Free Homecoming Homicides by Marilyn Baron Page A

what Luke Slaughter has to say. I am interested in solving this case before the university president has my job. If that happens, then your job will be in jeopardy. I don’t intend to be his or anyone’s sacrificial lamb. You need to get this clusterfuck under control. I’m going to give you one more week—one week to set things straight, to get this investigation back on track, to reign in the media vultures. If that means working with Luke Slaughter to get that accomplished, well, suck it up and do it.”
    “One week. Director, ma’am, I can do that.”
    “Talk to your friend Officer Slaughter and tell him to stop sabotaging our case. We’re supposed to be working together. Do whatever you have to do to get through to him. Neutralize him. Sweet talk him. Sleep with him if you have to.”
    Flippy looked at the director and her mouth flew open. The woman had eyes in the back of her head, but maybe she was psychic, too. Or maybe she’d been having her employees followed, to bars and back to their bedrooms.
    “You know I was kidding about that last part,” the director said, eyebrows raised, offering a hint of a smile. “Just don’t let Luke Slaughter know I think Chief Bradley is a conceited SOB who doesn’t have the experience to run a case of this magnitude. He’s out of his league. Cowboy thinks he can skate by on his good looks and pseudo country-boy charm. Sucker tried to pick me up when I first got to town. I set him straight. He says he was just a lonely widower in need of companionship. I think he’s just horny. But we’re stuck with him, with both of them. So make it work.”
    “I have Luke Slaughter under control,” Flippy assured her boss with a confidence she didn’t really feel.
    “See that you do. I know I’m throwing you in at the deep end, but I am taking a chance on you. Don’t let me down. That’s all. Now about this parents’ meeting. Are you up to that? Or do you want me to handle it?”
    “I assure you, I’ll be up to speed and ready to handle it.”
    “I don’t like this idea of dueling press conferences. Everyone’s releasing conflicting statements, the FBI, the city, us, the families. And meanwhile, no one is solving this case. And that bozo Bradley just hired a psychic detective agency from Atlanta to consult on our case. I’ve never heard of anything so idiotic. He’s obviously desperate if he has to resort to woo-woo tactics. I want you to find out what they’re up to and report back to me.”
    “Of course,” Flippy said.
    For the past week, Flippy had boned up on the case. She was as ready as she’d ever be. If Luke Slaughter didn’t get in her way.

Chapter Six
    Flippy felt their pain before she even entered the room. It was a palpable sorrow, pulsing like an irregular heartbeat, coating the room like an eerie mist from the underworld.
    She ventured a look inside. Relatives of the dead, missing, and living pageant contestants were gathered in the break room of the Graysville police station. It was standing room only. Just thinking about those girls made her already queasy stomach clench.
    Steeling herself as she entered, she shook hands with Will Bradley, chief of the Graysville Police Department. When she did, she had to look up. The chief was tall and built like a Mack truck. The director was right. He was a handsome devil, and so was the handsome devil, in the persona of Luke Slaughter, who stayed close on her heels.
    “Thanks for coming, Philippa, Luke,” said the chief, who directed a cordon of city police officers to tighten protectively around the silent wall of mourners. Flippy wished someone had thought to order flowers to soften the atmosphere. Just a small tribute to show how much the department cared.
    “Glad to be on board,” Flippy replied.
    Chief Bradley directed their attention to a couple standing a few feet away.
    “Philippa Tannenbaum, Luke Slaughter, I’d like you to meet Jack Hale and Crystal Ball Kate—I mean, Katherine Hale, Jack’s