She had to compose herself. The elevator doors were opening and she had to pretend she was as tough as these professionals like Metcalf.
The hell she did. She didn’t have to pretend anything after what she had seen upstairs on the fourth floor. She was human, and she would stay that way. The minute she stopped feeling that sense of horror and outrage, she would never work another case.
Tonight she would go home and do exactly what she’d told Griffin she would do. But maybe she’d also say a prayer for all those poor men and women who had suffered so terribly at the hands of that beast.
*
HER FRONT DOOR WAS unlocked.
Kendra paused, automatically tensing, as she removed her key. It could be nothing. Olivia had her key. Kendra had excellent security these days since she’d been invaded a couple years ago. But it wasn’t like Olivia not to call before she came—
“Well, are you going to come in or not?” Her mother threw open the door. “I’ve made coffee, and I picked up some of that Danish that you love from that deli across the street.”
Mom. Relief fought with the surprise she felt. Of course, Mom had a key to her condo, too.
“Hey, what on earth are you doing here, Mom?” She reached out and hugged her. “I just heard from you last week. You’re supposed to be in Athens, aren’t you?”
“I got depressed. All that ancient glory and it’s all going to hell for lack of filthy lucre and care. So I spent a few days in London and then decided I’d come back here.” She tilted her head critically as she slammed the door. “You look tired. Don’t you ever sleep?”
“I get a fair amount.” Her mother, on the other hand, looked her usual energetic self. Dr. Deanna Michaels was vibrant, attractive, in her late fifties but looked younger. She was a brilliant and highly-regarded professor of history at UC San Diego. She was also dominant, loving, and as involved with Kendra’s well-being as she’d been for all the twenty years when Kendra had been blind. “And as a matter of fact, I was planning on getting some sleep tonight.” She raised her brows. “And I could have met you for coffee and Danish tomorrow morning. Did that occur to you?”
“Yes, but my flight landed two hours ago and I decided this would be better.” She moved toward the breakfast bar. “If I’d gone home, I would have dwelt on all this nonsense in which you’re currently involved, and then I wouldn’t sleep. Jet lag is bad enough. I wasn’t about to allow anything else to interfere with my sleep time.” She poured two cups of coffee. “It’s bad enough that you permit it to disturb yours.”
Kendra stiffened. “What nonsense?”
“The nonsense that’s all over the San Diego news sites. Four intensely hideous murders.” Deanna sat down on the stool beside her and lifted her cup to her lips. “Very nasty stuff. Did you really think that I wouldn’t check on what’s going on in my own hometown? Particularly when I know you have a passion for choosing the most worrisome possible cases on which to work.”
Her mother’s tone was light, but Kendra was aware of something a little feverish and tense beneath that smooth exterior. It was making her uneasy. “No, I know you keep informed.” She lifted her coffee to her lips. “But I wasn’t really involved until yesterday. Did Olivia text you?”
“No, though I did call her from my taxi when I was on my way here. She seemed more concerned with your sexual choices than with serial killers. You must have downplayed exactly what you were facing.”
“I don’t lie to Olivia. I told her this one was a monster.” She shrugged. “But she was busy trying to convince me that Lynch and I were—” She broke off. “You know Olivia. She thinks she knows me through and through.”
“Maybe she does,” Deanna added serenely, “but I know you better. I just seldom express opinions to keep from arguing with you.”
Kendra grinned. “The hell you don’t. Why else are you here?”
“Well, not about Lynch. I have mixed feelings about Lynch. Part of me wants you to jettison him because he’s undoubtedly dangerous.” She shrugged. “Another part of me wants you to keep him close … again because he’s dangerous. You persist in living in a lethal environment, and he’s capable of keeping your head above water.”
“I’m capable of keeping my own head above water,” Kendra said. “And at present, Lynch is in Guilin, China.”
“Olivia told me he was off to some outlandish place.” Her mother was frowning. “When is he coming back?”
“I have no idea.” She was watching with alarm as the expressions flickered across her mother’s face. “No, Mom,” she said firmly, “I would not be pleased if you decided to casually call Lynch.”
“There’s no way of casually calling someone in China,” Deanna said regretfully. “It comes off as a big deal however you’d do it. But I’d feel better if he was around.” She smiled. “Oh, well, I’ll think of something.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” She shook her ahead. “Look, Mom, you’re right, this one is a monster. And I can’t avoid working the case. But it’s developing into something gigantic, and there will be all kinds of FBI and police after him. It’s not as if it will be one on one.”
“Good God, I hope not.” Her smile disappeared and that smooth fa?ade had cracked. “I couldn’t take that, Kendra. I’d stop worrying about how you’d feel about me interfering and I’d call Lynch, the FBI, the CIA, and maybe the president. You keep away from that bastard.”
“It will be okay. I told you, the case is growing out of—”
“I know how the case is growing.” Her mother’s lips were suddenly taut, her eyes glittering. “You don’t have to tell me. Your damn printer has been doing that for the last thirty minutes.” She slipped from the stool and strode across the room to Kendra’s cubbyhole of an office that was more like a laundry room. “It kept going off while I was making the coffee. I went back to check and see if it needed paper.” She threw open the door and Kendra heard the sound of the printer. “It didn’t, but the tray had overflowed and there were sheets all over the floor. Do you want me to tell you what they were?”
Kendra flinched as she caught a glimpse of the gruesome body in the first photo on the floor. Metcalf had been busy but not selective. She could imagine the effect on her mother. “No.” She crossed the room and took Deanna in her arms. “I know what they are. I’m sorry you had to see it.”
“So am I.” Deanna’s arms closed tightly around Kendra. “I didn’t want to see any of it. I don’t want you to see it. I don’t want any of it to touch you.”