The Silenced - Heather Graham

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      They would recognize his work.

      Then again, maybe not; he left his victims in water, weighed down with whatever he could find. And the water concealed any evidence there might be.

      Yes, he had an alter ego. And he’d paved the way. Two dead already, just in the past month. Now...this one. And there’d have to be more.

      He’d watched the first girl, Sarah, not with malice, but with purpose. He hadn’t done anything out of hatred or viciousness. He’d been inexperienced then, still learning. With Celia, the second girl, it had been easy. It wasn’t that he liked what he’d done. He’d seen the need early on and he did his job as he understood it.

      It was just necessary. Like dressing every morning, driving, breathing, eating—making a living.

      He wished he could be sorry. He wasn’t.

      He did what he needed to do, and that was all.

      He’d become Slash McNeil.

      For a moment, he paused. It was messing with him this time. He had it figured out—and damned well, too. The girls, the type, the psychology.

      But this one...

      This one was different. The way he handled her had to be different. And he sure as hell didn’t like it, not one bit.

      Still...

      He was prepared. He’d prepared for this possibility months ago, and in actuality, there were things about it that were even more appealing than usual. This involved wits and careful machinations and a certain danger that made it all the more exhilarating; it gave him a high that was greater than the rest.

      He smiled and thought about the woman—her flair, her grace, her confidence.

      And he thought about what she’d be...

      When it was all over.

      Meg Murray’s alarm went off with a strident ring that made her nearly jump out of her skin as well as the bed.

      She groaned and rubbed her temples. Keeping up with the guys wasn’t easy—not as easy as she’d hoped, anyway.

      But she, and Sandra Martinez and Carrie Huang— the two other young women in her academy class—were holding up nicely. And they’d made it. Meg was proud—and relieved. She knew that only one out of every hundred applicants got into the academy.

      And not all made it through.

      She’d been determined. Just as some kids knew they wanted to grow up to be actors, artists, veterinarians or zookeepers, she’d known she wanted the FBI.

      She and her class had learned legal and investigative processes and passed every physical test of strength and coordination. The men and the women in her class had all done well. Meg hadn’t beaten Ricky Grant—considered by most of them, including Ricky, to be the toughest cadet in their class—but she’d kept up with him. In fact, her class had excelled.

      They’d graduated; they’d had their ceremony. They were officially agents now, and they’d celebrated.

      She wasn’t sure why she’d felt compelled to keep up with Ricky in all things.

      She hadn’t gotten wasted last night; she’d been extremely temperate while pretending to imbibe far more than she had. And she wasn’t hungover; she was tired!

      The trials, the strain, the classes, the yearning—they were over. It was exhilarating, and it gave them all a flutter of fear. Time to go into the world as rookies. Time to prove themselves.

      And, of course, it was time to move out of cadet housing and into places of their own.

      That wasn’t a worry for Meg. She’d always believed she’d graduate, so she’d already made arrangements to rent a small town house just down the road from headquarters at Quantico. She was going to be assigned to the criminal division there. They had a few days to clear out and she simply had to switch from housing to her new home.

      Awake, she lay in bed, a little dazed. This was really it. She had two weeks before heading in to her first assignment.

      Her television, on a timer, sprang to life with the news. Meg paused, watching it, before she went in to shower. Police were still seeking clues in the brutal murder of a Jane Doe discovered by the Potomac a couple of weeks ago. More troops had been killed overseas. A truck had stalled on the beltway, causing a ten-car pileup. Investigations were still under way regarding the death of Garth Hubbard, the indie presidential hopeful beloved by so many that he might’ve been the first man to take the White House on such a ticket. The cause of his death had been deemed natural. He’d been at home with his wife, alone in their bedroom. Paramedics had been called; his family doctor had come, too, and signed the death certificate. But this was Washington, DC, so, of course, there was talk of conspiracy.

      “Ah, yes, good morning!” she muttered to herself.

      The news anchor—after waiting an appropriate beat or two—offered her viewing public a wide, toothy smile and went on to recount some of the good news of the day. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad morning. An attractive reporter related a story about the heroics of a young man as he dived after a woman, a stranger, who had nearly drowned while tubing in West Virginia. She then had another story about a young girl saved from an abusive teen by the intervention of a stray dog—the dog now, happily, had a home.

      Meg realized she was just staring, somewhat hypnotized, at the television.

      She had to get going. There was an orientation class she was required to attend and she wanted to get through it quickly so she could concentrate on moving into her little town house before her life began anew.

      As she relished the hot water pouring over her in the shower, Meg considered the life she was about to start.

      As a child, she’d dreamed of changing the world. That had meant to her that she had to be a policewoman or run for president. Maybe a policewoman—and then the president.

      And when she was ten years old, her family had fallen victim to a horrible crime.

      She would never forget it. She could still remember that time as clearly as if she’d just lived it. Her cousin, responsible and steadfast, had gone missing. Then the ransom note had come.

      But Mary Elizabeth’s body had been found. Meg had known they’d find her before they did. Everything about those days, that experience, had been shattering and devastating, and for a long time, she’d thought she was crazy. But she hadn’t been.

      And now...

      Now, all she could only hope to do was put away some of the bad guys. Just as they’d put away the man who’d taken Mary Elizabeth.

      In her classes, they’d recently had guest speakers, agents and scientists from the behavioral science units. Listening to what man was capable of doing to man had been horrifying, despite what she already knew. The academy classes lost students along the way because sometimes it was too much to bear.

      In her case...

      She was even more determined. She had every reason to be.

      Because it hadn’t ended with Mary Elizabeth.

      Sometimes she met people who’d been tortured.

      And killed.

      And she’d wanted to help.

      She liked to feel that she’d grown strong. Her superiors and teachers knew about her past—about Mary Elizabeth being kidnapped and murdered. She was honest about her desire to be with the Bureau. She was careful not to dwell on the past in case someone believed that her previous experience might hinder her work.

      It would never interfere with her work; she was sure of that.

      Dressed and ready for the day, she checked her reflection

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