Murder in the Forest, Chapter 36

The team had no idea that Bamka had seen them and realized that Rossi and Jareau had lied to him in his store. They gossiped a bit, bringing everyone up to date on their activities.

Then, Hotchner took Seaver aside and asked, "Ashley, do you know Kate Callahan well? She's in Andi Swann's unit, like you. Do you often work closely together? She has applied to my team and I told her to catch a commercial flight out to Seattle, and an agent from the field office there will drive her over to assist us here. That'll let us get acquainted and see how we work together. Do you have any issues with her?"

Seaver shrugged. "Hotch, I think she'd be ideal for you. By the way, I was going to talk to you, anyway. I want permission to apply for transfer to Seattle. I think I'd prefer that office to where I am now. Will you put in a good word for me with Andi? Bill Waters says they have an opening coming up and I can probably get it, with good recommendations, and he's going to speak to the SAC on my behalf."

Hotchner looked at her with wry amusement. "Does this transfer have anything to do with Deputy Blacklaws? Have you thought of how this move will impact your career, overall? What if you and Peter eventually break up? Will you still want to be out here on the west coast? Promotion may come sooner if you stay at Quantico."

She explained that the politics and stress of working at Quantico or at the Washington, D.C. headquarters was more than she wanted. She had rather have a more relaxed posting, even if advancement might be slower. "And I think my work in my specialty will get me noticed enough at the Bureau that I'll get ahead. Not many female agents do what I do, or as well. I can handle Seattle, even if Peter and I call it quits. An awful lot of human trafficking cases originate out here. I like the weather better here, too, and the great outdoors. So, what do you think? Will you help me, after we solve this present case? After all, I'm the sole FBI agent to have seen a real Bigfoot. That ought to give me some pull, right?" She smiled to show that she was joking.

But Hotchner grew solemn. "Be careful who you tell about that Bigfoot, Ashley. Most who hear that story will think you were drunk or saw a bear standing upright. Seriously, be very careful of saying much about that. Cops all over the country have reported these things and UFO's. Personally, I think they may have seen exactly what they claim, in some cases. But being associated with that sort of phenomenon usually gets them looked at as if they may have a screw loose. But, yes, I'll talk to Phillip Gaines, the SAC out here, and to Andi and help you get the transfer if you still want it when we leave after this case."

"Thanks, Hotch," she answered. "Uh, look: Peter invited me over tonight to help him make dinner at his place and to watch TV. Can I go, as long as we're wherever you want us to meet you tomorrow?"

He rolled his eyes a little, but agreed. "I trust that he plans to help you learn some important dry fly patterns to catch trout if you stay involved with him. Whatever. Just meet us at eight in the morning at the IHOP. I'll see if Grant Ford can join us. Then, we need to get Callahan in here and start serious efforts to recover those girls. The longer we wait, the greater chance that we'll be too late to save them. I'm going to start shaking some suspects soon. I'll give you any news we get from Garcia or the phone company at breakfast."

She nodded, thanked him, and went to tell Peter Blacklaws the good news; they had the night to themselves. And she was pretty sure that they wouldn't spend too much of it discussing trout lures, flies or otherwise. She wondered how he'd make love in a bed, not confined to a car seat in the wilderness, with a man-eating bear and a Bigfoot to add inhibitions to his performance. Well, there was one way to find out. And Ashley found herself looking forward to researching that very question.

XXX

Mike Bamka drove by a grocer for food that he needed for home and to take to the cabin where some of it would feed him and Mason and the two young women who they were holding captive. But he called his pal first and gave the code word that meant for his partner in crime to avoid contact with him for awhile. They would meet at the cabin, but not visit one another in town, or exchange more than emergency calls. Bamka wanted to seem as normal as possible and not call attention to Mason, who in turn, might have to supervise the girls on his own, if Bamka decided that he was under serious surveillance.

He wondered very much just what Rossi and Jareau were really doing in his store. If agents showed up at Mason's realty office, they'd need to meet and decide how to kill the girls and move them, maybe right under the noses of the sheriff and the FBI. If it was too risky to approach the cabin, they could just let the captives starve. But Bamka wanted to use them again before they disposed of them and he looked forward to strangling them. If he was going to be deprived of their services, he might as well enjoy seeing them off. It might be more fun to bury them alive, hearing them scream as he shoveled dirt over them in their graves.

He wondered how long he and Mason would need to lie low until the FBI left and the local cops got back to normal activity levels. They had better avoid taking any more victims for a few months. It was probably best now to kill both girls, hide the bodies, and just pass time until the cops lost interest in him. But he was concerned at the way that Mason had acted toward Melissa lately, the way he watched her and talked about her. He might balk if told to kill her. If that happened, Bamka might have to kill Mason as well as the women.

That would be a real hassle! He hoped that the agents would soon leave, without showing any interest in Mason. But what the hell had attracted them to him? Where had he gone wrong? Or was he overreacting? Maybe the FBI team just wanted those things they'd bought and didn't want anyone to know they were in town. Maybe that was why the two agents had pretended to be married. Damn it, if he only knew what they wanted in Elk Pass!