Free Linger: Dying is a Wild Night (A Linger Thriller Book 1) by Robert Gregory Browne, Edward Fallon Page B

brought up for an interview, and if we can find a way to communicate, I’m hoping I can fill in some missing details.”
    “And I’m hoping you’re right,” Dillman said. “Let me know how it goes.”
    Kate told him she would and was about to hang up when Dillman stopped her.
    “When you talk to Weston again, mention those tongues and see if you can get him to bring up that bandsaw blade. I want to nail this guy something bad.”
    Maybe a little too bad, Kate thought, then bid him goodbye and hung up.

19

_____

    W HILE SHE WAITED FOR DAN to return with Christopher, Kate got on her phone again and called Curt Clark, one of the juniors she’d sent to chase down Chucho Soriano. According to Soriano’s file, his last known address was a walk-up apartment building in an area of West Santa Flora that wasn’t known for its easygoing lifestyle. It didn’t quite qualify as a slum, but you wouldn’t want to be strolling around there at midnight.
    Even noon was iffy.
    “You having any luck?” she asked Clark.
    “The LKA was a bust. But the woman next door used to hang with Soriano sometimes and says he’s got a brother lives near the Greyhound station, so we’re headed that way.”
    “What’s the brother’s name?”
    “Emilio. Supposedly some kind of computer geek, designs porn websites. Soriano showed a couple to the neighbor one time and told her she should think about modeling.”
    “Classy,” Kate said.
    Had he done the same to Bree Branford?
    “It’s been a few months since he left the location, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be at Emilio’s.”
    The fear, of course, was that Soriano had skipped town altogether. And if that was the case, they’d have to cast a wide net and maybe even get the press involved—which Kate would rather avoid.
    “If he isn’t there, put some pressure on the brother. We need to find this guy.”
    “How much pressure?”
    “Use your best judgment,” she said, “but don’t get carried away.”
    “You got it, lieutenant. We’ll be in touch.”
    ∙ ∙ ∙
    A moment later, the door opened and Dan escorted Christopher inside and sat him in the same chair Kate had occupied earlier. He looked smaller than she remembered, and a bit forlorn, reminding her of one of those Save the Children commercials full of kids with soulful, hungry stares.
    Except that wasn’t quite right, was it?
    This particular kid had a stare as vacant as a dormant computer screen, and gave no indication whether he wanted to be saved or simply left alone. His gaze was fixed on the window behind her desk as he quietly rocked, and she wondered what he saw.
    Light and dark? Indistinct shapes? Nothing at all?
    “I assume you want me to stay,” Dan said.
    “Absolutely.”
    He nodded and perched on the edge of her desk as Kate moved around it to the chair next to Christopher.
    As she sat, Dan made a gesture with his hand as if to say, be gentle, which—as he well knew—wasn’t a state of being that came naturally to Kate. She thought of the most gentle person she’d ever known and channeled the spirit of her mother.
    “Good morning, Christopher. I’m Kate. I came to your motel room last night, remember?”
    The boy rocked, giving no indication she existed.
    “Dr. Brennan says you were very cooperative during your check-up this morning, so I know you can hear me. Can you nod for me? Show me you’re listening?”
    Still nothing. She may as well have been talking to an animatronic robot.
    She looked up at Dan.
    “Give him time,” he said. “Let him warm up to you.”
    Kate nodded and was about to try again when a thought struck her. Getting to her feet, she crossed to a corner of her office where she had stowed the boy’s suitcase. She unlatched it and pulled it open, taking out the small pink photo album with the name Lucy scrawled across it.
    She went back to her chair, sat down, and placed a hand on Christopher’s knee. He flinched again—just as he had last night—but he still didn’t