"Pediatrics?" Max said hopefully. "We're getting so close."
"But we still don't have anything," CC grumbled. "Okay, we need to get the interviews set up for today and talk to the Captain."
"You have a theory; I can hear those wheels spinning," Max gloated.
"I need to talk to Carter," CC responded thoughtfully as she mentioned the department psychologist. "I'm just wondering about the two victims from California. All blondes with green eyes - what if they were gay too? I can't help but wonder if somewhere in Simon's life he lost a blonde girlfriend to another girl."
"Could be," Max agreed. "Then if the next woman he falls for or takes an interest in also turns out to be gay, it could be what set him off."
"Makes you wonder," CC said thoughtfully.
"What's that?" Max asked.
"Just how many bodies are we looking for?" CC concluded with dread.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CC AND MAX WERE sitting in the Captain's office; their supervisor's bushy white eyebrows were raised to his almost nonexistent hairline. "Could you repeat that?" the gruff older man sternly requested.
"We believe that Dr. Jameson is the killer's primary focus," CC repeated the information in a slow concise manner.
"Not that part," the Captain barked.
"She's my lover," CC reiterated boldly as she watched the vein in her supervisor's forehead begin to throb in an unnatural manner. 'Oh, that can't be good,' she thought.
"And?" he urged her on as beads of sweat began to form on his brow.
"I had a physical altercation with the prime suspect," CC admitted.
"That's the part I needed to hear again." The robust man blew out a breath angrily. "So tell me something - was he the prime suspect before or after he hit on your girlfriend?"
"After," CC answered him, somehow managing to keep her cool façade intact.
"Captain, it's not like that," Max jumped in quickly to defend her.
"I know that," the Captain grunted. "I know that," he repeated confidently, diverting his gaze towards CC. "But I doubt that a jury will see it that way."
"You're right," CC agreed.
"Thank you," he responded with a heavy sigh.
"I don't agree," Max argued. "Calloway has never been alone with any evidence or at any of the crime scenes. We have documentation to support that," Max supplied eagerly.
"Yeah?" The Captain grunted with more enthusiasm.
"I went out of my way to ensure it and everyone and their brother has signed statements to that effect," CC explained. "We can show a clear line from the bodies to Dr. Fisher. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's a creepy slime ball who's been sniffing after my girlfriend."
"No, you don't," the Captain corrected her. "From what I've heard, you haven't connected him to the bodies. Now when you bring me something that will make a judge sign a search warrant, then you'll have a clear line to the victims. In the meantime you don't have squat. But since you're no longer working this investigation, it doesn't matter."
"Captain?" CC began to protest. She'd known it might happen but she had to do anything she could to ensure that she was kept in the loop.
"No arguments," he cut her off.
"Captain, this is Calloway's case," Max defended his partner.
"No, it isn't," the Captain stated bluntly.
"Captain, hear me out," CC calmly interjected. "Fisher hasn't been charged. Max is following that angle and I'm simply pursuing the investigation to wherever it leads me. That includes any and all other possible suspects, including a list of known sex offenders who might fit the profile," CC explained in a cool confident tone.
"Bullshit," the Captain grumbled.
CC simply stared back at him with her stoic façade rooted firmly in place. She could tell by the way his bloodshot eyes were avoiding her gaze that he was beginning to waver. "No contact with Fisher," he warned her as he conceded to her wishes. Remaining on the investigation was more than she'd hoped for.
"There's more," CC continued, pleased by the turn of events.
"You're giving me a headache," the Captain groused bitterly.
"I know," CC responded with a cocky smirk. "I just wanted to give you a complete rundown on what we have."
"Tell me everything," he insisted in a warning tone. "Starting with the queer . . ." He halted his words as CC glared at him and then cleared his throat before continuing. ". . . I meant to say the gay angle."
