Velocity

Velocity

by Alan Jacobson
Velocity

Velocity

by Alan Jacobson

eBook

$10.99  $11.99 Save 8% Current price is $10.99, Original price is $11.99. You Save 8%.

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers

LEND ME® See Details

Overview

From a USA Today–bestselling author: FBI profiler Karen Vail’s hunt for a serial killer leads her into a dangerous criminal web—“relentless as a bullet” (Michael Connelly).

After a colleague connects Vail with covert Department of Defense operative Hector DeSantos, who has a knack for uncovering difficult-to-locate information, the pair pries loose long-buried secrets and deceptions that reveal a much-larger criminal enterprise at work. As Vail squares off against foes more dangerous than any she has yet encountered, shocking personal and professional truths emerge—truths that may be more than she can handle.

In keeping with Alan Jacobson’s page-turning style, Velocity is a high-octane thriller, a memorable work rich in believable characters and an intricately plotted story that’s well-researched and ripped from today’s headlines. Velocity was named one of the Strand Magazine’s top ten books for 2010, Suspense Magazine’s top five thrillers of 2010, Library Journal’s top five thrillers of the year, and the Los Angeles Times’ top picks of the year.
 
Velocity is the second installment of a two-part story that begins with Crush, book two of the Karen Vail Series.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781497656093
Publisher: Open Road Media
Publication date: 07/01/2014
Series: The Karen Vail Novels , #3
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 466
Sales rank: 210,407
File size: 3 MB

About the Author

Alan Jacobson is the national bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels. In order to take readers behind the scenes to places they might never go, Jacobson has embedded himself in many federal agencies, including spending several years working with two senior profilers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s vaunted Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. During that time, Jacobson edited four published FBI research papers on serial offenders, attended numerous FBI training courses, worked with the head firearms instructor at the academy, and received ongoing personalized instruction on serial killers—which continues to this day. He has also worked with high-ranking members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Marshals Service, the New York Police Department, SWAT teams, local bomb squads, branches of the US military, chief superintendents and detective sergeants at Scotland Yard, criminals, armorers, helicopter pilots, chief executive officers, historians, and Special Forces operators. These experiences have helped him to create gripping, realistic stories and characters. His series protagonist, FBI profiler Karen Vail, resonates with both female and male readers, and writers such as Nelson DeMille, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly have called Vail one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction.

Jacobson’s books have been published internationally, and several have been optioned for film and television. A number have been named to Best of the Year lists.

Jacobson has been interviewed extensively on television and radio, including on CNN, NPR, and multiple ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox network affiliates.

Read an Excerpt

Velocity

A Karen Vail Novel


By Alan Jacobson

OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Copyright © 2010 Alan Jacobson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4976-5609-3


CHAPTER 1

NOXIOUS FUMES

Old Tannery District 99 S. Coombs Street Napa, California

He was not going to kill her immediately. No—if there was one thing he had learned, it was to savor the moment, to be deliberate and purposeful. Like a predator in the wild, he would waste no energy. He needed to be careful, efficient, and resourceful. And above all, he needed to be patient.

That's what he was now: a hunter who satisfied his hunger by feeding on others.

He sat alone in the dark parking lot, drumming his fingers on the dashboard, shifting positions in the seat. Talk radio hosts babbled on in the background, but he remained focused on his task. Watching. Waiting.

That's why he chose the Lonely Echo bar. Located in downtown Napa, the old Tannery District sat tucked away in an area devoid of scenic mountain views, posh wineries, or pampering bed-and-breakfasts. That meant no tourists. And that meant city planners had little incentive to expend valuable resources attempting to polish a hidden, unsightly flaw on the nation's crown jewel.

Drugs, alcohol, sex, and prostitution were in abundant supply— and in strong demand. While the valley's profit-driving centers blossomed over the past two decades, the district had become an overlooked pimple slowly filling with pus.

Ideal for his needs.

His eyes prowled the parking lot, watching people enter and leave the bar. With only a single light by the building's front door and one overhanging the quiet side street, he would be able to operate with relative impunity to roaming eyes—or mobile phone video cameras. With such scarce illumination, neither was much of a threat.

