“I’m thinking about it. Not very hard, but the process is there.” He smiled. “In the meantime, I’m open for persuasion. Maybe Zachary will give you time enough to save him. And just think how much we can accomplish while you try to change my mind. We’re so good together we might wrap this up before slaughter even comes into play.” He added coaxingly, “Come on, you’re not going to let a little homicide interfere with a great working relationship.”
His determination was only lightly veiled by that familiar charisma, and she wasn’t going to be able to budge him right now. And she was too tired and edgy to devote the energy to it at the moment. She’d just have to deal with Lynch as the case progressed. “I’ve told you how I feel and I’m not going to change. I’ll get my way. Remember that, Lynch.”
His brows rose. “Is there a ‘but’ to follow?”
“But actually we always worked well together. I think I can use your help on this one.”
“I’m not sure, but I think I’ve just been relegated to the role of a…” He made a sour face. “… sidekick.”
“If the shoe fits…”
“Nice,” he said edgily.
“Relax. You’ll never be anybody’s sidekick. You’re not wired for it. But I think I can use some extra help with Zachary. I already have Jessie working on an angle. We’ll see where it takes us.”
“Hmm, whatever you say, but it still sounds like we’re working in the Kendra Michaels unit. Not that I’m complaining.”
She smiled faintly, “Could’ve fooled me.”
“So what’s today’s itinerary?” he asked. “All I got was the address for the meetup.”
“It’s a field trip. We’re piling into a van and visiting the locations where the victims’ bodies were found. It’s really for the benefit of our visitors. I was at the last two crime scenes while they were still active, and I’ve already seen thousands of pictures of the others. Still, nothing’s the same as being there.”
Lynch looked ahead and nodded. “That has to be your dream team.”
Kendra glanced up. They had arrived at the parking lot of the Edward Schwartz Federal Building on Front Street and the four visiting investigators were standing with Griffin, Metcalf, and Gina next to the large black van. Lynch parked, and he and Kendra climbed out.
Metcalf didn’t look happy to see Lynch. “I didn’t realize you were joining us.”
“Problem?”
“Of course not.” He turned to Gina. “This is Adam Lynch. He helps us out here once in a while. As an added bonus, he’s really good at getting under the boss’s skin.”
Gina’s face lit up in a way Kendra hadn’t seen yet. Typical Lynch response. She smiled and shook Lynch’s hand. “Sounds entertaining. Hope I get to see that.”
Lynch smiled back. “Stay close. It won’t take long.”
One by one, the visiting investigators stepped forward for their introductions to Lynch. NYC FBI Agent Richard Gale seemed more interested in Lynch’s car than anything else. Arnold Huston gave him a warm and respectful greeting, and Ed Roscoe puffed his chest out slightly when confronted with a man who threatened his “sexiest guy on the case” status. Kendra was pretty sure he caught her rolling her eyes.
Trey Suber was the most excited to meet Lynch. Before their handshake was even concluded, Trey began pumping him for details on the same case for which he’d queried Kendra. “You spoke to Colby on his second-to-last day at San Quentin, didn’t you? Face to face?”
Lynch seemed amused by the young man’s ghoulish enthusiasm. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Would you, by any chance, have a recording of that conversation?”
Lynch turned to Kendra. “Is this guy for real?”
“I’m afraid so.” She motioned to Suber. “He’s waiting for an answer.”
Lynch turned back toward him. “Uh, no. No recording. Griffin was there too. He may have—”
“He doesn’t. Too bad. It would have been nice for my collection.”
“Your collection,” Lynch repeated.
“My database. It’s more complete than anything the FBI has. It’s helped me bring down four serial killers in the past three years.” He raised his smart phone. “I can forward you press clippings of those cases, if you’d like. What’s your email address?”
“That’s okay. I believe you.”
Suber seemed disappointed as he lowered his phone. “Anyway, it’ll be a pleasure to work together. I hope we can sit down sometime and talk about your experiences with the Colby case. Maybe the same time I talk to Kendra.”
Lynch looked at him in blank disbelief.
At that moment, Griffin walked over to the van and slid open the door. “Okay, everybody. Ready for your murder tour of San Diego?”
Lynch took Kendra by the arm. “This is gonna be one weird day.”
*
THE CLOSE PROXIMITY OF the downtown locations made the tour a reasonably quick one and there were no major revelations to Kendra that she hadn’t already picked up from the crime scene photographs. They visited the harborside last, alongside a large supertanker being repaired just south of the Coronado Bridge.
“This was where the first victim was found?” Lynch said.
Kendra nodded. “The corpse was recovered from the water by the tanker repair crew.”
They stepped a few feet away from the others. “So, has our morning given you any special insights?” Lynch asked.
“Nothing new. It has been interesting watching how everyone works, though.”
“What do you mean?”
Kendra pointed to Gale, the sour-looking FBI agent from New York. “Look at Special Agent Gale. Every site we visited seemed to make him angrier and angrier. I don’t know if he learned much, but this little excursion lit a fire in him. He looks like he’s ready to do whatever it takes to find this guy.”
“I see what you mean. The killer had better hope Gale isn’t the first one to find him.” Lynch looked around. “What about the others? That guy looks more like a mellow grandpa.”
“Arnold Huston, the D.C. police detective. Not mellow. Sad. He’s taking this personally. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of those cops whom the victims’ families still keep in touch with and invite to their pool parties, weddings, and Bar Mitzvahs. This killer might be why he hasn’t retired yet. He wants this guy just as bad as Gale, maybe even more.”
“Interesting. What about the movie star over there?”
“Ed Roscoe. I’m actually a little surprised. He seemed a little superficial to me, but he’s really done his homework. He already knows the San Diego dossier backward and forward. He went right to the spot where the body was found at each location, and he knows the times, dates, and other stats. I’m impressed.”
“So am I.” Lynch shook his head as he watched Trey Suber furiously scribbling on his tablet computer with a stylus. “But the serial killer fanboy is setting the bar pretty high. He’s actually been taking measurements at every stop.”
“I noticed. I think he has an app in that tablet that combines his photographs into a 3D model of each crime scene.”
Lynch craned his neck to try to see Suber’s screen. “Okay, I have to admit that’s pretty bad-ass.”
“I thought that would appeal to your inner tech geek. The models will become part of his collection, no doubt. If there’s a pattern to be found, I’d count on Trey Suber to find it first.”