prostitute or vagrant this time. He'd seen her coming out of a downtown office building and he'd done his duty and removed the Cira possibility.
Jesus, he was getting weary of that duty. There was always an explosion of pleasure when he performed the act but he was tired of the searching. There was no doubt that her likeness must be banished from the face of the earth but he had to find the true Cira. Every night before he closed his eyes he murmured a prayer that he be given that one gift.
And he had the feeling that his prayer was to be answered soon. The excitement was too intense, the anticipation escalating with each passing day.
He pushed the newspaper away and scooted his desk chair back to the computer. He couldn't count on finding Cira by random chance. He'd decided long ago he wouldn't deserve that final pleasure if he just cruised the streets looking for her.
So type in the stolen password.
The monitor screen lit up.
He was in!
Now avoid all the security walls they had put up to protect Cira.
He settled down and began to flip through the pages. There were thousands but he was very patient. Even though his eyes grew blurry and his back ached from hours of leaning over the computer, he wouldn't give up.
It was the road that led to Cira.
Here it is.” Jane dropped the sketch on the table in front of Joe the next morning at breakfast. “It's as good a likeness as I can do.” She went to the refrigerator and got out the orange juice. “What are you going to do with it?”
“Send it to Scotland Yard and they'll probably send it to Interpol.” He studied the sketch. “This is very good. You've caught him perfectly.”
“He's easy. Very strong features.” She poured orange juice into her glass. “Besides, as I told Eve, he reminded me of someone. He felt . . . I don't know . . . familiar.” She sat down at the table. “Where's Eve?”
“Outside taking coffee to Mac and Brian, who are on the stakeout.” He looked up from the sketch. “Eve thought that you might object to doing this for us.”
“Why? I don't even know this Trevor. And my loyalty is to you and Eve.” She smiled. “Always, Joe.”
“That's good to know.”
“That being said, I don't think Trevor wants to hurt me. And I can't see him skinning any woman's face off.”
“Just because he has such a pretty face himself?”
“No, I told you I hardly noticed that he was good-looking. He's got a lot more going for him than what's on the surface.”
“How can you judge? As you said, you don't even know him.”
“You have to trust your instincts.” She sipped her orange juice. “You've always told me that, Joe. I'm just following your lead.”
“Now you blame it on me?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Because your character was already formed by the time you came into our lives. If anything, you're the one who nudges us along.”
“Not true. I wouldn't presume. So when do you think you'll hear about Trevor?”
“Soon, I hope.”
“Good. I'm curious about him.” She finished her orange juice. “He's interesting. I'd have offered to do the sketch even if Eve hadn't asked me.”
“Now, that surprises me.”
“Why? He pushed into our lives and he deserves to have us push back a little.”
“Maybe a lot,” Joe said grimly.
“We'll see.” She scooted back her chair. “Now I'm going to find Eve and ask her to take me to school to get my assignments.” She smiled. “Of course, I could borrow your car and go by myself. I'm legal now.”
“I think we'd prefer you to have company for the next few days.”
“I thought you would.” She headed for the door. “So much for my brand-new license.”
Ruth's name is Caroline Halliburton,” Christy said when Joe walked into the precinct three hours later. “She worked at a brokerage office downtown and her parents live up north in Blairsville. She has an apartment in Buckhead and she didn't show up for work last Monday. On Wednesday she was reported missing by a friend who worked with her.”
“Is that who identified the photo?” Joe asked.
“No, actually one of our clerks in the department remembered seeing the photo when they were processing the missing person report.”
Joe swore in exasperation. “We did the usual missing person check before I released the photo to the newspaper. We came up with nothing.”
“So what's new? Since the latest budget cuts we're a month behind in paperwork and at least four months behind at the DNA lab.” Christy glanced at the sketch Joe had tossed down on her desk and then gave a low whistle. “This is damn good, Joe. Is it accurate?”
“Absolutely.”
She grinned. “He's a real pretty boy. I'd let a con artist like him talk me into almost anything. It's no wonder Jane was impressed enough to remember him.”
“She didn't notice he was particularly good-looking. She just drew what she saw.”
“Yeah, sure. For God's sake, she's seventeen, Joe. Appearance is everything to teenagers. He's as sexy as a damn movie star.” She held up her hand as Joe opened his mouth. “Okay, she's above all that. She's not like my daughter Emily, or ninety-nine percent of her age group.” She made a rude sound of derision and stood up. “I'll get this scanned right away and sent to Scotland Yard.”
“Thanks, Christy.”
She grinned. “My pleasure. I'm not like Jane. I like looking at handsome devils like him.”
“He may well be a devil,” Joe said. “You call him a con man, but we don't know that he didn't do the killings himself.”
“No, we don't.” Christy's smile faded as she looked down at the sketch. “Pity.”
Joe watched her as she moved away through the row of desks before he flipped open the Caroline Halliburton file in front of him. He'd been prepared for the photo but it still gave him a shock. The photo made from Eve's construction had been true to life, but this was the picture of the woman herself. She'd been twenty-four at the time of her death, but this photo had been taken a few years before and the resemblance to Jane was very strong.
It scared the hell out of him.
“Joe.”
He looked up to see Christy standing before him. “That was fast. I wouldn't think you'd have time to—”
“We've got another one.” She turned off the cell phone on which she'd been talking. “Lake Lanier. Some scuba divers found a body, marked the location, and notified the authorities.”
Joe flipped the file shut and jumped to his feet. “You're sure?”
“As sure as I can be.” She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “She had no damn face.”
It was her!
Aldo couldn't believe it. It was a miracle.
His heart was beating hard as he gazed at the photo.
She was staring out at the world with a boldness that dared all comers. Fresh, young, and impregnable.
No, not impregnable, Cira. Not from me.
He wrote down the name.
Jane MacGuire.
