A Serial Affair. Natalie Dunbar

in his posture eased. “Ma’s doing a lot better. She’s fine as long as we keep taking care of her. Ron and I take turns fixing her meals, testing her blood sugar and giving her the medication and shots. She goes to an activity center during the day where she’s taking a couple of classes.” Reed rocked his chair back and forth. “You know, she asks about you all the time.”

      “Really? What do you tell her?” Her question hung on the air for several moments while she imagined several nasty explanations he could have used.

      His expression was calm, but there was a darkness in his eyes that made her cringe and feel guilty. Reed answered in an easy tone did not match what she saw in his eyes. “I’ve told her that you’ve moved on, and that you’ve been busy with your career. She wants to see you, so she can congratulate you on your promotion.”

      Marina was almost certain that he was still angry with her about the way she’d ended things. She shouldn’t care, but she did. Whether she and Reed ever got together as a couple or not, she genuinely liked him as a person. He could be provocative and mysterious, and irritating, but he was still a genuinely nice guy that she liked to be around.

      “I’ll have to drop by to see her sometime,” she mumbled.

      He was silent when he shot her a look of disbelief. “And what’s Javier up to?” he asked, referring to her dad.

      “Javier is Javier.” She sighed dramatically, not wanting go into the details of how her amorous father was inexplicably without a love interest for the first time in years. He had been driving Marina crazy with his determination to spend more time with her. She abruptly changed the subject. “Where’s the rest of the team hiding out?”

      “I am the rest of the team.” He watched her take the computer out of her case and set it on the desk. Then he showed her the socket to plug in her power cord. “You know I work the Homicide Unit and I’m good. I have access to their resources and anything the C.P.D. has to offer. Where’s the rest of your FBI team?”

      This time she smiled. “You’re looking at it. I’ve got access to the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime database and the VICAP and anything else we’ll need from the FBI.”

      “We’ve got everything we need to bring down the killer.” Reed returned the smile and this time it was close to the charming, earnest one she was used to seeing. “If we really push it, maybe we can chase the killer down before the trail grows cold. We need to leave in about thirty minutes. Jade Dansinger was too upset to talk to homicide detectives early this morning. I’ve been calling the mayor’s mansion to set up another interview. The okay came just a few minutes ago. We need to talk to her and her friends about last night and anything they may have seen or heard. I’ve already lined up interviews with several of her and Washington’s friends.”

      Marina nodded. “How about the staff at the hotel?” she asked.

      “Third-shift detectives on the scene this morning interviewed them.”

      Hope surged within Marina that they would have another piece of the puzzle. “Did anyone see anything?”

      “Not really. They knew that Washington was out at the pool with someone, but no one bothered to look. Apparently, Jade and Elliot often took late-night skinny-dips and paid the staff to give them their privacy. There’s actually a room at the back of the hotel with its own private pool.”

      Marina expelled a puff of air. “So do they at least know if Washington was out there with a woman?”

      Reed shook his head. “No. No one saw or heard a thing. Washington must not have cried out or struggled enough to draw attention.”

      Marina considered his statement. “Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe the first blow incapacitated him or he was already pretty much out of it. I hope they took samples of his blood.”

      Spearing her with a glance, Reed said, “Bring that nose down a bit. Our crew is one of the best. They got the blood samples, some DNA from the scene and prints from the chair he’d been sitting in and the ones next to it. The forensic team is doing their thing. We should have all of the results in a few days.”

      Marina nodded. “I don’t suppose anyone found the murder weapon?”

      “You dream big, don’t you?” Reed remarked.

      “It was worth a try,” she murmured, settling into her chair. “I’ll just take a quick look at the files.”

      While Reed checked on the database search he’d initiated earlier, Marina set up her computer and opened a new spreadsheet. Then she got her first look at the files.

      One file was that of Elliot Washington, the guy she’d heard about on the morning news. The other file was for the young man identified as twenty-five-year-old elementary school teacher, Colton Edwards. His body had been found in the middle of an empty stall at Union Station.

      Working violent crime with Talbot, she’d learned the hard way that murder was never pretty. Mentally bracing herself, Marina went through the crime scene photos. Her stomach quivered.

      Someone had stabbed Washington repeatedly and unmanned him with butcher-block precision. She hadn’t heard that part on the news. Had Washington still been alive when his killer had done that? Marina hoped not because it seemed that the killer’s need to punish and degrade had been strong. Her stomach threatened to heave.

      Momentarily looking away, she found Reed watching her.

      “Pretty graphic, huh?”

      Marina nodded. “I’ve seen worse, but looking at this stuff never gets easier.”

      Reed’s gaze dropped back to the screen. “No, it doesn’t.”

      She pointed to the stack of pictures. “Just examining the way the bodies were maimed, it appears that we’re dealing with a serial killer who’s also a sexual predator. There are several famous serial killer cases where men and young boys were abducted, assaulted and brutalized, maimed and killed. Leaving the severed organs near the victim’s body appears to be our killer’s signature, as in actions he does above and beyond his mode of operation. If this is the case, then our killer will do this to all of the victims.”

      Reed secured Edwards’ file and paged through to the selection of pictures. The wounds to his body and the gruesome removal and placement of the organs was similar to what had been done to Washington. His girlfriend, his mother and his fifth-grade class had been devastated. They’d written the heart-wrenching letters in the file to the detective handling the case.

      Forcing herself to swallow against the dryness in her throat, Marina moved on.

      In Washington’s file she noted that he’d gone to her and Reed’s alma mater, Merriwhether University of Chicago. He’d obtained a degree in business administration. On impulse she checked Edwards’ file. Same college, only his degree was in education. Typing the information onto the new spreadsheet, she wondered if she’d already found the most important link. If so, did that mean that Reed qualified as a potential victim? At twenty-nine, he was a few years older than both men. Only time would tell if he, too, was in danger.

      Reed checked his watch and stood. “We’ve got to get going.”

      Opting to leave her laptop locked in the task force office, because it could be intimidating to some witnesses and a chore to keep up with, Marina grabbed her purse and followed him out.

      “Did you notice that both victims went to Merriwhether?” she asked as they got into an unmarked blue Crown Victoria.

      “Yeah,” Reed answered grudgingly as he backed out of the parking space and took off. “What’s your point?”

      “I know that you and a lot of people went to Merriwhether, but until we get more facts about this killer and how he’s picking his victims, you should be careful.”

      “So you think I’m in danger?”

      She didn’t like the trace of amusement that crept into his