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Clearing my throat, I try again. “We need to discuss Porscha and Alastair, and the new victim-”
“Yes, the one we heard about on the news last night,” Vinny cuts in with a shrug. “It freaked Jo the fuck out. She had some wickedly bad dreams, and you’re just now getting around to telling us about this?”
I eye the clock. It’s dinnertime at this point, and the body was found early this morning. I had a lot to do before I could come and chat with the couple since they currently aren’t suspects as is. “I got here when I could, Vinny.”
He makes a humming noise, and I know without asking that he doesn’t agree. “No ID yet?”
I grind my teeth, hating how the tables have flipped. “None yet. It’s early. Unlike before there’s no ID left nearby.”
“Hmm,” he replies, staring at me. I don’t know what he hopes to gain from doing that. “Maybe you should go work then, instead of staying here judging me.”
“We need to talk-”
“Don’t you have an office or something,” he interrupts again. “I heard things are… tense with the Captain, seeing as your serial killer offed his son.”
“Either Porscha or Alastair could’ve killed Wallsburg-”
“But it doesn’t matter who it was,” Vinny argues, his eyes flashing. “It’s still the fault ofyourserial killer, the one you were supposed to put behind bars. Had you done a better job Kyle wouldn’t be dead.”
“Kyle chose to side with Porscha,” I snap. “It was his choice to assist, and we don’t know exactly why. What we want is Porscha and Alastair back in custody. Preferably alive.”
“Porscha for the first time,” Vinny confirms, holding out a hand like he wants to stop me. “Because last time you believed she was dead and buried, and you still don’t know who that body is either.”
“No,” I admit, rocking back on my heels. The coroner Briggs had a lot to contend with after Porscha’s return fromthe grave, and he had to have the body exhumed to even begin examining the bones. He doesn’t seem to trust Dr. Whitmore’s old notes. “The dental records matched Porscha’s because the only teeth left in her head belonged to Jo’s mom.”
Finally, he frowns. “So… she surgically replaced teeth on a dead body?”
“That’s one theory,” I admit. “The eyes were missing, and the hands. It was only half a body, mostly the torso. We don’t know when or why she chose to disguise the corpse, but it fooled all of us.”
Vinny leans back, narrowing his eyes. “Yes.”
We glare at each other for a moment, and I wait and see what else he wants to snap at me for. Instead he just shakes his head and looks away from me, peering towards the stairs. “She’ll be done any minute. I think it’s time for you to go.”
I open my mouth before snapping it shut again as his eyes turn back to me. What we shared together as a trio is over now. I’ve successfully pissed Vinny off again, and there won’t be any more reasoning with him right now.
I should’ve kept the fucking app closed.
Usually I’m more discreet about how I handle things during a case, and maybe it’s because I just came in front of the two of them, but I didn’t do a good job disguising my intentions. I wanted to know what his conversation was about without needing to ask, and it shattered his trust in me. Nothing’s going to fix it for now.
Sighing, I push the mug back towards him on the counter. “Call me later. I’ll have you come over and if you don’t feel like dealing with me you can chat with someone else on the team. We do need to talk with you both though.”
“At the station?” Vinny clarifies.
“No. Like you said, things are tense between my agents and the police department. We always had things set up at mydad’s old place as a second base, now we mostly work out of the house and keep things separate from the local PD. You can head over there.”
“To Edwin Gideon’s house?” Vinny continues, his brows shooting up. “I’d almost rather go back to the penitentiary.”
I wince. Things have calmed down since the break out, and every inmate minus Alastair is back in their cell at the prison. His space remains vacant as far as I know, because the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is adamant that once Alastair is located he returns to his spot waiting on Death Row. He’ll probably go into solitary again after a stint like this and Porscha is more than likely looking at the same fate.
Now that my key interviewee is missing and there’s two possible murderers on the loose, I haven’t seen a reason to conduct anymore interviews at the CGP. All the inmates we spoke with about Alastair had less than cordial things to say about him and only one of them seemed even remotely concerned about his disappearance.
“Trust me, there’s little left of my Dad there anymore,” I admit, pivoting towards the front door. “But come by today. Text me first, in case something comes up and we have to step out. I’ll come back here if I have to, but it’d be easier-”
“Don’t stress out Agent,” Vinny says, and I force myself to not turn around at the jab. “We’ll be by once Jo has some time to relax.”
Chapter 4
I didn’t worry too much about my mental wellbeing initially. Isolation isn’t anything new, and I’ve gone days without speaking to a soul. It’s different though when you know someone's there, versus never being sure.