“No DNA in the other files. The clothing found on Jason wasn’t his and is currently with Forensics.”
“Well, if the clothing was washed, it’s no longer viable to collect any evidence from,” Lilliana said.
“Quite probably,” Kate said. “I think this guy has a closetful of odd clothing, all in children’s sizes…”
“Jesus Christ.” Rodney sat back, as he tossed his pencil on the table. “So, what is this? A lone ranger club now?”
“Well, let’s see,” she said. “What cases have you been working on for the last three months?”
He slammed his chair forward and said, “I’ve been working on the god-damn Waxner projects.” He just glared at her, looked at the others. “We were doing fine until you came.”
“Good. I got it,” she said. “Chet was great. Chet was your buddy, and he was a hell of a good guy, cut down too early in life. And, damn it, it’s not fair. But it happened. I’m sorry for that. I really am,” she said, her voice hard. “And I get that it’s been a shock, something none of you want to adapt to,” she said. “But Chet is gone, yet I’m here. Now this is what I found, and I’ll continue to work the case. So either join in or fuck off. I don’t much care,” she said calmly. “Actually I’d prefer to work alone, but that’s not my call.” With that, she sat back in her chair. Looking over at Colby, she said, “Back to you, Sergeant.”
He stared at her, then looked at the rest of the team and asked, “Seriously? Even three months in?” He looked over at Rodney. “Are you working on cases you haven’t told her about?”
Rodney flustered, tried to bluster his way out of it, but Lilliana stepped up. “Yes, we do have a couple.”
“What the hell?” Colby roared. “I didn’t bring her in here to work on her own cases. She brings a different perspective that you need to be open to. This stops now. Do you hear me? Every one of you will stay late until you go over the cases that you are working on, until you’reallbrought up to speed. Do you hear me?”
They all stared at him, and not one of them argued. Eventually there was four nods. He turned to look at Kate. “This goes for you too. Do you understand me?”
She gave a clipped nod. “Yes.”
“From this moment on, if I find anybody is lone rangering a case, they will be up for reprimand,” he said. “And I’m okay to kick your ass off the team, if I have to,” he said. “I get that we had a great team with Chet. But he is gone, like Kate said. She can’t step into his shoes. She has no intentions of doing so, and she shouldn’t have to. He was a good man and a great detective. She’s made detective grade, and you have to give her a chance to prove herself. Honestly, after all this, I think she already has. She’s found all kinds of things here that none of us even noticed. That’s not acceptable. Somehow this unit has fractured. Fix it or I will.” At that, he turned and walked out.
There was a moment of silence, and Kate stared at the rest of them. She didn’t say a word because whatever they did now would make or break the next few months.
Lilliana stepped up and said, “Okay. Now that we have it all out in the open,” she said, “let’s go over the cases. Let’s do it all together, so we’ve all got the latest on everything.” It took a moment, but the others nodded; the atmosphere was stiff but workable.
And they spent the next hour sharing with Kate their progress on the various cases, much of which she already knew, because, as much as they thought they were keeping it quiet, they weren’t. She worked in the same area with the same analyst and assistants and even the other two detective teams, which thankfully were on the other end of the hallway. But since they hadn’t bothered to share, she had done her research on her own. Still, she had three cases that she was working on with two of them, but it bothered her that they were working on two other cases and hadn’t updated her. Still, she listened, grabbed materials that they had, photocopied it, and stacked up the files.
“What are you doing with that?” Rodney asked, nodding at the stack she had in front of her. “We like digital.”
“Good for you,” she said. “I’m taking this home, so I can catch up on it tonight,” she said. She grabbed her jacket and her keys, snagged the stack, and walked out.
It was all she could do to hold down the sense of betrayal she felt inside. Making detective had been everything she had cared about for so long. She had her reasons, and she sure as hell wouldn’t share any of that with them. But the fact was, shehadmade the grade.
And every one of those assholes out there who were after kids? Well, they had just better start shaking in their boots because she was coming after them, one by one.
Chapter 9
Thursday Afternoon, Late
Kate headed home,but, before she’d gone even halfway, she got a text from Missing Persons. It was her friend Jennifer.Is this your buddy?And she sent through an image.
Kate clicked to see the image. And then she sent a text back.Yes, that’s him. Why?
He’s been flagged as a person of interest.
Have we got a tail on him?
Jennifer called her back. “Sometimes texting is just too damn frustrating,” she said.
“I get it,” Kate replied. “Did you put a tail on him?” It was hard to contain the excitement in her voice.
“You like that idea, don’t you?” she said. “Let’s just say that, after the mother, aunt, and other people mentioned him, he came up as suspicious.”
“Suspicious as incharlatanor suspicious as inpedophile?”