Page 31 of Line of Sight

“This got sent to the wrong department.”

Dan thanked him and closed the door. He glanced at the address label. “Mail for you.”

Gary took the package and peered at it. “No return address.”

Dan reached for the box of gloves on the shelf. “Put on a pair of these before you open it. To be on the safe side.”

He chuckled. “I was going to do that anyway. Like I said, you’re thinking more and more like a detective every day.”

“That’s because I have a good teacher.”

Gary put the gloves on, then tore open the brown paper to reveal a paperback. “Okay, this is weird. Who’s sending me a book?”

Dan froze. “Thereisone possibility.” He took a look at the cover. “The Surgeon, by Tess Gerritsen. Is there a message with it?”

Gary shook his head. He opened the book. “No, wait a minute.” He removed a slip of paper from inside.

Cold crept its way through Dan. “What does it say?”

Gary read aloud, “You might enjoy this one, Detective. Your brother would have loved it. It’s been almost a year since my last game. And do you know what that means? I’m ready for another. Because…. Page 334.”

Cold gave way to ice.

“What’s on page 334?” Dan asked.

Gary leafed through the pages. “A line’s been highlighted.” He jerked his head up and stared at Dan. “It says, ‘It has been long enough.’”

Dan’s stomach clenched. “Something tells me we’re not going to like the games this guy plays.”

Chapter Twenty

Monday, December 10, 2018

11:30 a.m.

WHEN Isaw Greg’s name pop up on my phone’s screen, I wassotempted to ignore it. Until common sense prevailed.

It could be important.

Yeah, I doubted that.

“What can I do for you, Greg?”

“I had a couple of visitors. Brad’s brother and that psychic.”

“And?”

“Andthey were asking a lot of questions about Scott and Brad.”

Apparently their investigations had begun. I smiled. I hoped my gift had had something to do with it. Then it hit me. “Scott?”

“Yeah. Apparently they’re looking at cold cases. His is one of them.”

Unexpected, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

“You kept your cool, I hope.” I found the silence that followed a little disconcerting. “You didn’t mention my name at least. The number one rule, remember? That one is a deal-breaker.”

Greg snorted. “Do you think I’m stupid? Of course I didn’t. But they’re suspicious.”