"Of course you did," CC responded coldly. She understood it was more a generational thing with the captain yet it still didn't excuse the comment. She knew by the way his eyes avoided her own that her point had been made. "After speaking to Ellen Murdock's friends and family and doing a thorough search of her residence, we confirmed that Ms. Murdock was bisexual," CC explained, turning her focus towards the hard work she and Max had put in that day. "And she had on occasion socialized with Sandra Bernstein."
"They dated," the Captain added thoughtfully.
"Yes," Max confirmed. "DNA found at the scene confirms that the vaginal secretions belong to both victims."
"Blood and tissue samples collected at the scene lead to the obvious conclusion that both women were murdered in Ellen Murdock's apartment," CC picked up for him. "Ellen Murdock's blood is also present on the shards of glass from Dr. Jameson's front window."
"Do I want to know how the two of you managed to get all these lab results so quickly?" the Captain inquired with a curiously edgy tone of voice.
"No," the two detectives responded in unison.
The older man simply began to rub his throbbing temples once again. "Why dump one body and not the other?" he pondered aloud. CC and Max had been asking the same question since they discovered that both women were murdered at the same location.
"Not a clue," Max admitted. "We're hoping that Doc Carter might have some ideas."
"What else?" the Captain prodded them.
"Terrell, the attendant who's normally on duty in the back parking garage, has been eliminated as a suspect," CC continued. "He was logged on but further investigation showed that he was at St. Elizabeth's Hospital at the time Sandra and Ellen departed the garage. His daughter and grandchildren had been involved in a minor car accident. He found out just after clocking in. His supervisor left him on the clock thinking he was helping the guy out by letting him collect a day's pay."
"Nothing that hasn't been done here." The Captain shrugged. "The supervisor confirmed this?"
"Yes, as did the staff at Saint E's," CC said. "Terrell didn't even know about it until we went over the dates and times with him. The sad part is that if Terrell hadn't been in Brighton looking after his family, those two women would probably still be alive. And that brings us to Saul Rumford."
"Romeo." Max snorted in amusement. "The kid who filled in for Terrell."
"Right, the one who shut the video down so he could have his knob waxed," CC supplied. "We have an interview set up with him in a half an hour. He isn't being very cooperative since the hospital canned him after finding out what he did."
"What about the girl?" the Captain pressed.
"We're going to try to get her name from him although it's possible she's a working girl," CC said. "Hard to say by the way she was dressed; she could have just been young. I don't know how useful she'll be since, based on her position in the booth, I doubt that she could see anything of interest."
"What about the two girls from San Diego?" the Captain inquired. CC handed him the file that she'd received. The Captain grimaced when he looked at the crime scene photos. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear I was looking at the Bernstein crime scene."
"I know," CC agreed. "Which brings us to another problem. This could be a serial killer." She'd been biding her time in bringing this up, knowing what the reaction would be.
"No Feds," the Captain shouted. CC gave him a wary look in response. "You want to bring them in? Why would you of all people want to do that?"
"Because they owe me,
" CC spat out. "And the stakes are too high for me to let this bastard get away."
Max and her Captain sat there in a stunned in silence. "They can get information that we can't," CC explained. "Like if the victims in California were gay. Right now we can't find anything to support that theory. Or if Simon has anything in his past that might show a prior history and he isn't just some poor schmuck who has bad luck with women. And they can probably tie it up neatly so it looks like no one crossed any legal lines to get this information."
A chilly silence filled the room as her partner stared at her with a slack-jawed expression. CC had never thought she would be asking the same people who had covered up her shooting for help. But keeping Jamie safe outweighed everything else. "Anything else on the case?" the Captain stammered.
"No sir," CC responded casually.
"Well, keep me updated," he said in a faraway tone.
After they stepped out of the Captain's office Max was still staring at her in disbelief. "Don't fight me on this, Max," she cautioned him. "I won't lose her."
* * *
Jamie had a slight spring in her step when she entered the hospital. Despite the tension of the last twenty-four hours, she was elated by the time she'd spent with CC. And knowing that she wouldn't have to face Simon Fisher was an added bonus. "Good evening, ladies," she greeted the nurses who were busy pouring over their paperwork.
