All three men were more than surprised.
“Oh, yeah, and you interviewed the only eyewitness that came forward to identify the man who was with Sammie Jean, giving us another possible suspect.”
Callie ticked off the final finger, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I guess I was productive.”
“Are you serious?” asked Quinn, eyes wide as he stared back and forth between Callie and his deputy, to see if they were shitting him.
“Darlin’, I never kid about schooling my big brother’s ass,” she said. When he charged her, Callie yelped.
Quinn pulled her from the chair to lavishly kiss her. When he spun her in a circle, he actually contemplated tossing her up in the air to celebrate her genius.
“I’m glad I could help,” she stated, snickering.
“God, you’re amazing!” Quinn kissed her again, just because he needed to.
“Callie, have you really dug us up another suspect?” asked her brother, as he took his seat.
“Yes, and I have one other thing to tell you, sort of. You need to get a warrant for my patient files,” she stated, glancing over at her brother.
“Why?”
“Because what’s going on in town may be connected to something in them. Without a warrant, I can’t tell you what went on in session, thanks to doctor- patient confidentiality.”
“Is it pertinent?”
“Oh, darlin’, is it ever,” she tapped her head. “It’s all up here,” Callie said, sitting down rather abruptly.
Quinn didn't like how pale she appeared. “Are you okay?”
“Just tired, and I have a little headache,” she admitted, touching her stitches. She willed away the ache that was pounding through her head at that very moment. If she admitted how bad it hurt, all three men would lose their minds.
Quinn pointed at his deputy. “In my desk is aspirin. Would you get Callie two, please?”
“Sure thing, Sheriff. After what she came up with today, it’s no wonder that her head is hurting,” he said, leaving the room.
Quinn was concerned. Maybe they were pushing her too hard. She was injured less than twenty-four hours ago.
Callie patted his arm as if she could read his mind. Immediately, she gave him a bright, reassuring smile.
“Okay, baby, spill it,” said Quinn bringing the palm of her hand to his mouth to gently kiss it.
Callie had a hard time catching her breath. His eyes stared into her soul and she shivered. “Well, I was sitting here, you know, doing nothing,” she mocked, sticking her tongue out at her brother and Luke. “And I was trying to figure out why the bodies were being transported.”
“Okay, with you so far,” answered Nate, pulling out his own glasses and sliding them onto his nose.
“This killer is methodical and a planner. He’s making sure each detail is covered, so why wouldn’t he be thinking about the locations too? He’s playing a game, leaving us words and bodies all over the place, so it’s safe to say that he’d want to control the dump sites too.”
Nate spoke up, “I agree with you there. It’s classic narcissistic behavior. Look at me. I’m killing people and here’s why.”
“Exactly, so here’s what I came up with so far,” she said, approaching the crime board. Turning it around, all three men just stood and stared.
Callie had listed the crime scenes and what they spelled out:
Walker’s Point
Harper’s Grove
Ollie’s Wilde Hare
Richard’s Glen
E
S
“Oh, wow! I wasn’t expecting that,” said Luke. “It was just sitting there, staring us in the face the entire time.”
“It was bothering me that the killer was going out of his way to move the bodies to specific places. Why not just dump them on the side of the road? It’s like we’re being taunted, and it’s almost the mightier than thou attitude,” she said, taking a sip of her soda.
Quinn stared at the locations, and then glanced back at Callie. “So, what do you think this means?” he asked, moving to her side to steady her.
“I think we have another angle. We have only been looking at the seven sins, but what if they are all guilty of the mother of all sins in the eyes of the killers?”
“The mother of all sins?”
“Sex.”
“That’s a good angle Callie, I can’t believe that we overlooked the places, and what they spelled out,” said Nate. “Ever since you left our team, it’s been shotty at best.”
Luke laughed. “Thanks for that. Hey, Callie, now you have to come back to the FBI. We can’t function without you.”
Quinn tensed at his words. Again, his stomach dropped.
Callie was torn. “I tell you what. Ask me when this is all over, and I’ll give you my answer then.”
His heart began pounding in his chest. If she went back, where would that leave them? This whole thing was making him incredibly sick to his stomach.
“Quinn?” she said, touching his arm. “Did you hear us?”
He shook his head. “No, sorry, I was thinking about the locations. Can you repeat what you said?”
Callie didn't believe that for a minute. He went somewhere and wasn’t telling them the truth.
Nate repeated it again, “My only issue is that there are only six letters in whore, and there are seven sins.”
“Maybe the final victim will be the big finale,” Callie stated. “She’ll be kind of like the icing on the cake to them. It’ll be someone who they may not have any connection to, but it will offer the most impact as the finale.”
“Like revenge?” asked Quinn, feeling his stomach knot into a sick jumble.
“Well, I’m only speculating right now. Let’s deal with facts first and go from there,” she suggested.
Still, he looked rattled, and she needed to offer him peace. Reaching out, Callie touched his cheek.
Everyone in the room was quiet, as they absorbed what she had given them. Finally, Nate broke the silence.
