Bait Read online

  Copyright 2014 Lisa Phillips

  Smashwords edition

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Ebook Edition March 2014

  Published by Lisa Phillips

  Cover art by Kristine McCord

  Photos from Shutterstock

  Denver Cityscape - gary yim / Shutterstock.com

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  In the course of writing this book I had to contact the FBI. It’s safe to say they exceeded my expectations in both the time it took them to get back to me (literally, days) and the wealth of information they supplied.

  Any errors you may find in this book are due to the fact that story is king,

  and honestly, reality isn’t always all that awesome anyway.

  DEDICATION

  You wouldn’t be holding this book if it wasn’t for my girls:

  Becky Avella, Heather Humrichouse,

  Hilarey Johnson and Kristine McCord.

  Not only fantastic writers in their own right,

  they’re also the best critique group in the world.

  Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it.

  Bait

  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father

  and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,

  yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

  Luke 14:26

  Chapter 1

  CAISEY LYONS LIVED someone else’s life for three days before she got abducted. In the early hours she heard his footsteps in the hall. Her eyes flew open, but she didn’t move. The temperature in the room cut through the blanket and the thin white nightgown that belonged to a stranger. Three days of walking around someone else’s house, passing the time until he would come.

  The bedroom door eased open.

  Caisey kept her eyes shut and prayed the darkness would hide the fact she was awake. She wrestled away the revulsion with deep breaths and fought for calm. No one else on the FBI task force fit the victim’s description. Now instead of a badge and gun, she had a tracking device injected below the skin and a team of agents on stand-by. She wished she could struggle, give him a taste of his own violence. But that wasn’t the plan. His death would find justice for each of the victims, all the more significant since this case had touched Caisey and her partner Liam’s lives personally. This was for Andrea’s sister.

  All Caisey had to do was stay alive.

  Soft footsteps crossed the carpet to her. A shell jacket rustled and a sickly-sweet smell filled the air. Caisey knew it was coming before the cloth was placed over her nose. The ice cold liquid touched her face and she sucked in a breath that smelled and tasted…wrong. One hand closed over her mouth and nose and another wrapped around the back of her head.

  It was like being shut in a tomb.

  Caisey squirmed to get a grip on him. Her hands and arms went from tingly to numb and something broke inside her. A rushing sound filled her ears. Would she end up laid out on a metal table for the Medical Examiner? What if the signal malfunctioned? What if the agents watching didn’t see him take her out of the apartment?

  She tried to breathe…but there was only darkness.

  **

  Three days earlier

  Caisey stared at the closet, trying to decide what to pack.

  “What are you doing in my room?”

  She spun from the business-wear to her best friend and tried not to look pathetic. “I need to borrow something.”

  Jenna strode over, her gray pencil skirt and sling-backs contrasting with the pink ends of her blond hair. “You mean more stylish? Or just not your usual jeans and boots, and boots and jeans, and more jeans?”

  If only the worst thing about this assignment was that she’d have to wear uncomfortable clothes. Caisey pointed to a pair of silver heels with tiny straps. “Can’t chase a perp down in those things, I’d break my ankle.”

  Jenna laughed. “You’d break your ankle walking downstairs in them. Just like—”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Caisey sighed, remembering the disaster that was Prom.

  “What is this assignment anyway?”

  “I have to—” get kidnapped. “Pretend to be someone.”

  “Someone classy?”

  Caisey slung her arm around Jenna’s shoulder with every intention of getting her back for that comment, but it turned into a side hug. She left her arm there, soaking in the comfort of decades of friendship that felt more like family than much of the family either of them ever had.

  Her temples throbbed a rhumba beat and she closed her hands into fists to keep from massaging them.

  Jenna frowned. “This is about that serial killer, isn’t it?”

  Caisey smiled and shook her head. “Why couldn’t you be just another dumb blonde?”

  “You mean an idiot who wouldn’t be smart enough to worry about you?”

  Something like that. “Call Liam if you have any problems while I’m gone, okay? I’ll be out of contact.”

  Jenna swished hangers to the side. “Switch your usual black or gray fitted t-shirt for a light blue blouse. Black slacks because you don’t want to be uncomfortable in a skirt. Also, you don’t want anything tight in case you have to kick someone.”

  “Right.” Caisey grabbed the bundle. “Thanks Jenna.”

  “Yup.”

  There was something in the tone that made Caisey turn back with her armful of clothes. “Spill it.”

  Jenna made a frustrated noise. “I can’t keep anything from you.”

  “Quit stalling and tell me.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. Her blonde bangs lay perfectly across her forehead. Caisey had grown hers out because she couldn’t figure out how to get them to do that. “Don’t be mad. I did it for your own good.”

  “What did you—?”

