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Valerie could almost hear his smirk over the phone. She was angry. Angry for Jackson, but most of all angry that a director at the Bureau would play politics with lives in the balance.
She knew the best way to prove her worth and get Jackson out of trouble was to show that his unit was the best in the country for tracking down serial killers.
"Okay, I'm in," she said.
"Good luck, you'll need it. And one other thing. I see here that Doctor Cooper has been given some firearms training. That’s an accident waiting to happen. I want his gun retrieved. He’s a consultant, remember. Not an agent."
“But …” Valerie didn’t have a chance to argue the point as the call went dead when Heinlein hung up.
The call ended, and Valerie rushed out of the prison to contact her team and hope they could track down the killer before the next forty-eight hours had elapsed. If they didn't, it would mean the end of the Criminal Psychopathy Unit and everything they had worked for.
CHAPTER THREE
Valerie needed sleep, but she needed to meet her team even more. The corridors of the Mesmer Building echoed with the quiet hum of night. This had once been a comforting sound to Valerie, but it was no longer a safe place.
Director Heinlein was gunning for their jobs, and Valerie had only forty-eight hours to save the entire team.
Opening the glass doors to the Criminal Psychopathy Unit, Valerie felt relief as two, wide-eyed smiles greeted her in the briefing room.
"Hello, Valerie," Will Cooper said, walking up to her and giving her a hug. "I came as soon as I got your message."
"And so did I," Charlie said, pushing the buttons on the room's coffee machine with frustration. "This damned thing hates me. I'm convinced of it."
"Rise of the machines?" Will said, laughing.
"I'm telling you," Charlie said as the machine finally spat out his coffee, "technology has it in for me. I half expect this coffee machine to come at me with a knife."
Valerie smiled at her two partners. Will cut his usual stuffy, academic look with a tweed suit and a bright yellow tie. His brown hair was a mess, but despite the gray among it, he possessed a youthful enthusiasm that Valerie cherished.
"No Jackson?" Will asked.
"No," answered Valerie. "He's still on administrative leave. Heinlein is breathing down our necks on this one. He's given us forty-eight hours to get to Kansas and make a breakthrough, otherwise he's going to pull the plug."
"I know we shouldn't talk out of turn about the higher ups," Charlie grimaced as he tasted his coffee, "but Heinlein represents everything that's wrong at the Bureau. He's all politics and policy, no experience. It's what happens when academics are in charge."
Will cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at Charlie.
"Present company excluded," Charlie got in as quickly as possible.
"How are Angela and the kids, Charlie?" asked Valerie. "I'm sorry I've not been in touch for a couple of weeks."
"They're fine," Charlie said. "Angela isdelightedthat I've left our house in the middle of the night and woken up the kids."
"I'm sorry," Valerie said moving over to the large touchscreen at the front of the room. "But time is against us. We need to show Heinlein that not only areweindispensable, but that Jackson is a critical component to how well our unit has performed."
"Agreed," said Will. "So, what is the case?"
Valerie brought up various files and photographs on the touchscreen. They showed more than one grisly scene of murder.
"Three victims?" Charlie asked.
"Yes," answered Valerie. "None of them seem connected, but local law enforcement around the Kerry County region where they were found are worried that they have a serial killer on their hands."
Will stepped forward and considered the screen carefully. "At first glance, the kills are all different."
"That's what I thought when I was studying the files before we all got here," Valerie said. "But I think there's a connection. Look at the bindings on the wrists."
"That's an elaborate knot," Will observed. "The same for each victim?"