“Okay, this was all impressive, so how are you going to top it? Tell us about our eyewitness.”
Callie was officially exhausted. The long afternoon was taking its toll on her head. “We had someone walk in to inform us that she saw the reverend and Sammie Jean have an interlude, of sorts. Let’s just say they weren’t reading scripture. Apparently, her mouth was full. ”
Quinn was speechless for a second. “The reverend? The Bible toting, pain in my ass, was getting a blow job by our dead woman?”
“Oh, yeah, darlin’, the one and the same.” Callie told them everything that she knew.
Nate touched his sister’s shoulder. “Who was it?”
“None other than Susie Barnes,” smiled Callie.
“Shit,” said Quinn, as he started to pace back and forth, clearly agitated. “That’s not good, Callie.”
“Why the hell not?” she exclaimed. When she stood, the entire room began spinning out of control. It was so bad that she was forced to sit back down before she fell.
Quinn rushed over. “Baby, you okay?” he asked, touching her clammy cheek. Yeah, now he was worried.
“Yeah, it’s just been a long afternoon. Let me finish filling you in, and then I need to get home to relax.”
His body language gave him away. She didn't need to be a profiler to know how that one sentence resonated with him. Callie decided to clarify. “Will you take me to your place and babysit me, Quinn?” she asked quietly.
He was relieved. She had meant his house the entire time. “Sure thing, baby.”
Callie took a deep breath, pushing on, “As I was saying, why the hell not, Quinn?”
“Callie, it sounds like retaliation. Everyone knows that the reverend has it in for Susie, and now it just looks like a smear from her end.”
“Quinn, he never has to know that it was Susie who identified him. The judge and everyone in this room will be the only ones. We have a visual identification, and that can get your D
NA warrant. Then, in combination with what’s in my files from his wife, it will greatly help your investigation.”
Quinn sighed. “Okay, it stays on the low key until we get our DNA test. If it proves that Reverend Higgins is guilty, I’ll be the first one in town to give Susie Barnes a big ol’ kiss,” he said grinning.
“Uh huh, you’re really not her type darlin’, so feel free to give her all the kisses you want.”
Quinn looked at her funny, and then what she was implying obviously sunk in, “Ohhhhhh, it’s good to know that I can kiss other women and you don’t mind,” he teased.
“Yeah, don’t bet on that, Sheriff.”
He winked at her. “I’ll go call for the warrants, and then I’m taking you home so you can rest.”
“Sounds great,” she said, as the deputy walked in with the aspirin bottle. “Jimmy Lee, I swore you deserted me in my hour of need,” she teased, taking it from him.
“Naw. Have you ever seen the inside of his desk? I got sidetracked checking out his porn collection.”
Quinn gasped. “What? Don’t be telling my woman that! Are you insane?”
The man laughed. “I’m kidding.”
He didn't need to tell her that. “I know you are. If Quinn were to have porn, he’d keep it at home, not at work. This place is like his temple. He wouldn’t defile it.”
That made him laugh. “I’m going to make those calls before I incriminate myself.”
On his way out, she couldn’t help but stare. The back view was just as amazing as the front.
Jimmy Lee waved goodbye to get her attention. “I’m leaving now, ma’am. My shift was over an hour ago, and I need to go make up with Ellen, or the sheriff won’t be the only one who will be stuck looking at porn.”
“Thank you, Jimmy Lee. You have a good night,” she said, leaning back against the wall. Her head was pounding, and she just wanted to shut it all out.
Maybe she’d close her eyes for just a minute to help the medicine kick in.
Slowly, Callie began drifting off.
As she floated toward sleep, the safety of the sheriff’s station was replaced with dreams of bodies, sins, and the reverend preaching salvation to save her soul.
Oh, and there was blood.
More than she could handle.
* * *
They sat in the dark, hidden room and began to worry about the day’s events. It looked as if things were unraveling quickly, and something needed to be done to stop it.
In a matter of hours, the sheriff had gotten his hands on the wrench, information on a baseball bat, and a surprise secret witness.
Things were going to hell in a very large hand basket.
“What are we going to do?” asked the third figure, getting the impending feeling of doom, as it began to loom over them.
“We continue with our plans. There can be no change in course,” replied the leader, haughtily. “They have nothing, and by the time they work it out, we’ll be done and the trail will be cold.”
“I can’t believe they figured it out so quickly,” said the second figure.
“If they didn’t have that woman, then they would be nowhere right now. We obviously didn't scare her enough. Maybe we need to do something that none of them will forget.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I think something reminiscent of the fires of hell, no? I think that it would be fitting for her to go out that way. It’ll rattle the men, and divide their focus.”
All three laughed.
“Let’s start our plans for the sin of anger,” said the leader. “We don’t have too much time to get it all done.
“I can’t wait for the next two.”
The leader laughed. “I can’t wait until the final one. Her death is mine.”
Chapter Ten
Saturday
Late Afternoon
W hen Quinn strolled back into the conference room, he was met by two men shushing him to be quiet. Glancing over at his girlfriend, he found her sitting in a chair, head back, and eyes closed. He hated seeing her work herself to exhaustion, but he doubted he could stop her. Quinn was able to see that Callie truly loved her old career.