But it didn't matter: during the hours he'd sat in his minivan, no one had approached to ask him who he was. No one had even given him a glance, let alone a second look. A few women had left the bar, but they walked in pairs, making his approach extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The long wait had given him a chance to reflect on what had brought him to this moment: since childhood, strange, misplaced feelings had stirred him, but he hadn't known how to channel or utilize them. As he got older, although those urges persisted, the fear of making a mistake—shackling him with a very, very long prison sentence—held him back.

But given the right direction and tutelage, those needs took on substance, purpose, and direction. He was no longer fearful of failing. The only question was, could he do it? Could he kill?

The body that now lay in the shed in his yard was proof that he could do it, and do it well.

But killing a woman. He grinned at the thought. He was a virgin again, about to do it with a member of the opposite sex for the first time. Just like when he was a teen, his nerves were on edge, the fluttering in his stomach constant. Yet this was different. He was not going to chicken out like that time all those years ago. He was ready now. His first kill, waiting for him back home, provided all the proof he needed.


THE BARTENDER PLANTED two large hands on the nicked wood counter. "I'm not going to say it again. You've had enough, miss. It's time you went home."

"I told you my name before," she said, running the words together. "Don't you remember?" She scooped up the photo of her son and waved it at him. "My son. Remember me telling you? About him? You were all interested before. When you wanted a nice tip. Now, you're all like, get out of my fucking place." When the bartender failed to react, she wagged a finger at him. "You're not a very nice man, Kevinnnn." She drew out the last letter as if she were a scratched CD stuck on a note.

Kevin shook his head, tossed down his wet rag, then turned away.

A natural redhead whose hair sprouted from her scalp like weeds, the woman pushed back from the bar and wobbled as she sought enough balance to turn and walk out. She scrunched her face into a scowl directed at Kevin, then slid off the stool.

The woman swayed and groped for the steadying assistance of chair backs as she steered herself sloppily toward, and through, the front door. The painful brightness of a spotlight mounted along the eave blasted her eyes. She waved a hand to shoo away the glare.


THE MAN WATCHED the bar's battered wood door swing open, revealing a disheveled redhead. The light over the front entrance struck her in the face and she swatted it with a hand to fend it off, as if it was a swarm of flies. In that brief instant, she looked pretty hot. At least at this distance.

Her gait stuttered, stopped, then restarted and stuttered again. Drunk, not oriented to her surroundings.

He could not have ordered up a more perfect dish if he had spent hours searching for the recipe.


A CHILL SWIRLED AROUND the woman's bare legs. She swung her head around the parking lot, trying to recall where she had left her car. To the right? Yeah, the right. She stumbled off in the direction of a red sedan, concentrating on putting one foot squarely in front of the other.

Ahead, a man was approaching, headed toward the bar. "He's mean," she said to him. "Kevin is. He'll take your money, then kick you out."That's what he did to me. Kicked me out.

As she passed him, something clamped against her mouth—grabbed her from behind—squeezed and—

Can't breathe. Gasp—Scream!—can't.

Heavy. So—tired. Go to sleep. Sleep.

Sleep ...


THE REDHEAD'S MUFFLED SCREAM did nothing but fill her lungs with a dose of anesthesia. Seconds later, she slumped against the man's body. He moved beside her, then twisted his neck to look over his shoulder, canvassing the parking lot to make sure no one had been watching.

The bar door flew open and a bearded man in jeans and flannel shirt ambled out. He stopped, put a cigarette and lighter to his mouth, then cupped it. As he puffed hard, the smoke exploding away from his face in a dense cloud, his eyes found the man. "Everything okay?" he asked, squinting into the darkness.

The man covertly crumpled the rag into the palm of his hand, out of sight. "All good. Little too much juice, is all."

"I saw," the witness said in a graveled voice. "Bartender sent her on her way. Need some help?"

"Nah, I got it. Just glad I found her. Been looking for two hours. But—good boyfriend, that's what I do, you know? One in the goddamn morning. Unfucking believable. Not sure it's worth it, if you know what I mean." He shook his head, turned away, and walked a few more steps, ready to drop and run should the witness persist in his questioning—or pull out a cell phone.

Since no one knew which car was his, if he needed to bolt he had time to circle back later and pick it up. Or he would leave it. It was untraceable to him, that much he'd planned in advance. If it was safer to abandon it, that's what he would do. He was prepared for that. He was fairly sure he'd thought of everything there was to think of.

