He looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows slowly rising. “Why next Monday?”
She nodded. “I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not,” she said, “but those children were taken on different days of the week.”
“And?”
“They go in cycles,” she said. “We’ve got a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday, no Wednesday, and then there is a Thursday, no Friday, a Saturday, and now a Sunday. They are all different weeks, months, and years, but…” She went through each of them for him, adding, “They are in order, but I can’t be sure if I’m connecting them properly.”
“Do you think we are missing other cases?”
“Yes, we are missing other cases. Reese is looking at all unsolved for the last thirty years for me,” she confirmed. “What I don’t know is if another child could go missing on this next Monday, which will be the next day of the cycle. I just don’t knowwhichMonday.”
“Jesus,” he said, frowning at that thought. He gave her a quick headshake. “Did you check out those two latest children? Do they fit the pattern? Have the same mark?”
“I checked the little boy that night,” she said, with a nod, “but the evening light was really bad, and he was too traumatized. I’ve asked Forensics Division specifically to have photographs of his wrists.”
“Maybe you should go check him yourself.”
“I will,” she said, but that’s the last thing she wanted. That little boy had broken her heart and to see him now, today? If he even remembered her—yet it might be better if hedidn’tremember her—she would never forget him.
“What about the little girl?”
“I didn’t see anything, but again,” she said, “the same circumstances apply. It could take the autopsy to confirm.”
“So you know what to do then, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Do I have to take Rodney with me?”
“Is it a problem to have a partner?”
“Sure,” she said, “it’s like having a leech attached. I do better on my own.”
“He doesn’t have to go everywhere with you, but he should go when he can.”
She gave a quick nod and got up.
As she walked out, he said, “Kate?”
She turned. “Yes?”
“Go easy on him,” he said. “They are all good people.”
“So am I.” And she turned and walked out.
At her desk, she sat down long enough to check her email, realizing she didn’t want to even look at the twenty-odd emails sitting there. Logging off her computer, she stood and grabbed her weapon. As she walked to the coatrack, she snatched her vest.
Rodney called out, “Where are we going?”
“To the hospital,” she said. “To see the little boy who came in last night.”
“The one you picked up?”
She nodded and walked to the door. She didn’t care if he came or not, although she preferred to be alone. But, sure enough, the sounds of running feet had him coming up beside her.
“You could wait for me, you know?” he said good-naturedly.
“Or I could go alone,” she said, hitting the button on the elevator.
They squeezed in, with the dozen other people in the elevator. When the door opened at the ground floor, it was just like a pressurized can popping, letting the contents spill out. At least she was at the forefront of the spill. Outside, she stopped, looked up at the weather, and smiled.