Chapter Seven
Monday, September 20, 2:25 p.m.
Olivia frowned at the address David texted. It was a rural area twenty minutes away from the city. Why there?
“What’s wrong?” Kane asked.
“Oh, nothing.” She put her phone away and went back to studying the map of the lake. “We’ve covered the cabins with views of the condo. Nobody saw Tracey Mullen.”
“Or will admit to it. Something’s going on at the condo. Give me the field glasses.”
Olivia patted her pocket, then groaned. “I forgot them earlier. I handed them to David and forgot to get them back. I’ll get them for you tonight.”
He started to speak, then thought better of it. “I think the dog is here,” he said instead.
Olivia strained to see across the lake. “I wonder if it’s the arson dog or the SAR.”
They’d told Barlow the girl had been with a man before the fire started. He’d already called for the state’s arson dog but said he’d get a search-and-rescue team, too.
“Since we have no field glasses,” Kane said, “let’s drive over and find out.”
When they got to the condo, a search-and-rescue team stood ready to work. The dog was a German Shepherd and its owner a tall woman whose red hair hung down the middle of her back like a flame. Olivia knew only one person with hair that color.
“Barlow called Brie,” she said, satisfied. “I wasn’t sure he would.”
“That’s your doggy-day-care friend?” Kane asked, surprised.
“Yeah. Her real business is training dogs for search, rescue, and detection.” She sped up her pace. “Barlow and Brie and I all graduated from the academy together. For a while, we were all close.” The three of them and Barlow’s best friend, to be accurate. “Barlow and Brie used to be a couple. Engaged, actually.”
“Them, too?” Kane asked carefully. He rarely referred to her failed engagement and never referred to Doug by name, which was just fine by her.
“Them, too,” she said. “Engagement didn’t work out for them either. But Barlow knows Brie’s good. She did SAR before she left the force. Her dad’s a vet.”
“Dog vet or army vet?”
“Both. Takes care of the dogs in her training center and the day care in addition to his own practice. Mojo loves him, even when he’s getting a shot.” She waved. “Brie!”
Brie Franconi waved back. “Get a move on. GusGus is missing his soaps.”
When Olivia got close, she made the introductions and Brie shook Kane’s hand with a warm smile. “I’ve heard so much about you,” Brie said. “Good to finally meet you.”
“Likewise,” Kane said. “I seem to have heard a lot about you. Especially today.”
“Our female victim had a cochlear,” Olivia told her quietly.
Brie’s bright brows went up. “That’s interesting.” Her speech was clear, mostly because she’d been deafened as an adult, but partly because the implant allowed her to continue hearing. Not as well as she had before, but well enough to function in the world she’d made for herself after leaving the force.
It had cut Brie deep, resigning her badge. Olivia couldn’t even fathom it. But she’d been there for her, as had Paige, who Olivia had drawn into their circle back in the academy days. I’m lucky, Olivia thought, thinking of Paige that morning. I have good friends. They’d gotten each other through many a tough patch. She thought about meeting David Hunter tonight. If it went badly, she might need her friends again.
“That’s how we ID’d her,” Kane said. “Serial number on the device. Very handy.”
“Good to know,” Brie murmured. “Just in case I ever get caught dead without ID.”
Kane grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean… hell. I’m sorry.”
Olivia elbowed her, hard. “She’s teasing you, Kane. Leave him alone, Brie.”
Brie’s brown eyes twinkled. “Sorry, Detective. I couldn’t resist.” Then Barlow walked up and Brie’s expression went bland. To strangers, they appeared professional, but Olivia knew that under Brie’s veneer, resentment toward Micah Barlow still brewed. “Sergeant Barlow says we may have another victim in the structure,” Brie said briskly.
“Perhaps. We’re not sure if he got away. If so, we want him as an eyewitness. If not, we need to identify his remains as well,” Kane said.
“But if he got away and we can track where the girl came from,” Brie said, “then you may be able to track your eyewitness.”
“Exactly.” Olivia looked at Barlow. “Did you get her clothing from the morgue?”
Barlow held up an evidence bag. “Can we check for the unidentified male’s remains first? One of the investigators is inside, Brie. He’ll walk you through.” His smile was tight. “Wouldn’t want you and GusGus to fall through any of the holes.”
“Thanks,” Brie said, whipping her bright hair back into a ponytail. She tightened her hold on the dog’s leash. “GusGus, time to work.”
She and the dog started into the building and Kane’s brows went up. “GusGus?”
Olivia smiled. “Yeah, like the mouse in the Cinderella cartoon. GusGus. He’s certified as a cadaver dog and SAR and a list of other things as long as your arm.”
Kane sighed. “She’s addicted to cartoons, too? What were they serving in the academy canteen when you all came through?”
“Cartoons can be brilliant social commentary,” Olivia said archly, knowing Kane was teasing. Mostly anyway. “And sometimes,” she added quietly, “it’s just escape.”
“That I’ll buy,” he replied, just as quietly.
Some women craved ice cream. When Olivia was stressed, a few episodes of the Road Runner relieved her tension. Something about that anvil crunching the Coyote’s umbrella made her laugh, every time.
She’d watched a lot of the Road Runner over the last seven months. It had become habit during the weeks of informing the families of the victims they’d found in the lime pit. Come home, walk Mojo, slide her “Best of Road Runner” DVD in the machine, then sit and stare at the screen until she’d fallen asleep.
Their killer had kept their driver’s licenses as souvenirs, making initial identification a lot easier. The killer had been quietly murdering women for decades.
Sometimes the families had moved. But focusing on details like tracking next of kin kept Olivia from focusing on the horror of finding the remains of victim after victim. At times it ran like a slide show in her mind. Bones, bones, and more bones.
The bones actually weren’t so bad. It had been the first bodies they’d pulled from the pit that had been the worst. Lime decomposed a body in a matter of days. But the killer had killed too many at the end. Decomposition was slowed for those final victims.
She briefly closed her eyes, remembering the rotting flesh. How it would simply… fall off the bones as the body was moved.
If there was a body in the burned-out condo, there wouldn’t be much left. It would look like them. Her anxiety returned in a harsh wave and with it, the fierce need to run away. But she didn’t, forcing herself to stand her ground. It would get easier. It had to.
She wondered how Kane coped, but he’d never shared, so she’d never asked. He’d just done his job. Like me. Because that’s what we do.
“We know where the arsonists exited,” Barlow said. “The arson dog sniffed a trail of accelerant to that door.” He pointed to a stairwell door, on the same side of the building as the window on which David had first spotted the girl’s shiny handprints.
“Did you find footprints?” Olivia asked, but Barlow shook his head.
“Only smudges. The arsonists stepped in the carpet adhesive and tracked it to the door. Unfortunately, the adhesive on their shoes picked up dirt, so the impressions aren’t crisp. No tread, no feel for shoe size even, although there do appear to have been two individuals.”
“So if we find their shoes?” Kane asked.