The officers who were left fought back grins.
Kateri sighed. “He was doing so well. Then he had to add that last bit.”
Bergen sobered. “I hate to see him go. But we always knew he didn’t have the stomach for it.”
“Smart kid,” Chippen said. “He’s getting out while he can.”
That was the trouble with crimes like these—they took the heart out of the whole department. Kateri asked, “Knowles, about the press conference, would you stand behind me on the left side?”
“Sure, Sheriff.” Knowles touched his hat brim. “When the citizens start lobbing the tomatoes, I’ll even throw them back.”
CHAPTER FORTY
“Sheriff. Kateri!”
Kateri lifted her head off her desk and blinked at Bergen.
He pointed at the blinking light on her phone. “Call for you from Garik Jacobsen.”
“Right.” She looked at the time. Just after midnight. She cleared her throat, picked up the phone and said, “Tell me again we don’t have an unusual spike of slashings in the U.S.”
Garik’s voice sounded grim. “Virtue Falls has always been an overachiever. The photos you sent…”
“I know.” She had tried not to look at the pictures of the faceless corpse, but a few glimpses would suffice to give her nightmares forever … and strengthened her determination to catch this sadistic bastard.
“The FBI will send someone to coordinate with your law enforcement.”
“You?”
“I’ve requested to be sent.”
“How soon?”
“Tomorrow.” He must have checked the time. “Today.”
“Are Elizabeth and the baby coming down?”
“Tomorrow Elizabeth has to give a seminar on tsunamis. Because, you know, she took the Virtue Falls tsunami video right after the earthquake and since then, she is the geological expert for the area.” He exhaled as if he had explained this far too many times. “Kateri, the baby is five—”
“Good Lord.” Kateri couldn’t believe it. “Since when?”
“We took Bella to the flight museum one time and now she loves airplanes. That baby can tell me what kind of plane is overhead, and if I watch a war movie she calls out the name, the class, the … whatever. Bella will be a pilot.”
Kateri remembered how much Merry Byrd had wanted to fly, the way her face used to shine when she talked about soaring toward the heavens, and she imagined little Bella wearing that expression, too. “Smart kid. You must be proud.”
“I am. I didn’t think I’d be her dumb ol’ dad until she was a teenager, but it appears I was wrong.”
Kateri laughed, then sobered. “You didn’t want her to be an expert in serial killers, did you?”
“No. God. No. I’m putting my bag in the car right now.”
“We’ll be here.”
“You sound like you need some sleep.”
“I think I just got some.”
“Get more. See you later.” He hung up.
Bergen lingered by the door. She filled him in. “I’m glad he’s coming. He’s probably the one person who can reassure the citizens and get Venegra off my back.”
The press conference had not gone well. Neither had her meeting with the city council.
Bergen said, “You really ought to go home.”
She looked at him.
“I know. Paperwork. I’m going to go sleep on the love seat in the break room. It’s uncomfortable enough that I can’t sleep long.”
“I’ll wake you if we need you.”
“I know you will.” He staggered a little as he left.
She had been asleep long enough for her screen saver to be activated, but not long enough for everything to automatically shut down. She watched the series of cute baby animals roll across the screen—after today, she needed to see cute baby animals—and contemplated the interview she had done for the Virtue Falls Herald. It probably needed a final read before she pressed Send. She probably needed to add some warm fuzzy assurances to the frightened public. She would have already done it, but right now, she didn’t have any warm fuzzy assurances in her arsenal. She was as frightened as anybody; Virtue Falls had a monster in their midst and if—when—he killed again, it would be her fault. She was in charge. The buck stopped only one place. Here.
She located the cursor and typed a few words, deleted, typed, deleted. She needed to figure this out …
She wasn’t surprised when she dreamed. After today, she expected one nightmare after another. Not to find herself in Rainbow’s hospital room.
*
Dr. Watchman was a friend, a veterinarian, a Native American, a wise woman. She stood beside the bed, eyes closed, breathing deeply, holding Rainbow’s hand. In a faraway voice, she said, “Her soul is wandering in a far, cold place, and the further she goes, the harder it is for her to find her way back.”
Kateri moved to the side of the bed. “Maybe she doesn’t want to come back.”
Dr. Watchman’s eyes snapped open. “If she didn’t want to come back, Kateri Kwinault, she would already be gone from the home that has nurtured her.”
Kateri picked up Rainbow’s other hand and cradled it in both of hers. “She’s gone so far I can’t see her.”
“I can.”
“I don’t know what to do, how to bring her back.”
“Yes, you do. You’re afraid.”
Now Kateri closed her eyes.
“What do you want to live with your whole life, Kateri Kwinault? Your failure to rescue your friend or your cowardice and failure to try?”
Kateri gave a dry, hard sob.
“Make up your mind. And take action now. Time is running out.”
*
Kateri’s eyes snapped open. She lifted her head from her desk. She stood and walked into the break room.
Bergen woke with that wide-eyed, I’m alert! expression. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing.”
“Damn it.”
“That being the case, do you think law enforcement can do without me tonight?”
It took a moment for him to assimilate her question, work himself into an upright position and examine her as if she’d lost her mind. “Sleep deprivation getting to you?”
“Even worse. I’m going to talk to the frog god.”
A startled moment of silence, then Bergen laughed aloud. “I wish you wouldn’t joke about that. It scares the hell out of us Scandinavian boys.”
If you only knew … “You scare easy. So you’ll cover for me?”
Bergen’s voice sobered. “The only thing that we’ll call you for is if we spot John Terrance or … or whoever is killing the women.”