Page 43 of Rookie Days

“In your opinion,” Quinn smirked. “Gotcha.”

She unwrapped her bagel, reminding Ellie that she had run a fast 10K and had yet to have breakfast. The part of the nightwhen she was not wrestling with a familiar nightmare had been spent replaying the evening with Janet in her mind. The memory of that first kiss still held a lot of heat, and made her smile. But the look of hurt and disappointment in Janet’s eyes just before it all went sour, prompting her disastrous departure, also weighed heavy on her heart. Janet had just asked a simple question about seeing her again...So why did I freeze on her like that?Ellie was concerned that she’d then followed up by saying all the wrong things. Then again, why had Janet reacted so explosively? It was nuts, and she almost blurted it out loud in frustration:Women!Solid proof, if anything, that complications did not only occur out of long-term relationships…

“Are you still with me?” Quinn grunted.

“Yes.” Ellie re-focused, frowning at the board. “I just wish I could make sense of it.”

“Keep at it, stick to your method, and you’ll figure it out. Now give me some tangible stuff. Were you able to track down O’Connell’s male partners and verify their whereabouts on the night of the murder?”

“Yes.” At least, a minor result. “One was out of the country, over in New Zealand on business. The other’s a private pilot for a local firm. Turns out he was flying a jet to Miami at the time. Lover number three was in the hospital with appendicitis. Also verified.”

“Rock-solid alibis for all.”

“Yeah. These guys are off the suspect list.”

“Only three lovers, though?”

“Bryn was more into women.”

“Okay.” Quinn finished her coffee, stood up, and stretched. “I agree with you about the furious lover angle, especially since it doesn’t fit with the victim’s profile. That’s good thinking and analysis, Ellie.”

“Thanks. There was fury in this crime though.”

“Hot fury and cool premeditation. What do you make of that?”

Ellie thought quietly for a moment, then out loud.

“Rape is never about sex. It’s about domination and control over someone. It could be about punishment too... In that sense, it would be extremely personal, as you said. Taking the power, taking a life…”

“Yes. Go on.”

Ellie raked her fingers through her hair and let out a sharp exhale as frustration returned.

“Not too sure how. I keep going in circles, back to the other option. Maybe this crime was not about O’Connell in the least. Perhaps it was about the animalistic thrill to subdue and kill.”

“That can be a powerful motivator for some.”

“Could be he was on the hunt for prey that night, and Bryn found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it was this kind of a random hit, and he got away with it so easily, he must be feeling high right now. Thinking about wanting to do it again soon. And who knows, maybe it wasn’t even his first time doing this. Damn, I feel so helpless!”

Ellie regretted this last line, and the emotion she allowed to slip into it, as soon as she noticed Quinn’s expression change. In the blink of an eye, it shifted from thoughtful and open, as they considered angles and tossed ideas about the case, to assessing and downright suspicious.

“I’m fine, dammit.” She snapped, only to wince again at the flare of heat it triggered in her commander’s blue eyes.Oh, shit.“Uh… Sorry. Lieutenant.”

Quinn moved to her side of the desk. She shot a brief glance over her shoulder as another detective entered the office and sat at his own desk. Then she spoke in a quiet voice that still made the small hairs on the back of Ellie’s neck stand at attention.

“I know you’re fine, Detective, because I’ve cleared you for duty. Now don’t waste your breath moaning to me about feeling helpless. Get back to work and find me this killer. Now.”

chapter 14

“Stick out your chest. Butt out. Gorgeous! Keep your legs open. Knees out. You got it, nice and tight, baby. Thighs of steel, here we go!”

Janet listened with half an ear and a frozen grin on her face as the perky personal trainer paced her through a solid round of body-weight exercises. Never before had she felt so ridiculous putting on a sweat.

“I know how to squat, for God’s sake,” she muttered under her breath.

“Mmm? You like squats, darling?” The trainer, who looked about twenty and sported gorgeous abs, beamed in reply. “Hey, sweet! We’ll do weighted thrusters next!”

Her bubbliness was a bit annoying but Janet had to admit that she knew her stuff. The workout lasted only forty minutes but every one was made to count. Bobbie had tailored it to her specific goals, for maximum benefits in a short amount of time. This was no cookie cutter training, and the kind Janet was happy to pay for. She was stretching afterwards when a friendly voice sounded behind her.

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