Conner nodded as he looked out window.
“So, the profile on our perpetrator?”
This was harder. “There’s something off.”
He glanced at her, then back out the window. What he was looking at, she had no idea. It was dark outside. More than likely, he was thinking. It was one thing she had always appreciated about Conner. He didn’t react on the fly.
“Listen, I get that you might not want to give me a profile this fast, but I just want first impressions. I’m going to have Emily go over your thoughts and start working on our few suspects. I’m not grading you like the FBI.”
Old habits died hard for her. She sighed. “Okay. I think something along the way changed for this guy.”
“His motive?”
“At first glance, revenge. Part of the killing of her family might have been to stop the investigations. It seems that the CIA dropped the ball on that.”
“Yeah. Those assholes always see their people as expendable to an extent. They’re so damned secretive, and they will do anything to stop those secrets from getting out.”
Even sweep the murder of two of their analysts under the carpet. “I think that the person got a great deal of happiness from making her grandmother suffer. It was like a secondary benefit. If this person was involved with crypto, there is a good chance he knew who her grandmother was. Making a woman who stood for justice suffer might have been a cherry on top of his sundae.”
“But that has changed.”
She nodded. “The need to make her grandmother suffer isn’t important anymore. That’s why I think it might have changed. If I have the timeline right, her grandmother died not too long before Lila was burned by the CIA, right?”
He nodded.
“That’s the key. This person wanted revenge…burned with it. Almost savored it. Then…Judith died. There was no way to make her suffer, and that might have made the person even angrier.”
“You don’t think this person is a man? I thought men usually were the ones who blew things up.”
“True, but we’re dealing with some sort of spy.”
“Do you have any idea who this person is spying for?”
She shook her head. “And I doubt the person is active anymore. It’s almost as if the compulsion to kill…to exact revenge, has taken front and center. You are looking for a person who has lost touch with friends, family…anyone who can’t help with his or her plan fell to the wayside. You’re looking for a former member of MI-6, the CIA, FSB, or even the MSS from China.”
“That makes it…”
“Difficult.” She said with a nod. “I know. That’s why I want to work on it a little bit. I can do it here or back at my place.”
“You don’t mind staying here?”
“It’s a big house, plus, I have a go bag. As long as it’s okay with Ian.”
His mouth twitched. “I always loved you BAU types. Ready to jump on a plane and go anywhere.”
“Yeah, well, being a military BRAT helped too.”
He nodded. “And you don’t need Ian’s approval.”
She found her first real smile in months. “That man is planning on taking over for the foreseeable future. He’s not planning on budging.”
He nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. Even so, she had seen the look in Ian’s eyes when his gaze had landed on Lila. She just hoped that both of them survived this mess to figure out what was brewing.
“I don’t need a nap.”
She didn’t need a nap. It was the middle of the night. She needed more sleep. Lila was frowning at him, but what else was new? She needed to rest, and he was going to make sure of that.
He rose from the loveseat. “Let’s go. You need to be in bed.”
