AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know.” Joel clapped a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I have to run. I have court this morning. Text me if anything new comes up.”
“I will.” Sam locked the door behind Joel and went back to the kitchen to wash the breakfast dishes. At least he could be a good guest.
Then he opened his laptop and started searching for petite blondes who’d gone missing in the last twenty years.
There were so many. So many shattered lives. The victims and their families.
“So get to work,” Sam told himself and poured himself another cup of coffee.
CHAPTER TEN
SDPD, San Diego, California
Monday, April 18, 8:45 a.m.
Talk to me,” Kit muttered as she stared at the murder board she’d set up in the bullpen, at the photos of the known victims of their killer—and at the dozen new photos she’d posted during the night. They were possible victims—missing young women who fit the profile.
But the photos remained silent, of course. She normally didn’t talk to photos, but she was growing more desperate than she cared to admit.
“Kit?”
She looked over her shoulder to see Navarro standing behind her, looking concerned. “Yeah, boss?”
“I’ve been standing here for over a minute. You never knew I was here.”
Maybe it was because she was so absorbed in the faces of the victims. Maybe it was because she felt safe here in the station and didn’t have her guard up.
Or maybe it was because she was mentally exhausted.
The last one wouldn’t matter, even if it were true. She had a job to do, and so far she’d failed in a spectacular fashion.
Skyler Carville was dead because they hadn’t suspected the right man. Or because they had and he’d fooled them into thinking he was just a nice guy with a cute dog.
She’d gone back and forth during the night, watching the recordings of the two interviews she’d done with Sam Reeves. She still didn’t think he was guilty.
And she still didn’t trust her judgment because of it.
“Sorry,” she said quietly. “I’ve been busy.”
He pulled up a chair and pointed to it. “Sit down before you fall down. For God’s sake, McKittrick, you’d better not collapse on me, too.”
She rolled her eyes but sat in the chair. “I’m not a fifty-something-year-old man who’s been ignoring his doctor about eating better and reducing his stress,” she muttered.
That little factoid had been blurted out by Baz’s wife, Marian, after he’d been declared “out of the woods” by the cardiologist. Luckily it had only been Kit and Navarro standing in Baz’s room at the time. They’d keep it confidential, but Baz had been very upset that they’d heard to begin with.
“Still.” Navarro dropped into a chair next to her. “Who are all of these girls?” He pointed to the dozen new photos grouped to one side of the board.
“I went through the missing-person reports again last night and pulled out every petite blonde between fourteen and eighteen who attended high school in San Diego County and who’s gone missing and/or been declared a runaway in the past ten years.”
Navarro frowned at the dozen photos. “That’s all of them?”
“Oh, no. There are a lot more, but I narrowed it down to these twelve. They all either had ties to the drama department at their school or had expressed a wish to become an actress. I kept the ones I set aside in another file because they might also be drama students, but that wasn’t included in the report. I’ll go through them in depth later, and then tackle the reports from eleven to twenty years ago.”
“I’m getting you some help with that. I should be able to make the announcement by lunchtime. I do have good news for you right now, though.”
“Please. I need some good news today.”
He smiled. “I reopened the Maria Mendoza case last week after seeing the photos that Dr.Batra had intended to upload.”
