‘I’ll make sure. How’s Troy?’
‘I’m not sure, but he may still be at the ER. I’ll let you know if I hear anything and you do the same for me.’
‘Where is Meredith?’
‘I left her with Isenberg. They were going to interview little Penny Voss.’
‘Poor kid,’ Trip said sadly. ‘When I’ve got Shane and the Davises settled, I’ll meet you at Isenberg’s. Hopefully we’ll have a warrant for Voss’s house by then.’
Adam ended the call, drew a breath and dialed his boss. This ain’t gonna be fun.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Sunday 20 December, 6.05 P.M.
‘I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,’ Corinne apologized as she exited the elevator to Isenberg’s floor. ‘I brought a little of everything.’
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Meredith told her assistant, taking one of the boxes of art supplies from Corinne’s arms. ‘I wish I’d known you’d been sitting outside our office for so long. I would have told Isenberg sooner.’
‘Hey, I’m just glad you’re okay.’ Corinne’s face lit up when she saw Meredith’s grandfather sitting at the unoccupied desk. ‘Mr Fallon! Merry Christmas!’
Clarke smiled. ‘Corinne. How are you?’
‘Better now that I know you guys are okay. I got that call from Agent Troy a few hours ago asking me to get the art supplies. He said he’d meet me at the office after he drove you all here to the police station. But then I didn’t hear back, so I called Lieutenant Isenberg and she sent a van for me.’ She smiled. ‘It was Trip, Kate, and Mallory. Oh, and Cap. They’re on their way here from Mariposa House.’ Where Corinne also volunteered. ‘They got held up in the lobby talking to Lieutenant Isenberg. They should be coming up.’
At that moment the elevator door dinged and Lynda Isenberg strode out, a cellophane-covered piece of pie from the cafeteria in her hand. She was accompanied by Trip, Kate, a tail-wagging Cap, and Mallory.
Isenberg, Trip, and Kate looked grim, but Meredith didn’t get the chance to ask why because Mallory ran to hug her so tightly that Meredith couldn’t quite breathe.
‘Hey,’ she soothed, looking at the others over Mallory’s shoulder. ‘What’s all this?’
Because Mallory was crying.
‘I think she just needed to see that you’re okay,’ Kate said softly. ‘I’ll take her back to Mariposa House later.’
‘I am okay. But, Mallory, honey, you’re going to crack my ribs if you don’t let me go.’
Sniffling, Mallory immediately let go. ‘Why is someone trying to kill you? You?’ she added, as if the notion was incomprehensible to her. Which was sweet, actually.
‘I don’t know. But Detective Kimble and the team will find out.’
Isenberg cleared her throat meaningfully. ‘Dr Fallon, the Vosses are waiting.’
‘I know. I have my supplies now.’ Meredith gave Mallory’s cheek a light caress. ‘Have a seat and wait for me. You remember my grandfather from yesterday?’
Clarke gave her his most cheerful smile. ‘Come on, Mallory. Let’s get some coffee and cake from the cafeteria. You gonna join us, Kate?’
‘I can always eat cake. But first I want to check in on Shane and the Davises. We’ve found them a place where they can all stay together. Agent Triplett will be escorting them.’
Trip nodded. ‘And I’ve got a lot of backup, this time, just in case.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Meredith said fervently.
Kate petted the dog’s head. ‘Cap, with me. You too, Clarke, if you want to come along and say goodbye to Kyle and Shane.’
Meredith watched them go, then turned to Isenberg. ‘Can you have an officer escort Corinne home?’
‘Absolutely. I’ll take care of it after we get this interview rolling. Here are the pictures we’d like you to show the child.’ Isenberg gave her three photos, then took one of the boxes of art supplies and started walking.
Meredith flipped through the pictures. There was one of a large man with dead eyes. Probably the Neanderthal who was looking for Shane, she thought. One was the grainy surveillance photo of Linnie. And the third was a laughing young woman from her Facebook page. Her name was cut away.
Meredith looked up to see Isenberg was already halfway down the hall to the interview rooms. Grabbing the other box, she rushed to catch up.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Sunday 20 December, 6.10 P.M.
Adam was waiting for CSU to begin processing Bruiser’s murder scene when his cell chimed with a generic ringtone. But this call he’d take because the caller ID showed him it was from Chicago PD. Adam had been trying to reach Detectives Reagan or Mitchell since he’d finished updating Isenberg. ‘This is Kimble.’
‘Abe Reagan, here. I have Detective Mitchell with me on speaker. Our CSU guy was able to get blood prints off Tiffany Curtis’s clothing. Her killer left them when he grabbed her pajama top to . . . well, when he gutted her. We sent you a copy of the prints.’
The image of Tiffany’s body flashed into Adam’s mind, making him glad he hadn’t eaten recently. ‘Anything pop on AFIS?’
‘Not a thing,’ Mitchell said with disgust. ‘But there’s no way this was his first kill.’
Adam sighed, frustrated. An ID would have been too easy. ‘Your suspect is dead.’
A beat of silence. ‘Well, can’t say I’m sad to hear that,’ Mitchell said dryly.
‘Are you sure?’ Reagan asked.
‘I’m looking down at his body right now. He was shot by a sniper. May be the same one who tried to take out a van in which Shane Baird, his friend Kyle, and the original target – our child psychologist – were being transported this afternoon.’
‘So he was taken out by one of his own?’ Mitchell asked. ‘This is a cold crew.’
‘Looks that way. One of the Feds on loan to our task force was hit, but he’ll be okay. A few hours later, Bruiser here was trying to snatch the only witness who can describe the shooter. She shot him, then the sniper took him out. Thought you’d want to know.’
‘Do you have a name for him other than Bruiser?’ Mitchell asked tartly.
‘Not yet. We’ll pass it on to you when we do. In the meantime, we’ll send you photos once CSU’s taken them.’ He spotted Quincy Taylor making his way from the CSU van. ‘Which should be soon. Our CSU guy just arrived. I need to go.’
He ended the call as Quincy set his forensic kit next to Bruiser’s body. ‘Trouble just finds you, Adam.’
‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Scarlett drawled.
Adam started to roll his eyes, but there was something in Quincy’s tone that had him frowning. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I just finished processing the van. The only part of the van that appears to have been purposely targeted by gunfire was the front passenger door and window.’ Quincy narrowed his eyes. ‘This doesn’t surprise you.’
Adam shook his head. ‘Not really, no.’
Scarlett froze. ‘You didn’t tell us that, Adam.’
‘I didn’t get a chance. Dani came in with Linnie’s location before I got to that point.’
‘Bullshit. You were leading the damn meeting. You could have covered that first.’
‘You were waiting to see what I found out, weren’t you?’ Quincy asked.
‘Yeah,’ Adam admitted. ‘I mean, I thought the same thing. That the only one who should have died in that attack was me, but that doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Not yet,’ Quincy said. ‘Let me get to work here. I need to find the bullet. I’m betting it’ll match Andy’s and the van’s.’
‘Shit,’ Scarlett muttered. ‘Why would you be the target, Adam?’
‘I don’t know. I mean, Troy was the one who got hit.’
‘He says that’s because you leaned back to tell the people in the back to get down,’ Quincy said.
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘How is Troy?’
‘He was admitted to the hospital,’ Quincy said curtly. He sounded almost angry.
Adam stared. ‘What? He said it was a flesh wound.’
‘And you believed him?’ Quincy snapped.
‘Well, yes,’ Adam said. ‘I didn’t see any other wounds.’
Quincy pinned him with a glare. ‘Did he let you look?’