Part 29 (1/2)
Dominic held up his badge.
Hunter and Katie bolted from their vehicles, worry stamped on their features.
”Serena?” Hunter asked as another ambulance pulled up behind the unmarked car.
”Alive, but unconscious.”
Paramedics headed toward them and Dominic waved them over to Serena. There was nothing they could do for the dead officer. Katie was already next to the body. The other officers shut down the intersection, rerouting traffic.
Dominic watched paramedics work on Serena. Anxious, he tried not to hover, but from the slanted looks the younger one kept shooting him, Dominic had a feeling he wasn't doing a very good job of staying back.
As they placed her on the gurney, her eyes fluttered and a moan slipped from her lips. ”Dominic?”
He stepped forward and snagged her hand. ”Right here, Serena.”
”What happened?”
”You got hit.”
”It was him, wasn't it?” she whispered.
Dominic nodded. ”Yeah.”
”The officer behind me . . .”
”Dead.”
Grief flashed. ”I'm so sorry.”
”Me too.” Dominic clenched his jaw against the fury that raged in him.
She tried to sit up and he eased her back. ”Go to the hospital and get checked out.”
”I'm all right.”
”Don't argue.” He hadn't meant to sound so harsh.
She flinched. ”Right.” Serena lay back and licked her lips.
The fact that she didn't argue worried him. ”Sorry, I'm not upset with you.”
”I know,” she whispered.
”You have an escort to the hospital. I'll be there as soon as I can.” He paused. ”Anyone you want me to call?”
”Yeah. I want my mom.” She gave him the number and his heart clenched when a tear slid down her cheek to disappear into the delicate sh.e.l.l of her ear. He leaned over her and looked into her eyes. ”You're going to be okay.”
She sniffed. ”I know.” But Dominic didn't see any belief in the statement.
One of the paramedics nudged him and Dominic stepped back. ”See you soon.”
”Wait!” She winced and held a hand to her head. The paramedics paused again. ”He stole my briefcase.”
So that's what the guy had been holding.
”What was in it?”
”Just work stuff.”
”Go get checked out. We'll worry about that later.”
The paramedics rolled her away and loaded her into the back of the ambulance. Dominic made sure Hunter and Katie were on its tail.
The coroner's vehicle pulled up followed by a black SUV. A man Dominic had never seen before stepped out of the SUV just as his phone rang.
He heard the man introduce himself as Ralph Newton, the medical examiner on call. Dominic punched the green b.u.t.ton to answer. ”h.e.l.lo?”
”Colton here.”
”I'm kind of in the middle of something, can I call you back?”
”This is important. Hunter just texted me and said he didn't have time to talk to you at the scene. If you can spare me a couple of minutes, I think you need to know this.”
Dominic watched Ralph Newton lean over the body of Officer MacDougall. ”Sure, what is it?”
Colton said, ”We've uncovered some things related to the Doll Maker Killer copycat.”
”Go on.”
”We've got a possible for the latest dead girl. Kelsey Nicholson. Her prints were in the system when she applied to be a day care worker. But she was picked up on a shoplifting charge a couple of years ago. We're waiting on the parents to come ID her and talk to us.”
”All right. Keep me posted. Serena's on her way to the hospital to get checked out and I want to be there for her.”
”I'll check with Alexia and see if she remembers Kelsey.”
The ME said something to the officer standing next to him, and the officer cursed and turned away to gain control of his emotions.
Dominic said goodbye and walked over to see what the commotion was. ”I'm Special Agent Dominic Allen. What's the problem?”
Ralph Newton gently turned the officer onto his side and pointed at a b.l.o.o.d.y area on the man's upper right torso beneath the shoulder blade. Dominic blinked as he realized what that meant. He looked at the ME. ”He was shot in the back?”
”Yep. That's an entry wound. No exit wound.”
Dominic felt his stomach churn. ”So our serial killer had some help. The only way MacDougall could have been shot in the back is if he were going to help Serena. One drove the car into Serena's, the other waited until the officer got out of his car and shot him.” He dropped his head for a brief moment of dread. When he looked up, he said, ”There are two of them working together, which means our workload just doubled.”
1:20 P.M.