'I didn’t say that.' He hesitated. 'Spiro’s done profiling for nearly a decade. It does something to a man.'
'What?'
“It… burns him out. Profilers usually socialize only with other profilers. I guess when you’re a The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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man who stares at monsters every day, it’s hard to talk to someone who doesn’t do that too.'
'You’re not a profiler?'
He shook his head. 'Not yet. They just accepted me into the unit and I’m still training. I’m here to tote and carry for Spiro.' He took a sip of coffee and then said quietly, 'I’ve seen your picture in the paper.'
'Have you?'
'I’m sorry if that’s your little girl they found up there.'
'I’ve known for a long time that there was no hope. I just want to bring Bonnie home so I can lay her to rest.'
He nodded. 'My dad was MIA in Vietnam and they’ve never found the body. Even when I was a kid I used to worry about where he was. It didn’t seem right that he was lost there.'
'No, it doesn’t.' She glanced away from him. 'And my daughter wasn’t in a war.'
'No? Seems like there are wars everywhere. You can’t even send a kid to school without worrying if one of his classmates has an attack rifle. Somebody has to stop it. That’s why I joined the FBI.'
She smiled. 'Charlie, I do believe you’re one of the good guys.' He made a face. 'I sounded pretty hokey, didn’t I? Sorry. I know I’m green as grass compared to Spiro. Sometimes I get the feeling he thinks I’m still in kindergarten. Demoralizing as hell.'
Eve could see how it would be. She supposed a person aged quickly in a job like Spiro’s. 'Are you married, Charlie?'
He nodded. 'Last year. Martha Ann.' A sudden smile illuminated his face. 'She’s pregnant.'
'Congratulations.'
'We should have been sensible and waited. But we both wanted kids.We’ll make out.'
'I’m sure you will.' She was feeling better. Life wasn’t all graves and monsters. There were people like Charlie and Martha Ann and the baby on its way. 'Want some more coffee?'
'I’ve almost emptied your thermos. I’d better not—”
“Open the window.'
It was Joe, his face pressed against the fogged glass. She rolled down the window.
'They found them,' Joe said. 'At least they found bones. They’re bringing them up to the The Killing Game – Eve Duncan 02
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command center now.'
She got out of the jeep. 'Children?”
“I don’t know.'
'Two?'
'There are two skulls.”
“Intact?'
Joe nodded.
'Then I’ll be able to tell. Take me there.”
“Can I talk you out of it?'
She was already climbing the cliff. 'Take me there.'
The stretcher was rigged on a pulley and Eve watched as it was hoisted up slowly.
On the stretcher were two blanket-wrapped bundles.
'You’re trying to keep the bodies separated?' she asked Spiro. 'As far as we can. I wouldn’t bet on the bones not being mixed up. It looked like the mud slide washed them down.'
The stretcher reached the top of the cliff and was settled on the ground. Spiro knelt beside it and opened one blanket. 'What do you think?'
'Give me some more light.' She knelt next to him. So many bones. Splintered. Broken. Like the bones of an animal after carnivores had—
Get a grip. Do your job. The skull.
She took it in her hands and examined it. No teeth. Joe had told her the other skulls didn’t have teeth. Ignore the horrifying image of the murderer pulling them. Concentrate. 'It’s a child.
Preteen male. Caucasian.'
'You’re sure?' Spiro asked.