“She fell asleep right after you left,” whispered Nate, typing something into his tablet. “Take her home and let her get some rest. We’ll stay to work late on the files and the warrant information. She needs to take it easy, not work herself into the ground. When we get something, we’ll call you.”
Quinn pulled his keys from his pocket. He had planned a nice romantic dinner, courtesy of the Italian restaurant in town, but it would keep. Callie looked pale and needed a few hours of down time to recoup.
“Try to keep her from getting any physical jostling,” said Nate, staring up at the sheriff. His silvery blue eyes met Quinn’s green ones in silent meaning.
“I think I can manage to restrain myself for a few hours and give her a night off,” he replied, irritation filling his voice. The last thing that he needed was another man telling him how to take care of Callie.
“Just get her out of here, Quinn, and we’ll do the leg work,” added Luke, trying to keep the two alpha males from going at it again.
Quinn accepted their offer as he moved to Callie’s side. Carefully, he lifted her into his arms. When her head rested on his shoulder, he was met with the distinct scent of her perfume. It called to him on some primitive level. There was no doubt that he would always be drawn to it.
Quinn moved through the bullpen, getting some amazed looks. There were smiles from the female deputies, and gawking from the males. It didn't bother him in the least. For now, it was going to be all about the woman in his arms.
Once outside, he laid Callie on the front seat of his truck. While she slept, he’d take care of dinner. Driving through town, he headed to the restaurant to pick up some take out. When he hit a bump, Callie shifted and slid her head into his lap. It was all it took to make his body react to her.
Yeah, maybe keeping his hands off her wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.
Quinn didn't know why he was surprised.
Once home, Quinn carried Callie to the couch, resting her gently on the cushions. Making her comfortable, he slipped off her boots and pulled a light throw over her body. When she sighed and tucked her hand under her cheek, he knew what was coming. It was logical in their relationship.
He needed to tell her that he loved her.
There was no way that he could get through another day without admitting to her what lived in his heart. He wanted, no needed to, speak the words to make her his. In the kitchen, he put everything away so that they could eat together later. Quinn grabbed an apple, his cellphone, and a copy of the coroner’s report for Jonnie Sharp as he got down to business to play babysitter.
He was going to love every blessed minute of it, since there was nobody he’d rather guard.
An hour later, Quinn was interrupted by his cellphone vibrating. Picking it up, he hoped that it wasn’t going to be one of the men telling him how to cater to Callie.
“Hello,” he said softly.
“Hey, it’s Luke. Is she still sleeping?”
“Yeah, out cold. I’m going to wake her soon to feed her, give her a pill, and put her in bed. I really hope you have a good reason for calling, or do you doubt my competency too?”
“No, I know you’re a fierce watchdog. We actually got the DNA report in from the wounds on Sammie Jean and Aimee Jo’s bodies. There was indeed different DNA in the cuts, and it appears to be animal blood.”
“Really?”
“The knife used was most likely a hunting knife, so it really doesn’t help us.”
“Great.”
“Well, we also found out that the duct tape on Jonnie’s mouth had a hair stuck to it, and it wasn’t the victim’s.”
“Okay, so we have something to work with for now. Is it viable? I know the sample from under the nails was a big bust.”
“The tech staff is running it now. They said
they’d do their best.”
“Okay, what else do you have?”
“The list Callie had Jimmy Lee dig up is a good angle. I think we need to take those areas and up the patrols. We can’t stake them out, since we’re only working this assignment with a minimal team.”
“We can patrol, especially at night. That seems to be when the killer is dumping the victims. What locations did we come up with?”
“In Jimmy Lee’s notes, he has ‘Evergreen Acres’, ‘Enyon’s Caves’, and finally ‘Earl’s Landing’ all listed. Each location has at least two words in them and seems to fit the parameters.”
Quinn glanced up as Callie sat up, stretching. When she looked around completely disoriented, he needed to cut the conversation short. “Run with it. Hey, Callie’s up, so I’m going to go feed her. Call me if more comes in.”
“Sure thing,” Luke said, before disconnecting the call.
Quinn rushed to her side, dropping down next to her. Taking her hand in his, he kissed the tips of her fingers. “Hey baby, are you feeling a little better?”
“I think so. How did I get here?” she asked, cuddling closer to his body.
“I carried you to the truck, and then brought you in here.”
“Oh,” she said. “You carried me through the station?”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
“Well, hell. There goes the last shred of my professional status in this town,” she answered, laughing.
“If it’s any consolation, the female deputies looked incredibly jealous.”
Callie snorted. “Good. Let them be green with envy.” Standing, her body ached and was stiff. As she rolled her neck, Callie realized that she was hungry. If she was, then Quinn certainly was too. “I’ll make us something to eat.”
“No, you’re going to go up to the bathroom, sink into that large tub, and soak for at least thirty minutes. I’m going to handle dinner.”
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