Part 11 (2/2)

aPallino?a She pivoted to face him. aSir?a aWhatas with the roses and note to you?a aKilleras trying to p.i.s.s me off.a aIs it working?a aIt is.a aKeep me informed. The mediaas going to get their teeth into this case. Iam going to have the higher-ups crawling so far up my a.s.s Iall have my teeth cleaned. Get it solved and soon.a aYes, sir.a Before he found something else to grill her about, she turned and got the h.e.l.l out of there, shutting the door behind her. She headed back to her desk where Dante was still sitting, a smug smile on his face. She slid into her chair and gave him an evil glare.

aWhat did you do to my captain? Drug him with the donuts?a aI have a way with people.a She rolled her eyes at him. aNo one has a way with Pohanski.a Dante arched a brow. aA smooth talker like you canat wrap him around your pretty little finger? Come on.a aScrew you.a She booted up her desktop and started entering information on the case.

aSo what did he say?a Like shead tell him. aHe just wanted an update on the case.a aUh-huh. He likes me, doesnat he?a aHe thinks youare going to be a hindrance to this case and I should keep you as far away from it as possible.a Dante laughed. aLiar.a She s.h.i.+fted her gaze to him. aOkay, fine. He did like you. He wants me to stick to you like glue. What the h.e.l.l did you tell him?a aBulls.h.i.+t, mostly. But all the right kinds of bulls.h.i.+t. In my line of work Iave had to schmooze every type. I know how to work people to get what I want.a She leaned back in her chair. aIs that what youave been doing to me? Working me?a aYou know better than that. You know me better than that, and donat give me that c.r.a.p about you not knowing me. You of all people know me better than anyone.a She wanted to say she didnat know him at all. There were parts of his past she didnat know, but she was learning more every day. And she wanted to find out morea”about where head been, what head been doing, what head been through all these years, and how all that had shaped him into who he was now.

Mostly she wanted not to care about him at all.

The problem was, she did care, and that p.i.s.sed her off more than anything. Shead spent years building this great wall of I-donat-give-a-s.h.i.+t-about-anybody. She kept watch over her guys because she owed them, but she didnat love anyone. When you loved someone, they could hurt you. They could leave you.

Shead been really successful at keeping her heart under wraps all these years. Her job had helped with that, keeping her busy enough that she didnat notice the loneliness. The panic attacks and memories of that night kept her from getting close to anyone. She guarded herself well.

Until Dante came back. Until this case reminded her she hadnat been alone all these years. That she did have people she loved.

People she loved that she could lose.

And now it was like twelve years agoa”her and all the guys again.

Only now they were one guy short. Jeff was dead. Someone hunted them all. Someone wanted them all dead.

aHey, Anna?a She lifted her head to see Roman coming into the squad room. aYeah?a aYou need to come outside and see this.a Puzzled, she and Dante headed out the front door, the same way theyad come in.

Roman inclined his head down the street where her car was parked.

Her heart stumbled when she saw the single rose and the card attached to the winds.h.i.+eld wiper of her car.

aG.o.ddammit.a Dante pushed past her toward her car with his long, lean strides. She and Roman hustled to keep up with him.

aI saw it when I was driving up,a Roman said. aI pulled in behind your car and already called for a forensics team.a She nodded, but her focus was on Dante. He was p.i.s.sed. Shead never seen him so angrya”not since that night twelve years ago.

He pivoted in a three hundred sixty degree circle, hand on the b.u.t.t of his gun as if he could spot the killer on this busy street.

aHeas not here, Dante.a He shot her a glare. aYou sure about that? Itas downtown, cars buzzing by, sidewalks crowded with people. He could be right G.o.dd.a.m.n here right now watching you. You need to go inside.a Her dander up, she went toe-to-toe with him. aDonat tell me how to do my job.a He got closer to her. aAnd donat be so hardheaded about this that you end up dead.a Equally as furious with Dante and the killer, she pivoted, leaned over her car and examined the bloodred rose and white card tied to it with a red ribbon.

ab.a.l.l.sy f.u.c.ker, isnat he?a Roman said.

aHeas p.i.s.sing me the h.e.l.l off.a Anna wanted to tear him apart. And she wanted to read that G.o.dd.a.m.n card. aWhereas CSU?a aItas going to take them a few minutes, honey. Let me get my kit.a Roman went to his trunk and popped it open, grabbed a few pairs of gloves and tweezers from his kit.

aWe need photographs first,a Anna said, gloving up and grabbing Romanas camera. She took a step back and shot some photos from a distance, then took a photo of her car in relation to the police station. Once she got the pictures, she nodded to Roman who had the tweezers in his hand.

aEnvelope isnat sealed.a He deftly pulled the card out of the envelope enough for them to read it.

