Behavior. Personality. Environment .
Victimology. MO. Signature .
I was a Naturaland as sick as it was, I had a relationship with this UNSUB. If they brought me to the crime scene, I might see something the others had missed.
Ill go, I told the director. But Im bringing backup of my own.
CHAPTER 31
Director Sterling had reluctantly agreed to allow me to bring two of the others with me to the crime scene, and then hed put as much distance between us and him as possible. As a result, Briggs and Locke were the ones who escorted me to the cluband they were the ones whod decided which of my housemates got to tag along.
Sloane was currently walking the inside perimeter of the club, looking for points of entry and doing some sort of calculation involving maximum occupancy, the popularity of the band playing, total amount of alcohol consumed, and the line for the bathroom.
Dean, Locke, and I were tracing Genevieves last steps.
Two unisex bathrooms. Dead bolts on each of the doors. Deans dark eyes scanned the area with almost military precision.
Genevieve was in line with a friend, Locke told us. The friend went into Bathroom A, leaving Genevieve next in line. When the friend came out, Genevieve wasnt in line. The friend assumed she was in the second bathroom and went back to the bar. She never saw Genevieve again.
I thought of the Genevieve Id seen in the UNSUBs picture, the Genevieve with bruises and blood crusted on her scalp. Then I pushed that image out of my head and forced myself to think about the events that had led to her abduction.
Okay, I said. So Im Genevieve. Im a little drunk, maybe more than a little. I stumble my way through the crowd, wait in line. My friend goes into one of the bathrooms. The next one opens up. I weaved on my feet a bit as I walked through the motions the girl would have taken. I slip into the bathroom. Maybe I remember to throw the dead bolt. Maybe I dont.
Mulling that over, I scanned the room: a toilet, a sink, a broken mirror. Had the mirror been that way before Genevieve was taken? Or had it gotten broken when she was abducted? I turned three hundred and sixty degrees, taking it all in and trying to ignore just how disgusting the bathrooms at eighteen-and-over clubs really were. The floor was permanently sticky. I didnt even want to look at the toilet, and there was graffiti scrawled across every surface of the bathroom walls.
If you forgot to bolt the door, I might have followed you in.
It took me a moment to realize that Dean was speaking from the UNSUBs perspective. He took a step toward me, making the small space feel even smaller. I stumbled backward, but there was nowhere to go.
Sorry, he said, holding his hands up. Channeling Genevieve, I felt my lips curl into a loopy smile. After all, this was a club, and he was kind of cute.
A second later, Dean had his hand over my mouth. I could have chloroformed you.
I twisted out of his hold, all too aware of how close my body was to his. You didnt.
No, he agreed, his eyes on mine. I didnt.
This time, he wrapped a hand around my waist. I leaned into him.
Maybe Im not just a little drunk, I said. Maybe Im drunker than I should be.
Dean caught on. Maybe I slipped a little something extra into your drink.
Its five feet from the bathroom door to the nearest emergency exit. Sloane issued that observation from just outside the bathroom door. Clearly, she had better sense than to join the two of us in already crampedand disgustingquarters.
That went double for Agent Locke. We have a witness who can place Genevieve going
into this bathroom, she said. But no one remembers seeing her leave.
Given that Genevieve probably wasnt the only tipsy person in Club Muse that night, I wasnt terribly surprised. It was scary to think how easy it might have been to lead a drugged girl out of the bathroom, down the hallway, and out the door.
Nine seconds, Sloane said. Even if you account for a sluggish gait on Genevieves part, the distance between the bathroom and the closest exit is small enough that someone could have gotten her out of here in nine seconds.
You chose Genevieve. You waited for exactly the right moment. You only needed nine seconds .
This UNSUB was meticulous. A planner.
You do everything for a reason , I thought, and the reason you took this girl is me .
Okay, kiddies, playtimes over. Agent Locke had done an admirable job of fading into the background and letting us work, but clearly, she was on a timetable. For what its worth, I reached the same conclusion you did. Two of the previous victims had traces of GHB in their systems. The UNSUB most likely slipped something into Genevieves drink and walked her right out the emergency exit with no one the wiser.
Belatedly, I realized that Dean still had his arm wrapped around my waist. A second later, he must have realized the same thing, because he pulled away from me and took a step back.
Any sign of the UNSUB outside? he asked.
It was easy to forget that I wasnt actually here as a profiler. I was here as bait, and the FBI was hoping Id bring the killer straight to them.