Page 105 of Girl Between (Dana Gray FBI Mystery Thriller #5)

The click-flash-click of the crime scene photographer kept making Dana lose her train of thought.

As soon as she’d crossed the threshold of the cemetery, she was greeted with the pungent smell of sunbaked limestone mingled with the metallic scent of blood. A grim reminder of the unspeakable horrors they’d been unable to prevent.

An unmistakable tension laced the humid air that hung heavy over the cemetery. The gravity of the situation pressed down on everyone, resonating with the echoes of past tragedies they were still uncovering.

Dana did her best to clear her mind and focus on this scene.

There was no question this was their unsub.

It was a different cemetery, but the scene was the same.

Just like the other victims, the unsub had continued the ritualistic draining of blood and removal of organs.

Except this time, the unsub had gifted them two doll-like corpses instead of one.

From where Dana stood, she couldn’t tell much about the victims other than they appeared to be Caucasian and lifeless. But each wore the telltale white gowns and masks, dubbing them Casquette Girls .

Standing on the outskirts of the chaos, Dana watched while Creed and the BAU made a show of securing the scene.

Gone was the quiet, respectful way George and his officers operated when they worked these hallowed grounds. Creed had turned the sleepy Greenwood Cemetery into a full-fledged production. It looked more like he was setting up for a concert or sporting event than covering a crime scene.

“Jazz Fest pulls less power than these fools,” Neville grumbled as another set of mobile stadium lights was wheeled into place.

Three large tents had been erected. Two covered the bodies and the third seemed to be some sort of mobile command center, where blue-booted FBI agents donned in latex gloves recorded everything from soil samples to barometric readings.

“Think we’ll get a crack at the evidence anytime soon?” LaSalle asked George.

“If there’s anything left they haven’t trampled,” Neville said, pointedly staring at the heavily trodden grounds.

“This is why we called the BAU,” George said. “We need to give them room to do what they do.”

“If you ask me these rats shoulda stayed in the lab. This ain’t a field trip,” said Neville.

The grumpy NOPD officer had a point. Dana had worked more than her fair share of crime scenes with the FBI and BAU alike.

None of them operated like this. It was like watching bees without a queen.

She hoped there was a method behind their madness, because one thing was certain: their killer’s appetite was growing.

“Why two bodies?” Dana asked.

“Maybe we’re getting close,” LaSalle guessed. “Spooked ‘em into upping the body count ‘cause we’re closing in?”

George shook his head. “We haven’t executed warrants or named suspects yet.”

“Could we have a leak?” asked Dana.

As if on cue, Dr. Landry ducked the crime scene tape and ambled over, his watery eyes wide with horror .

George caught Dana’s eye. “Well, I guess you’re gonna get what you wished for,” he said under his breath.

Hurt sliced through Dana at the accusation. She tried to stutter her objection, but George was already striding away from her. He caught Landry’s attention with a wave before directing the shell-shocked physician away from the crowd.

Dana set her jaw as she charged after them.

George could think what he wanted. She’d be damned if she didn’t learn from her mistakes.