Number two, Anna. Did I kill him good enough for you?

She jumped back as if shead been burned. Angry tears p.r.i.c.ked her eyes. She blinked them back, refusing to let him get to her. aNot for me, you son of a b.i.t.c.h. Never for me.a aHeas playing you,a Dante said. aHeas trying to upset you.a aYou know what? Itas working. I am upset. Heas playing this game and killing people I care about. People you care about. And heas doing it for me? I donat f.u.c.king think so. Heas doing it for himself. For whatever his agenda is. And heas trying to lay it on me. Thatas bulls.h.i.+t.a aPohanski is coming out,a Roman said.

Anna whirled, then groaned. aGreat. Just f.u.c.king great.a Her captain came over just as the CSU team arrived. aWhat the h.e.l.l is this?a he asked as he leaned over her car. aMore love notes?a aIt would seem so.a af.u.c.king h.e.l.l.a Pohanski smoothed his hand over his bald head. aYou light a fire under CSU and get this wrapped up in a hurry.a aIall do that, sir.a Pohanski stormed off. She instructed the CSU team to pull the flower and card, dust her car for prints and get the h.e.l.l out of there. She put a couple uniforms on crowd control, and she, Dante and Roman headed back inside.

aI canat even believe he put that on my car outside the police station.a Dante slid into the chair next to Annaas desk. aWhen you think about it, itas a great idea.a Annaas brows shot up. aYeah? Explain it to me.a aCops going in and out. Busy street with heavy traffic downtown, people not paying attention. Easy to get lost in a crowd and no one expects anyone to do anything out of the ordinary right outside a precinct station.a aHe has a point,a Roman said. aHiding in plain sight. Weave seen that plenty of times on cases.a Anna laid her head in her hands. This case had just gone from bad to worse.

Roman stood. aIam going to head over to the lab and light a fire under Forensicsa a.s.s. We need tox results on Jeff, the results of those drugs both Jeff and George were found with. And now we have this.a Anna nodded. aThanks, Roman.a Her phone buzzed. She pulled it and looked at the display.

aOh, no.a aWhat?a Dante asked.

aItas Gabe. We never got around to telling Gabe.a She watched the phone buzz until the call went to voice mail. If she had to tell one more person about Jeff she wasnat going to make it.

aIall take care of it.a She met his gaze. aI can do it.a aYou go check out the autopsy. See if they find anything.a She nodded. Neither task was going to be a pleasant one. She stood and so did Dante. aIall do that, thanks.a He moved to leave.

aDante?a aYeah.a aAbout outside?a He looked around the squad room, then smiled and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. aJust tension, Anna. Donat worry about it.a She relaxed. aThanks.a She knew she couldnat face the autopsy. There was no way she could stand over Jeffas body and watch them take him apart piece by piece as if Jeff hadnat been a live person a day ago. She might be a coward, but shead rather hear about what they found rather than see it for herself.

She dragged her heels heading over to the M.E.as office, then finally went inside. They told her the autopsy was in progress, so she stalled for time, called Roman who was cooling his heels at the lab with nothing to report. She headed out to her car to finish up some paperwork. By the time she came back inside, it was over.

aYou missed it,a Richard Norton said as he dried off his hands.

Perfect timing. Jeffas body had already been returned to the refrigerated compartment, so she wouldnat have to look at him, wouldnat have to face hima”or her own failure at catching whoever was doing this.

aI got tied up. What did you find?a She followed Richard to his office. aWhoever did this had a much better time wailing on this guy than he did the one before. He was beaten more severely, especially around his face. Relatives wouldnat have been able to recognize him if theyad been looking at him.a She knew. She hadnat known it was him at first. But the image of Jeffas b.l.o.o.d.y, beaten face would remain with her forever.

More nightmares to look forward to.

aCause of death was skull fracture and corresponding brain bleed. If youad been to the autopsy, I could have showed you.a She was glad shead missed it.

aPlus his airway was swollen from being choked, his nose broken, ten ribs fractured, his lungs bruisedaa Anna had to buck up and listen to Richard go over the autopsy results as if Jeff were just another victim, instead of someone shead known almost half her life. If she let it get too personal, Pohanski would pull her from the case. She could only hope that Jeff had been unconscious for most of it, that head fallen blissfully under and had died without knowing a lot of the pain.