  Jenna’s face had guilt written all over it. “I may have…sort of…signed you up for a dating service.”

  “What?”

  “Just think about it while you’re gone, and maybe check out your profile. I said good things about you, made you sound like a catch.” She held out both hands. “Which you totally are.”

  “Jenna—” Caisey drew the word out, her jaw tight.

  “You should at least try it out. I mean, when was the last time you went on a date?”

  Caisey smiled sweetly. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

  “I date. I also have a teenage son. The two don’t exactly mix.”

  “Ha. Like the right guy is going to care. Jake is great.”

  “I know.” Jenna shot her a look. “But you have no excuse whatsoever. Nothing but a memory.”

  “Hey—”

  Jenna clutched Caisey’s elbows. “I just don’t want you to waste your life on that one perfect guy. Your one perfect date before he disappeared forever. Jerk.”

  She had tried to get past it, to feel those sparks with someone—anyone—else but it never happened. All these years and no one had ever measured up to that date where dinner turned into a walk and the walk turned into talking all night about nothing and everything. Laughing together. That one great kiss.

  And then nada. Not even a phone call.

  Jenna’s eyes softened. “It’s time we both moved on to bigger and better things. Let the past be the past. Please. Let him go.”

  Caisey slung her arm around Jenna’s neck and kissed her temple, then walked the length of the upstairs hall to her bedroom. She didn’t want
to be a source of pity for her friend, which meant that as much as she might not like the idea, she’d have to look into this dating site when she got back.

  Caisey got dressed and stuffed a change of clothes into her gym bag. She left the bag by the front door and walked through the living room to the hall off the kitchen.

  Grams sat in her armchair with a tray across her lap. “The answer is Canberra, you imbecile!”

  The chair enveloped her small frame. Her plate had only crumbs and a blob of yolk from the soft boiled egg and toast she had every morning. Caisey picked up the tray and went into Grams’ tiny kitchen.

  Grams’ aide was elbow-deep in soapy water, and gave her a smile. “Morning.”

  “Morning, Sara.” Caisey slipped the plate and silverware into the water.

  She went back to Grams and sat on the end of the loveseat. “Hi.”

  Grams’ wrinkled lips twitched. “Good morning.”

  “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. If you need anything, any of you, you can call Liam. You have his number, right?”

  Grams lifted the china cup from the end table, looked inside and frowned. “Why is it always gone when you want a bit more?”

  Caisey rose and took it from her. “I think I have time for a cup of tea before I go. You?”

  “I’d love one.” Grams looked up, a smile in her eyes. “Only, don’t skimp on the sugar like you did last time, hmm?”

  **

  Present

  Caisey woke up to a dark space that wasn’t much wider than her elbows. She kicked up her legs and hit the roof about a foot above where she lay. It was taller than a coffin, which was something at least. But it wouldn’t open, no matter how hard she kicked and shoved.

  What else could it be?

  The whole thing was moving, like she was in the back of a vehicle driving who-knew- where. Stashed in a deep freezer or some other airtight container where he could probably hear her thrashing around. Which begged the question, did he know about the tracking device?

  Caisey prayed the team would find her soon, because it was getting hard to breathe.

  **

  Three days ago

  Caisey climbed in Special Agent Liam Conner’s SUV and slammed the door against the February air. The inside was immaculate, as usual, and it stank like he’d polished the dash. Again.

  Her partner huffed out a sigh, but not so big that it mussed his perfect hair. “I don’t like this.”

  Caisey pulled out her BlackBerry and read the text from her boss. Did Liam think she was going to change her mind? “Brenda already called in sick. She’s ready to make the switch.”

  “Are you listening?” Liam pulled the car away from the curb in front of her house.

  Caisey looked back at the two-story house. The siding needed to be painted. Her dad’s old Chevy truck was parked on the gravel beside the driveway, ready for when they decided Jake was allowed to drive. Most of her life had happened in this house, except those first few years with her mom before her dad brought her back to Denver. Then there was her time in Quantico, and four years spent at the FBI office in Salt Lake which consisted of traipsing around Idaho and Montana, up to the top of her boots in mountain man extremists. At least they let her wear her jeans so she blended in. She’d just ignored the license plates and pretended it was Colorado.

  “I said—”

  Caisey turned to her partner. “I heard you.”

  “I know you want to do this, I just don’t like the idea of you being abducted. Like, at all.”

  I’ve done it before.

  The words were on the tip of her tongue to say. She’d have told him why she was uniquely qualified to get kidnapped, but if she’d done that there was no way he would let her go. Now she would have another stash of memories to add to the archived file in her brain. That was how the shrink told her to think about it. As an inaccessible store of memories that were closed off from her everyday experience. Otherwise they could jump up at any moment.

  But all that was need-to-know, so Caisey crossed her arms and for the first time in her life kept a secret from her partner.