The flannel-shirted witness glanced back twice as he walked toward his pickup, then unlocked it and ducked inside. The dome light flickered on, then extinguished as the door slammed shut. His brake lights brightened, and a puff of gray exhaust burst from the tailpipe.

He shifted the woman's unconscious weight and wrapped her arm around his neck. He walked slowly, waiting for the man's truck to move out of the lot. Then, with a flick of his free hand, he slid open the minivan door. After another quick look over his shoulder—all was quiet—he tossed her inside like a sack of garbage.


AS HE DROVE AWAY, careful to maintain the speed limit, he swung his head around to look at his quarry. The woman was splayed on the floor directly behind him. He couldn't see her face, but her torso and legs were visible.

And then she moaned.

"What the fuck? I gave you enough to keep you down for at least twenty minutes."

Perhaps he had been too conservative in figuring the dosage. He took care not to use too high a concentration, as excessive parts per million could result in death—and he didn't want to kill her.

At least not that way. His first time with a woman, it had to be special.

He bit down and squirmed his ass deeper into the seat, then gently nudged the speedometer needle beyond 45. Any Highway Patrol officer would give him some leeway over the limit. It was taking a little risk, but hell, wasn't this all one giant gamble on timing, luck, planning, and execution?

Really—how can you kill a person and not incur some degree of risk?

He rather liked it. His heart was thumping, the blood pulsing through his temples—and a look into the rearview revealed pupils that were wider than he'd ever seen them. What a fucking rush. All those wasted years. He had much time to recapture.

He checked all his mirrors. No law enforcement, as best he could see in the dark. Fast glance down at the woman. Her legs moved—she was waking.

Heart raced faster. Hands sweaty.

But really—what could she do to him? Scream? No one would hear her in this deathtrap. Scratch him? Big whoop.

He hit a pothole, then checked on her again—and in the passing flicker of a streetlight, saw a flat metal object poking out of her purse. What the—

He yanked the minivan over to the curb and twisted his body in the seat to get a better look. It was.

A badge.

He fisted a hand and brought it to his mouth. What to do? Is this good or bad? Well, both. He felt a swell of excitement in his chest and forced a deep breath to calm himself. Could this be better than sex? Sex ... why have to choose? This really could be like his first time with a woman. But not just a woman. Some kind of cop.

He pulled away from the curb and had to keep his foot from slamming the accelerator to the floor. Slow—don't blow it now.

A moment later, his headlights hit the street sign ahead. He flicked his signal and slowed. Almost there. He grinned into the darkness. No one could see him, but in this case, it didn't matter. It would be another one of his little secrets.


HE LEFT THE WOMAN in an abandoned house at the edge of town. He thought about bringing her back to his place, where the other body was laid out in the shed. But he nixed that idea. One corpse was enough to deal with. It would soon start to smell, and he didn't want a neighbor calling the cops on him. If they found one of their own in his house, they might kill him right there. Forget about a long prison term. He'd be executed. It was an accident, they'd claim. Resisting arrest. They did that kind of stuff, didn't they? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't take the chance.

He needed to get to a coffee shop to sit and think all this through. Now that he was deeply committed, the reality of how far he'd gone began to sink in. And although he thought he had prepared properly, he was concerned he had rushed into it, letting the swell of anticipation cloud his planning. Certainly he hadn't figured on killing a law enforcement officer. But how could he have known?

As he drove the minivan back to where he had parked his car, he wondered if he could use this vehicle again. There was no blood, and he could simply vacuum it out or take it to a car wash for an interior detailing. If they did a good job, there'd be no personally identifiable substance of the redhead left inside. And then he wouldn't have to search again for an untraceable minivan. Still—what if someone had seen it in the Lonely Echo's parking lot and that guy in the pickup was questioned by police? He could give them a decent description of him. No. Better to dump the vehicle and start from scratch.

But as he pulled alongside his car and shoved the shift into park, he realized he had made a mistake. No one would find the woman's body for days, if not longer. He slammed a palm against the steering wheel. What fun is that?

Can't go back—that would definitely be too high a risk.

Turn the page, move on.

He thought again of the evening, of what went right, and what he could've done better. He didn't get caught, so, overall, he'd done a pretty damn good job. But something else he had learned this past week was that perfection was rarely there in the beginning. But it would come, eventually.

