Page 75 of Pretty Broken Dolls

“And?”

“And she mainly talked about day-to-day struggles and if she was going to too many parties. And…”

“Nothing jumped out? Nothing about her K9 training time and how much she loved it?”

“Nope.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Discouragement was beginning to set in. The journal had seemed promising at the storage facility, and now it seemed it was just about boring day-to-day occurrences.

McGaven turned his attention to the board and then back to Katie. “So, assuming that Campbell is right, and the last three are copycat killings, what is the killer’s motive? What stands out the most?”

Katie stood up. “Well,” she said. “Let’s recap what we have so far: we have our killer staging the victims, meaning they want to cause a scene, mock the police, put the vic in view of the public. Basically, making them pay for something that happened to them.”

“They took something away…”

“Good point,” she said. “It’s about control, revenge, and possibly abuse. I still can’t get what Sergeant Serrano said out of my mind: ‘graduate or wash out’. Could that be what this…” She gestured to everything they had. “What all of this is about? Just a ticked-off person that washed out of military K9 training? It can’t be that easy.”

“No, but it’s central to these cases,” he said. “And…”

Katie turned to him curiously. “And what?”

“Well, I didn’t think I needed to state the obvious.”

“Meaning?”

“The K9 connection is central, but it brings it back to you. Someone was warning you with those shots at the park training. There was no evidence left behind, but the person carefully fired shots near you.”

“What? To warn me? For me to get off the case?”

“No, that you’re going to be the next ex-military K9 handler victim. They are giving you fair warning.”

“Don’t you think that’s reaching?” It had occurred to Katie too, but she pushed it aside. Why would anyone want to hurt her?

“Maybe. But what if I’m not reaching?”

“Thanks for your concern, but I can take care of myself.” She saw McGaven’s expression become clouded and troubled. “Gav, I’ll be careful—just in case.”

He nodded.

Katie and McGaven spent more time going over notes and lists, and made a few phone calls.

* * *

Katie was anxious, her eyes weary, and she wanted to get out into some fresh air to keep moving and recharge her energy levels. She turned to McGaven who had stopped typing on the keyboard and seemed to have closed his eyes for a moment.

“Okay, that’s it.”

“What?” he said, startled.

“It’s Tuesday.”

“So, that doesn’t really mean anything when working a homicide?”

“This has been a really tiresome week already. And I’m declaring…”

McGaven waited for what she would say.

“Coffee, lots of good coffee and some food too—maybe even junk food.” She stood up, slipping on her jacket. “You coming?”