The Preditorial Page

by Lee, Amanda M.

  “Really? This didn’t go out over the scanner. I wasn’t in your general vicinity so you couldn’t follow me. And, yet, here you are.”

  “And you’re feeling very thankful because we don’t get to spend nearly enough time together,” I finished for him.

  “Actually, I’m wondering what I’m going to do when Jake kills you and dumps your body in the river,” Derrick shot back. “Eventually someone is going to miss you and I’ve got to think up a lie that doesn’t make me look bad.”

  “You’re a true joy.”

  “Right back at you.”

  The three of us lapsed into silence, which gave me a chance to get a better look at the scene unfolding behind Derrick’s back.

  “Stop looking,” Derrick growled.

  “Hey, pal, this is public property. I’m well within my rights.”

  “Jake is going to shove those rights up your ass.”

  “Why are you so combative?”

  “Because I have a sinking feeling that you showing up here is going to be blamed on me. Again.”

  “Hey,” I said. “I told him that wasn’t your fault.”

  “I don’t think he believes you.”

  “Well, that’s his fault, not mine.”

  “Can’t you just go?” Derrick pleaded.

  “Have you even met me?”

  “Fine,” Derrick grumbled. “Don’t get in the way and pretend you don’t know me.”

  “So we’re back in high school?”

  “Shut up.”

  I led Eliot in a wide circle, making sure to stay on the far side of the emergency vehicles, before setting up shop next to the medical examiner’s van.

  “So, now what?” Eliot asked.

  “Now we hope that Dr. Riley comes up before Jake notices I’m here.”

  “What are the odds of that?”

  I shifted my lips to one side as I considered. “Not good.”

  “Great.”

  “Just try to fit in.”

  “And how do I do that?”

  “Just try to look like you belong here.”

  “In what capacity?”

  I looked him up and down. “Tell them you’re here to handle the body when it’s brought up.”

  “You think I look like a mortician?”

  “No,” I scoffed. “You’re far too hot to be a mortician.”

  “I know you think that’s a compliment, but it’s really not,” Eliot said.

  We spent the next twenty minutes staying out of the way and trying to eavesdrop. I’d managed to discover that it was another blonde, her identity still unknown. Given the milky pallor and drawn faces on the congregated police presence, I had a feeling that this crime scene was just as gruesome as the previous one. I was so caught up in my task I didn’t notice a familiar figure detach from the tree line and head in my direction.

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Crap.

  “Hey, Jake. Fancy meeting you here.”

  I felt Eliot take one step forward, making sure to place himself within deflection distance should Jake decide that yelling at me wasn’t enough to make him feel better. He remained silent, though.

  Jake stalked over to me, stopping two feet short and placing his hands on his hips. I think he was going for intimidating. I found it mildly entertaining.

  “How did you find out about this?”

  I opened my mouth to answer but Jake held up his hand to silence me.

  “I was talking to Eliot.”

  Well this was new.

  “We were down at the other crime scene,” Eliot answered. “Avery wanted me to look at it and tell her what I thought about the location.”

  Who told him to tell the truth? That’s not how you play with law enforcement.

  “Are you kidding me? You let her talk you into going to a crime scene on a Sunday?”

  “She’s convincing when she wants to be.”

  “What did she promise you? Wait, I don’t want to know. I’m not that enlightened.” Jake looked beaten.

  “It really was just dumb luck, man,” Eliot said.

  I was surprised. Eliot usually got his hackles up when Jake was around, but Jake looked so tired and pathetic that even Eliot couldn’t challenge him right now.

  “I should be used to this,” Jake lamented. “She’s got a sixth sense. It’s like she can smell a crime.”

  “That would actually be one of the original five senses,” I pointed out.

  Eliot pinched my arm. “Really?”

  “What? It’s the truth.”

  Jake ignored our verbal interplay. “Well, while you’re here, I think we should continue the conversation we were having the other day.”

  “Which conversation would that be?” I feigned ignorance.

  “I think he means the one where he asked you what you were up to and you lied and said nothing,” Eliot offered.

  “Since when did you join his side?”

  Eliot shrugged. “I just don’t want to be here all day while he accuses you of being up to something no good and you lie --and pretty badly, I’m sure -- and tell him you’re innocent in all this.”

  “You’re ruining my routine,” I hissed.

  “I know you’re up to something,” Jake interjected. “I know you’re sitting on a mountain of information and you can’t wait to dole it out.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because I know you,” Jake sighed. “When you have something you’re trying to hide you become quiet.”

  “Maybe I’m just a quiet person.”

  “You’re the loudest person I know,” Jake countered. “The other day, you didn’t say a word at the news conference. In fact, when everyone else was writing down the name of the victim, you just watched them to make sure that it was news to them so you could reassure yourself that you were still ahead of everyone.”

  “I asked a question at the news conference,” I reminded him. “About the torture. Remember?”

  “That doesn’t count,” Jake replied. “You thought you were saying that silently. It just slipped out.”

  Damn. He knew me too well.

  “Well, I’m not up to anything. You know everything I know.”

