Crush - Alan Jacobson [85]
“Once we start getting a suspect pool, we can narrow it down using these guidelines.”
Gordon gave a slight laugh, then looked to Aaron. “Any ID on the vic?”
“Nothing. No wallet, credit cards, license. I’ll get you something as soon as I can run her prints, dental impressions—you know the deal.”
“Knife under her lower back?”
Aaron inched closer, directed his flashlight at the body, and examined the area. “Can’t tell. And I’m not sticking my hand underneath to find out. We’ll know when it’s time to move the body.”
Vail’s phone vibrated. She plucked it from its holster, glanced at the display, and lifted it to her face. “Vail.”
“It’s Bledsoe.”
She reminded herself to enter in her contacts—not having caller ID configured for her phone numbers was a pain in the ass.
“Good news. We just found a fresh vic.” Did I just say that? Shit, I really need some sleep.
“How is that good news?”
Vail rolled her head back, then side to side. “It’s not, it’s not. I just meant, if we found another vic in Napa—”
“How can that be, if the fucker’s here, two thousand miles away?”
“Exactly. That seems to be the question of the day. Until we know for sure, we’re assuming he’s here in Napa, that his text last night was a ruse just to screw with our heads.”
“Between you and me, it worked.”
“I know it worked, Bledsoe. Thanks for pointing out the goddamn obvious.” She noticed Dixon giving her a look. Vail turned away and walked off a few paces. “Sorry. I haven’t had a whole lot of sleep.”
“Takes a lot to piss me off, you know that.”
“Now there’s a quality I could use some of myself. Listen, can you put Jonathan on the phone?”
“I would if I was still there. I left the school a while ago. Everything was clean. My guy’s on him. Trevor Greenwich. Give him a buzz.”
“It’s just—I just need to hear Jonathan’s voice.”
“No need to explain. Take care of yourself. Get some sleep. And call me if you need anything else, especially if your killer really is in my backyard.”
“Count on it.”
Bledsoe gave Vail the cop’s cell and she immediately dialed through. As it was ringing, she realized she knew this officer. She’d had a run-in with the guy a couple of months ago. Not that it was his fault; he was just doing his job—but she was not in the mood to take any shit from the guy. When he answered, she identified herself—waiting for some sign of recognition—but got nothing. She plowed forward, not allowing too much room for him to comment, and asked him to pull Jonathan out of class for a moment. Greenwich didn’t argue, nor did he question her as to why. Jonathan was on the line seconds later.
“Mom?”
“Hey, how are you?”
“Fine. What’s the deal with the cop?”
“He’s there to protect you. And please be polite. He’s there as a favor, okay?”
“A favor for what? Everything’s fine.”
“It’s not something I want to get into. I’ll tell you when I get home. But for now, it’s important you let the officer hang around close by. Okay?”
“Is this a big deal?”
“I hope not. I’ll let you know if anything changes. And call me if you have any concerns, if anything doesn’t feel right. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Whatever.”
“I love you.”
“You too.”
Vail put away her phone and joined Dixon at the crime scene boundary.
“Everything okay?”
“I just needed to hear my son’s voice.” She turned to Dixon. “You have kids?”
“Me?” She laughed. “No. I’d like to, I think. But first I have to meet someone. I’m not into the single parent thing. Certainly not being a cop. You divorced?”
Vail took a moment before answering. “That’s a long story I’d rather not get into right now. Better on a day when I’m awake and not dealing with a major case. Let’s just say I am doing ‘the single parent thing,’ though that wasn’t the plan. It just sort of . . . happened. And given how things turned out, it was probably for the best. Jonathan’s father ended up being a bit more than I bargained for.”
“It’s nice, I think, having children. Watching