Free The Lady Killer by Paizley Stone Page B

for not judging me and letting me vent on you. You’re right! Let’s go meet with the Captain, and then get this guy off the streets!”
    When they got to the precinct, Captain Rutledge was waiting by her desk. “Where have you two been? CSU said that you left that warehouse over an hour ago!”
    “Sorry, Sir, Murphy took me for coffee, so that I could calm down.”
    “Are you alright now?”
    “Yes, Sir, I will be. I had a breakdown. You already know about the letter?”
    “I certainly do! Ralph called me as soon as he found out. What do you mean you had a breakdown?”
    “I cried. I couldn’t stop myself. The past several months just collapsed in on me all at once. Sir, I think we are dealing with someone who works on the inside. Her ex was a cop. He must be working somewhere that he can watch what’s going on and knows our next moves.”
    “I tend to agree with you on that point. O’Reilly called me after he heard that they blew the surveillance. He said my assistant called him and told him that we barricaded and secured the back of the place, so only monitor the front. He was just following what he thought were my orders. The problem is that I don’t have a direct assistant, and he didn’t get a name. Also, Detective Peterson, crying does not constitute a breakdown. You’re entitled to react. That psycho gave you a direct threat. Which brings me to my next question, what are we going to do about protecting you?”
    She looked at him defiantly. “Sir, I don’t want protection, I want to catch this guy!”
    Captain Rutledge shook his head and let out a big sigh. “That’s what I was afraid you would say. We are dealing with a ghost here, Laura. He sneaks around, gets his victim and no one who has seen him lives to tell about it. If you are correct in your assumption that the killer is someone on our force, then I wouldn’t know if I was assigning the killer to protect you! That’s unacceptable as far as I’m concerned. We need to start to narrow this down. I’m ordering a readout of all male personnel who have transferred to this city during the last fifteen months. In the mean time, I don’t want you to go anywhere without either Burns or Murphy accompanying you and letting me know where you are. Do I make myself clear?”
    “Yes, Sir, I understand. I will certainly be more vigilant from now on. How can we keep information about the case away from this psycho?”
    “We can’t, not without handicapping our teams. I think this was a move on his part to divide and conquer. To get us suspecting each other, in order to weaken our ability to track him. This guy will not win. If we have to assign extra detectives we will, even though we don’t know who we can trust. Just let me know what you need, and I will try to provide it for your team. In the mean time, get back to those files and dig deeper. Something has to tie this guy to everything, and keep me informed of your every move. When you leave this building, I want to know where you’re going, and who you’re with.”
    She started to object stubbornly. “But, Sir!”
    “Don’t ‘but Sir’ me, Detective. I’m not going to get a call telling me you’re the next body they’ve found. Do you understand me?”
    “Yes, Sir, I will leave you a message before we go anywhere, even though I think I’m the one he’s handicapping.”
    “I would rather have you inconvenienced, than dead!”
    She looked at Murphy and nodded her head toward the break room. They went in and sat down together. In a way she felt defeated, but at the same time she was determined to get this guy behind bars, like the animal he was. Dan was determined to keep her spirits up. “Okay, Detective Peterson, what’s our next move.”
    “Let’s go through the files and look for a connection between the victims and the items found under the bodies, or the buildings they were found in.”
    “Hey, look who’s here! Good to see you, Burns.”
    “My kid’s game got over, and I