be there for her.
* * * * *
12:24 P.M.
They were really doing this.
Grace looked at the nondescript house whose driveway they had just pulled into and tried to calm her racing heart.
Of course, she had agreed to the plan for her to play bait as soon as it was presented to her. What else could she do? While she understood in a logical sense that she had been forced to point a gun at those women and shoot them, she’d had zero other options other than be killed herself, guilt over taking their lives would be something she would carry around with her for the rest of her life.
Perhaps playing a role in seeing the man responsible brought to justice could ease a little of that weight. Adjust the scales a little in her favor. Even if it didn't, this was something she had to do. For them and for her.
For so long she hadn't had any power where Emmanuel was concerned. She was his helpless prisoner, forced to play a role in his games against her will, punished for every perceived infraction. This time she wanted to be the one with the power. The one to take away his free will by having him thrown in prison.