“It was a great reconstruction.” He pulled her into his arms. “I know how hard you worked, how glad you were that you had something concrete to send to Nalchek.”
And Jenny had been so much more to her than that. The spirit of that little girl had reached out and touched her, stirred her curiosity, her sympathy, and something … deeper. “I’ve lost her, Joe.” She nestled her head in his chest. “It’s all crazy. Why would anyone be so paranoid that he’d kill someone just to get his hands on that reconstruction? She was only a nine-year-old little girl.” She had a sudden aching memory of Jenny in that white eyelet long dress smiling at her across the room. “I hate this. I can’t stand feeling this helpless.” She stepped away from him. “That call I got had to be from him to lure me away from the cottage. He’d gotten his hands on the reconstruction, but he had to have the complete package.”
“That’s my take on it.”
“Why? Why does Jenny have to remain lost?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“Him? I don’t even know if it’s a male or female. I just instinctively call him he.”
“The biggest percentage of little girls are killed by males. Sexual predators go after—”
“I know that. I don’t want to hear it again. I don’t want percentages. I want Jenny’s killer to be tied up and sent to the electric chair.” She whirled away and headed for the porch. She felt stifled in this room. “Can you get forensics out here right away to test for trace and prints?”
He nodded. “No problem.” He started down the steps. “And I’ll take another look around the cottage grounds just to make sure that he didn’t leave any evidence. Stay here where I can see you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She pulled out her phone. “But I have to call Nalchek to tell him he won’t be getting that reconstruction … and why.”
He nodded and disappeared around the side of the cottage.
She could hear him moving through the brush, and she knew that he was doing that so that she’d feel safer. Joe was usually panther-silent courtesy of his SEAL training. He needn’t have bothered. She wasn’t frightened, she was only angry.
She punched in Nalchek’s number. “You won’t be getting the reconstruction,” she said jerkily when he picked up. “You can’t be sorrier than I am.” She briefly went over the events of the afternoon. “You were right, the killer came looking for that skull.”
“Are you all right? You’re not hurt?”
“I’m not hurt. But as I told you, that FedEx driver is dead.” She was looking out at the lake. “And I have no idea where that computer and reconstruction are going to end up. They may be at the bottom of the lake right now.”
Nalchek was cursing beneath his breath. “There’s nothing that you can do?”
“Not unless you can find that skull. I can go back and re-create the reconstruction, but I can’t do it out of air. No one in the media will touch it without proof that I used that skull to do it. And what are the chances of that killer’s not destroying it now that he has it?”
“Zero. Unless he’s a trophy collector.”
“Then he wouldn’t have buried the skull in the beginning. No, he wanted her lost forever.” Another wave of anger poured through her. “And I won’t let it happen. He’s not going to win, Nalchek.”
“You just told me you couldn’t do anything.”
“I told you I couldn’t do the reconstruction again. But I’m not going to let him get away with this. I’ll make sure he won’t stay free and gloating over killing that little girl.” Her voice was shaking. “There has to be a way, but I’m not thinking straight right now. I’ll call you after I go over everything and see what my options are.”
“Very sparse, I’d say.” He paused, then said harshly, “I can’t deny I’m disappointed as hell. But whether you can do anything more or not, thank you for what you’ve already done. You’ve been the only one in my corner since the night I found Jenny. Maybe they’ll believe me and move on this after that driver was killed.”