  “I’m the sheriff,” Jake pointed out. “I’m supposed to know more than you.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  Jake rolled his eyes and turned back to Eliot. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what she’s up to?”

  Eliot tilted his head to the side, considering. “I really can’t.”

  “I figured.”

  “Let’s just say she’s probably five steps ahead of where you think she’s at.”

  Jake furrowed his brow. “Really?”

  “She’s like a dog with a bone when she gets a story she is interested in.”

  “I don’t appreciate being compared to a dog.” I frowned at Eliot.

  They both ignored me, which was good, because my attention had suddenly shifted to Dr. Riley, who was moving toward his vehicle. “Ms. Shaw,” he greeted me warmly. “Whatever are you doing here?”

  “Investigating a crime.”

  “You certainly are tenacious.”

  “Tenacious, obnoxious,” Jake grumbled under his breath.

  “Potato, potahto,” Eliot added.

  I ignored them both. “So, what do you have?”

  Dr. Riley glanced over at Jake to see whether he was going to object, but Jake merely waved him off. “Go ahead. She’s going to find out anyway.”

  Dr. Riley told me what he had -- which admittedly wasn’t much. It was another blonde in her mid-twenties. It was too soon to ascertain her identity. But she was found naked with multiple stab wounds to her torso and neck.

  I took the opportunity to ask him whether it looked as though she died at the scene or at a secondary location.

  “Definitely at a secondary location,” he answered. “There’s not enough blood here for this to have been the murder point.”

  I shared a knowing
look with Eliot and then thanked Dr. Riley. “Will you be having a news conference tomorrow?”

  “’That’s up to Sheriff Farrell, but I’ll be there when he does.”

  “I’ll fax out a release when I make a decision,” Jake sighed.

  Since I had gotten all the information I was going to here, I grabbed Eliot’s arm to urge him to move back down the road. That’s when Dr. Riley made my day just a little bit worse.

  “I’m surprised to see you here,” he said. “Is this a gentleman you met while you were speed dating last night?”

  “Speed dating?” Jake laughed. “Why would you be speed dating?”

  “We should really go.” I started pushing Eliot. His bulk wasn’t making the task easy.

  We were almost twenty feet away before Jake realized exactly what Dr. Riley had just told him.

  “Avery!”

  Nineteen

  The next day a fax from the sheriff’s department arrived at the newspaper office. It didn’t say what I thought it would, though.

  “There’s no news conference until Tuesday,” Fish said. He had called me first thing in the morning to let me know. “You should take the day off.”

  “Why?” Was I being punished? I bet Jake complained after all.

  “Because you ended up working Saturday and Sunday and I don’t want to pay you sixteen hours of overtime this week.”

  Cheapskate.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “If something changes, though … ?”

  “You’ll be the first one I call,” Fish agreed.

  Once he disconnected, I rolled over to find Eliot had already climbed out of bed. “Where are you going?”

  “I have to stop in at the store.”

  “Why? Isn’t that what you have employees for?”

  “I have to count the receipts for the weekend,” Eliot said. “I am the boss and that falls under the purview of the boss.”

  Great. Now I was going to have to find a way to entertain myself. Thoughts of the new DC Lego video game suddenly jumped into my head. Things were looking up.

  “What are you going to do today?”

  This was a trick question. “Clean my house.”

  Eliot barked out a laugh. “What are you really going to do?”

  “There’s a new video game I want,” I admitted.

  “So you’re going to spend sixteen hours fighting Lego battles?”

  “I play more than Lego video games.”

  “Are you going to play that Kinect thing and pretend you have a lightsaber?”

  Well, that was just insulting. “I haven’t done that in weeks.”

  “I know,” Eliot sighed. “I kind of miss it.”

  “Why?”

  “Will you think less of me if I tell you that I imagine you wearing Princess Leia’s slave outfit when you’re doing it and it turns me on?” Eliot looked sheepish.

  “Actually I respect you more now.”

  “Good,” Eliot chuckled, leaning over the bed to drop a kiss on my head. “Why don’t you delay the video game until this afternoon, though.”

  “Why?”

  “You can buy it, but why don’t you swing back around here and I’ll buy you lunch before I lose you to high-definition graphics for the rest of the day?”

  That didn’t sound too bad. I was going to need nourishment if I was going to make it through the main game play before going to bed tonight. “Okay. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Let’s go to that Thai place,” Eliot offered. “I like the Pad Von Sen.”

  “Sounds good,” I agreed.

  “I’ll see you there at one?”

  “See you then.”

  FOUR HOURS later I practically floated into the restaurant with my bag of goodies. I pulled up short, though, when I saw that Eliot wasn’t alone at our usual table. I couldn’t see the face of the person seated across from him, but I’d recognize that hair anywhere -- Jake.

  I considered turning around and fleeing, but that didn’t seem very mature. Instead, I squared my shoulders and slid into the booth next to Eliot. He met my gaze evenly, but he didn’t immediately speak. He was waiting for me to fly off the handle. Well, he was going to be disappointed.

  “Are you two dating now or something?”

  Okay, he wasn’t going to be that disappointed. I don’t appreciate being ambushed.

