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“Part of the rush? That risk?”
“Yeah, maybe. Let’s raise the bar a little. So maybe. Second scenario, they decided to grab the next before they finish her. They’ve got a place, they’re where they want to be. Room for another? Got room, so why not have the next in the batter’s box?”
“Or…”
“A duet.” She nodded. “Two at once. We can’t know for sure, not for sure, they haven’t done that before along the way. We’ve profiled it one at a time, and it’s most likely, but we can’t be sure they haven’t pulled a twofer.”
“With two, you could use one to terrify the other. Or you could each have your own, work in tandem.”
“A lot of ugly possibilities. Until we find Jayla Campbell’s body, we’re going with the scenario they took a second, purposefully. Maybe impulsively. The loading zone wasn’t smart. But, if they haven’t lived in an urban area, they might not be aware of the cams on those.”
“It’s likely many who do and don’t own a vehicle or drive aren’t aware. And even many who own and do may not think of it. You have to drive onto the grid to activate the cam, and they’re notorious crap.”
He gave her a half smile. “I’ve lived in urban areas, and often needed a handy spot to… park. I should add, Lieutenant, that jamming one of those grid cams? Child’s play.”
“Let’s hope neither of them played the same games you did as a kid.”
Traffic thickened as they made their way uptown, with maxibuses blatting and farting along with their load of late shifts coming off, early shift going on. And the sky trams hauled more.
A few cabs zipped – most who worked the early and late shifts couldn’t afford cabs. But there would be those heading out to catch a shuttle, or a high-level LC on the way home after a profitable night.
&
nbsp; “They’d come up here sometimes,” Eve muttered. “If you made a trip to New York, you’d do the tourist thing, wouldn’t you? You want the Midtown shops, the skating at Rockefeller, the park. You’d want to see the Empire State, you’d want to join the party at Times Square.”
She shifted to him. “You don’t come all this way without the party, do you? You don’t hole up inside the whole time, no matter how much fun you’re having. You can do that anywhere.”
“You’ve a point. What does it tell you?”
“Just more. They’re a couple. Lovers. Mira profiles them as in love – in their sick, fucked-up way. A romantic dinner somewhere, maybe? One of the hot spots. That means the right clothes, and that means shopping. That takes money, unless they use a vic’s card, and we’d be on them like rats on cheese. Souvenirs. You gotta have souvenirs.”
She rolled it over, turned it side-to-side as Roarke drove them home again.
Inside, they headed straight to her office. She smelled bacon before they made the last turn.
She might have snarled at that, but she also smelled coffee.
She walked in as Peabody handed a plate from the buffet table – already set up and loaded – to Banner.
“Hey, there you are. We figured we’d do the spread before you – you’ve been out already?”
Eve shrugged out of her coat, tossed it aside. “We’ve got another.”
“Another? Campbell —”
“Undetermined. Mulligan, Reed Aaron, age twenty-one, snatched at midnight and change last night, heading south on Seventh between Waverly and Charles.”
“You’ve got a wit?” McNab asked.
“We’ve got a ’link trans, and potentially a cam feed. Roarke, put this on screen while I see if Traffic’s come through.”
“Mulligan,” Roarke repeated, using the auxiliary to put the data on screen, “Reed Aaron, reported missing by his mother.”
While Roarke briefed them, Eve finally connected with someone from Traffic who knew an ass from an elbow – at least in her opinion.
“Feed’s coming through. I’m throwing it up. Crap,” she said seconds later when the flickering, muddy image came on. “Can you clean this up?” she demanded of McNab.
“Some, sure. Can I?”
