Free Homecoming Homicides by Marilyn Baron

redeem herself, to prove she could do the job, that she wasn’t just some brainless beauty queen trading off her looks, that she had something more valuable than a pretty face to contribute. If the man who had killed Melinda was killing again, she wanted to be front and center in the effort to find him and put him away so he could never hurt anyone again.
    “If I place you on the task force, you’re going to get thrown right back into the fire. You know that, don’t you?” the director had warned. “Another dead homecoming queen turns up and you are thrown into the mix—again. People will talk.”
    “I can handle that,” Flippy assured her. And she would handle it. She’d have to face her demons, survive the glare of the spotlight on her own time, but if she could live through that trial by fire, if she could come out unblemished, she could finally live with herself. So far, so good, until she had received a second summons today.
    A secretary ushered Flippy into Director Beckham’s office.
    “Sit down, Miss Tannenbaum, and stop looking so worried. Despite what you might have heard, I am not a vampire. I don’t bite.”
    “No ma’am,” said Flippy, digging into the skin underneath her fingernails.
    The director may not bite, but she was not about to let Flippy off the hook on task force business.
    “What are people saying about the investigation and how it’s going?”
    Flippy hesitated. She could hardly tell the director the truth, that the media and people all over the country were wondering why the campus police department was in charge, and how they felt the police were impeding the investigation.
    “Um, that we’re making progress.” Flippy could hardly meet the director’s gaze.
    The director raised her eyebrows in doubt.
    “That’s a PR answer if I ever heard one. How’s that campus-turned-city cop Luke Slaughter doing?” It made Flippy think of the Country Mouse/City Mouse story she’d read as a child.
    “What did he say about me?” Flippy demanded. She knew she sounded defensive, but she didn’t trust Luke Slaughter, especially not now.
    “This isn’t kindergarten, Philippa. We’re not playing He Said, She Said. We all have to play nice in the Serial Killer Sandbox. I want to know what the city is saying about the way we’re handling the investigation. I know you and Luke Slaughter are close.”
    Flippy’s eyes widened. What didn’t this woman know about her personal life? Was their one-night stand documented in her personnel file?
    “We’re friends,” Flippy objected. “ Were friends.” Flippy decided to tell the truth. She didn’t have anything to lose at this point.
    “Chief Bradley says the campus police department is overstepping, that while the girls were dumped on campus, they were killed in the city, so it’s their case.”
    “We have no proof of that.”
    “He wants us to step down. The FBI wants to take complete control of the case, and the City of Graysville says they want the lead in working with the FBI.”
    “And?”
    “And Luke Slaughter says that a beauty queen has no business being on this case.”
    “I want my seat at the table,” the director said. “You are my representative. You absolutely do belong on this task force. You were tailor-made for this task force for any number of reasons. I fought to get you on there and I’ll fight to see that you stay. But you have to do your part. My ass is on the line and so is the university’s reputation. No parent is ever going to send their daughter to this school again if we can’t catch this killer. We’ve already had dozens of girls drop out this semester. I want to make sure you can handle this new assignment, Philippa, or do I need to bring in someone more seasoned? The FBI is making noises about bringing in some of their people to handle press relations.”
    “No!” Flippy protested. “I can handle it. I will handle it. No matter what that snake Luke Slaughter says.”
    “I’m not interested in