He would keep seeking until he found it. The next one he would do differently.

CHAPTER 2

Smeared blood enveloped the hands and face of FBI profiler Karen Vail. It wasn't her blood—it came from a colleague who had just died. But blood did not differ among serial killer, philanthropist, husband, vagrant, soldier, or prostitute. Young or old. American or foreign. Blood was blood. And when it got on your skin, it all felt the same.

No, that's not true. Some blood did feel different; the blood coating Vail's fingers did not have the usual slippery, wet consistency that she had felt many times—too many times—in the past. No, tonight it felt like pain. Guilt and heartache.

But as the van carrying Karen Vail rocked and lurched, she realized the pain and guilt and heartache were not coming from the blood on her skin, but from the injury that festered in her soul. Her best friend and lover, Detective Roberto "Robby" Hernandez, had vanished. No note, no secretly hidden message. No indication last time they had spoken that anything was wrong.

In fact, just the opposite. They'd had passionate sex only hours earlier.

And now he was missing.

John Wayne Mayfield, the serial killer who might have had something to do with Robby's disappearance, was likely deceased, and a police sergeant who could have provided answers was growing cold in the morgue. But this man, Detective Ray Lugo, who had ties to the killer—ties Vail had yet to explore—did not mean anything to her.

His had just been blood, like anyone else's.

Now pain and guilt. And heartache.


"TURN THE VAN AROUND!"

Vail shouted at the driver, but he couldn't hear her. She was locked in the back of a state Department of Corrections transport truck, a thick metal cage surrounding her. Symbolic in some sense of what she felt.

Beside her, Napa County Detective Lieutenant Redmond Brix and Investigator Roxxann Dixon, stunned by the loss of their colleague, had watched Ray Lugo's body being off-loaded at the morgue. They were now headed back to the Hall of Justice to clean up and retrieve their vehicles. But Vail had other ideas.

"Get us back to the Sheriff's Department," she said to Brix.

Shoulders slumped and defeat painted on his face like makeup, Brix rolled his eyes toward Vail. "Why?"

"We don't have time to wash. We've gotta do something. We have to figure out what happened to Robby. The first forty-eight hours are crucial—"

"Karen," Dixon said, a hand on her arm, "we need to take a breath. We need to sort ourselves out, figure out what everything means, where we go from here."

Vail grabbed her head with both hands and leaned her elbows on her knees. "I can't lose him, Roxx, I can't—I have to find out what happened. What if Mayfield—"

"You can't think like that. If Mayfield killed Robby, don't you think he would've said something? Wouldn't a narcissistic killer do that? Rub it in your face?"

"I don't—I don't know. I can't think." Vail took a deep breath. Coughed—she'd inhaled smoke from a fire a few days ago and it hadn't fully cleared her lungs yet—and then leaned back. "He kind of did just that, Roxx. When we interviewed him. He was gloating that we hadn't really figured things out. We'd caught him, but that wasn't everything. That's what he was saying. That he was smarter than us. Superior to us—" She stopped, then turned to Dixon. "Superior. Superior Mobile Bottling."

"We've been down that road," Brix said. "César Guevara was a dead end."

Guevara, an executive of a mobile corking, labeling, and bottling one-stop shop for wineries that lacked their own in-house production facilities, had been their serial murder suspect until the task force failed to turn up anything compelling linking Guevara to the victims. When John Mayfield emerged as the Crush Killer, Superior Mobile Bottling—and César Guevara—fell off their radar. Vail shook her head. That was only a few hours ago. So much has happened in such a short period of time.

"I don't think anything's off the table now," Vail said. "We missed something. I've had that feeling all along. Something wasn't right, I just couldn't figure it out." She dropped her head back against the metal cage. Tears streamed from her eyes, streaking down the dried blood on her cheeks.

Dixon put an arm around her and pulled her close. Vail felt immediate guilt: Dixon had just suffered her own loss—Eddie Agbayani, her estranged boyfriend, someone she loved—had been John Mayfield's final victim. But at the moment, Vail could not summon the energy, the outward empathy, to grieve for her friend. She had only enough strength to keep herself together, to keep her wits about her before she fell apart and lost it.


(Continues...)

Excerpted from Velocity by Alan Jacobson. Copyright © 2010 Alan Jacobson. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews