Free Tactical Advantage by Julie Miller Page B

Madigan. Nick’s mother is my sister.”
    Annie snapped to attention. She wiped her palm on the black wool of her coat before shaking his hand. “Deputy Commissioner Madigan?”
    “Guilty as charged.” She glanced over her shoulder. Nick was taking the opportunity to herd his family to a less congested location out of the path of hospital staff for this early morning meet-and-greet. “You’re Annabelle Hermann.”
    It was a statement, not a question.
    Really? Nick was related to one of KCPD’s top-ranking cops? He could have pulled rank if CSI Supervisor Taylor had threatened him with a reprimand. And what connections did she have? Who was looking out for her in all of tonight’s mess? Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to one of the department’s senior command officers. “Am I in trouble?”
    “Not at all. I oversee the budget for the task force among other things, so I’m familiar with all your names. But this isn’t an official visit.” He nodded toward the retreating group. “We all happened to be at Nick’s house when my assistant called with the Dispatch report about an officer being hurt.”
    “And you thought it was Nick.” That explained the crowd of Fensoms. “That must have scared you guys. I’m sorry.”
    “It’s a hazard of being a cop, Annabelle. My ex-wife couldn’t handle the risks involved, but Trudy’s side of the family seems to take it all in stride.”
    That, they did. En masse.
    “It’s Annie, sir.” The nerves that tightened her chest eased a little. The deputy commissioner’s presence was just an uncomfortable coincidence, not a checkup on her inability to protect a crime scene. “No one calls me Annabelle anymore. Not since my folks passed.”
    “You lost them both?”
    “Yes, sir. A car accident ten years ago.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that.” He switched the coat he carried to the opposite arm and abruptly changed topics. “I’m assuming your assault is related to the Rose Red Rapist investigation and I’ll see a report on my desk in the next few days?”
    Maybe this was some kind of off-duty check on the task force’s progress, or lack thereof, with tonight’s setback, after all. Annie wasn’t sure exactly how the task force reports filtered up to the administrative offices of KCPD, but she was certain she’d be little more than a footnote at the next precinct chiefs’ meeting with the commissioner. She’d better explain herself now. “I believe someone wanted to destroy evidence on the case, and I happened to be in the way of what he was after.”
    “Do you think it was our perp coming back to clean up the crime scene?”
    “The Rose Red Rapist?” Would the man who’d been terrorizing the women of Kansas City for months now actually be bold enough to return to the scene of his crime? And possibly impersonate a cop to do it? The man they were after had been an enigma for so long, she’d just assumed he’d remain an anonymous threat in the shadows, and not risk any dealings with the authorities, whether perfectly disguised or not. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s a possibility, but I hate to speculate without more proof.”
    Which they no longer had. Annie wilted inside her coat.
    “And all the evidence from Rachel Dunbar’s murder is gone?”
    “Everything but the body. And Mac talked to the M.E. who said her body had been—” she swallowed the bile the mere thought conjured “—sterilized like the previous victims.”
    “So we won’t get much there,” he concluded.
    “No, sir. I did manage to save the pictures I took of the scene. Supervisor Taylor is processing those back at the lab.”
    “I see. Well, I’m glad your injuries weren’t more serious.” Just like that, George Madigan switched back to the friendly uncle again. “You have all your departmental insurance information?”
    “Yes, sir. They took care of that when I checked in.”
    He smiled. “Good. And if you’re a friend of Nick, it’s Uncle George. When we’re