Page 45 of Last Girls Alive

“Yes, I’m afraid so. We’re still identifying the second body—but we believe it was one of the girls at Elm Hill.”

“No…” she said, her voice weak and fading.

“Where can we meet you?”

“If you go up the street past the real estate office, there’s an alley. Take it and there will be stairs at the end. My studio is up there.”

“We’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”

The call ended.

“Damn, I’m out twenty bucks,” he said.

Cisco barked and suddenly darted from the car.

“Cisco!” Katie yelled after him.

The black dog trotted up the street and took an immediate right to the alley.

“Where the hell is he going?” said McGaven.

“I think to Tanis Jones’s house.”

The partners jogged up the street and turned up the alley, following the dog’s trail. There were two dumpsters and the intense aroma of the back kitchen of a bakery.

“He better not be tracking a doughnut,” McGaven chuckled.

“Cisco,” Katie said again, ignoring McGaven’s comment.

A painfully thin woman peeked out over the railing as the dog zoomed up to greet her. Cisco nudged her hand and she bent down to meet him, petting him constantly. “You are beautiful,” she said.

Katie recognized the woman as Tanis, older than her twenty-three years, thinner than expected, and her hair had been dyed with red and brown streaks. She was about to say something but stopped. Cisco seemed to have a calming effect on her as she spoke to him quietly.

“Is it okay if we come up?” Katie asked.

Tanis nodded.

Katie and McGaven slowly ascended the stairs. “I’m Detective Katie Scott and this is Deputy Sean McGaven.”

She shyly invited them into her home.

“That’s Cisco. He’s a retired military dog,” Katie said.

“A war dog?”

“Yes.”

Tanis said, “You were in the military?” She sounded surprised as she studied Katie.

“Two tours in the army with Cisco here. We were an explosives K9 team.” She smiled and sensed that it meant something special to Tanis, but she didn’t push to find out more.

“Please come in,” she said.

The studio apartment had been decorated in a similar style to the gift shop with bright colors and plenty of knickknacks. Katie figured that the owner was letting Tanis stay there.

A folded futon took up one corner of the room and there were two mismatched fabric chairs on the other side. At the other end was a small kitchen with a microwave and hot plate and then a closed door which she assumed to be the bathroom.

Instead of standing awkwardly at the threshold, Katie took a seat in one of the chairs. She eyed McGaven and he took the other. They patiently waited.