Page 9 of Girl Betrayed

“Haven’t gotten the official ME report back yet, but if I had to guess COD…” Hartwell drew a line across his throat. “First cut was through the jugular. Quick and clean.”

Dana nodded. “That’s the traditional way a Reaper is taught to glean.”

This time it was Jenkins who spoke up. “Glean?”

The Alchemist piped up. “Extracting a vessel of its soul.”

“Exactly. Gleaning is a Reaper’s word for killing,” Dana explained. “They don’t kill unnecessarily, they glean, or cull to rid the world of sinners.”

“You’re talking about Grim Reapers like they’re real,” Lennox said.

“Because they are. Or were,” Dana amended. “There have been numerous accounts of religious culture adopting the lore and legends of Grim Reapers.”

“Great, so we’ve got a killer who thinks he’s some sort of Grim Reaper doing God’s work,” Hartwell grumbled.

“That’s one possibility,” Dana replied. “But I’d prefer to fully examine all the evidence before labeling this a religious killing.”

Lennox huffed a laugh. “Too bad. A lunatic in a hooded black robe wielding a scythe would be easy to find.”

“Actually, you might be right,” Dana replied, her gaze pinning Lennox. “If someone went to the trouble of using this particular weapon in this particular way, they might also dress the part. The garb of Death, or the black mourning robe, dates back to the early fifteenth century and is believed to have been chosen to resemble the dark robes of the priests or monks who officiated at the death bed. But I wouldn’t presume the murderer is a lunatic. Traditionally, Reapers follow scripture, not lunar cycles.”

Mercifully Lennox was stunned silent, so Hartwell spoke up. “Thank you for your help, Dr. Gray,” he said, snapping his notebook shut.

The gesture reminded Dana so much of Jake that for a moment she found herself looking for him in the small crowd gathered around the exam table.

No matter how much Dana wished Jake would appear, she knew this time she was on her own. Unwilling to leave without answers, she spoke up as the group began to separate. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the case? About Claire?”

“I’ll get you up to speed,” Jenkins interrupted, steering Dana out of the lab.

Dana’s temperflared as she digested Jenkins’ recap of how the case was being handled. She did her best to remember she was speaking to a high-ranking member of the FBI, not just a woman she’d fought alongside in the trenches. “Jenkins, are you really going to let some high-profile politician get this whole case brushed under the rug?”

“No one’s brushing anything anywhere. But this case is complicated. The identities of patients at Passages Rehabilitation Center are confidential. Especially this politician’s. It isn’t public knowledge that he was there, and his death makes this a matter of National Security.”

Dana didn’t follow D.C.’s political drama the way most in the city did, but she understood enough to realize any political involvement would make things more difficult. “So, this wasn’t random, you think the victim was targeted?”

“I’m not making any assumptions, Gray, but there’s no telling where this case is going to land.”

“I don’t care where it lands. I care about Claire. She’s out there, scared and alone.”

“There’s no evidence to indicate she’s alone. Other patients are missing. They could be sheltering together.”

“Or they could be …” Dana couldn’t even bring herself to say it.Thinking it was terrifying enough.Dead. Claire could be dead.

Dana closed her eyes and pulled in a steadying breath, repeating her mantra.

One step at a time.

That’s how she’d get through this.

It’s how she’d solved her last three cases; it’s how she’d find Claire.

Opening her eyes, Dana readjusted her glasses. Conjuring confidence, she let her mind brush against each of the facts she’d already learned. There were few besides the murder weapon.

The only sliver of solace was that this was most likely politically motivated. The fact that it happened at the rehab facility where Claire was could be merely coincidental—though Dana had her own beliefs about coincidences.

They didn’t exist in science, and she’d yet to see them exist in her life.

Dana heard Jake’s words in her head.Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

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