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“Vee.We got a call from Linnaeus County PD.It’s, erm… it’s pretty nasty.”
He’d started doing this roundabout when Denton started popping up in the news again.Treating her like she was made of tissue paper.She understood it came from a good place in her colleague’s heart, but she was going to have to slap it down.
“Go on,” she said, tersely.
“Last night, a priest burned to death in the confession box.”
“Jeez.Arson?”
“Very definitely – use of accelerant, even left the can outside.”
“Where is it?
“St.Andrew’s church, little town just south of Oriel called…” He checked his notes.“Douglas Cove.It’s about three hours from base.”
“See you in twenty.”
“Vee —”
Not again.
“Marcus.What?”she almost snapped.PTSD left her with a short fuse.PTSD plus PMT plus Marcus trying to tiptoe around a topic… that combo made her want to bite somebody.
After a pause, he said, “There was a page from a hymn book left inside the building.”
“Left?”
“That’s all I know from the techs.They’re saying it started soon after eight yesterday evening.They only started bagging a couple of hours ago.The church is all wood.Fire department wouldn’t let us inside until they knew the structure was safe.”
“The page from the book.”
After a short pause, he said, “Whoever put it there circled different letters on the page.Eleven altogether.”
“Like a code?”
“Kinda but not very complex.They spelled out a name.It’s your name, Vee.It looks like the killer left that for you.”
CHAPTER TWO
It was a truly stunning autumn morning and the route northward from Portland took them across a shimmering vista of lakes, ponds, and inlets.Kate remembered some line from a writer her father had been fond of, a description of the west coast of Ireland, “where God ran out of land and had to spread it thin and patchy, like the last bit of butter.”
“Shame we’re en route to a crime scene, huh?”
“I’m happy to drive if you want to enjoy the surroundings,” Kate replied, archly.
“I won’t be able to enjoy them if you’re driving.”
Marcus and Kate had been partners for less than a year, but in that time, they had slipped easily into a fond, teasing relationship.Kate wondered, sometimes, if it would ever move to another stage, or if that was as good as it ever got when you were paired with a man.She liked the burly New Yorker, felt safe in his company, valued his strength, his instincts and his street smarts.Even so, she felt a little jealous of some of her colleagues, like Esposito and Clarke, who were as tight as a pair of sisters, even borrowed each other’s clothes.That could never happen with Marcus.And not just because his clothes wouldn’t fit.
“You’re quiet this morning.”
“Am I?”she said, reddening slightly.“Well, you know, hearing your name was found at the scene of a brutal murder…”
“Sorry.What I mean is, talk to me, Vee.”
She glanced briefly at him – remembering how she’d felt when she was first introduced to this barrel of a guy with a buzzcut and a broken nose.She had him all wrong.
“I’m fine, Marcus.Thank you for being concerned.I’m creeped out, of course.But that just makes me want to get to the bottom of it.And I will.With you as my trusty sidekick.”
