Free Silent Scream by Karen Rose Page A

here.” She put a photograph on the table.
    The ball was a glass globe of the world. Etched onto the glass were the continents.
    “It looks like a paperweight,” Olivia said cautiously, although her mind was already stringing
globe, world
, and
arson
together, creating a very bad feeling.
    Beside her, Micah Barlow swore softly and grabbed the photograph, staring at it in consternation. “No, it’s a signature. One
     that hasn’t been seen for ten years.”
    “Twelve,” Micki said. “I cross-referenced
glass globes
with
arson.
”
    Barlow rubbed his hands over his eyes in a tired gesture. “And you came up with SPOT—
Societus Patronus Orbis Terra
. Shit.”
    “Fellowship of the protectors of the earth,” Dr. Donahue murmured.
    Olivia sat back, frowning. The bad feeling just got worse. “Ecoterrorists? Hell.”
    “With bad Latin grammar,” Donahue said, almost to herself, then looked up at the group. “It’s an interesting addition to the
     profile.”
    “Grammar aside,” Abbott said, “what are we dealing with?”
    “A group of environmental activists we believed had disbanded,” Barlow said. “They were at their most active in the early
     nineties. SPOT operated on the leaderless resistance model—small cells that allegedly have no lateral connection to one another
     or vertical connection to a ‘boss.’ They targeted commercial development of wildlife habitats, like the wetlands bordered
     by last night’s condo.”
    Abbott had leaned forward, chin on his folded hands. “M.O.?”
    “Usually smart,” Barlow said. “They used electronic timers to start their fires and always left behind a glass globe paperweight,
     but not covered in any gel. They’d wrap it in fire-resistant fabrics, usually pieces of firefighters’ protective gear, coats,
     et cetera.”
    “They wanted it found,” Olivia murmured. “Intact.”
    “Absolutely,” Barlow said, brows crunched. “But they always,
always
contacted the local news minutes after the firefighters were called to the scene.”
    “They didn’t this time,” Kane said. “Why?”
    Barlow shook his head. “I don’t know. They also never used guns.”
    “Was this a smart fire?” Olivia asked.
    “Aspects were. Like shutting down the camera systems and shutting off the water to the sprinklers. That took planning. They
     also had access to the guard’s schedule and they knew to open all the fire doors. If the girl tried to get out via the stairwell,
     she would have been stopped by the smoke and the heat. But in other ways they were stupid. They used the carpet adhesive,
     which is incredibly flammable. The fire would have spread quickly. It’s a wonder they made it out alive. Their M.O. last night
     wasn’t consistent with their M.O. before.”
    “What are you saying?” Olivia asked. “They’ve reopened under new management?”
    Barlow lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s a front. If someone knew about SPOT and wanted to deflect attention from their
     real motive, they could leave the globe behind and have us chasing our tails.”
    “Or that could be wishful thinking and they really are ecoterrorists,” Kane said.
    “Meaning, we call in the Feds,” Abbott said flatly.
    Olivia’s jaw tightened. “I had to tell Henry Weems’s widow that he wasn’t ever coming home again. Weems was MPD, one of ours.
     So whoever shot him is ours, too.”
    “I agree,” Abbott said grimly. “For now, we call the Feds, just to check on anything new they might have on this group. If
     these are eco-nuts, I don’t want my ass on the line for sitting on information. But if these SPOT assholes claim responsibility,
     we will bring the Feds in. No arguments.”
    He was right, Olivia knew, just as she knew she was being emotional. “No arguments. Besides, the differences far outweigh
     the similarities.”
    Barlow was frowning. “Maybe not. There is one other similarity. In their last arson twelve years ago, a woman died. Nobody
     was supposed to