she reminded him.
“Maybe not as much as you thought.”
He showed her the black KA-BAR knife he was holding in his other hand, concealed by his forearm. “You probably would’ve still gotten your shot off just by reflex. Then maybe both of us would’ve gone down.” He slipped the knife into its holder on his belt. “But it didn’t happen.”
“I never saw you pull the knife.”
“I did it before you took your gun out.”
“Why?”
“I saw you look at me, then at the Cobra, and then at the bodies. Not too hard to figure what you were thinking.”
“So why didn’t you pull your gun on me instead?”
“When I pull my gun I intend on using it. Didn’t want to make an awkward situation worse. Knew you’d ask for the cred pack. I had the knife in reserve in case you had something else on your mind.” He looked back at the bodies. “The kids?”
She stepped forward, pulled a pair of latex gloves from her windbreaker, slapped them on, gripped the back of the boy’s neck, and tilted the corpse forward about ten degrees. With her free hand she pointed to a spot near the base of the neck.
Puller hit the area with his Maglite. He saw the large purplish bruise. “Somebody crushed his brain stem.”
She leaned the body back to its original position. “What it looks like.”
“Same with the girl?”
“Yes.”
“From the condition of the bodies they’ve been dead over twenty-four hours, ballpark, but less than thirty-six. Your CST have a better read?”
“Roughly twenty-nine hours, so you were close.”
Puller checked his watch. “So they were killed around midnight, Sunday night?”
“Right.”
“And the mailman found them on Monday in the early afternoon. So rigor would’ve just started by then. Can you confirm that as a supplemental benchmark?”
“Yes.”
“Did the mailman notice anything suspicious?”
“You mean after he dry-heaved on the front lawn for the fourth time after we got there? No, not really. Killers long gone by then.”
“But they came back tonight. Killed a cop, in fact. Any other wounds or marks?”
“As you can see, we haven’t undressed them, but we did a pretty good look around and found nothing. But you crush the brain stem, the person’s dead.”
“Yeah, that one I get.” He was looking around the room. “You have to know what you’re doing, though. Precise hit, otherwise you incapacitate instead of kill.”
“Professional, then.”
Puller thought,
Or military. And if this is a soldier-on-soldier killing?
He said, “Maybe, or lucky.” He looked at the girl. “But not lucky twice. They weren’t killed here, at least the colonel and his wife.”
Cole stepped back away from the couch, looked at the carpet. “Right, blood spatters. None up here. Basement is a different story.”
“I noted that when I was down there.”
“Speaking of, I need to go see Larry.”
Puller thought he heard her voice catch even though she had tried to say this in a casual tone.
“Do me a favor first?”
“What’s that?”
“Make the call to the station and put the seal on the colonel’s briefcase and laptop.”
She did as he asked. As soon as she closed the phone he said, “Follow me.”
She trudged after Puller down the stairs. He led her over to the spot where the cop was hanging. The dead man had dropped still lower, his black leathers almost touching the concrete.
Puller studied her while she was studying the dead guy. No tears this time. Brief shake of the head. Woman was internalizing it. Probably embarrassed to have already teared up in front of him. And then the voice catch. She shouldn’t have been embarrassed. He’d seen friends die, lots of them. It never got any easier. It only got harder. You thought you became desensitized to it, but that was just an illusion. The hole in your mind just got deeper so more shit would fit inside it.
She stepped back. “I’m going to get whoever did this.”
“I know you are.”
“Can we get him
“Maybe not as much as you thought.”
He showed her the black KA-BAR knife he was holding in his other hand, concealed by his forearm. “You probably would’ve still gotten your shot off just by reflex. Then maybe both of us would’ve gone down.” He slipped the knife into its holder on his belt. “But it didn’t happen.”
“I never saw you pull the knife.”
“I did it before you took your gun out.”
“Why?”
“I saw you look at me, then at the Cobra, and then at the bodies. Not too hard to figure what you were thinking.”
“So why didn’t you pull your gun on me instead?”
“When I pull my gun I intend on using it. Didn’t want to make an awkward situation worse. Knew you’d ask for the cred pack. I had the knife in reserve in case you had something else on your mind.” He looked back at the bodies. “The kids?”
She stepped forward, pulled a pair of latex gloves from her windbreaker, slapped them on, gripped the back of the boy’s neck, and tilted the corpse forward about ten degrees. With her free hand she pointed to a spot near the base of the neck.
Puller hit the area with his Maglite. He saw the large purplish bruise. “Somebody crushed his brain stem.”
She leaned the body back to its original position. “What it looks like.”
“Same with the girl?”
“Yes.”
“From the condition of the bodies they’ve been dead over twenty-four hours, ballpark, but less than thirty-six. Your CST have a better read?”
“Roughly twenty-nine hours, so you were close.”
Puller checked his watch. “So they were killed around midnight, Sunday night?”
“Right.”
“And the mailman found them on Monday in the early afternoon. So rigor would’ve just started by then. Can you confirm that as a supplemental benchmark?”
“Yes.”
“Did the mailman notice anything suspicious?”
“You mean after he dry-heaved on the front lawn for the fourth time after we got there? No, not really. Killers long gone by then.”
“But they came back tonight. Killed a cop, in fact. Any other wounds or marks?”
“As you can see, we haven’t undressed them, but we did a pretty good look around and found nothing. But you crush the brain stem, the person’s dead.”
“Yeah, that one I get.” He was looking around the room. “You have to know what you’re doing, though. Precise hit, otherwise you incapacitate instead of kill.”
“Professional, then.”
Puller thought,
Or military. And if this is a soldier-on-soldier killing?
He said, “Maybe, or lucky.” He looked at the girl. “But not lucky twice. They weren’t killed here, at least the colonel and his wife.”
Cole stepped back away from the couch, looked at the carpet. “Right, blood spatters. None up here. Basement is a different story.”
“I noted that when I was down there.”
“Speaking of, I need to go see Larry.”
Puller thought he heard her voice catch even though she had tried to say this in a casual tone.
“Do me a favor first?”
“What’s that?”
“Make the call to the station and put the seal on the colonel’s briefcase and laptop.”
She did as he asked. As soon as she closed the phone he said, “Follow me.”
She trudged after Puller down the stairs. He led her over to the spot where the cop was hanging. The dead man had dropped still lower, his black leathers almost touching the concrete.
Puller studied her while she was studying the dead guy. No tears this time. Brief shake of the head. Woman was internalizing it. Probably embarrassed to have already teared up in front of him. And then the voice catch. She shouldn’t have been embarrassed. He’d seen friends die, lots of them. It never got any easier. It only got harder. You thought you became desensitized to it, but that was just an illusion. The hole in your mind just got deeper so more shit would fit inside it.
She stepped back. “I’m going to get whoever did this.”
“I know you are.”
“Can we get him
Similar Books
