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Authors: Danielle Steel
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nothing.”
“I’ll check Quentin’s visiting record. And if it happens again, let me know.” She nodded, and he filled her in on the interrogation that morning. Nothing new had turned up. But they were sending Quentin’s early DNA results to the other states to see if there was any kind of match. And by late that afternoon, he was able to tell Alexa that Quentin had had no visitors at all, so it was unlikely that the letter to Savannah had been instigated by him. Alexa wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. If it wasn’t Quentin, who was it?
It was two days later when Jack walked into her office again. Alexa was having a bad day. Everything had gone wrong, and she had just spilled her coffee over her desk, drowning her papers, and had ruined a new skirt.
“Shit,” she was muttering to herself when he walked in, beaming.
“Bad time?”
“No, I just spilled my coffee.” She was trying to salvage the papers on her desk. The skirt was a mess. “What’s up?” He tossed a file onto the dry part of her desk.
“Bingo!”
“Bingo? What about?” It had been a busy morning, and her mind was going in a million directions at once.
“We have matches in Iowa and Illinois. Some of Quentin’s hair under three victims’ nails. So now we have seven. I think this is just the beginning.” They had made the matches from the evidence in the rape kits put together by the coroner in each case and meticulously preserved.
“Holy shit!” She was both elated and sorry at the same time. Sorry for the families of the victims, but thrilled that they had the perpetrator behind bars. “Will they let us incorporate their cases and add them to trial here, or do we have to extradite him for trial there after ours?” Their worst fear was that the FBI would take the case away from them since he had crossed state lines. Alexa wanted to keep the case and so did Jack and the DA.
“I haven’t gotten that far.” So far they had him on a killing spree in three states. It was going to get complicated now. There were mechanics and legal technicalities involved. And then Jack’s face clouded over. “One of the victims is Charlie’s sister, which was what got him involved in the case in the first place. But it’s going to be hard on him knowing that for sure.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Not yet, but I will. I’m thinking of taking him off the case. This is a little too close to home. He got the collar, that’s good enough.” The “collar” in copspeak was the arrest.
“I think you should take him off. I don’t want him losing it in court, and blowing our case. Or going nuts and shooting the guy. We’ll have enough headaches without that.”
“He’s a good cop. He won’t go crazy. I just don’t want to upset him more than he already is.” Alexa agreed, and she and Jack celebrated for a minute that they were about to avenge three more victims at the trial. It was all they could do for those girls and their families now.
But when Jack talked to Charlie about it later that afternoon, Charlie was adamant about not leaving the case, and he begged Jack not to take him off it. He had been involved in the investigation since the beginning and had been instrumental in bringing information to the task force. His feelings were hurt that Jack and the assistant district attorney thought he could lose it in court. He had been cleared to join the task force at the outset, and had made full disclosure about his sister. He had been closely observed, and made no slipups so far.
“What kind of cop do you think I am? A nutball? I’m not going to shoot the sonofabitch, although I’d like to. I’ve worked my ass off for the last year to bring this guy to justice and bring him in. I was one of the early ones who suspected it was him. And by sheer luck we nailed him on the crimes here first, which puts him in our jurisdiction. Jack, you can’t take me off this case.” There were tears of disappointment in his eyes. He wanted to
“I’ll check Quentin’s visiting record. And if it happens again, let me know.” She nodded, and he filled her in on the interrogation that morning. Nothing new had turned up. But they were sending Quentin’s early DNA results to the other states to see if there was any kind of match. And by late that afternoon, he was able to tell Alexa that Quentin had had no visitors at all, so it was unlikely that the letter to Savannah had been instigated by him. Alexa wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. If it wasn’t Quentin, who was it?
It was two days later when Jack walked into her office again. Alexa was having a bad day. Everything had gone wrong, and she had just spilled her coffee over her desk, drowning her papers, and had ruined a new skirt.
“Shit,” she was muttering to herself when he walked in, beaming.
“Bad time?”
“No, I just spilled my coffee.” She was trying to salvage the papers on her desk. The skirt was a mess. “What’s up?” He tossed a file onto the dry part of her desk.
“Bingo!”
“Bingo? What about?” It had been a busy morning, and her mind was going in a million directions at once.
“We have matches in Iowa and Illinois. Some of Quentin’s hair under three victims’ nails. So now we have seven. I think this is just the beginning.” They had made the matches from the evidence in the rape kits put together by the coroner in each case and meticulously preserved.
“Holy shit!” She was both elated and sorry at the same time. Sorry for the families of the victims, but thrilled that they had the perpetrator behind bars. “Will they let us incorporate their cases and add them to trial here, or do we have to extradite him for trial there after ours?” Their worst fear was that the FBI would take the case away from them since he had crossed state lines. Alexa wanted to keep the case and so did Jack and the DA.
“I haven’t gotten that far.” So far they had him on a killing spree in three states. It was going to get complicated now. There were mechanics and legal technicalities involved. And then Jack’s face clouded over. “One of the victims is Charlie’s sister, which was what got him involved in the case in the first place. But it’s going to be hard on him knowing that for sure.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Not yet, but I will. I’m thinking of taking him off the case. This is a little too close to home. He got the collar, that’s good enough.” The “collar” in copspeak was the arrest.
“I think you should take him off. I don’t want him losing it in court, and blowing our case. Or going nuts and shooting the guy. We’ll have enough headaches without that.”
“He’s a good cop. He won’t go crazy. I just don’t want to upset him more than he already is.” Alexa agreed, and she and Jack celebrated for a minute that they were about to avenge three more victims at the trial. It was all they could do for those girls and their families now.
But when Jack talked to Charlie about it later that afternoon, Charlie was adamant about not leaving the case, and he begged Jack not to take him off it. He had been involved in the investigation since the beginning and had been instrumental in bringing information to the task force. His feelings were hurt that Jack and the assistant district attorney thought he could lose it in court. He had been cleared to join the task force at the outset, and had made full disclosure about his sister. He had been closely observed, and made no slipups so far.
“What kind of cop do you think I am? A nutball? I’m not going to shoot the sonofabitch, although I’d like to. I’ve worked my ass off for the last year to bring this guy to justice and bring him in. I was one of the early ones who suspected it was him. And by sheer luck we nailed him on the crimes here first, which puts him in our jurisdiction. Jack, you can’t take me off this case.” There were tears of disappointment in his eyes. He wanted to
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