"You had sex," Evaline gasped.
"Jealous?" Jamie quipped with a bright smile.
"Yes," Evaline whined.
"Poor baby," Jamie offered with false comfort. "Well, time to get to work," she added brightly as she snatched a chocolate chip cookie from the tray sitting on the counter.
She entered the lounge area and went straight to her locker. She opened it, and with the cookie clenched between her teeth, began to change into her scrubs. As she pulled her lab coat out of the locker, a slip of paper fell to the floor. She stared at it curiously as she shrugged on the coat. With the cookie still firmly locked in her mouth, she bent over and picked up the piece of paper.
Jamie took the cookie in one hand and began to munch on it as she turned the paper over to see what it was. Her heart stopped when she saw the bold nondescript writing. The cookie fell to the floor as she stared blankly at the words - 'You're Mine'.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
"WHAT ARE YOU thinking?" Max inquired as CC stared through the two-way mirror. The sight of Simon Fisher sitting smugly at the shaky table made her stomach turn. "You’re on to something. I can hear those squeaky wheels spinning in that noggin of yours," Max pressed.
"He’s smart," CC explained dryly as Max blankly stared at her. "I mean he’s really, really smart. He knows it and he likes to show it. Did you know that in San Diego the cops grilled him for hours and he never broke a sweat? They didn’t have anything and he knew it. Just like now; he knows we’re focusing on him but we don’t have any proof. That makes him happy. The good cop bad cop scenario is just going to amuse him."
"What would you like to do?" Max encouraged her.
"Go in there and tell him that you’re sorry for wasting his time but you don’t need to talk to him," CC continued thoughtfully.
"Excuse me?" Max sputtered.
"Go in and send him packing. Make sure he feels like he isn’t important enough for you to waste your time on," CC concluded with a wry smile.
Max nodded in agreement and left her alone to watch Simon Fisher yawn in boredom. The door to the small observation room opened. CC didn’t bother to look up; she knew who it was. He sat in the chair next to her. She handed him the files that had been resting on her lap.
"So this is business and here I thought that you were missing me." The man grunted in amused as he shifted in his chair.
"Take a look," CC instructed him firmly, never taking her eyes off Dr. Fisher. "Why would I be missing you, Mallory? The last time I saw you was over a decade ago. You were standing by my hospital bed reminding me how it would be in everyone’s best interest if I pretended that the whole incident never happened."
"Calloway?" the man nervously began.
"Relax and take a look at those files," CC instructed him coolly as she watched Max finally enter the interview room.
"Doctor . . . uhm . . . " CC smiled as Max seemed to fumble for the man’s name. "Fisher," he concluded as he yawned and scratched his head. "Sorry to waste your time but I don’t need you for anything."
"You’re sitting here watching your partner dismiss a witness?" Mallory scoffed. CC ignored the man’s arrogance; she watched in delight as Simon Fisher’s face dropped in confusion. ‘Just push him a little harder, Max,’ she mentally encouraged her partner. "Wait." Mallory’s excited tone broke her concentration. "Two girls in Boston and San Diego? This is federal," Mallory stated eagerly.
"Stop marking your territory and listen," CC cut him off sharply.
"Then why am I here?" Fisher began to stammer.
"Sorry, must have been a mix up," Max said with a shrug. "I have no reason to talk to you. There’s nothing you can help me with."
"Good boy," CC said with a smile.
"Well . . . uhm . . . maybe I could be of some use," Fisher suggested timidly.
"Trust me, Doc; we don’t need you," Max goaded him. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
"Mallory, you’re not taking over this investigation," CC cautioned the irate man sitting next to her as she waited for Simon’s next move. "You’re going to work for us, and all of us are going to end up looking very good and a killer will be off the streets."
"It’s a serial case. That makes it federal," Mallory asserted with a hiss.
