Read Online Caching Out by Tammy Cheatham - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tammy Cheatham
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course, there’s still nothing like a live
video to make the show! Too bad you guys only get stills.”
Zooming
in on the sheriff, still standing a few feet behind the boy, Gavin brought the
officer’s face full screen. Pointing at the man on his computer Gavin laughed,
not a snicker but a full throaty, belly shaking laugh. “The old guy’s about to
cry. Now, that’s rich. A cop with feelings!”
Adjusting
the screen back to its normal size, Gavin looked on as the CSU woman pulled on
a pair of latex gloves and stepped forward, kneeling next to the boy’s body. Carefully
picking up the little hand, she ran a small scalpel under each nail then dropped
her findings into a plastic bag.
Gavin
snorted with disgust. “Lady, you are so wasting your time.” By the time that
kid woke all the way up he was so far into the K-hole that he didn’t care what
happened to him. It hit him so hard he puked. “Hell, he was so little that it
was almost a waste of twenty five bucks to put him there.”
The
woman placed her scalpel into its case and pulled out what appeared to be a
mini-vacuum cleaner, and ran it over the boy’s clothes in a methodical pattern.
Slipping the filter off the vacuum, she slid the entire thing into a separate
bag and placed it in her duffle.
Gavin
reached forward to increase the volume and chuckled, “Wonder what’s next in her
bag of tricks?”
Stone-faced,
the old Sheriff watched the investigative team work the site. Looking up he
spotted a man pushing through the brush into the clearing, the sheriff raised
his hand and said, “Daniel, over here.”
Nursing
his second beer, Gavin saw a large and probably Native American man step into
the clearing and watched the younger man walk toward the sheriff. He had a jacket
that said ME on it. “Coroner didn’t take long on this one,” Gavin whispered.
The
man stepped over to the sheriff and shook his hand. Gavin strained to hear the
sheriff say, “Hell of a thing to happen to a kid, Daniel. I stopped you before
you saw the body to let you know that I want to keep the details quiet for now.
You’ll know what I mean when you see the boy.”
The
younger man glanced over his shoulder to where the female CSU agent bent over
the child’s body and nodded.
The
sheriff continued, “I don’t have a lot of details yet, but Mr. Babcock, the father,
called 911 almost two hours ago and said his eight-year-old son was missing. Said
that he and the Missus had taken a walk down to the pier and that both boys
were sound asleep when they left the cabin. When the call came in, I expected
maybe the kid fell into the lake or got lost, but it only took a minute for the
dog to pick up a scent and lead us here.”
Gavin
grinned, “Now I had to make it easy for you to find didn’t I? It’s not like you
guys are the sharpest tools in the shed.”
Nodding
again, the ME moved to the child’s side, kneeling down next to the tiny body
and gently examining the child for any signs of life. He shook his head and
checked his watch before he quietly spoke with the woman.
Too
quietly for Gavin to hear. “Damn it!” he said, trying once again to boost the
volume on his computer.
The
ME stepped back to allow the investigator to finish her job. There was nothing
that he could do except wait. Gavin watched as the ME moved to stand at the
sheriff’s side and for a while neither man spoke. The two CSU men moved in a grid
search pattern covering the entire clearing. They moved back and forth across
the area methodically, each sweeping the ground with portable lights.
“I’m
guessing that you noticed that the M.O. is the same as the Parker murder,” the
ME said, his voice low but still audible to Gavin.
“Yeah,
I noticed.” The sheriff’s voice was gruff and hard-edged, and he shook his head
as if to clear it. “What I don’t get is why? Why this little boy? A serial
killer usually sticks to a certain type and the only similarity that I can come
up
video to make the show! Too bad you guys only get stills.”
Zooming
in on the sheriff, still standing a few feet behind the boy, Gavin brought the
officer’s face full screen. Pointing at the man on his computer Gavin laughed,
not a snicker but a full throaty, belly shaking laugh. “The old guy’s about to
cry. Now, that’s rich. A cop with feelings!”
Adjusting
the screen back to its normal size, Gavin looked on as the CSU woman pulled on
a pair of latex gloves and stepped forward, kneeling next to the boy’s body. Carefully
picking up the little hand, she ran a small scalpel under each nail then dropped
her findings into a plastic bag.
Gavin
snorted with disgust. “Lady, you are so wasting your time.” By the time that
kid woke all the way up he was so far into the K-hole that he didn’t care what
happened to him. It hit him so hard he puked. “Hell, he was so little that it
was almost a waste of twenty five bucks to put him there.”
The
woman placed her scalpel into its case and pulled out what appeared to be a
mini-vacuum cleaner, and ran it over the boy’s clothes in a methodical pattern.
Slipping the filter off the vacuum, she slid the entire thing into a separate
bag and placed it in her duffle.
Gavin
reached forward to increase the volume and chuckled, “Wonder what’s next in her
bag of tricks?”
Stone-faced,
the old Sheriff watched the investigative team work the site. Looking up he
spotted a man pushing through the brush into the clearing, the sheriff raised
his hand and said, “Daniel, over here.”
Nursing
his second beer, Gavin saw a large and probably Native American man step into
the clearing and watched the younger man walk toward the sheriff. He had a jacket
that said ME on it. “Coroner didn’t take long on this one,” Gavin whispered.
The
man stepped over to the sheriff and shook his hand. Gavin strained to hear the
sheriff say, “Hell of a thing to happen to a kid, Daniel. I stopped you before
you saw the body to let you know that I want to keep the details quiet for now.
You’ll know what I mean when you see the boy.”
The
younger man glanced over his shoulder to where the female CSU agent bent over
the child’s body and nodded.
The
sheriff continued, “I don’t have a lot of details yet, but Mr. Babcock, the father,
called 911 almost two hours ago and said his eight-year-old son was missing. Said
that he and the Missus had taken a walk down to the pier and that both boys
were sound asleep when they left the cabin. When the call came in, I expected
maybe the kid fell into the lake or got lost, but it only took a minute for the
dog to pick up a scent and lead us here.”
Gavin
grinned, “Now I had to make it easy for you to find didn’t I? It’s not like you
guys are the sharpest tools in the shed.”
Nodding
again, the ME moved to the child’s side, kneeling down next to the tiny body
and gently examining the child for any signs of life. He shook his head and
checked his watch before he quietly spoke with the woman.
Too
quietly for Gavin to hear. “Damn it!” he said, trying once again to boost the
volume on his computer.
The
ME stepped back to allow the investigator to finish her job. There was nothing
that he could do except wait. Gavin watched as the ME moved to stand at the
sheriff’s side and for a while neither man spoke. The two CSU men moved in a grid
search pattern covering the entire clearing. They moved back and forth across
the area methodically, each sweeping the ground with portable lights.
“I’m
guessing that you noticed that the M.O. is the same as the Parker murder,” the
ME said, his voice low but still audible to Gavin.
“Yeah,
I noticed.” The sheriff’s voice was gruff and hard-edged, and he shook his head
as if to clear it. “What I don’t get is why? Why this little boy? A serial
killer usually sticks to a certain type and the only similarity that I can come
up
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