14 - J. T. Ellison [65]
Taylor sighed, stared back at the little house. “Like getting raped and having your throat cut isn’t bad enough. I need to go back to headquarters and sort this out. Fitz, you mind sticking around, running the scene for me?”
“Of course. I’ll meet you back there as soon as we’re wrapped up. Crime Scene will take this place apart. We’ll find something, LT.”
“Okay if we steal your car?”
“Yeah. I’ll get a ride with Parks. You go on now.” He tossed her the keys and went back across the lawn, snapping his fingers at a crime-scene tech, who straightened and came to him as if he’d been ordered to march by a general. Taylor smiled. Fitz knew what he was doing. If there was anything to find, he’d be the one to find it.
“Get in. I’ll drive.”
Baldwin just nodded and slid in the passenger side of the car.
Marcus and Lincoln were in the office when they returned.
Taylor came through the door and went straight to her desk. She picked up the phone and called Mitchell Price.
He answered on the first ring. “I heard.”
“Good. We’re in a shit of a mess now. Two more apparent Snow White victims, one girl still missing, a dead witness after a shoot-out at the hospital. How much more can this day bring?”
“Don’t ever ask that, Lieutenant. It will only bring you misery.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m going to slough through some of this paperwork. Fitz is holding down the fort at the massage-parlor crime scene. Is Remy St. Claire still in town?”
“I don’t know. She hightailed it out of the M.E.’s office after that damn press conference. Have you heard any more from the FBI today?”
“No, Charlotte Douglas never checked in with us, as far as I know. Baldwin said she’s deep into her own investigation about the previous murders. I’ll ask the boys about it. Anything else I need to be aware of?”
“No. That should do it. Keep me apprised of the situation, okay?”
“Righto. Are you coming tonight?”
“Miss your bachelorette party? Never.”
“I think we’re skipping dinner.”
Price sighed loudly. “Okay. I’ll see you guys there.”
They hung up and Taylor went back into the bullpen. Baldwin was finishing a rundown of the scene they’d just come from. Taylor pulled up a chair, turned it backward and straddled the seat.
“That’s it from me. I’m going to go check on Charlotte, see what’s happening with her, okay? I’ll see you later.” Baldwin nodded at the boys and gave her a small kiss. She smiled at him.
“Don’t get yourself too riled up. You need to go watch naked women dance tonight.”
He rolled his eyes at her and waved as he went into the hall. Taylor turned back to Lincoln and Marcus, leaning her chin on her hands on top of the chair back.
“So. How are you guys this lovely afternoon?”
“Fine. Did you see Frank Richardson leaving?” Lincoln gestured toward the door. “He just split, right before you came in.”
“No. What did he have to say?”
“Just that he had some information you might find interesting. He spent the day going through all of his old stories. Too bad you missed him.”
“I’ll call him later. Where are we with the Baptist shooting?”
Marcus stood up and paced the room. “We’re nowhere. Guy disappeared into thin air.”
Lincoln scratched his head. “Why would he shoot the place up and run away with the girl, only to end up shooting her, anyway? Why didn’t he just kill her in the hospital room?”
“Baldwin and I talked about that. She told me one helluva story. She was an asset, a trained asset. I have to assume that the shooter went in with instructions to take her back alive. We happened upon him at the exact wrong time, and we got her killed. I’m not happy about that.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Listen, we talked to Remy’s grandparents again. They weren’t aware that she might be sneaking out, don’t know who she could have gone with. According to them, she was a sweet, obedient little girl. We’re waiting to hear back from the school about who she hung out with. The canvass of the bars is getting us nowhere. We’ve got a couple of patrols passing out the pictures of all four girls, but no one remembers seeing them. I think