take the heat but we brought you
evidence of kills just like that all over the country.” She threw up her hands.
“The world, even. You want hard evidence I’ll give it to you. But let’s get
everything on the table first.”
“Children, children, children.”
Without fanfare the rest of the team had arrived and was
filing into the room. Scott Mooney, one of the CIDs, looked around at everyone.
“Play nice in the sandbox. What’s the problem?”
No one spoke for a long moment. Sophia stood with her hands
on her hips while Logan and Rebecca waited to see what would happen next.
“I didn’t blame you for finally leaving when you did,” Bobby
said at last. “Hell, I’m surprised the whole family stuck around.”
“Blacks aren’t quitters,” Rebecca said in a harsh voice.
“You know that, Bobby. And Sophia left because she had a great job offer.
Period.”
Bobby held up one hand, palm out. “No offense. Didn’t mean
to pick a scab on a sore.”
“It’s an old sore and that’s not why I asked the question.”
Sophia stared across the table at Bobby.
“Hell. Sorry, sorry. Ask away.”
Sophia took a swallow of the bitter coffee. “And on the
other two that occurred around the same time?”
Bobby slid his chair back and rose from the table. “I’ll get
those files,” he said in his Maine twang. “You’re right, Soph. Let’s lay it all
out on the table. We may not be right but you might not, either. The answer
might lie somewhere in between.”
“Fine,” she shot back at him. “And we’ll all have our say.”
The previous night had been tedious but not more than with
any normal case. Logan thought the staties had been pretty accepting of the
theories and material he and Sophia had brought with them. But as Bobby carried
in a storage box filled with case files, set it on the table and opened it, he
definitely got the message through body language if nothing else that they all
thought he and Soph were nuts. That they were going to humor them until the two
of them gave up and went back to Texas and let them get on with their business.
“You know,” he drawled, “it doesn’t seem to me that any of
you have made any headway in this at all. Even if it’s a serial killer, as you
all seem to think, you haven’t got a clue as to whether it’s a man or woman,
where he or she came from or went to, or why these particular victims are
chosen. So.” He sat forward and leaned his arms on the table. “I say, crazy as
it sounds, let’s all keep an open mind here. We’ll look at your theories, you
look at ours.” He looked directly at Bobby. The signals would come from him.
“What do you say?”
He watched Bobby look at his people one at a time, then at
Rebecca, and finally at him and Sophia.
“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll listen. How’s that.”
“Fair enough.” Logan looked at Sophia now. “Okay with you,
Soph?”
She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “Fine.
Let’s just get to work.”
As if daring anyone on the team to argue with him, Bobby dug
the folders out of the box and opened each one, spread its contents out for
them all to see. The first set of pictures was of a man in his thirties. He’d
been found lying outside his barn, still in jeans and heavy jacket but with a
gaping hole where his stomach should be. Logan blinked and swallowed hard. It
reminded him instantly of the way his brother Evan had been found. The body of
his sister-in-law Valerie had been discovered on the back porch of their house
in the same condition. Even now he had to tamp down the nausea as the memories
flood him. He had no idea how Sophia managed to handle it being back in the old
environment. Especially when they got to the pictures of her nephews.
When he saw the color leech from her face he quietly got up,
refilled her coffee mug and put the hot liquid into her hands. She looked up at
him with haunted eyes.
“Thank you.”
“No sweat.” He pitched his voice low. “You
evidence of kills just like that all over the country.” She threw up her hands.
“The world, even. You want hard evidence I’ll give it to you. But let’s get
everything on the table first.”
“Children, children, children.”
Without fanfare the rest of the team had arrived and was
filing into the room. Scott Mooney, one of the CIDs, looked around at everyone.
“Play nice in the sandbox. What’s the problem?”
No one spoke for a long moment. Sophia stood with her hands
on her hips while Logan and Rebecca waited to see what would happen next.
“I didn’t blame you for finally leaving when you did,” Bobby
said at last. “Hell, I’m surprised the whole family stuck around.”
“Blacks aren’t quitters,” Rebecca said in a harsh voice.
“You know that, Bobby. And Sophia left because she had a great job offer.
Period.”
Bobby held up one hand, palm out. “No offense. Didn’t mean
to pick a scab on a sore.”
“It’s an old sore and that’s not why I asked the question.”
Sophia stared across the table at Bobby.
“Hell. Sorry, sorry. Ask away.”
Sophia took a swallow of the bitter coffee. “And on the
other two that occurred around the same time?”
Bobby slid his chair back and rose from the table. “I’ll get
those files,” he said in his Maine twang. “You’re right, Soph. Let’s lay it all
out on the table. We may not be right but you might not, either. The answer
might lie somewhere in between.”
“Fine,” she shot back at him. “And we’ll all have our say.”
The previous night had been tedious but not more than with
any normal case. Logan thought the staties had been pretty accepting of the
theories and material he and Sophia had brought with them. But as Bobby carried
in a storage box filled with case files, set it on the table and opened it, he
definitely got the message through body language if nothing else that they all
thought he and Soph were nuts. That they were going to humor them until the two
of them gave up and went back to Texas and let them get on with their business.
“You know,” he drawled, “it doesn’t seem to me that any of
you have made any headway in this at all. Even if it’s a serial killer, as you
all seem to think, you haven’t got a clue as to whether it’s a man or woman,
where he or she came from or went to, or why these particular victims are
chosen. So.” He sat forward and leaned his arms on the table. “I say, crazy as
it sounds, let’s all keep an open mind here. We’ll look at your theories, you
look at ours.” He looked directly at Bobby. The signals would come from him.
“What do you say?”
He watched Bobby look at his people one at a time, then at
Rebecca, and finally at him and Sophia.
“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll listen. How’s that.”
“Fair enough.” Logan looked at Sophia now. “Okay with you,
Soph?”
She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “Fine.
Let’s just get to work.”
As if daring anyone on the team to argue with him, Bobby dug
the folders out of the box and opened each one, spread its contents out for
them all to see. The first set of pictures was of a man in his thirties. He’d
been found lying outside his barn, still in jeans and heavy jacket but with a
gaping hole where his stomach should be. Logan blinked and swallowed hard. It
reminded him instantly of the way his brother Evan had been found. The body of
his sister-in-law Valerie had been discovered on the back porch of their house
in the same condition. Even now he had to tamp down the nausea as the memories
flood him. He had no idea how Sophia managed to handle it being back in the old
environment. Especially when they got to the pictures of her nephews.
When he saw the color leech from her face he quietly got up,
refilled her coffee mug and put the hot liquid into her hands. She looked up at
him with haunted eyes.
“Thank you.”
“No sweat.” He pitched his voice low. “You
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