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okay?”
    Jack started, and realized that he had been fingering the scar along his neck. The burning pain that had finally disappeared weeks ago was back with a vengeance. But the discomfort was nothing compared to the rage that gripped him. The pure hatred for the killer felt so natural, so welcoming, that it freed him for a moment from the worry of the investigation. He let the rage wash over him, giving him the confidence that he’d catch the person responsible for this. And when he did, he’d wallow in their bloody carcass like a dog rolling in a pile of manure.
    â€œI’m going to find him,” Jack said. “Then I’m going to shit in his skull.”
    Liddell’s features hardened. “I’m with you, pod’na.”
    Â 
    Chief Marlin Pope’s secretary was a mousy young woman with sharp, bookish features and oversized clothes that hung on her thin frame, making her look anorexic. Her face seldom showed any expression other than boredom, but as she entered the chief’s inner sanctum she was almost out of breath with excitement.
    â€œChief!” she said.
    â€œWhat is it, Jennifer?” Pope said without looking up.
    â€œMaddy Brooks and an attorney for Channel Six are in the waiting room.”
    â€œI’m busy, Jennifer,” Chief Pope said, motioning to the pile of paperwork on top of his desk. “If they want information, they have to go through our public information officer like everyone else.” He was surprised at her barging in like she had. She never cared much for the media before.
    â€œI think you had better talk to them, Chief,” Jennifer Mangold said in a conspiratorial whisper. “She says they’ve been in touch with the killer.”
    â€œGet Murphy and Blanchard in here,” Pope said. “And call Captain Franklin.”
    â€œDo you want me to call the deputy chief, too?” she asked.
    â€œLet’s not bother the deputy chief yet,” Pope answered. “Tell Maddy Brooks to wait a few minutes.” She nodded and left the office.
    Pope looked at the stack of paperwork that had to be sorted. “The city attorney will just have to wait,” he said to himself and cleared the top of his desk.
    Â 
    Tisha Carter crossed the parking lot, glad to be through with her morning shift as a physical therapist for St. Mary’s Hospital. It was a late September afternoon, and the heat index was in the triple digits, but inside the hospital it was as cold as the inside of an igloo. She shrugged out of the sweater she had been wearing and wondered why the hospital was always so cold. But she wasn’t going to let anything spoil her mood today. She was off work, it was Friday, and she had a date tonight with that nurse she’d been admiring.
    Thinking about Janet made her smile. Tisha had discovered in high school that she preferred women and was very comfortable with her life choice. But Janet was an emotional wreck about her sexuality, and so their first date was comically laid out. Tisha had to drive to a neighboring city, get a place to stay under an assumed name, and then call Janet at a telephone booth to tell her that it was okay to come over. She had opted for renting a cabin near Patoka Lake. It was over an hour drive from Evansville, secluded, and they would be totally alone.
    In a way, Janet’s suggestion was very romantic. But women were much better at romance than men. To men, sex and romance were the same. She could feel her heart beating faster as she got behind the wheel of her car and drove out of the parking garage. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the older, white van pull out of a parking space and follow her.

C HAPTER T WELVE
    â€œSo what are you after?” the police chief asked the man he knew to be legal counsel for Channel Six, David Wires. He was afraid he knew the answer to his question, but so far they had only hinted at what their