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TWELVE

Erin looked at Kaely, who stared at the chief with her mouth open. Erin was pretty sure she knew what Kaely was thinking. Here we go again.

“Can you tell how long they’ve been there, Chief?” she asked.

“These are older,” he said slowly. “At least one is. All of them buried not far from the body we found this morning. But maybe they’re not connected.”

“Of course they’re connected,” Erin said sharply.

Kaely reached out and touched her friend’s arm.

“I... I’m sorry,” Erin said. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I didn’t mind helping you with the body this morning, but seriously? I was really hoping for time to relax. Not... this.”

“I’m sorry,” the chief said. “This isn’t your situation to worry about. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“No, you were right to come here,” Kaely said gently. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Let me ask you a question, Chief. How long have you lived in this area?”

Chief Nightengale frowned. “A long time. Why?”

“Have you ever found bodies in the woods before?”

He frowned and shook his head. “No. Never.”

“So, you find one body lying on top of the ground and then uncover three more buried near the same location. What are the chances they’re not related?”

“I see your point. But why leave one body exposed and the others under the ground?”

Erin glanced at Kaely. She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Kaely.

“The other bodies were practice,” she said, echoing Erin’s suspicions. “He buried them because they weren’t right. Weren’t what he wanted. The one you found was perfect in his estimation. There will be more.”

The chief’s face turned pale. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” He shifted back and forth on his feet. “Look, I want to call the FBI in on this, but the mayor and the council won’t go for it. They’re not convinced the bodies we just discovered have anything to do with the woman we found this morning. They’re also afraid a large FBI presence would hurt the tourist trade. It’s stupid. This isn’t our busy season.”

“But if it gets out to the media, it could definitely impact the area for a while,” Kaely said. “Not that I agree with them. I don’t. I’m just trying to explain their reasoning.”

“Well, if they won’t change their minds, I could really use your help.”

Erin had learned a lot about the FBI from Kaely. The chief was right. Unless local authorities invited them, they wouldn’t interfere in a local investigation. That would only change if this was a federal crime. Which, of course, it wasn’t.

“I understand,” Erin said. “I’m certain Kaely can help you.” She looked at Kaely, who stared at the ground. What was she thinking? Had Erin just offered Kaely’s assistance without her permission? But why wouldn’t she want to help?

Before she could say anything else, Kaely said, “Chief Nightengale, I’d be happy to write a profile for you. It should help you narrow your search. Profiles aren’t always right, but they’re usually helpful. But first, I need to ask you some questions.”

“I’ve got to get back to the scene,” he said. “Can you come with me?”

Kaely looked at Erin. “Is that okay with you?”

Erin nodded. “Of course. It’s your decision.”

Kaely nodded and then turned her head and met the chief’s gaze. “Before we leave, I need to ask how you found the other bodies.”

The chief frowned. “Our dogs. We have two of them. They used to work as cadaver dogs in Knoxville. When Mutt and Jeff were retired, my administrative assistant, Lisa, adopted them. One of my officers let them out after Miss Delaney left, just to see if they could pick up any kind of a trail. They went nuts. Ran to a spot about twenty yards from the body we found this morning. Started pawing at the ground. My officers dug around and found the first body. After that, they just followed the dogs. They alerted two more times. After the other two bodies were dug up, they quieted down. And yes, my officers wondered if there were more, so they allowed them free rein. They just went back to the car. If there’s anything else out there, they didn’t alert to it.”

Kaely nodded. “Your UNSUB either lives in the area or he comes here regularly. We need to narrow down TOD for each victim.”

“The doc is looking them over now and should be able to give us an estimated time of death sometime today. If I had to guess, I’d say at least one of them has been there over a year. But I’ll let Dr. Gibson give you a more definitive time frame.”

“Okay,” Kaely said. “We’ll get our jackets and join you shortly.”

“Thanks. I’ll wait out here for you. And by the way,” he said, addressing Erin. “The body you saw this morning was identified as a woman who went missing from our local resort. I thought you’d want to know.” The chief turned and walked down the steps, headed for his car.

“I’m sorry about this,” Erin said after closing the door. “I’m sure this isn’t what you were expecting.”

“Actually, I should have known,” Kaely said with a sigh. “I swear, it’s like this kind of thing follows me wherever I go.”

“I may not believe in God,” Erin said, “but if I did, I might think that maybe this happens because it’s supposed to. Because it’s your calling. God is using you to help people.”

Kaely’s eyebrows shot up. “For someone who doesn’t believe in God, that was pretty intuitive. You could be right.” She shook her head. “I have to admit that part of me has missed this. Just helping to bring justice to victims and their families.” She grinned at Erin. “Not the people dying thing.”

In spite of herself, Erin laughed. “That’s awful.”

“Don’t point your finger at me,” Kaely said, smiling. “You write about this kind of stuff.”

“Okay, we’re both terrible human beings,” Erin said, grinning. “Let’s grab our coats and get in the car.”

Kaely saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

As Erin got her coat and pulled it on, she realized that, even though she’d been worried about going out in public, away from her safe space, for the first time since she’d arrived in Sanctuary, she wasn’t afraid.

They’d taken the bait. He hadn’t been certain about displaying his first offering until he found out the famous author and her FBI friend were coming here. After three imperfect attempts, he’d felt confident enough to share this gift with the world. It showed his brilliance, and he was proud of it. They would never connect it to him. He would beat them at their own game. And he would never stop. He’d studied their methods and knew how they thought. He intended to contradict every one of their suppositions.

He would not only break them. He would break the angels.

He heard his god sigh with pleasure, and it made him smile.