Dragging her fingers through her hair, she blew out an exasperated breath. “You’ll know soon enough,” she told herself, and headed out of the parking lot to the grocery store across the street.
There were several cop cars, an ambulance, and obvious unmarked vehicles parked alongside the grocery store. A handful of civilians stood alongside the building as well, curiosity besting them as they watched the crime scene in action.
She decided to call Paul instead of waiting for him to call her when she pulled into the busy grocery store parking lot. “Paul Hernandez, please,” she told the receptionist who answered. “This is Special Agent Kylie Dover,” she added, not wanting to be on hold long. “It’s important.”
Paul snickered when he came on the line. “It’s always important or you wouldn’t be calling me,” he said, a smile in his voice. “And I don’t have any more information for you.”
“That’s cool. Let me know as soon as you do,” she told him as she parked in the middle of the parking lot in front of the grocery store, which was on a nice side of town. “I really want those ISPs confirmed at the police station. Any way you can take care of that and not wait for the Chief to get us the info?”
“John has me working on another project, but I’ll see what I can do for you,” Paul said.
“I appreciate it.” Kylie stared out her window at the scene in front of her.
Yellow tape already secured off the crime scene on the back side of the building. From where she parked she could partially see the activity going on behind the store. But she didn’t see Perry or any other officers.
“I’m at Raney’s.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I didn’t want the Chief to know this morning, but last week I had a few teenagers over for pizza and plugged them for information on the cases. The girls’ uncle is Lieutenant Perry Flynn.”
There was silence on the line only for a brief moment. “One of the cops here in town?” Paul guessed.
“Yup.”
“And the pizza party was purely business?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?” she snapped.
“So, it wasn’t,” he decided, that damn smile still obvious in his jovial tone.
“Hernandez,” she growled, getting out and leaning against her car as she studied the scene predominantly hidden by the brick and mortar building and emergency vehicles. “Teenage girls are disappearing and being murdered.”
“I’m very aware of that,” he interrupted, the smile no longer in his tone. “I’ve also heard of Lieutenant Flynn.”
“You have?” She didn’t mean for the catch to sound in her words, or for her tone to turn raspy. There was something about Perry, though, something she didn’t have a label for yet. Maybe it wasn’t anything more than incredible sex appeal and a dominating nature that seriously turned her on. And maybe he turned her on because he bordered on dangerous. If he were her guy, though, “danger” didn’t begin to describe him.
“He’s handled some high-profile cases here in town over the years. Word is he’s quite the womanizer, which, if it’s any consolation, would make him less of a candidate to be Peter.”
She understood Paul’s line of thought, the simple premise being that a man who could get it easily wasn’t as likely to be a serial rapist, although she forced herself to accept that wasn’t always the case. People with sick minds came in all shapes and sizes.
“I’m not ruling out anyone this early in the game,” she told Paul. “I don’t have any established profiles yet. But I need them not only on Peter, but also on the local law. So, I’m headed over to this scene and going to play the curious onlooker. See what I can find out.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I have more info.” Paul’s tone remained serious. “Watch your ass.”
“Always.” She said good-bye and snapped her phone shut, then pushed away from her car.
Kylie wouldn’t try counting how many times she’d walked along this side of a crime scene, playing the curious bystander, while analyzing the scene from a different angle than those on the other side of the tape. She walked around those who stood alongside the building, trying to learn what was going on, and stopped when she reached the back side.
Four officers in uniform moved around the Dumpster behind the store. Kylie stared at the outline drawn on the ground, where the body was found. The ambulance hadn’t left yet, but she figured the body was already inside. She would get a good look at the girl down at the morgue.
Perry and the Mexican man with him, who she guessed might be his partner, weren’t in uniform. The two of them stood talking to three store employees along with two other men and a woman who possibly were also store employees, maybe management.
Kylie focused her attention on the cops in uniform, two men and two women. They moved around the crime scene, snapping pictures, talking among themselves, and taking in all the details. Their actions were by the book, which made it easier to follow what they did. If anything, that spoke highly of their department, and she understood better why the Chief got his dander up so easily when it was suggested that one of his own could be their perp. Kylie noted a well-trained unit, recording and documenting a terrible crime. She also noted that none of them appeared to show any peculiar behavior.
Tingles raced over her flesh the moment Perry spotted her. His dark, ominous gaze damn near made her shiver in spite of the warm sunlight on her back. He looked away first, saying something when one of the store employees finished speaking. Kylie edged around the people standing around her, paying attention to their comments and speculation but not hearing anything suspicious. Then backing away from the crowd of spectators, she took in the crowd, studying each face and putting it to memory. Everyone looked horrified and disgusted.
Her cell phone rang and Kylie turned toward her car when an officer ordered the onlookers to disperse. She walked faster, answering as she reached her car.
“Kylie, it’s Paul.”
“What do you got?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder and then unlocking her car.
“Female, age fifteen, student at Holy Mary’s, a private high school in Mission Hills. Her name was Kathleen Long.” He continued with her address, parents’ info, and then paused. “I’ll e-mail all of this to you. Obviously this is pending the autopsy, but the immediate diagnosis was rape and sodomy. It sounds as if she was pretty beaten up. They don’t have a clue why her body was there.”
“Was she dead before she was put there?” Kylie asked, knowing Paul wouldn’t know, but it was the first question that came to mind.
“I’m sure our Chief will have those answers for us soon.”
“You know, you could have filmed that crime scene for a textbook demonstration video,” Kylie commented, moving behind her wheel and closing the car door. “I didn’t notice any odd behavior from any officer working just now.”
“That’s good to know,” Paul said.
“Yeah.”
The ambulance left and another unmarked car followed. Kylie started her engine but kept her fingers on the keys when Perry drove toward her. The squad car stopped, taking two stalls when he put it in park at an angle. He got out of the car, leaving his partner in the passenger seat, and approached her with long, determined strides. It crossed her mind to lock the doors the second before he reached for the door handle and yanked her car door open. Kylie hung up her cell and tossed it to her passenger seat just as strong fingers wrapped around her arm and lifted her out of the car.
“What did I tell you about playing private detective?” Perry growled. He looked pissed, but there was something else smoldering in that dark gaze that heated her insides to a dangerous level so quickly that she couldn’t think of a good answer. “This isn’t a game.”
“I’m not playing.” Her voice cracked when she spoke and she cleared her throat, daring to stare him down in spite of his intimidating glare. “What happened to her?” she asked before she could stop herself. For a moment he looked as though he would growl. A small muscle twitched along his jaw next to that hairline scar of his. “I was across the street. You saw me. I was curious just like everyone else,” she added quickly.
“Someone raped a young girl and beat her so badly that it will be hard for her family to recognize her, I’m sure,” Perry told her, his voice rough with emotion while his gaze moved slowly across her face. “We’re not positive yet, but it appears she collapsed where she was found and possibly laid there for a few hours before she died.”