  “What are you talking about?” Jake asked innocently. “It’s just a happy coincidence. When Eliot saw I was going to eat alone, he invited me to join the two of you.”

  Oh, I see what’s going on here. He’s using my own lies against me. Great. “Well, that was certainly nice of him,” I said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to realize that you guys haven’t been meeting behind my back. I was a little worried there. I mean, if the two of you both go gay, I’m going have some pretty funky visuals running through my mind since I’ve seen you both naked.”

  Jake cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Glad I could ease your mind.”

  “Me, too.”

  Eliot slung his arm over the back of the booth, being careful not to actually lodge it on my shoulders. He seemed nervous. That was nothing compared to what he was going to be feeling when I got my hands on him later.

  “Did you guys already order?”

  “I ordered for you, too,” Eliot said. “I figured you’d want your usual.”

  I know he was trying to be helpful, but his proprietary nature was suddenly turning me off. Way off.

  “What if I wanted something else?”

  Eliot looked momentarily abashed. “I’m sorry. Do you want something else? I can tell the waitress.”

  Not even remotely. “No. It’s fine.”

  Eliot took the bag from my hand and peered inside. “Why did you bring this in with you? Were you afraid if you were away from it for too long you’d fail to bond?”

  “I didn’t want it stolen from my car,” I replied tersely.

  “Why don’t you just lock your doors?” Jake asked.

  “That wouldn’t stop someone from smashing the window and taking it,” I snapped.

  “Okay,” Jake raised his eyebrows, exchanging a worried glance with Eliot. “Is something wrong?”

  “Why don’t you two tell me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eliot said, averting his eyes from mine.

  Okay, enough was enough. “You guys have clearly joined forces to ambush me. Out with it.”

  “You’re paranoid sometimes,” Eliot said. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

  Just my mom when she caught me smoking pot in high school and I told her they were clove cigarettes -- as though that was somehow better. “No.”

  “I called Eliot,” Jake said. “I’m worried about you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you were speed dating,” Jake answered.

  “How is that any of your business? Maybe I’m just testing my options.” I felt Eliot stiffen next to me. “Don’t you say a word,” I warned.

  “I know you’ve figured out that Ellie Parker went to that speed dating event before she was killed,” Jake said. “You’ve gotten a lot further than I thought you would.”

  Just Ellie Parker, no mention of Sophie Lipscomb. He still had no idea how much I knew. “So?”

  “So? So do you really think that the best way to investigate this story is to put yourself in danger?” Jake was trying to sound pragmatic, but I could hear the anger in his voice surfacing.

  “How is going to a public event -- with a friend, mind you -- putting myself in danger?”

  “Because women who go to that specific event- - women who look exactly like you -- are dying,” Jake answered.

  He had just verified multiple victims to me -- and I didn’t think he was talking about Sunday’s discovery -- but I didn’t point out that fact. “I have no intention of meeting any of these men alone.”

  “What men?” Jake asked.

  Uh-oh.

  “Six different guys emailed her the next day
,” Eliot supplied.

  What a tattletale.

  “Did you look at the emails?” Jake was obviously concerned.

  “I just skimmed them,” Eliot replied. “They were just your basic, ‘It was great to meet you, let’s do it again sometime’ crap.”

  “Do you have a feeling on this?”

  “I have a feeling that she’s going to chase this story until it kills her,” Eliot admitted. “She’s becoming obsessed. Why do you think we were down by the river yesterday afternoon?”

  Eliot rubbed his head wearily. “What else is new?”

  Apparently I was no longer a part of this conversation. “Have you two forgotten that I’m an adult?”

  “You’re carrying around a DC Lego video game,” Eliot pointed out.

  “So? That’s a sophisticated gaming experience. It’s not just for kids.”

  “You have little Lego men in that bag, too.”

  “They came with the game.”

  “That makes it better,” Eliot sighed.

  “Don’t hate the game.”

  Jake saw that I was about to explode so he reached across the table and wrapped his hand around my wrist to get my attention. “I’m asking you to be very careful here,” he said, his eyes serious. “There is a killer out there who is focusing on women who look like you. You’re purposely putting yourself in danger and no one wants that. I need you to take a step back.”

  “I bet Duncan wants that, too,” I countered.

  “Don’t be smart,” Eliot admonished. “This is serious. Jake and I have been talking and we think it would be best if you turned this story over to someone else. Turn it over to Duncan. Everyone will be happy if the killer goes after him.”

  “You and Jake have been talking? When?”

  Jake and Eliot exchanged a wary glance. “That’s not important,” Jake hedged.

  “It’s important to me.”

  “We had a long conversation on the phone this morning,” Eliot admitted.

  “So you lied when you said you had to do the books at the pawnshop?”

  Eliot’s eyes flashed with irritation. “Lying is going to speed dating with the intention of never telling me.”

  “That’s omission.”

  “Avery,” Eliot warned. “I’m not going to let you derail this conversation. This is serious.”

  “You don’t think I know that this is serious? I’m the one who looked those mothers in the eye and saw the depth of their despair.”