Free The Avenger by Jo Robertson

wanted to mention Olivia, but didn't. Did Slater know she was teaching at the university, part of his jurisdiction? Had he kept in touch with her through the years? Jack felt on the edge of some bizarre reunion, the three of them back together again.
    Slater tagged Connie on their way into his office. "Could you bring us two coffees?" He raised his eyebrows at Jack.
    "Black."
    "Two blacks, Connie."
    "Now, Sheriff, you know I don't do coffee." Connie's voice came through the open office door.
    Slater smiled and broke through the grimness of the morning.
    "Oh, all right," Connie mumbled, "but you owe me big time and I'm not like to forget it."
    While they waited for the coffee, Jack tossed the first folder on Slater's desk. He picked it up and flipped through the pages. "Three cases?"
    Jack nodded. "That's the first DLK victim, Laura Jean Peterson."
    "DLK?"
    "Dead Language Killer."
    Slater sighed. "I suppose there's a story behind that."
    By the time the coffee arrived, he'd riffled through the first case file. After Connie set the coffee mugs down with unnecessary clatter and left, Slater opened the second folder and perused it. He looked up from the file. "What the hell? Crucifixion?"
    Jack nodded and motioned for Slater to read on.
    "Good God, he was alive when he was – holy shit."
    Jack pulled a photo from the bottom of the stack. The crime scene photo showed a naked body with dark pools staining the wrists and feet.
    Slater stared a long moment before reaching for the next folder. "Something tells me I don't want to read another one." He opened the file anyway.
    Jack inclined his head toward the folder. "We thought Angela was the final victim."
    Slater scanned the report. "Blunt force trauma." He looked at the pictures. "Resembles the unidentified body at North Shore."
    "She was a thirty-one-year-old waitress from South Bend, Indiana," Jack added, as if that were the important detail. He sipped his coffee and stared emotionless out the office window into the bullpen where deputies were gathering for the shift change.
    "You've got these memorized?" Slater asked with a sweep of his hand across the desk.
    Jack didn't acknowledge the question. "After Angela, all the leads dried up and my investigation took a nose dive in the toilet."
    "And you're looking for a new lead here."
    Jack threw a fourth folder across the desk. "First this one."
    Slater checked the date on the tab and raised his eyebrows. "Current?"
    "Discovered a few days ago."
    "You think they're all connected." A statement not a question. "And you think my DB at Tahoe is the fifth victim of the same killer."
    In frustration, Jack shoved his fingers through his hair as he rose. "Shit, I don't know if this is the same guy or if it's a damn copycat."
    He grabbed his briefcase, needing to get out of here, needing a break. "When you follow up on your victim, I expect full cooperation." He turned toward the office door and shot his parting words over his shoulder. "I don't want to put the screws to you on this, Slater."
    "Then don't," Slater replied.
    Jack lifted his hand in acknowledgment without turning around, feeling Slater's hard gaze like a target on his back as he made his way through the squad room and out the door toward the metal detector. A queasy feeling ran through his stomach.

 
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
    Late that afternoon Olivia and Jack began their uneasy alliance in her office at the university.
    "Did you learn anything about Keisha?" she asked right off.
    He shook his head. "Nothing concrete."
    Olivia looked as if she'd like to say more, but put it aside and folded her hands as she faced Jack across the battered width of her desk. "Tell me about the Latin notes."
    "First the basics," Jack said. "Serial killer, four deaths so far that we're sure of. The UNSUB stopped four years ago, and we thought he'd finished, died or was incarcerated." He paused and reached into his briefcase. "Hopefully dead."
    "UNSUB?"
    "Sorry, criminal code for unknown subject,