Before He Feels

Fear ran through her then, and she opened her mouth to yell.

But before she could, suddenly, she felt an immense pressure around her throat. She felt something else, too, radiating off of the person like heat.

Hate.

She gagged, unable to yell, to speak, to breathe, and she felt herself sinking to her knees.

The pressure tightened around her throat and that feeling of hate seemed to penetrate her, as pain spread throughout her body, and for the first time, Ellis was relieved that she was blind. As she felt her life slipping from her, she was relieved she would not have to lay eyes upon the face of evil. Instead, she had only that all-too-familiar darkness behind her eyes to welcome her into whatever awaited her after this life.

CHAPTER ONE

Mackenzie White, always on the go, was perfectly happy being confined to her little cubicle space. She was even happier when, three weeks ago, McGrath had called her up and told her that there was a vacant office thanks to a round of government layoffs, and that it was hers if she wanted it. She’d waited a few days, and when no one else had taken it, she went ahead and moved in.

It was minimally decorated, with only her desk, a floor lamp, a small bookshelf, and two chairs across from her desk. A large dry-erase calendar hung on the wall. She was staring at the calendar as she took a break between answering emails and making calls in her attempt to find details about one particular case.

It was an older case…a case linked to the single business card that she had on the dry-erase calendar, hanging there by a magnet:

Barker Antiques

It was the name of a business that apparently never existed.

Any lines of investigation that popped up were usually dashed right away. The closest they had come to getting anywhere was when Agent Harrison had discovered a place in New York that was a possible link. But that had turned out to be nothing more than a man who had sold old knock-off antiques in his garage in the late ’80s.

Still, there was the sense that she was this close to finding some thread that would lead her to the answers she had been looking for – answers regarding the death of her father and the apparently linked murder that had occurred earlier in the year, just six months ago.

She tried holding on to that sense of something being out there, dangling unseen yet somehow also right in front of her face. She had to on days like today when she’d had three possible leads die in their tracks via phone calls and emails.

The business card had become a puzzle piece to her. She stared at it every day, trying to figure out some approach she had not yet tried.

She was so enamored with it that when someone knocked on her office door, she jumped a bit. She looked to the door and saw Ellington standing there. He poked his head in and looked around.

“Yeah, an office setting still doesn’t suit you.”

“I know,” Mackenzie said. “I feel like such a fraud. Come on in.”

“Oh, I don’t have a lot of time,” he said. “I was just wondering if you might want to get lunch.”

“I can do that,” she said. “Meet me downstairs in about half an hour and – ”

Her desk phone rang, interrupting her. She read the display and saw that it was coming from McGrath’s extension. “One second,” she said. “This is McGrath.”

Ellington nodded and made a playfully stern face.

“This is Agent White,” she said.

“White, it’s McGrath. I need to see you in my office as soon as possible about a new assignment. Round up Ellington and bring him with you.”

She opened her mouth to say Yes sir, but McGrath killed the call before she could so much as draw up a breath.

“Looks like lunch has to wait,” she said. “McGrath needs to see us.”

They shared an awkward glance as the same thought passed between them. They’d often wondered how long they’d be able to keep their romantic relationship a secret from their co-workers, particularly McGrath.

“You think he knows?” Ellington asked.

Mackenzie shrugged. “I don’t know. But he did say he needs to see us about an assignment. So if he does know, that’s apparently not the purpose behind the call.”

“Let’s go find out then,” Ellington said.

Mackenzie logged out of her computer and joined Ellington as they headed through the building and toward McGrath’s office. She tried to tell herself that she really didn’t care if McGrath knew about them. It wasn’t grounds for suspension or anything like that, but he would likely never allow them to work again if he did find out.

So while she tried her best to not care, there was also some worry there. She did her best to swallow it down as they neared McGrath’s office while trying to purposefully walk as far away from Ellington as possible.

***

McGrath eyed them suspiciously as they took the two seats across from his desk. It was a seat Mackenzie was growing used to, sitting there and getting either lectured or praised by McGrath. She wondered which it would be today before he handed them their assignment.

“So, let’s deal with some housekeeping first,” McGrath said. “It’s become clear to me that there’s something going on between you two. I don’t know if it’s love or just a fling or what…and I honestly don’t care. But this is your one and only warning. If it gets in the way of your work, you’ll never be partnered up again. And that would be a damned shame because you work really well together. Am I understood?”

Mackenzie didn’t see the point in denying it. “Yes sir.”

Ellington echoed her response and she smirked when she saw that he looked embarrassed. She figured he wasn’t the sort who was used to getting reprimanded by those above him.

“Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the case,” McGrath said. “We got a call from the sheriff of a small southern town called Stateton. There’s a home for the blind located there – and that’s about all there is, from what I gather. Last night, a blind woman was killed extremely close to the premises. And while that’s certainly tragic enough, it’s the second murder of a blind person in the state of Virginia within ten days. In both cases, there appears to be trauma to the neck, indicating strangulation, as well as irritation around the eyes.”

“Was the first victim a member of a home as well?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yes, though a much smaller one from what I gather. It was originally speculated that the killer was a family member, but it took less than a week for everyone to be cleared. With a second body and what appears to be a very specific set of targets, it’s likely not just coincidental. So you can understand the urgency of this situation, I hope. Honestly, I get a creeping sort of small town feel to this one. Not many people down there, so it should be easier to find a suspect quickly. I’m assigning this to the two of you because I fully expect you to have it wrapped within forty-eight hours. Less would be even better.”

“Is Agent Harrison not being involved on this one?” Mackenzie asked. Having not spoken to him since the passing of his mother, she felt almost guilty. While he had never truly felt like a partner, she still respected him.

“Agent Harrison has been tasked elsewhere,” McGrath said. “For this case, he will be a resource to you…research, expedited information, and things of that nature. Are you uncomfortable working with Agent Ellington?”

“Not at all, sir,” she said, regretting that she had said anything at all.

“Good. I’ll have human resources book you a room in Stateton. I’m not an idiot…so I’ve requested just one room. If nothing else comes out of this little fling between the two of you, at least it will save the bureau on lodging costs.”

Mackenzie wasn’t sure if this was McGrath’s attempt at humor. It was hard to tell because the man seemed to never smile.

As they got up to head out on their assignment, it occurred to Mackenzie how vague McGrath’s response about Harrison had been. He’s been tasked somewhere else, Mackenzie thought. What’s that supposed to mean?

That wasn’t for her to be concerned with, though. Instead, she had been assigned a case that McGrath was expecting a quick turnaround on. Already, she could feel the challenge brewing inside of her, pushing her to get started right away.

CHAPTER TWO

Mackenzie felt a chill pass through her as Ellington guided them down State Route 47, deeper into the heart of rural Virginia. A few cornfields popped up here and there, breaking the monotony of sprawling fields and forests. The number of cornfields was no match for what she was used to in Nebraska, but the sight of them still made her a bit uneasy.

Luckily, the closer they got to the town of Stateton, the fewer cornfields she saw. They were replaced by freshly leveled acres of land that had been torn up by local lumber companies. In doing research on the area on the four-and-a-half-hour drive down, she’d seen where there was a fairly large lumber distributor in a neighboring town. As for the town of Stateton, though, it was the Wakeman Home for the Blind, a few antique stores, and very little else.