phone.
" Special Agent Grant."
Jake pressed the phone tighter to his ear. "Agent Grant, this is Jake Paris."
" Hi, Jake. How’s your sister holding up?"
" Pretty good, considering."
" That's good to hear."
" Um. We found something we think you might want to know. It's a photo on the Internet from one of the crime scenes. Holly's swears one of the guys in the crowd is her roommate’s boyfriend."
" The roommate's boyfriend?" There was a tone of interest in her voice. "Which child was it?"
" The fourth. The little five year old blond boy."
" Okay. Well, we talked with Amber this afternoon and she did mention him, but we haven't spoken with him yet. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We'll bump him up on our priority list."
" Have you heard anything about Gabe?"
" I wish I could say yes, Jake, but unless our guy makes another move, all we can do is follow the bread crumbs."
" Have you seen anything that leads to this guy Gary?"
" I'm not at liberty to discuss case details with you, but I assure you, we have our best people working on this. If you come up with anything else, let us know, okay?"
" Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
" Thanks for the lead. We'll be talking again soon."
" Okay."
Holly's eyes probed him. "What did she say? Is there a connection?"
" They're not allowed to discuss the case with us."
" Why not?"
" I don't know, but she said they have their best people working on it."
" So what are we supposed to do, just sit on our hands and wait for them to find my son?"
" I don't know, Holly."
Dan interjected. "Why don't we go to this guy's house and ask him some questions."
It was clear Holly didn't like that idea. "If Gary's the killer, then it would be stupid to show up on his door step and say, excuse me, are you holding my son?"
Jake handed the phone out to Holly. "Why don't you call Amber and ask her about him."
" Are you kidding me? What if they're in on this together?"
" I don't think serial killers work in teams. It takes some heavy psychosis to kill little children. I doubt someone like that would be confiding in his girlfriend."
She ran her fingers nervously down her long blond curls and stared absently toward the floor. He couldn't tell if it was his comment about serial killers killing children that had caused her to leave the building, or if it was the nervousness of talking to her roommate about something so emotionally taxing, but he held the phone out toward her and waited patiently for her to return.
" What do I say to her?"
" Just tell her what you know and see if she can help."
Holly took the phone and stabbed some numbers into it, but didn't immediately put it to her ear. It was only when a voice could be heard buzzing in the earpiece that she responded to it.
" Amber, this is Holly. Yes, yes, I'm okay. I need to talk to you about something."
Jake motioned for Dan to follow him into the living room.
Once they were out of earshot, Dan said, "I've been waiting to talk to you. What’s going on?"
" These ghost-kids aren't the killer's victims, they're something else."
" What do you mean? They don't look the same? So that's why you were so frustrated."
Jake nodded.
" So what are they then?"
" I don't know, but I found a little baby on the stairs at my apartment building a little while ago, and when I went back, he was gone."
" Wow."
" Vanished. Into thin air. I checked the stairwell all the way to the first floor. There's no way anyone could have taken him so quickly."
Dan's expression changed, it looked as though he was beginning to second guess his decision to trust Jake. It wasn't a look of unbelief, but more the kind of look one might give someone who just started swatting at imaginary flies.
" I'm not crazy, Dan, this stuff is real."
" Well ghosts I get, but babies on stairwells..."
" Hang with me, man. I can't have you flaking out on me now."
" Me? Flaking out on you?"
" Look. Forget I said anything about the baby on the stairs."
" Maybe you're
" Special Agent Grant."
Jake pressed the phone tighter to his ear. "Agent Grant, this is Jake Paris."
" Hi, Jake. How’s your sister holding up?"
" Pretty good, considering."
" That's good to hear."
" Um. We found something we think you might want to know. It's a photo on the Internet from one of the crime scenes. Holly's swears one of the guys in the crowd is her roommate’s boyfriend."
" The roommate's boyfriend?" There was a tone of interest in her voice. "Which child was it?"
" The fourth. The little five year old blond boy."
" Okay. Well, we talked with Amber this afternoon and she did mention him, but we haven't spoken with him yet. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We'll bump him up on our priority list."
" Have you heard anything about Gabe?"
" I wish I could say yes, Jake, but unless our guy makes another move, all we can do is follow the bread crumbs."
" Have you seen anything that leads to this guy Gary?"
" I'm not at liberty to discuss case details with you, but I assure you, we have our best people working on this. If you come up with anything else, let us know, okay?"
" Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
" Thanks for the lead. We'll be talking again soon."
" Okay."
Holly's eyes probed him. "What did she say? Is there a connection?"
" They're not allowed to discuss the case with us."
" Why not?"
" I don't know, but she said they have their best people working on it."
" So what are we supposed to do, just sit on our hands and wait for them to find my son?"
" I don't know, Holly."
Dan interjected. "Why don't we go to this guy's house and ask him some questions."
It was clear Holly didn't like that idea. "If Gary's the killer, then it would be stupid to show up on his door step and say, excuse me, are you holding my son?"
Jake handed the phone out to Holly. "Why don't you call Amber and ask her about him."
" Are you kidding me? What if they're in on this together?"
" I don't think serial killers work in teams. It takes some heavy psychosis to kill little children. I doubt someone like that would be confiding in his girlfriend."
She ran her fingers nervously down her long blond curls and stared absently toward the floor. He couldn't tell if it was his comment about serial killers killing children that had caused her to leave the building, or if it was the nervousness of talking to her roommate about something so emotionally taxing, but he held the phone out toward her and waited patiently for her to return.
" What do I say to her?"
" Just tell her what you know and see if she can help."
Holly took the phone and stabbed some numbers into it, but didn't immediately put it to her ear. It was only when a voice could be heard buzzing in the earpiece that she responded to it.
" Amber, this is Holly. Yes, yes, I'm okay. I need to talk to you about something."
Jake motioned for Dan to follow him into the living room.
Once they were out of earshot, Dan said, "I've been waiting to talk to you. What’s going on?"
" These ghost-kids aren't the killer's victims, they're something else."
" What do you mean? They don't look the same? So that's why you were so frustrated."
Jake nodded.
" So what are they then?"
" I don't know, but I found a little baby on the stairs at my apartment building a little while ago, and when I went back, he was gone."
" Wow."
" Vanished. Into thin air. I checked the stairwell all the way to the first floor. There's no way anyone could have taken him so quickly."
Dan's expression changed, it looked as though he was beginning to second guess his decision to trust Jake. It wasn't a look of unbelief, but more the kind of look one might give someone who just started swatting at imaginary flies.
" I'm not crazy, Dan, this stuff is real."
" Well ghosts I get, but babies on stairwells..."
" Hang with me, man. I can't have you flaking out on me now."
" Me? Flaking out on you?"
" Look. Forget I said anything about the baby on the stairs."
" Maybe you're
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