Page 12 of Girl, Reborn

‘Close enough,’ Ella said.

‘That’s like saying only one person hasever died from drinking and driving and juggling, so it’s statistically saferthan plain old drink-driving.’

'That's why I keep juggling balls in mycar.' Ella leaned forward as the plane began its ascent. 'Eyes up. Look at me,partner. So our killer targeted a politician, maybe driven by a personalgrudge. It might even be an assassination. You know why this is bad news forus?'

They hit the air at one-eighty miles perhour. Ella didn’t even feel the gut-churn anymore. Across from her, Luca satwith one eye closed, like he was at the peak of a rollercoaster drop.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Because this isn’t aserial killer, so everything we know goes out of the window.’

‘Bingo. What drives a serial killer mightnot drive this unsub, so we’re going to have to mix things up.’

The plane hit its cruising altitude witha final jolt. Luca exhaled through his nose, a controlled release of the breathhe'd been holding hostage in his lungs. His color improved from green to merelysallow, and he peeled his grip off the armrest one finger at a time.

‘See, Hawkins. Nothing to worry about. AndI’ve always got my juggling balls in case things go south.’

Luca shot her a baleful glare, the effectsomewhat ruined by the sweat still beading his upper lip. ‘Funny. You shouldtake that show on the road.’

‘That’s plan B.’

He grumbled something uncomplimentaryunder his breath but his shoulders notched down a few degrees from around hisears. He even managed to pry his gaze away from the window and back to the grimspectacle spread across the table.

Progress. Small steps.

Ella decided to throw him a bone, steerthe conversation back to safer waters. Namely, the bloated corpse of RickyToledo and the sick twist who'd left him in that field like so much rubbish.

‘Okay, so we've got a high-profile victim,a showy dump site, and an unsub with a hard-on for flare. Not exactly ashrinking violet.’

Luca nodded, latching onto the casedetails like a drowning man to a rope. ‘The dump site is pretty interesting.Why the middle of a field? If he wanted to hide him, he could have picked amore secluded location. What’s Liberty Grove like for rivers, mountains,woods?’

‘Several of all of them. No shortage ofplaces to dump a body that you didn’t want found.’

‘So our killer wanted him seen,’ Lucasaid.

‘Agreed. It just begs the question why.The killer had to know dropping a body in a place like that would bring theheat down fast.’

‘Maybe that's the point.’ Luca shuffledthrough the photos, considered each with that keen, hawkish gaze of his. ‘Maybehe wants the attention. The notoriety. But the real rush comes after. When hetakes his trophy out into the world and displays it for all to see.’

‘Catch me if you can,’ Ella muttered.She’d seen it before, the hubris of the truly deranged. The ones who thoughtthey were invincible right up until the cuffs snapped closed.

She studied the pic of Ricky sprawled inthe dirt, clothes ruined, skin marbled blue. ‘Still doesn’t explain thewaterlogged wardrobe. If you're gonna pose a body, why not keep him clean? Makea real pretty picture for the 6 o'clock news?’

‘Unless that's part of the message,’ Lucasaid. ‘If he’s trying to trash Toledo’s political party, he probably wants himto look like trash too. Imagine the hit their image would take.’

Ella turned Luca's theory over in her mindlike a rock in a tumbler. The kid had a point. A golden boy like Ricky, left torot in a field like a dead rat? It was a statement and a half. The kind ofthing that could torpedo a whole political party in a heartbeat.

‘Okay, so we've got an unsub with a tastefor the theatrical and a hard-on for humiliation.’ She ticked off the points onher fingers, the picture coalescing in her mind's eye. ‘He's organized,meticulous. To pull off an abduction like this, he had to have a plan. Alocation. He's not some crackpot swiping at random.’

Luca nodded. ‘Ricky was a big guy, in goodshape. Our unsub had to have a way to subdue him quietly, get him under controlwithout a fight.’

‘Could be drugs. Could be a gun.’

‘Which means he's confident. Comfortablegetting up close and personal. Maybe even charming.’ Luca's mouth twisted. ‘Thekind of guy who could blend in at a fundraiser or a campaign stop. Work acrowd.’

Ella felt her own lip curl in distaste.The idea of this creep pressing flesh and glad-handing his way into Ricky'sorbit made her skin crawl. But it fit. Like a key sliding home in a lock.

‘So we might be looking for a wolf insheep's clothing. Fan-frigging-tastic.’

Ella could see the questions pingingaround her partner’s skull like pinballs. The whys and hows andwhat-the-everloving-hells. She knew the feeling. Every answered query justspawned a dozen more. The hydra's heads of a burgeoning investigation.

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