She checked Raelynn’s hands next.“Her fingernails are abraded, and there’s minor bruising of the fingertips and nail beds.I don’t see any fibers or skin cells, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there, so make sure CSI checks that too.Either way, she definitely fought.”
Faith saved the worst for last.“The cause of death is going to end up being the same as for Entwhistle.Single thick sharp spike or similar object, smooth-tipped, inserted into the neck puncturing the jugular veins and causing catastrophic damage to the trachea and esophagus.She bled out, probably within seconds.”
“Yeah, figured,” Suresh said.“Why the bombs?That’s the part I don’t get.I mean, other than that these two are bomb detection experts.Is that it?The guy’s just mocking them?”
“Could be,” Faith said.“I have a hunch it’s more specific than that.”She stood.“I’ll talk to my partner and see what we come up with.We might have a suspect already, so maybe we’ll get lucky and have the killer before we find all the answers.”
“We can always hope, right?”
“Sure.It’s all we have.”
Suresh frowned at Raelynn.“More than she has now.”
Faith sighed.“Yeah.More than she has.”
Turk whined mournfully.
Suresh inhaled sharply and said, “Well, I should go be a lieutenant again and rescue Givens from the assholes.Shall I send CSI up?”
“Yes, do that,” Faith said.“We’re done here.”
Suresh left the apartment.Faith stared at Raelynn's milky eyes and wondered what point the killer was making.Swift, brutal murders.Fake bombs placed on the victims' bodies.Calls to the police to make sure the victim and the bomb were discovered right away.No delays.
This was more than just murder for this killer.This was retribution.And a warning.Wrong me, and you’ll end up like them.
But how had these two wronged the killer?And who else was in their sights?
CHAPTER EIGHT
“God,” David said.“Faith is gonna kill me.”
Jeff Hammerton nodded slowly.“Yeah.You definitely looked better with hair.”
David rolled his eyes.“Thanks for the vote of confidence, buddy.”
David wasn't completely shaved, just cropped really close on the sides with just enough length on top that he wouldn't look like a skinhead.He wore his old pair of glasses with their thicker lenses and squared-off rims.He wore a track jacket over a plain white t-shirt and baggy jeans over an old pair of sneakers that he had buried in his closet and forgotten about.He wore a ballcap to complete the outfit and walked with a slight swagger in his gait.He'd lower his voice a little when he talked, and the end result would be someone who looked only vaguely similar to Dr.David Friedman.
Which would no doubt cause Faith to have a fit.
“It’ll be better when you grow out your beard,” Greg Rogers offered.
“Faith isreallygonna kill me if I grow out my beard.”
“No, the CIA is really gonna kill you if they figure out you’re still snooping,” Greg reminded him.“If they don’t already kill you for the crap you’ve given them so far.Since you’re not smart enough to let this go, the next best thing you can do is not look like yourself.”
David understood the logic, but he would have to go to work eventually.He had patients to see tomorrow.He might be able to foist a day or even two off on the other staff veterinarians, but sooner or later, he’d need to walk into the office with his tweeny-bopper haircut, and it would be clear pretty quickly that he was still Dr.Friedman, just with a different hairstyle.
I didn’t think this through.Once again, I didn’t think this through.
“Hey, it’s not so bad,” Jeff said.“Chicks dig change.Sometimes.”
David sighed.There was nothing he could do about it now."Well, it was either this or sit on my ass.How about we stop torturing ourselves, looking at me, and go talk to Mrs.Fenniman?"
“I say that’s a plan,” Jeff agreed.“But we’re taking my car.No offense, but that dinky little thing looks like it was designed for hobbits.”
David had bought a Mazda CX-30 to replace the Subaru Outback that the assassin from the 93rdTesting Brigade had run off the road.It was smaller than the Outback for sure, and since Jeff and Greg were both large men, he understood their desire to take Jeff’s Chevy Suburban instead.
That, and it was probably a bad idea for him to show up in his own vehicle with a license plate registered to his home address.