  She didn’t need to mention the victims to him. They both knew each of them by name, and the last murder was the younger sister of Liam’s girlfriend. “I’m not going to let her death mean nothing.”

  “We could have found someone else to pose as a potential victim. I don’t like that it has to be you.”

  Caisey looked at him and his neat blonde hair, Ivy League silk tie and polished black shoes. Liam had found Andrea, he was happy and in that first blush of new love—just in a totally manly kind of way that didn’t involve roses and candlelight. Knowing Liam it was probably the opera, or some crap like that.

  Caisey was more of a rodeo type of girl.

  Then there was his newfound faith. Caisey hadn’t been part of his conversion, which grated her. Wasn’t she supposed to be a bold witness for Christ? Now Liam was all fired up and praying about everything. When was the last time her faith had been exciting?

  God, help me keep them safe.

  Part of her wished for a cozy life of her own, but that wasn’t real. Safety was an illusion, a wishful thought that brought easy smiles and peaceful childhood dreams. She knew what was real.

  Liam drove up to the rear of the apartment building where Brenda Peterson lived. He put the SUV in park and turned to her. “You’ll be careful?”

  Caisey rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

  “Just say it.”

  She held up her hand to swear her oath. “I will be totally careful while I’m being abducted by a serial killer.”

  “Thank you. How’s your leg?”

  She rubbed her thigh where the sub-dermal tracker had been injected. “Just don’t press any buttons on the computer and accidentally delete the transmitter’s signal, okay? I need you to be able to find me.”

  “I would not—”

  “You are the single most technologically accident prone person I’ve ever met. Why do you think you manage to get your phone stuck on Spanish at least once a month?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I thought it was Jake messing with me.”

  It was Jenna’s son, but Caisey wasn’t going to tell him that. She put her BlackBerry in the glove box, pulled out her sidearm, unloaded it and put it with her phone. She added her badge ID to the immaculate storage space. Yeesh, there was even a dryer sheet in there.

  “And your backup weapon?”

  Caisey blanked her face. “What backup?”

  “Please.” He motioned with his fingers. “Hand it over.”

  She pouted and pulled at the Velcro securing the small caliber weapon to her leg. She slapped it in his palm. “Satisfied?”

  “It’s not like you can shoot him.”

  “I know that.”

  “We need him alive so he can tell us where the missing girls are.”

  “I said, I know.” Caisey blew out a breath. “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have felt better at least.”

  “You don’t need it.”

  She grasped the handle of her bag, her other hand on the lever to open the door. “Wish me luck?”

  He grinned. “I can do better than that.”

  His hand circled the back of her neck and squeezed, imparting his strength to her jumbled up stomach. And then he prayed for God’s protection over her and the agents providing backup.

  Caisey climbed out. “Don’t shoot your foot off while I’m gone.”

  **

  Present

  Caisey’s head swam. She tried to breathe but there was no air. Her chest heaved as she sucked in gulp after gulp of nothing. She needed to get out of there, but she was at the mercy of a killer.

  God, don’t let me die.

  She should have brought her gun.

  Chapter 2

  SPECIAL AGENT LIAM Conners looked at the clock on the dash for the four hundred twenty-seventh time as they raced along the highway between Denver and Idaho Springs in a convoy of unmarked SUVs. The
signal disappeared as soon as Caisey was put inside, but the helicopter still had eyes on the white van.

  He gritted his teeth and looked out the passenger window at the dark night.

  “I just can’t relax.” Andrea’s soft voice warmed his ear.

  Liam shifted the BlackBerry. “I know. Stay with the officers. Be safe, okay? As soon as I know anything, you’ll know too.”

  Andrea had almost been abducted herself. She knew the risk Caisey was taking, and had focused on that instead of grief over her sister. He’d rather be there with Andrea, but then who would make sure Caisey was safe? His girlfriend had been the Chloroform Killer’s intended target—that’s how they met, when the killer took her sister by mistake. Now his partner was in the middle of it and there was nothing he could do.

  “Bring her home.”

  “Sure, Andrea. I’ll get her.” He hung up.

  That wasn’t all Liam was going to get. He glanced over at Special Agent Burkot, the head of the team, who was driving the vehicle. Balding and in his fifties, Liam’s boss clung to the remnants of his physique from his glory days at Notre Dame. Burkot had the job Liam wanted in seven years. He knew he’d be able to do it after Burkot retired; they were both cut from the same piece of Italian weave, extra-fine wool.

  One missing girl was enough for a manhunt, let alone multiple women dead and more whose bodies had still not been recovered. It didn’t matter if Caisey was one of them. Right now she was an abductee.

  The tech in the backseat said, “Half a mile up there’s a right turn, a dirt road that leads to an old abandoned mine.”