Thatas how she was going to think of it, anyway.

aDid you pull anything off the body? Prints, fibers, anything of note?a aPrints, no. Pulled a few fibers from his skin and clothing. Those could have likely come from his house, or they could have come from the killer. Sent those off to the lab to be tested. He had marks all over him, obviously, from being beaten, but your suspect must be using thick gloves when he beats them and only the tip of a shoe for the kicking. We have no shoe imprints on the body, no fingerprints. Heas as clean as the first guy. Once we washed all the blood off, we found bruises, sc.r.a.pes and cuts. He had a deep gash on his head. Your killer took the victimas head and pounded it on the floor of the alley. Brain swelled up like a watermelon and filled with blood. Your vic didnat have a chance. Like I said earlier, this kill was much more vicious than the last one.a Anna grimaced.

aAnd then of course we have the same crude heart carving over his chest as the previous victim.a aI need tox-screen results as soon as you can get them to me.a Richard nodded. aYeah, he was injected. Thereas an injection spot on his right bicep. I saw in the file his bedroom had been wrecked and it looked like head been taken from there to the dump site. I can tell you for certain he died in the alley, so he was alive when he was taken from his house. By the time he was found in the alley head only been dead a few hours. Iall tell the lab to rush the tox results for you.a aOkay. Thanks, Richard.a aYou have any leads on the killer yet?a She shook her head. aNothing yet. This suspect is so clean heas squeaking right through.a He patted her shoulder. aYouare tough and tenacious, Anna. No killer is that thorough. Youall catch him.a aI appreciate the confidence. And yes, I will.a She had to. She would. No one else was going to die.

Dante met Gabe at his condo and filled him in on everything that had happened last night. And today.

Gabe leaned over, his forearms on the knees of his jeans.

ad.a.m.n.a He shook his head. aI canat believe Jeffas dead.a He lifted his head and shot an angry glare at Dante. aThe b.a.s.t.a.r.d took him from his house?a aYeah. Blood in the bathroom and the bedroom was a mess. Looked like a mean fight.a aThat should yield some evidence. Anna will be happy.a Dante shrugged. aMaybe. First time he was Mr. Clean. This time, not so much.a aGood. You donat make a mess like that without leaving something of yourself behind.a aSpoken by someone who knows something of crime scenes?a Gabe lifted his lips and stared down at Danteas badge. aNot saying a thing to the FBI.a aSorry about that.a aYeah. What the h.e.l.l, man? Couldnat you have said something?a aNot really. Maybe. f.u.c.k, I guess I should have. Iam so used to being undercover I just donat tell people. And Iam never around people I know, soaa This lying thing sucked. He was usually really good at it. This time, he was weaving so many lies even he didnat know what he was saying. He should have just told the truth from the beginning.

Anna was right.

But then he wouldnat have been able to become FBI guy, and that was going to help the case, so head live with it.

Gabe regarded Dante with something that looked a lot like mistrust. Dante wondered if Gabe was thinking he was the one being investigated. He hoped not. There was already time and distance between them, and he needed to keep Gabe close, for Annaas sake.

aSo youare undercover right now?a Dante smiled. aNo. I got myself a.s.signed to the local P.D. so I could help investigate Georgeas and Jeffas murder.a aBut youare on the governmentas payroll.a That part, at least, wasnat a lie. aYeah.a aHuh. Canat see you as a fed.a aNo? What did you see me as?a aI dunno. Nothing on the legal side, thatas for sure.a Dante laughed. aThanks, Gabe.a aHey, just call aem like I see aem. Thereas a reason you and me hightailed it out of here as fast as we could after the s.h.i.+t went down all those years ago. And it wasnat because we were saints.a aYouare right about that.a aSo for you to turn out to be FBI after all weave been througha”man, you got lucky.a aI know, right? I cleaned up my act, decided to stay out of trouble for a change. I developed goals and ambitions.a aI had goals and ambitions, too. Only mine were a little different than yours.a aLike what?a Gabe gave him a knowing look. aDo I look stupid?a aI think you can trust me, Gabe. Me of all people.a Gabe laughed. aYou say that like weare supposed to know each other. We donat know s.h.i.+t about each other anymore. I donat trust you any more than you trust me.a Dante leaned back, realizing Gabe was right. They knew nothing about each other anymore. His perceptions of the guys, and of Anna, were stuck in timea”twelve years ago. They were all different people now.

He couldnat help but be hurt that his onetime best friend and closest brother didnat trust him at all. And that was on him. Head have to live with that.

<script>