Releases Worldwide 23-January-2024

A man dedicated to unmasking monsters.

The woman who gives faces to the lost.

Neither can see the evil hiding in plain sight.

FBI Special Agent Noah Danes’ investigation into The Beltway Romeo brings him to Philadelphia and leads to a chance encounter with an old friend. Forensic facial reconstructionist Sadie Potter hasn’t seen Noah since the sentencing of her mother's murderer four years earlier. Seeing one another in a new light, they both dare to hope for more.

But before they can explore their newfound feelings, Sadie’s attacked by The Beltway Romeo.

Fueled with rage and fear, Noah swears to protect her at all costs. But his fellow profilers turn their focus on Noah, threatening to reveal his deepest secrets to the world. Scarred, depressed, and afraid of losing herself along with her art, Sadie lashes out at the people she loves most…until Romeo makes it clear he hasn’t forgotten the victim who got away.

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Dulcettones from bow and string created grace as music soared to the vaulted ceilingand images of horror panned across the wall. Blood and rose petals littered thechampagne-colored carpet. Candles reduced to hardened puddles on occasional tables,their frozen drips streaked toward the floor. Every detail designed to draw theviewer’s gaze to the dead woman spread eagle in the center of the room, herhands and feet staked with metal tent posts. Her eyelids removed and her torsocarved, she’d been butchered and displayed in the most gruesome definition ofthe word. One image transitioned into another, a macabre carousel.

Close-upsof the damage to the body gave way to distance shots of the room, taken fromseparate angles. As detailed and distressing as it was, it couldn’t recreatethe smell of death. Feces, urine, blood, and the sickly, sweet scent of rosesmixed with the sandalwood from the scented candles and permeated the room. Thefaint odor of the initial officer's vomit wafted in from beyond the open door.He could show them, but they’d never know. The last photo, the room after thebody was removed, filled the screen as the music faded to silence.

“Lightson.” Special Supervisory Agent Noah Danes catalogued the expressions of thethirty bureau cadets in the lecture hall. He punched back to the first photo.The full image of the room with the corpse showcased dead center. “This is howReston police found the body of Caitlyn Jones. They were responding to a noisecomplaint. The music we just heard, Adagio in G Minor, composed by TomasoAlbinoni, played on the stereo system at full volume. We asked them to securethe residence, and advised them to touch nothing, not even the stereo, until wearrived to document the scene. You’re seeing it as I did. What do you see?”

“Thesecond victim of the Beltway Romeo,” a voice sounded from the back.

Noahnodded. “That’s the name the press has given him, not law enforcement. The bodyof the first victim, Stephanie Jackson, was found in her Frederick, Marylandhome. Because they have, annually, more than four times the violent crime ofReston, they were prepared to handle the scene there. Reston PD knew they wereout of their depth and were familiar enough with the details of the Jacksonmurder to request immediate help to process the scene. Since then, theBehavioral Analysis Unit here at Quantico has acted as a judicial clearinghousein this investigation. Who can explain what I mean, and extra points if you cantell me how we navigated the multi-jurisdictional morass?” Hands shot up.“Sciarrillo.”

“Oneway to elude law enforcement is to change jurisdictions.” Sciarrillo was aformer military officer. What was euphemistically referred to as a door kickerbut he was smart and had excellent instincts. The BAU would bore him, but he’dprove a formidable field agent. “Even in our digital age, communicationsbetween local law enforcement in different counties, and differing states,leave a lot to be desired. The Behavioral Analysis Unit both collects anddisseminates information to various law enforcement agencies. It’s kind ofbrilliant. As soon as Romeo crossed state lines, the FBI claimed jurisdictionover all his crimes.”

“Good.Hicks?”

Theyoung woman lowered her hand. She, like so many younger recruits, held a lawdegree. Extraordinarily intelligent, overachiever, destined for a career ingovernment, politics, or maybe a judicial seat. She’d rise through the ranks inwhite collar crime. “Doesn’t Romeo present as too intelligent to make themistake of earning the FBI’s attention?”

“Yes.However, let’s remember. By spreading his kills out, he makes them harder tolink. It was a calculated risk.” Though true, he didn’t believe it himself.There was something more to this pattern. Speaking of. “There are eight victimsto date. Each woman was single, successful, and upwardly mobile. They heldpowerful jobs in the capital and lived in communities accessible by the Beltwayor the northeast corridor. As fresh evidence is discovered, we refine ourconclusions and ViCAP is updated. For those of you who may not know, althoughby now you should, ViCAP stands for the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.It enables local law enforcement agencies to collect, enter, and analyze theirown violent crime information. It facilitates the identification of similarcases on a regional, state, and national basis. As in all things, it’s only asgood as the information added to it.” He nodded and clicked on another photo.“What else do you see?”

“Hetortures them. Removes their eyelids and forces them to watch what he’s doingto them until they die.”

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