"Shove it, Mallory," CC spat back. "Your office will work for us and reap much needed good press. I took two bullets because of your screw-up and your informant ended up dead. I’m trying to catch a killer. How about you? Is your ego really going to get in my way?"
"No," Mallory agreed with a grunt. "What do you need?"
"See this guy." CC pointed towards Simon. "Max told him that he doesn’t need to speak to the police and he’s free to go, but he’s still there. I find that interesting. "
"Uh huh," Mallory conceded and CC knew that she finally had his interest.
"I want everything about him," CC stated flatly. "And I mean everything, right down to when he was potty trained."
"Anything else?" Mallory spat out sarcastically.
"Yes," CC answered in a flat even tone. "Don’t even think about holding anything back or excluding me on this or your already soiled reputation will be looking a whole lot dirtier."
"Understood," Mallory gravely agreed. "Mind if I watch the show?"
CC nodded in agreement as her eyes remained focused on Dr. Fisher. Max had agreed to talk with the young doctor, claiming boredom and a chance to put his feet up. "So why did someone in your department ask me to come down here?" Simon inquired, trying far too hard to sound casual.
"That must have been my partner," Max grunted in disgust.
"That woman," Simon sneered.
"She doesn’t like you." Max laughed. "I made the mistake of mentioning that you were in Dr. Jameson’s neighborhood yesterday."
"What’s so strange about me visiting Jamie?" Simon inquired with a shrug.
CC choked back the bile that began to rise in her throat. "Hey, you don’t have to tell me." Max sighed. "But you know that kind," Max added in a disgusted tone.
"It’s sad," Simon agreed. "Thinking that they don’t want a man. Pathetic really."
"I know," Max agreed. "Makes me sick. But what can I do? Thanks to the bleeding hearts that run this state, I’m stuck with her."
"I just wish that she would leave Jamie and me alone," Simon explained, believing his own lies. "Frankly I’m tempted to file a complaint."
"Maybe you should," Max grunted. "Get the bitch out of my hair."
"Perhaps," Simon responded, sounding confused. "I wonder if she’s somehow behind the vandalism at Jamie’s home."
"Bingo," CC drew out
with a confident smile.
"Vandalism?" Max responded, playing along with the charade.
"Someone broke her front window," Simon explained. CC noted the far away look in his brown eyes. "Smashed it with a tire iron."
CC and Max were drawn in by the young doctors’ slip of the tongue. "Come on, Max; don’t let him know that you know," CC whispered as she tightly clutched the armrests of her chair.
"That’s terrible," Max exclaimed. "And in such a nice neighborhood. I tell you the whole world is going to hell. You know, I can look into it for you. It could have been one of those freaks she encounters in the ER."
"I thought of that," Simon added. "That place is a cesspool. I’ll be happy when my rotation is over." Max just stared at him blankly. "Right, you don’t understand. We’re rotated so we can learn from the different departments. Last time I was in pediatrics. All those screaming kids. But I did have a good thing going with one of the nurses."
"You’re a real heartbreaker." Max chuckled. "I envy you."
"Well, you know." Simon blushed then his smile vanished. "But things with Ellen ended badly." The icy tone in his voice was making the hair on the back of CC’s neck stand on end. Then suddenly his smile returned. "But it doesn’t matter now that Jamie and I are together."
"That’s what happens when you meet the right girl." Max smiled in agreement. "They clip your wings," he teased the young doctor. "Well, I should get back to work," Max grumbled as he stood.
"So how is the investigation into Sandra’s murder going?" Simon threw out casually.
"Probably some lowlife freak that spotted her on the street," Max explained.
"Oh?" Simon mumbled in a dejected tone.
"Don’t worry. It was probably just some loser," Max explained as he led Simon out of the room.
"Let me guess. This Jamie doesn’t have a relationship with him?" Mallory inquired.
"Not in the real world," CC responded as Max entered the room. Her partner stiffened at the sight of the FBI agent sitting there.
"Max, this is Special Agent Mallory," CC made the introductions.
"We’ve met," Max grunted.
The Brass Ring Page 26